And one more bang

If there's one female comedian who I really, really love, it's Chelsea Handler. It's just too bad that my local cable provider does not include her show, "Chelsea Lately," anymore in their lineup. I need me some Chelsea, and I need it now.

I didn't think that looking at the young adult and children's bookshelves at a local bookstore would help me get my Chelsea Handler fix. Nestled among the teenage vampire, witch, faerie, socialite fashionista young adult fiction were copies of CH's new book! Is it because of the cover that people mistakenly labeled this book as young adult? Couldn't the sales people just have read the flap or back cover to know that this is the last book you want your teenager reading?

CH's new book, Bang Bang, is still funny. Like her other books, My Horizontal Life and What's Up, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea, her latest is made up of hilarious essays from her life. In one chapter, you'll learn how she'll do anything just to get her hands on a Cabbage Patch doll when she was 11. In another, you'll laugh at her conversation with her boyfriend about buying a dolphin for their huge tank at home. And in several chapters, you get to read her many practical jokes she plays on her partner, her staff at work, and her family.

Here are some funny quotes from the book:

I once asked my father about where babies come from, and he told me that "sometimes Daddy parks his car in Mommy's garage." I had no idea what that could possibly mean, but I never went into the garage again.

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 laughing, then how do they the time to be typing the letters LOL?

My tendency to make up stories and lie compulsively for the sake of my own amusement takes up a good portion of my day and provides me with a peace of mind not easily attainable in this economic climate.

I must admit that Bang Bang isn't as funny as her two earlier books. There seems to be a missing thread here. The essays feel disjointed, far removed from each other. My Horizontal Life chronicled her hilarious one-night stands. What's Up, Chelsea? was about her professional life. Bang Bang is all over the place. And now I have my doubts whether Chelsea is really as funny as she seem to be in her show. Could some of these supposed real-life stories have been made up? Nevertheless, you'll find yourself enjoying Chelsea's wit.

Read this book if:

1. You love Chelsea's kind of humor.
2. You're looking for a few politically incorrect laughs.
3. You did some weird things when you were a kid.