Reviews

Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Jazz Chickens by Eddie Izzard

jynclmnts's review

4.0

I bought this in paperback in a charity shop and started reading it and was a little irritated by the sheer number of footnotes (for me it disturbs the 'flow').
I then saw I could borrow the audio book from my local library's app so I did that and it's WORLDS better. How can you not love listening to Eddie talk?!

matazar's review

4.0

[Footnote]
Too many footnotes.
[\Footnote]

izziek's review

4.0

This had me laughing out loud and feeling all types of ways. Eddie is a master of words and listening to her reading her audiobook was so much fun. 
It was chaotic, and funny and the added footnotes from the audio recording were a bonus bit of content that I didn't expect, but loved. 
So fun. 

c_ward68's review

3.0

3.5*, edging to 4. Listened on audiobook, read by Eddie with quite a lot of digressions and footnotes. Oddly I’m not sure this a bonus as it was all rather repetitive. Eddie seems charming and personable and I’m sure he’s genuinely decent but I came away feeling that unless one continually overachieves, one is somehow lacking as a human being. Possibly tending towards being a bit smug?

wakenda's review

4.0

Listening to this audiobook is sort of like listening to Eddie Izzard do extra rambly stand up about his life for fourteen hours while simultaneously feeling like a personal conversation (with a huge chunk of that being “extra footnotes,” which are like a real time dvd commentary track of his thoughts and clarifications and extra stories and real time googling of facts while recording the audiobook, all good stuff. His improv skills shine through here). I love Eddie Izzard and his life is pretty fascinating, and if you like Eddie Izzard too, you’ll probably like this book. It’s funny, but kind-funny, never ever mean-funny. And hearing him talk about his sexuality is definitely interesting (he considers himself transgender now, but came of an age when transvestite was more common, so uses that too, and thinks of himself as having both boy mode and girl mode, but is only interested in women). One of the most memorable takeaways is that he says walking out of the house in a dress and heels for the first time was the hardest thing he’s ever done, harder even than running 27 marathons in 27 days, which he also did. I’ve always liked his comedy, but I have so much respect for his life and worldview now as well.

stephlunatic's review

3.0

Listened to this on audiobook and it was rambling, but so is his standup so I in general found it more amusing than annoying. I love how individual he is and appreciate his unique perspective.

pepitaphc's review against another edition

funny inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

5.0

I have loved Eddie Izzard since first seeing "Dress to Kill" when I was barely a teenager. I'd seen and loved Monty Python, but something about Eddie's comedy struck me as uniquely funny--like a clever, rambling voice I hadn't heard before lit up parts of my brain I hadn't been conscious of. I used to fall asleep to a loop of Eddie's shows and it was like having a great friend talk away the stress of my day. It was past time I read this book and I'm only sorry I only got to it now. 

shoshin's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

4.0

I haven't ever seen any of Suzy Izzard's stand-up, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I had no idea she was in Mystery Men, and I'm pretty sure I haven't seen anything else she's done. She's funny but hard to follow. I did have to do some rewinding. But I loved the book and learning more about her varied and long, determined trip of life. The audiobook was wonderful and has a lot of bonus material. If you like her comedic style, definitely do the audiobook. 

carlithian's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Dysphoria

celtic67's review

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

3.5