Santa Cruz Good Times

Queen of comedy and New York Times bestseller Chelsea Handler gives birth to her third book
If the name Chelsea Handler hasn’t yet crossed your path, don’t worry, it will. This devilish darling is a busy girl these days what with her hit show Chelsea Lately on the cable television network E! Entertainment, her whirlwind nationwide comedy tour and promoting her recently released third bestselling book “Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang.”

Characterized by hilarious quips, modicums of irony and a heavy sprinkling of sarcasm, Handler’s latest literary foray verges on the impertinent. Zany tales bordering the far side of ludicrous abound as this rising star of comedy has shown she is so capable of creating. Filled with riotous tales of her perpetually unpredictable life—such as attempting to adopt a miniature horse, fooling her boyfriend into attending a funeral for a dog she claimed she had accidentally killed, her failed attempt to find her overweight driver a hook up in the Turks and Caicos, and, of course, myriad tales of torture and sibling rivalry that emerge from growing up within a large Jewish East Coast family—“Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang” may be Handler’s best book yet.

Irreverent, flippant and sassy, “Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang” is filled with missives about her CEO boyfriend who she describes as “… a large toddler, the only difference being he doesn’t cry when he wakes up,” friends and co-workers she plays tricks on and her offbeat family (what could be more perfect fodder for a comedic dispatch than one’s family after all?). Perhaps only from the mouth (or the pen) of Handler could such blatantly cheeky phrases flow. Similar to her sassy witticisms heard on her hit TV show, her book finds her waxing sarcastic about the latest in celebrity gossip, family drama and other embarrassing tidbits about the lives of her near and dear.

Some of the best lines include, “There were spilled glasses of Diet Canada Dry ginger ale strewn next to my bed that I hadn’t even attempted to clean up, leaving the carpet with the same texture it would have if the Octomom’s water had broken,” and “My bloody mary from earlier had evaporated, so I went to make myself another one,” as well as “Ted and I have always differed in policies when it comes to other humans. He’s generally not interested in people and doesn’t even pretend to try, whereas I’m fascinated by anyone and everything, especially if it involves a childhood story about an inappropriate uncle or obesity” and “… My least favorite invention, LOL. You wouldn’t say LOL if you were out to lunch with someone, so why would you write it in an instant message or an email? Just laugh alone in your office or house. I don’t need to be notified that you’re laughing. If someone is busy laughing, then how do they have the time to be typing the letters LOL?” Doozies one and all. Handler is like the entertaining yet saucy best friend we all wish we had—the one with the wild and rowdy stories that we secretly desire had happened to us.

“Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang” is this comedic author’s third book. And she seems to have the Midas touch in the publishing world considering all three of her books have turned into literary gold, simultaneously remaining on the New York Times Bestseller list for weeks on end. You may remember “My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands,” Handler’s recollections of her more memorable sexual encounters, while her other book “Are You There Vodka? It’s me Chelsea,” delves into her many quirks, including her nearly maniacal love for Belvedere vodka.

From the first chapter where Handler fondly recalls attending a sleepover where a friend taught all the guests how to attain “the feeling” to the last chapter in which she recounts her tendency to “make up stories and lie compulsively for the sake of my own amusement,” Handler has the talent of making you laugh at nearly every sentence in the entire 244 page book.

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