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catherine_mack's review
5.0
Funny, poignant and brave. I could not put this down. Truly a great comedian and wonderful woman.
kiwichill's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Eating disorder, Blood, and Alcohol
abitterknitter's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Infertility and Racism
Minor: Animal death, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol
liz74's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.0
Disappointing. Odd format which doesn't really work.
samstillreading's review against another edition
4.0
I seem to be drawn to biographies and travel memoirs to read on my daily commute. My theory is that they’re easy to pick up and put down and there’s no gripping scenes that will have you miss your stop.
Dear Fatty was good, but I always knew when it was my stop.
Dawn French has written her autobiography as a series of letters to various people (in case you didn’t know, ‘Fatty’ is Jennifer Saunders of Absolutely Fabulous fame). It’s not strictly linear, jumping back and forth between episodes in childhood and adolescence but becoming more streamlined as she moves into adulthood. I felt she was ‘dodging’ some issues (which become clearer later in the book) and it was a bit strange to read about her love for her husband (as I’ve been told that they’ve broken up). Vicar of Dibley fans will be disappointed that the show only appears in a couple of letters.
Dawn comes across as very funny in her letters and the letters are very well written. Nothing ever drags. I found it a little difficult at times to keep up with the names of some people, but I’d recommend this as a good light read for a commute or aeroplane.
Dear Fatty was good, but I always knew when it was my stop.
Dawn French has written her autobiography as a series of letters to various people (in case you didn’t know, ‘Fatty’ is Jennifer Saunders of Absolutely Fabulous fame). It’s not strictly linear, jumping back and forth between episodes in childhood and adolescence but becoming more streamlined as she moves into adulthood. I felt she was ‘dodging’ some issues (which become clearer later in the book) and it was a bit strange to read about her love for her husband (as I’ve been told that they’ve broken up). Vicar of Dibley fans will be disappointed that the show only appears in a couple of letters.
Dawn comes across as very funny in her letters and the letters are very well written. Nothing ever drags. I found it a little difficult at times to keep up with the names of some people, but I’d recommend this as a good light read for a commute or aeroplane.
kim_brockway_gatehouse's review against another edition
4.0
Wow! I really enjoyed reading this book of memoirs. It made me cry more than laugh but that was only because of how much Dawn showed us the depth of feeling she had for her family & friends and they for her.