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moreyceyer's review against another edition
Funny and well written, just wasn’t in the mood for that
themahtin's review against another edition
3.0
It's easy to get drawn into Jim Carrey's story, but at the end you will wonder how much of it came from his head, and how much came from the co-author's. I found the book hard to put down. The book seems to be an attempt to either rewrite or obfuscate history. If I were him, I would have waited to finish the book until after portraying Joe Biden on Saturday Night Live.
Stories of "controversial" things that happened in Carrey's life are retold with completely different details. I'm referring in particular to the story of his (estranged?) lover who died of an overdose. His entire relationship with the character in the book is different, and the character in the book does not die. I did enjoy the depictions of "Jim's" friends and fellow actors, who seem to all go to the same meditation retreats of whatever, but by the time they meet their end, well...
The last few chapters reminded me a bit of the movie "Sorry to Bother You," in that a story that seemed to be about one thing (an actor's life) is suddenly about something totally impossible and obviously fictional - him watching the destruction of the planet and Carrey's death as, he presumes, the only person left after his friends had all either fought to the death, or embraced the light. The aliens are taking over the planet during historic wildfires - a fire has just taken Carrey's home and, nearly his life...
Once in a while, I'd find a quote that seemed to give some insight into what Carrey was going through at different times in his life. It's important to process the fires and I guess that he's talking about the fire destroying his home, and about him being rescued when he was almost dead, but he invents a collective of women who are amputees who rescue him, and how the aliens attack the planet at a time that happens to be when they're still trying to get away from the fires... Jim's alone at the end of his life... I'm left wanting to interview him and ask questions about some of the things from his life that I'd want to hear him talk about (vaccines, his seeming politicization, his mental health, was he really cast as Mao in a movie that never got made?, was he manic during that period...
Lots of questions and it's hard to trust the answers.
Stories of "controversial" things that happened in Carrey's life are retold with completely different details. I'm referring in particular to the story of his (estranged?) lover who died of an overdose. His entire relationship with the character in the book is different, and the character in the book does not die. I did enjoy the depictions of "Jim's" friends and fellow actors, who seem to all go to the same meditation retreats of whatever, but by the time they meet their end, well...
The last few chapters reminded me a bit of the movie "Sorry to Bother You," in that a story that seemed to be about one thing (an actor's life) is suddenly about something totally impossible and obviously fictional - him watching the destruction of the planet and Carrey's death as, he presumes, the only person left after his friends had all either fought to the death, or embraced the light. The aliens are taking over the planet during historic wildfires - a fire has just taken Carrey's home and, nearly his life...
Once in a while, I'd find a quote that seemed to give some insight into what Carrey was going through at different times in his life. It's important to process the fires and I guess that he's talking about the fire destroying his home, and about him being rescued when he was almost dead, but he invents a collective of women who are amputees who rescue him, and how the aliens attack the planet at a time that happens to be when they're still trying to get away from the fires... Jim's alone at the end of his life... I'm left wanting to interview him and ask questions about some of the things from his life that I'd want to hear him talk about (vaccines, his seeming politicization, his mental health, was he really cast as Mao in a movie that never got made?, was he manic during that period...
Lots of questions and it's hard to trust the answers.
doritobabe's review against another edition
4.0
4/5
My first review upon completion: "Super weird. Loved it."
My second review after a month:
I still love this book. I love thinking about reading this book. What a dazzling fever dream that kept me pondering but also completely engaged as the "story" unfurled.
Whatever Carrey and Vachon wanted this book to be, I am not sure. Everyone who reads it will have a differing opinion and likely tout it for being a "literary achievement", or perhaps accolades will pour in about the dark humor; the social commentary, etc. etc. For fear of being one of those folks - who are not wrong, mind you - I want to the err on the side of: "I have no idea what his point was, but I loved every page that I turned."
Why am I not rating this 5 stars then, you ask? It is because the book itself "devolved" into a "story" that, to me, was not as captivating as the caricatures developed and the somewhat-incoherent and uncomfortable ramblings that were so excellently developed in the first 2/3rds of the text. I could care less about Though these were elements I adored, I cared more about who the characters were and their stories and how they "got" to the point that they were in the story. For example, Carrey and Vachon basically gave every newly introduced person a little write up as to what happened to make them be the way they are/were in the text. These were the best fictional anecdotes; they were fun and adventurous.
I have definitely recommended this to a few people and thing it is a fun Covid read. Get your mind off things and explore a reality-fantasy.
My first review upon completion: "Super weird. Loved it."
My second review after a month:
I still love this book. I love thinking about reading this book. What a dazzling fever dream that kept me pondering but also completely engaged as the "story" unfurled.
Whatever Carrey and Vachon wanted this book to be, I am not sure. Everyone who reads it will have a differing opinion and likely tout it for being a "literary achievement", or perhaps accolades will pour in about the dark humor; the social commentary, etc. etc. For fear of being one of those folks - who are not wrong, mind you - I want to the err on the side of: "I have no idea what his point was, but I loved every page that I turned."
Why am I not rating this 5 stars then, you ask? It is because the book itself "devolved" into a "story" that, to me, was not as captivating as the caricatures developed and the somewhat-incoherent and uncomfortable ramblings that were so excellently developed in the first 2/3rds of the text. I could care less about
Spoiler
the alien invasion and the kidnapping.I have definitely recommended this to a few people and thing it is a fun Covid read. Get your mind off things and explore a reality-fantasy.
cowabungdude's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
reads_a_lot's review against another edition
5.0
The mind of an empath who sees beyond the veil. Breadcrumbs and guilt woven together like an action movie. Navigating spirituality as Thich Quang Duc.
michaelmac316's review against another edition
funny
sad
medium-paced
2.75
If you want to feel high without taking any drugs. Read this book.
julieverive's review against another edition
3.0
That book was bonkers. I'm not sure what to think. There are things I loved and things that drew on a bit too long but wow. Bonkers.
otchoumak's review against another edition
The first chapter pulled me in but once I realized this was mostly fiction, and also kind of a fever dream, I started to lose interest. May have also been Jeff Daniel’s’ narration. There is something self-important about his voice. Might be a weak reason to stop listening to a book but that’s how it goes with audiobooks…
swicksy's review against another edition
1.0
In this book, Jim Carrey references writer Charlie Kaufman. You can tell Carrey would love this to equal the unique creative mind and writings of Mr. Kaufman, but instead we get a bloated, incomprehensible and pretentious mess. There are a few moments that work, but they are few and far between. The last section of the book completely goes off the rails, and that's saying a lot for a book that starts off derailed.