Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

If you're not familiar with Allie Brosh, she is a blogger, whose crude drawings and random stories might just make you laugh out loud.  She uses Paintbrush (similar to MSPaint) to draw cartoons about memorable incidents in her life.  Although her drawings are simple, she has a great way of showing a range of emotions in her characters, which are biographical.  Her stories are either funny-because-it's-true, or just completely non-sequitur (which I love too).

Brosh writes a lot about her childhood.  One of my favorite stories is how she and her sister had a toy parrot that would record whatever they would say.  They used it to drive their mother crazy, like any respectable siblings would do.

I also love stories about her dogs.

Despite their simplicity, Brosh has used her illustrations to express some pretty complex emotions.  Specifically depression.  The blend of her silly drawings and at times disturbing narratives of how she has suffered with depression is powerful.  You want to cry, and laugh at the same time.  You realize that this person drawing some of the funniest cartoons you've seen is actually...a person.  It's like realizing your favorite comedian isn't always cracking fart jokes all day.

I remember when a friend of mine first told me about Brosh's blog.  I checked it out.  It was pretty funny, so I periodically checked in on it.  But the posts slowed, and shortly after an excited "I'm writing a book!" post, Brosh posted "Adventures in Depression."  She struggled, and it was apparent.  Not just from the lack of posts on her site, but also from her posts themselves.  But her openness about her struggles just made me love her even more, and hopefully, if you don't already, her book or blog will make you love her too.

Click here to view Allie Brosh's blog, Hyperbole and a Half.

Belly Laughs by Jenny McCarthy

I must admit, when I think of Jenny McCarthy, my mind goes back to her MTV days. I pride myself on the fact that I grew up on MTV during the 80's but was sad to learn via wikipedia that McCarthy's MTV heydays were in the mid to late 90's. Did I really watch MTV THAT LONG?!? Or maybe I'm romanticizing the whole 80's era...maybe it was more 90's watching I did. But that's not as cool in my opinion. Does this make sense to ANYONE?

Anyway, the second thing that comes to mind is that Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carey were an item. Not really a big fan of either, whose faces and personas seem like caricatures more than real, interesting, complex people. What must the sex between the two have been like? I can only imagine Jim Carey ala Cable Guy, "free cable is the ultimate aphrodesiac, Jenny" (insert contorted facial expression here - met with McCarthy's over the top exaggerated O face here).

But I suppose McCarthy is a comedian of sorts. So maybe her book about her pregnancy (with now ex-husband John Asher) would provide some comic relief, if not insights into the glories of being knocked up. Each chapter is an anecdote on some kind of pregnancy symptom, like nausea, constipation, gas, you name it. Thankfully for the book, McCarthy had a HORRIBLE pregnancy in terms of experiencing the widest range of unpleasant side effects you could pick up at the pregnancy symptom buffet. Thankfully for me, she keeps each "chapter" short, to only a few pages (although I'll give her arguable status as a comedian, I won't go so far as to say she's a talented writer).

But, as a pregnant lady myself, the book was entertaining, and a quick read. At the very least, it made me feel triumphant in my own pregnancy since I've been pretty symptom free so far (knock on wood). And her saving grace? That glorious picture of her on the cover! May all pregnant women at least feel as good as she looks at some point in their pregnancy. If you believe her book, that's all she had going for her during that time in her life!

The Bedwetter, Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee by Sarah Silverman

If you know anything about Sarah Silverman, it's that she loves to joke about farts, penises, and vaginas. But if you don't categorize her comedy as TMI, feel free to pick up her book and learn a buttload more about this young comidenne.

Surprisingly, the book starts off on a somewhat depressing tone, as Silverman talks about her tortured childhood. Teased, insecure, and depressed, Silverman as a child is more tragedy than comedy. But if you can get past the first 75 pages or so, the book picks up with Silverman talking about moving to New York and how she started doing open mics at comedy clubs. She works into her singular season at SNL in the early 90's and progresses to her move to LA where she works on her own show, The Sarah Silverman Program.

Is there inspiration in this book? Perhaps (I DID use the word "vagina" on my facebook page the day I finished reading it...) The fact that her life intersects with a lot of great comedians and writers before any of them really became successful is interesting. And her reflections on her childhood are relatable. But I'm not sure there are any real life lessons to be learned from this book, but it's a good read if you just want something easy and entertaining. And yeah, the crotch humor is a plus.

The Hubs' take: "I don't really care for her humor." Crotch humor? Really? Who doesn't like crotch humor?

Reviewed by Cathy