rmgebhardt's review against another edition
4.0
I never would have guessed that Michael Ian Black would be able to simultaneously be easy to relate to, maintain his brand of humor, show moments of touching emotion, and be so engaging. I may have expected one or two of those things, but not all of them. He has, however, created a wonderful narrative of the important moments of his life, seen through his eyes, and expressed in ways that we all feel, but may not want to admit that we do.
sum1tookmyshoes's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
3.5
This autobiography starts off as bit of a chore to read. However, after a certain point it becomes a blast and unable to be put down. While Michael just talks about his life, he adds his established brand of humor and witty-ness to it. It's nothing short of a fun, mindless read.
slightly_devious's review against another edition
2.0
I ended up skimming the majority of this book. Expected it to be fall-out-of-your-chair funny.
sonia_reppe's review against another edition
4.0
About halfway through this got really clever, funny and insightful. Starting with the chapter about his dad's death, there were some great sentences. 3.5 stars.
blevins's review against another edition
3.0
After enjoying listening to Rob Lowe read an autobiography, I thought I'd listen to comedian/actor Michael Ian Black do the same. Black has a very dry sense of humor, which I like, and hearing him talk in a brutally honest way about his wife, children or other normal topics made me chuckle quite a bit. It's obvious that Black is just winding up the reader in places [I'm sure he's had to talk to his wife and tell her that he's gonna embellish for the sake of producing laughs] but he rips on himself as much as he does his wife, kids or Alan Alda, so it's all in the name of humor.
tabandvelcro's review against another edition
4.0
I fully expected to laugh when reading this book, but I did not also expect to CRY. Ok so I didn't cry - but I think it really served Michael Ian Black well to get a little more introspective and serious when it came to his second effort. That's not to say this book isn't funny, because it is, but it has the emotions and subject matter to really help back it up. I imagine this might be a five star book for those who are married with families. Or NOT? Good job, Michael.
itsgg's review against another edition
1.0
Michael Ian Black has his talents as an actor/comedian, but he should stop trying to be a writer. Even setting aside the fact that this book reveals him to be FAR more of a douchebag than I originally realized, his writing style is very similar to unfunny dad-comic Dave Barry. It's irritating, and not particularly funny. Further, he has a self-conscious habit of fake self-deprecation, when he pokes fun at himself for things that are only borderline embarrassing (in order to prove himself less of a douchebag?) while reserving almost no self-awareness for his truly awful qualities and/or behavior (such as hitting on his future wife while she was living with her boyfriend, then secretly carrying on an affair with her for some time before she broke up with the then-BF). Finally, he seems to believe he's the only one "bold" enough to talk about how marriage is incredibly trying at times, and raising small children is awful. News flash: That's not new material, and he certainly doesn't retell it in a way that's fresh or entertaining. TL;DR: Skip it.
marryallthepeople's review against another edition
1.0
Meh. Some funny one-liners but I'm not really sure who the author is except fr being a dooshbag...
aovenus's review against another edition
3.0
The narrative is raw, blunt and real, and yet unexpectedly humorous. The author is unafraid to tell the truth, even at the risk of sounding like a jerk, which is most the time in the book. I didn’t know Michael Ian Black, nor did I think I would be interested in what he has to say. But the book turned out to be quite relatable!