Hilarious book. Wonderful to read on holiday to get you into the holiday mode. ( )

Totally relatable, laughed out loud - Kitty Flanagan is a philosopher, psychologist as well as comedian. ( )

“Had I told my mother I was writing an autobiography, she’d quite rightly have asked, ‘Why?’ Instead, this is a book of true stories and ill-informed opinions. And I believe it was Paul Simon who once said, ‘Your opinion is not important, it is merely of interest.’ So, while this book is not important, I do hope you will find it of interest. Most of all, I hope you will find it funny because that really is my favourite thing”

I did find it mildly interesting, Kitty, but mostly I found it funny. I smiled a lot, laughed out loud a few times, and spat out my drink at least once.

Kitty and I are of the same generation, so we share similar childhood experiences and attitudes. I enjoy her self deprecating humour, and her witty observations.

The only thing I thought the book lacked was a handful of photos from Kitty’s childhood. ( )

There seemed to be a few expectations not met with this month’s read of the Kitty Flanagan biography Bridge Burning. And in all fairness, this light, humorous read on Flanagan’s observations of life, does not really work as a traditional biography. Yes, we begin with the young Kitty at school, birthday parties and sleepovers, and then move on to adolescent and adult Kitty, but it is all done with her quirky and insatiable thoughts on the craziness of human behaviour, and does not really delve into what we would have considered the real Kitty.
This seems to be where most of us were disappointed. Comments tended to be mostly positive on the read itself. Light, enjoyable and mildly funny, not really laugh-out-loud though. We felt that this book (and it is actually stated by Kitty) was dragged out of her. We came to the conclusion that she is not really one to open up and get serious about herself or her lot in life.
So if you like Flanagan humour and are happy to spend a few hours in her whimsical world of people watching and unique take on life, you will thoroughly enjoy this memoir.
Monday Night Book Club

Our last book for 2019 was a light and jocular piece from one of Australia’s best-loved female comedians Kitty Flanagan. Kitty’s amusing, and often insightful take on life was just what some of us needed to end our year of reading.
Something that is just as easy to put down as it is to pick up, most of us enjoyed dipping in to her relatable stories of growing up in Australia. Her punchy delivery on stage was also apparent among the pages of this book and some of us took the opportunity to also listen to the audio narrated by Kitty herself. We agree this was a very enjoyable experience and suggest to those who struggled with the book to try listening instead. This option is quite often available now and we encourage readers to give it a go.
Bridge Burning was not to everyone taste. There were a few that felt it ‘went nowhere’ and were not really fans of her humour, so found the book a little difficult to get through. Individual taste is a big factor in a book such as this. If your funny side does not correspond to an author’s style you could be left wondering what the big deal is. This seems to be the case here. If you love Kitty’s comic jesting, (and many Australians do) then you’ll love this book. If not, it might be better to find other ‘bridges to burn’. And Kitty herself would no doubt be the first to tell you so!
Tuesday Book Club ( )