My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands by Chelsea Handler
Obtained: NYPL
Finished: 30-January 2009
Story Synopsis:
In this raucous collection of true-life stories, actress and comedian Chelsea Handler recounts her time spent in the social trenches with that wild, strange, irresistible, and often gratifying beast: the one-night stand.
Enter Chelsea Handler. Gorgeous, sharp, and anything but shy, Chelsea loves men and lots of them. My Horizontal Life chronicles her romp through the different bedrooms of a variety of suitors, a no-holds-barred account of what can happen between a man and a sometimes very intoxicated, outgoing woman during one night of passion. From her short fling with a Vegas stripper to her even shorter dalliance with a well-endowed little person, from her uncomfortable tryst with a cruise ship performer to her misguided rebound with a man who likes to play leather dress-up, Chelsea recalls the highs and lows of her one-night stands with hilarious honesty. Encouraged by her motley collection of friends (aka: her partners in crime) but challenged by her family members (who at times find themselves a surprise part of the encounter), Chelsea hits bottom and bounces back, unafraid to share the gritty details. My Horizontal Life is one guilty pleasure you won’t be ashamed to talk about in the morning.
Commentary:
Okay, dirty secret time: I actually watch Chelsea Handler's show every once in a while. She's mostly funny, and she's pretty enough and I like her schtick with her midget assistant.
...Which, sadly, also sums up my feelings about her book.
I really thought that this book was going to be the rauchiest, most embarrassing and cringeworthy thing that I'll be reading all year. Sure, there were some sections that had me snorting to myself on the train, but overall, I felt that this book was just okay. Not bad, not good, just okay.
And maybe this is a dilemma with humor books as a genre -- while many writers are able to convey humor through their words, there are people who can convey it better either in spoken form or acted out. I think Chelsea Handler belongs in the latter. Her stories are probably hilarious when she tells them in her stand-up since you're experiencing the whole person communicating the story. But if I'm just experiencing everything through her words, I felt like there was something missing.
