Are you there, vodka? It's me, Chelsea

Handler proves the adage that just because one can, doesn't mean one should. This applies to both her role as a writer and a narrator. In this disjointed collection of memories and experiences, even her overenthusiastic voice cannot compensate for the irrelevance and frivolousness that is this book. Her anecdotes cover a range of topics from sex to sibling rivalry to parental humiliation, all showcasing how smart and witty she can be--in hindsight. Whether rambling about how she's freaked out by red-headed men or bemoaning her arrest and short stint in prison, her attempts to be funny fall flat and her valley-girl persona wears quickly on listeners. Her lively voice has the potential to do well with audiobooks, but the overall tone and ecstatic energy she emits only emphasizes the inconsequential prose. Listeners might find themselves asking for Vodka to help reach the end of this production. A Simon & Schuster hardcover. (May) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

Best-selling author Handler (My Horizontal Life), a well-known stand-up comic who stars in her own E! network series, Chelsea Handler Lately, has once again written a hilarious book. In this collection of essays on relationships, family life, and her own adventures, she is both charming and brutally honest. In one priceless piece, Handler tells of babysitting a 14-year-old when she herself was only 12; her recollection of her charge's behavior is sure to give readers a good laugh. Also hysterical is the story of how Handler regifted a used game of Rehab to a friend on her birthday--the same game she had herself earlier been gifted. Handler is brilliant at her craft of comedy, and it shows in her descriptions of one witty situation after another. Highly recommended for academic and public libraries and for anyone wanting a good laugh.--Susan McClellan, Shaler North Hills Lib., Glenshaw, PA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Best-selling author Handler (My Horizontal Life ), a well-known stand-up comic who stars in her own E! network series, Chelsea Handler Lately , has once again written a hilarious book. In this collection of essays on relationships, family life, and her own adventures, she is both charming and brutally honest. In one priceless piece, Handler tells of babysitting a 14-year-old when she herself was only 12; her recollection of her charge's behavior is sure to give readers a good laugh. Also hysterical is the story of how Handler regifted a used game of Rehab to a friend on her birthday—the same game she had herself earlier been gifted. Handler is brilliant at her craft of comedy, and it shows in her descriptions of one witty situation after another. Highly recommended for academic and public libraries and for anyone wanting a good laugh.—Susan McClellan, Shaler North Hills Lib., Glenshaw, PA

At the age of nine, comedian Handler (host of her own cable talk show, Chelsea Lately) was already making up stories about all-night contract negations with Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell to get out of English assignments-but then, what would one expect from a girl told by her parents, a week before her fourth birthday, to plan her own party? This funny, whip-smart memoir, the follow-up her sex-centric essay collection My Horizontal Life, chronicles Handler's ridiculous, gamboling life thus far, from her elementary school days-hounded by older girls for being less than wealthy, stuck at 12 babysitting an unruly 14-year-old with a wicked sugar addiction-to her sexually hyperactive, cocktail-swilling grown-up years. Handler's hard-headed sense of humor and maniacal wit get her through a number of difficult situations, including incarceration for a DUI, threatening to beat up a snotty teenager, and facing a breakup with one man while hiding another under her bed. But Handler also demonstrates an attuned sense of self and a keen eye for those around her that occasionally elevate her musings from mere hilarity to genuine poignancy-but not to worry, the only tears readers will shed are from laughter. (Apr.) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.