Less screechy than imagined! ( )

Well-written and surprisingly heavy on Jewish stuff. Felt like I was reading something by mom's fun, loud friend. ( )

Good book overall. Roseanne tells about her early life growing up in Salt Lake City UT as a Jew where everyone else is a Mormon. The first two parts of the book were interesting in that it reads more like an autobiography. The final section where she talks more about her stand-up and going on to do comedy feels a bit disjointed and/or hurried in compared to the other parts of the book. ( )

I *really* wanted Roseanne's latest book, but this was all that was handy at the library. It wasn't bad - it was definitely a quick read, and entertaining - but it's a good example of a work from an artist unfamiliar with the medium. I genuinely could not tell when she was trying to be funny, or ironic, or sarcastic vs when she was just being kind of nuts. It made the whole thing a slightly uncomfortable read, and it really only picked up as she started to describe her early career - but then it moved into a essayish tone that clashed with the earlier memoir-esque pattern.

I like Roseanne, and I'd love to see some of her standup from this era - I bet it comes across brilliantly on stage. As a memoir, this is not awesome (and the stray freeform New-Agey poetry was a bit more than I could bear) but it's not bad. I still want to read the new one. ( )

Surprisingly good (and hilarious) autobiography, written after she got famous, but before she went nuts, dropped her last name, and started binging on plastic surgery. Very frank about her origins, which were harsh. ( )