This was not a funny book. Now, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t good — Cho’s a good writer and she bares a lot of her soul here — but it’s definitely not the ball of laughs I was expecting from a comedian’s memoir.
“We must know who we are, so we can know what we want, so we don’t end up wanting the wrong thing and get it and realize we don’t want it, because by then it is too late.”
Cho has endured a lot in her life: teasing and cruelty from her family (mostly due to her weight), sexual assault, racial and sexual discrimination, lying agents and other Hollywood “professionals”. She coped with this by drinking, taking drugs, and performing. Over the years, the drinking and drugs began to take priority. She also stopped eating, trying to lose weight to play herself on TV, and that just escalated her poor health.
She’s very honest about her mistakes — the drinking, the drugs, the men — and how getting her career back on track saved her. It was very frustrating reading this, because each time something HAPPENED — she began to lose her hair, she dump an abusive ex, she adopted a damn puppy — I kept hoping that this was it, and she’d finally stop destroying herself and find help. But it just keeps going on and on. And then she just stops. Just stops and gets better — that’s the end of it.
The writing is excellent, and she holds nothing back. It’s hard to write negatively about “plot” in a memoir — it’s not like she planned it all out to make it more readable! But I can definitely say that’s in not the book I was expecting, although I’m impressed that she had the guts to write it.
You’re only 3 books away from setting the record (or resetting it, I guess) for books reviewed in a year. Think you’ll make it?
Yeah, I’m guessing I’ll hit 263 or 264 this year. I’ve read 259 already (one unreviewed….), with 3 more close to being done. And I’m sure I’ll have time to squeeze in one or two more by the end of next week!
You’re a marvel.
I’ve tripled my personal record, this year. And I’m not sure if I’ll be able to match it next year (let alone surpass it). I like that you read a diverse range of stuff, too. It seems to be equal parts fiction and non-fiction, and pretty much every genre.
This group has definitely broadened my horizons, which I’m grateful for. I have noticed that I’m skipping over some longer books each year in favor of hitting a higher number. I think my goal for 2017 will be fewer books, more pages!
Also (FYI), I noticed, while updating the database, that you mis-labelled one of your reviews last year.
You wrote two reviews for Winter of the World by Ken Follet. The one from April 20 is supposed to be for Edge of Eternity. The review itself is about the correct book, you just mixed up the titles.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23190986-edge-of-eternity
Eek! Thanks for catching that. Fixing now!