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A review by kyanitecourage
Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Jazz Chickens by Eddie Izzard
2.0
Trigger warnings for fatphobia, for disrespect of religion/belief in god, and subtle ableism.
Two and a half stars. And honestly, kinda being generous because I’ve adored Eddie Izzard for a long while. Rambling switches of subjects constantly and rather too much detail of day to day stuff, that ended up making it boring.
There are beautiful moments in this memoir, and hilarious moments. There is some real honest advice here. But overall, it was long and ramblings and didn’t seem cohesive. We hear almost Izzard’s entire life. Which I wouldn’t even be critical of if I felt that Izzard was putting her (using current pronouns, not the time of the book) heart into it. I definitely feel she shies away from revealing her most vulnerable self. I listened to the audiobook, which if you are interested in this book, I would in general recommend because it is Eddie Izzard giving a real voice, but then there’s constant “footnotes” that leave the book feeling broken up. While sometimes they’re interesting, other times is super boring. And that’s the main issue that happens the whole way through. There’s just a lot of information about a person’s life that can be dull to others.
Izzard fights her way to get where she is. She’s persistent and gritty. It’s impressive. But then I feel a little like she thinks everyone should be able to do anything, but they’re too lazy. She straight up mocks the concept of god, so if that would offend you, perhaps don’t read. She scorns sugary and fatty foods as the cause of various problems.
Much of the book is rambling without structure, switching timelines from childhood to adulthood for a footnote and back to childhood and on and on. There isn’t a clear theme or message throughout it. Other than maybe determination and stamina and belief in yourself can get you where you want to be. But then the ending is nice. I don’t believe Izzard to actually meant to offend anyone. Izzard wants people to care for each other. But I’ve come out of this lengthy memoir to still feel like I don’t know her. I don’t know her heart, which mostly felt very guarded.
If you’re looking for a deep dive into her gender identity, you’ll not find much here. In summary, Izzard uses “boy mode” and “girl mode” and understands that she has both and that they’re important, but leaves it at that. The rest of the content about her being trans is in regards to trying to be a trans comedian or walking in the street trans.
Her work as a comedian, a dramatic actor, a marathon runner, and political activists are the heart of this book. She strongly identifies with the work she puts in her life. If that’s you’re interested, you might want to check this out. If you were interested in the emotional growth of a human over the course of her life, you’ll only find a little here.
Two and a half stars. And honestly, kinda being generous because I’ve adored Eddie Izzard for a long while. Rambling switches of subjects constantly and rather too much detail of day to day stuff, that ended up making it boring.
There are beautiful moments in this memoir, and hilarious moments. There is some real honest advice here. But overall, it was long and ramblings and didn’t seem cohesive. We hear almost Izzard’s entire life. Which I wouldn’t even be critical of if I felt that Izzard was putting her (using current pronouns, not the time of the book) heart into it. I definitely feel she shies away from revealing her most vulnerable self. I listened to the audiobook, which if you are interested in this book, I would in general recommend because it is Eddie Izzard giving a real voice, but then there’s constant “footnotes” that leave the book feeling broken up. While sometimes they’re interesting, other times is super boring. And that’s the main issue that happens the whole way through. There’s just a lot of information about a person’s life that can be dull to others.
Izzard fights her way to get where she is. She’s persistent and gritty. It’s impressive. But then I feel a little like she thinks everyone should be able to do anything, but they’re too lazy. She straight up mocks the concept of god, so if that would offend you, perhaps don’t read. She scorns sugary and fatty foods as the cause of various problems.
Much of the book is rambling without structure, switching timelines from childhood to adulthood for a footnote and back to childhood and on and on. There isn’t a clear theme or message throughout it. Other than maybe determination and stamina and belief in yourself can get you where you want to be. But then the ending is nice. I don’t believe Izzard to actually meant to offend anyone. Izzard wants people to care for each other. But I’ve come out of this lengthy memoir to still feel like I don’t know her. I don’t know her heart, which mostly felt very guarded.
If you’re looking for a deep dive into her gender identity, you’ll not find much here. In summary, Izzard uses “boy mode” and “girl mode” and understands that she has both and that they’re important, but leaves it at that. The rest of the content about her being trans is in regards to trying to be a trans comedian or walking in the street trans.
Her work as a comedian, a dramatic actor, a marathon runner, and political activists are the heart of this book. She strongly identifies with the work she puts in her life. If that’s you’re interested, you might want to check this out. If you were interested in the emotional growth of a human over the course of her life, you’ll only find a little here.