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A review by labunnywtf
Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Jazz Chickens by Eddie Izzard
4.0
This review was written before Eddie announced her pronoun change.
I consider myself a spiritual atheist. I don't believe in a god but I believe in us - human beings. And I believe there is more goodwill than ill will in the world.
Before we get started, go to my GoodReads profile. Find the line that has been in there since I joined the site in 2008. Just so we're all aware of my own bias.
I love Eddie Izzard a great deal. However, I love Eddie Izzard's comedy. I'm absolutely certain I would love him as a human being were we to be friends*, and if I were to watch his movies**, I'm sure I'd love him as an actor. But I haven't. I've watched his comedy specials, and I saw him perform Stripped live in New Orleans in 2008, I believe it was.***
But his comedy is all I know about him. So, this book is absolutely a new experience for me, and I went in with wide arms and furrowed brow. Because autobiographies are a slippery slope for me. The origin story isn't always the most interesting for me, I'm easily bored by places I don't know and people I haven't met. Just get me to the meat, the break through, the behind the scenes.
Except in this case, the origin story was absolutely FASCINATING. I adored reading about his boarding school days, his time with his stepmother, his failed flirting and teddy bear showcases. Hell, once we got to the stage where he started gaining steam performing, my attention started wandering. I didn't see that coming at all.
This book is very obviously written by the comedian himself. The entire thing goes off course, and runs for spans of time in a stream-of-conscious manner, much like his comedy routines. He even manages to slip some historical knowledge in when you least expect it. What more can you ask?
Towards the end, he talks about the massive marathons, which was something I discovered by accident when I found his Twitter in the middle of them. The health scares were just that, very alarming, but absolutely fascinating.
Love. A fantastic peek into the life of a fantastic character.
* Call me, Eddie.
** Across the Universe. That's it.
*** Shittiest seats, and the guy I was with refused to hang out by the tour buses afterwards so I could fangirl. Ass.
I consider myself a spiritual atheist. I don't believe in a god but I believe in us - human beings. And I believe there is more goodwill than ill will in the world.
Before we get started, go to my GoodReads profile. Find the line that has been in there since I joined the site in 2008. Just so we're all aware of my own bias.
I love Eddie Izzard a great deal. However, I love Eddie Izzard's comedy. I'm absolutely certain I would love him as a human being were we to be friends*, and if I were to watch his movies**, I'm sure I'd love him as an actor. But I haven't. I've watched his comedy specials, and I saw him perform Stripped live in New Orleans in 2008, I believe it was.***
But his comedy is all I know about him. So, this book is absolutely a new experience for me, and I went in with wide arms and furrowed brow. Because autobiographies are a slippery slope for me. The origin story isn't always the most interesting for me, I'm easily bored by places I don't know and people I haven't met. Just get me to the meat, the break through, the behind the scenes.
Except in this case, the origin story was absolutely FASCINATING. I adored reading about his boarding school days, his time with his stepmother, his failed flirting and teddy bear showcases. Hell, once we got to the stage where he started gaining steam performing, my attention started wandering. I didn't see that coming at all.
This book is very obviously written by the comedian himself. The entire thing goes off course, and runs for spans of time in a stream-of-conscious manner, much like his comedy routines. He even manages to slip some historical knowledge in when you least expect it. What more can you ask?
Towards the end, he talks about the massive marathons, which was something I discovered by accident when I found his Twitter in the middle of them. The health scares were just that, very alarming, but absolutely fascinating.
Love. A fantastic peek into the life of a fantastic character.
* Call me, Eddie.
** Across the Universe. That's it.
*** Shittiest seats, and the guy I was with refused to hang out by the tour buses afterwards so I could fangirl. Ass.