Are You There?

I find that many books filed away in humor often fall short of being truly funny.  Many try too hard, many take too preposterous a stance on any particular subject, many just simply fall short.  I'll be honest, I'm usually loath to read books deemed humor.  Not because of their perceived non-literary value, but because of the often lack of substance.  Humor books that are great are really really great.  They shed light on life in a way that highbrow literature can sometimes miss, they shed light on certain facets of culture that are otherwise overlooked or taken as normal.  

It takes a lot to get my to laugh out loud while reading, it takes even more for me to be in Vegas with my girlfriends and be somewhat distracted because I want to finish my book (and I have a tendency to read some pretty awesome books when I'm in Vegas with my girlfriends).  On my annual Vegas trip, I couldn't contain myself, could barely look up from my book to pick up my overflowing glass of Jack Daniels, as I read Chelsea Handler's New York Times Bestselling book Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea.  Now, I've talked about her other book, My Horizontal Life before, and I loved both, but in her latest book, Handler crosses a line.  She's no longer just a funny lady who has the number 1 show on E!, she is a great writer.  A writer who, through her own life stories, shares our own life stories.  Stories of crazy families and sibling rivalry.  Of desire for success and determination for making it through life with some great friends and great stories.  

As irreverent as Chelsea can be, she has a heart thumping under the veil of funny and sometimes off color stories.  Chelsea loves her crazy daddy.  She loves her friends, even when they drag her to parties she doesn't want to go to.  And most importantly, she points out the flaws in life, and how much fun that makes everything. 

Happy Reading,

Julia

P.S. If Chelsea has a googlealert and is reading this, I'd like to say that I'm sure I can match you drink for drink (though my drink of choice is not Grey Goose, but Jack Daniels) and I'd love a chance to prove it.