Paula reads her own work and keeps me company on my commute to school. Using braided essay style she cleverly confesses her own flaws (serious, real), and makes witty observations about her own life in comparison with lives of historic figures: Charles Dickens, the Wright Brothers, Helen Keller. ( )

Paula has a way with words! One of the best books by a stand-up (most are lacking).
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There's Nothing In This Book I Meant To Say🍒🍒🍒🍒
By Paula Poundstone
2006
Harmony/Crown

If you are a fan of Paula Poundstones stand up comedy, or her witty humor, you will love this. Telling her story with candor, wit and totally straight up honesty, her memoir made me laugh out loud, and revel at her intelligence. Integrating historical figures lives she admires as a starting point in every chapter, (Abraham Lincoln, Charles Dickens, Helen Keller, Joan of Arc and Beethoven, to name a few)reveals the joys and challenges of her life and experiences.

I love her humor - love her wit - love her preserverance. Recommended.

p. 3: "I should have known. About 3 weeks before I went into rehab I got really drunk, went into a pet store, and bought a dog. It would have been no big deal, but we have nine cats. Believe me, the cats started hiding the alcohol after that."

p. 55:"One of the rules that we had to sign ( for her daughters school) this year was our children would not use "offensive language". I wrote a note back to the teacher, asking her for the offensive language list. I'm happy to go over it with my children and male sure they know what not to say, but if I don't know, it'll be difficult to commit to."

"A couple years ago I was reunited with a guy I knew in fifth grade. He said "All the other fifth - grade guys liked the pretty girls, but I liked you." It's hard to know if a guy is sincere when he lays it on that thick."

Referring to her scandal: "The judge said I was the best probationer he ever had. Talk about proud." ( )

Best for: People who enjoy Paula Poundstone on Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me.

In a nutshell: Comedian shares details of her life - including the time when she was convicted of endangering her children - against the backdrop of historical biographies. Seriously.

Line that sticks with me: I listened to the audio book, so I can’t quote directly, but I, too, was a girl cast as Peter Quince in an elementary school production of Midsummer Nights’ Dream.

Why I chose it: Ms. Poundstone has a new book out, which I was hoping would be available on audio. It is not yet, but this one was, and so I picked it up.

Review: I started listening to this book this morning on my run, and kept it going all morning as I cleaned up, did chores, painted my nails. It was fun to listen to, engaging, and generally a good way to stay entertained on a Saturday when I have things to do but don’t want to listen to music.

Ms. Poundstone is regularly featured on Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me on NPR; I also saw her stand-up show in Seattle a few years ago. I’ve found her mostly endearing, and was definitely surprised when she was charged with, among other things, ‘lewd acts with a minor’ many years ago. She addresses the arrest and sentencing in the book (the lewd act charge was dropped; she was punished instead for endangering her children by driving drunk with them in the car), allowing for the seriousness of it all while reflecting on some of the more absurd parts.

What makes the whole book kind of odd, but in a good way, is that each of the seven chapters intertwines parts of her story with the biography of an historical figure. Joan of Arc, Beethoven, Helen Keller and others are heavily featured. Ms. Poundstone isn’t comparing herself to them in any serious way; their accomplishments serve as a way for her to self-deprecatingly associate her life and challenges with those of others. And honestly, I learned a few things about these historical figures along the way, which was unexpected but a clever way to frame a book.

I also appreciated how she was open with the fact that she doesn’t have sex, and doesn’t enjoy it. She doesn’t judge others for having sex, and makes a couple of jokes at her own expense about it (namely focusing on how tired she is that even if she were doing sex correctly, as she assumes she wasn’t, she can’t imagine it being better than good sleep), but it is refreshing to hear someone speak openly about not being interested in it.

I can’t urge anyone to race out and get this, and there were certainly some cringe-worthy moments (I’m still not sure how I feel about the first part of the last chapter, which was focused on Chief Sitting Bull), but overall I think it was worth a Saturday morning’s worth of time. ( )

Paula Poundstone writes mini-biographies on historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Helen Keller, and Joan of Arc, but can't stop interjecting with anecdotes from her own life and commentary based on all kinds of everyday observations.

I quite randomly happened upon this book tucked away in a hidden corner at my library, and Poundstone's name jumped out at me. Like many other readers of this book, I've been highly entertained by her appearances on NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me quiz show, so I figured it only made sense to give this book a try as well. I have to admit it when I first started the book, I was a little unsure. Poundstone begins by clearing the air of the elephant in the room -- her well-publicized court case in which she was charged with child endangerment after driving drunk with her three adopted children in the car. For starters, I had no clue about this court case as it totally slipped under my radar, so it was a completely unexpected subject for me, although I could see why Poundstone would want to address it right away. And then for seconds, this isn't exactly the lightest subject to start off a comedy book, although Poundstone does manage to find the humor in commenting on topics such as the absurdity of the legal system.

Most of the rest of the humor in the book comes firstly from Poundstone's experiences as a single mother and making observations about her children's schooling, relaying silly things her kids have said, and commenting on the ridiculousness of keeping up with all the "must have" childhood events, like taking "pre-piano" classes. A secondary source of humor is rants about anything that Poundstone finds unnecessary like chapstick, dishwashers, etc. This may not sound that funny when I describe it, but it's quite hilarious when Poundstone has her take on it.

Meanwhile, the historic parts are oddly informative while still being peppered with dashes of humor. The audiobook version is read by Poundstone, so the listener has the added bonus of getting Poundstone's tones and inflections, which really sell the humor. I recommend this book for those who enjoy Poundstone's comic mix of acerbic wit and amusing everyday observations. ( )