Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Seriously...I'm Kidding (on CD)

Seriously...I'm Kidding
by Ellen DeGeneres [Compact Disc Biography DeGeneres]

I've always enjoyed Ellen's wry, scatter-brained sense of humor -- I've been a fan of her stand-up routine since she first showed up on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show, way back in the late 1980s. I haven't really followed her afternoon talk show, or the sitcom on which she "came out" publicly, but I've certainly followed the major ups and downs of her life in the entertainment news -- It's been hard to avoid! I've been enjoying listening to celebrity biographies on compact disc for the past year, and when I stumbled across hers, I was hoping it would be another great one. In the end though, I found Seriously...I'm Kidding to be an extremely light-weight volume, both in content and in tone of presentation. Ellen, who narrates her book herself for this compact disc adaptation, injects very little "life" into the words. Much of the content of this CD set feels like an extended stream-of-conciousness rambling. When she does focus in a little more directly on her topics, she still doesn't go into much depth. Admittedly, I found myself chuckling at various asides that she makes, but for the most part, I kept waiting for some literary "substance" to show up and it never did. If all you want is some light, breezy observations on life -- you'll like this. If you're looking for a celebrity autobiography that actually has something concrete to share about the life of the celebrity, look elsewhere... [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Ellen's previous stand-up comedy books My Point, and I Do Have One (1995) and The Funny Thing Is (2003).] -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library [subscribe to Scott's monthly booklist newsletter - It's All Geek to Me! or any of other other email newsletters]

[Also available in downloadable audio and print formats.]

[ official Ellen's talk show web site ]

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