Seriously...I'm Kidding

August 22, 2011
This latest collection of humorous riffs from DeGeneres (The Funny This Is...) goes down as easily as one of the comedian and talk show host’s monologues. Arranged loosely around the idea of happiness and how she’s found it, the term “loosely” is used loosely, since DeGeneres veers into topics as diverse as mirrors that magnify your pores (avoid them) and the secret of life (spoiler: it’s kale). She’s at her best and wittiest when her mind leapfrogs from topic to topic, as in the segue—or lack of one—between a chapter entitled “Ideas,” in which DeGeneres recounts a thought that once came to her while hanging upside down in a Pilates machine, and “Gambling,” where the reader learns such helpful tips as if you don’t win the slot machine jackpot, don’t despair, just go to the roulette table. There’s also a smattering of serious issues—identity, homosexuality and gay marriage; inner beauty; and the dangers of labels and stereotypes—but DeGeneres handles each with humor: in “Babies, Animals, and Baby Animals,” she addresses the much-asked question of whether or not she and wife Portia de Rossi will have children (no, but she can tell which end of a baby you feed). Whatever the topic, DeGeneres’s compulsively readable style will appeal to fans old and new.

May 15, 2011

The Emmy Award-winning actress on the joys of hosting a talk show and what it was like to sit at the American Idol table. Buy wherever her previous books were popular.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2011

The doyenne of afternoon comedy returns with more quirky reflections on life.

The author's latest comes eight years after her last bestselling collection of humorous musings (The Funny Thing Is..., 2003, etc.), as well as after one wildly successful talk show, a brief stint on American Idol and the founding of a record label. While the present work largely represents more of the same from DeGeneres, fans will not be disappointed. This hodgepodge of self-help tips, adult(ish) stories, coloring-book pages for children of all ages and one hilarious haiku--"Haiku sounds like I'm / saying hi to someone named / Ku. Hi, Ku. Hello."--displays throughout the author's gift for capturing the absurd hilarity of internal monologue. As such, readers will expect the audiobook edition to amplify the humor of some of these vignettes that, on the page, elicit little more than quiet smirks. Many of the passages, like her advice on "How to Be a Supermodel"--"Get those lips out there. Purse your lips like you're trying to sip out of a straw that someone keeps moving away from you...Be mysterious. Always pose with one hand in your pocket as if to say, 'I'm so mysterious, this hand in my pocket could be a hook hand. You don't know' "--deliver their comedic punch unaided. One of the more refreshing aspects of this miscellany is DeGeneres' inclusion of her spouse, Portia de Rossi, whom she admires and gently chides as any partner might--e.g., her critique of de Rossi's lotion mania: "Each kind says it has something special in it for your skin--aloe, shea butter, coconut, cocoa butter, vanilla, lemon extract. That's not lotion. That's one ingredient short of a Bundt cake."

Though DeGeneres doesn't provide many laugh-out-loud moments, her trademark wit and openness shine through.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

January 2, 2012
Fans of Ellen DeGeneres may find this audio version of her third book a bit of a disappointment. Despite some funny moments and a few flashes of brilliance—her take on opinion polls is splendid—this work feels like a standup routine or monologue that was turned into a book. Ellen’s warm and familiar voice is pleasant, and as always she possesses great comedic timing, but the performance, like the book, lacks substance. These disjointed anecdotes might be best saved for extremely short listening sessions. If listeners are looking for a fun performance piece centered around random thoughts on everything and nothing, this might prove enjoyable. A Grand Central hardcover.