As a nonfiction, humor-loving reader, I have heard of Laurie Notaro and her hilarious reputation. My roommate from college basically worshipped the woman, but I’ve never read any of her books. So when I picked…
Posts tagged Essays
If you knew now what I know, you’d read this beautiful book
One of the things that drive me nuts in reviews and workshops is when the critic critiques a story based not on what it is, but rather what he or she wanted it to be….
Bossypants is not a memoir, but it is funny
Tina Fey gets a lot of shit. She’s too much of a feminist, she’s not feminist enough. She’s funny, she’s not funny. The woman cannot win. The latest is that her “memoir” Bossypants isn’t revealing…
Cringe-Worthy Fun
The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death is absurd and hilarious. This is the kind of book you will want to read aloud to a friend while giggling spontaneously and ultimately loosing the…
More dates and dudes, less duds
I am going to write something here that applies to Sloane Crosley and only Sloane Crosley, and God help us all — please don’t let anyone else take this bit of advice and apply it:…
Get this woman a bitchy editor
After reading Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang, I can't decide if Chelsea Handler is going to save printed entertainment or drive the final nail into the format's coffin. The arguments for her as print's savior: this…
All that glitters is not Gould
At some point we all sat around and wondered what the hell personal blogging would mean, ultimately, for the good old-fashioned world of the printed word. The kind that comes on paper, bound, with a…
My Horizontal Life
David Sedaris still holds the title of Best Comedy Writer in my mind, but after reading My Horizontal Life, I've decided Chelsea Handler is making a pretty strong bid to be the heir to that…
The art of storytelling
I saw Kevin Kling perform at the University of Minnesota Duluth less than a year ago. It was a spare set up, with just the storyteller with a microphone and an adorable accordion player accompanist…
Cassette From My Ex edited by Jason Bitner
Cassette mix tapes are a generational thing. My parents didn’t make them, probably because they had those crappy 8-tracks. At least they had vinyl. I made tons of mix tapes for practically anyone I met….
Klosterphobia
Here’s a confession: I did not read Chuck Klosterman’s entire book Eating the Dinosaur. This slighting came with his permission, nay, his insistence. Klosterman busts through the fourth wall in his essay about football to…
Therapy in Hardcover
David Cross likes the word “poo.” David Cross does not like Fox News. David Cross loves to hate reality TV. Take those three premises, try to make them funny and you've basically got I Drink…