Are you there Vodka? It's me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler

Before I get into today's post, I just need to say that I bit it walking out of my apartment today. Sheets of ice in the parking lot = not awesome.

So another friend recommended this book to me...(I just typed us and then realized that it's not ok to refer to myself in the 3rd person plural)...and let me just say that strangely enough, the friends who recommend books to me and the books they recommend are eerily similar. I'm not sure which of my friends is going to take the most offense to that, but I'm guessing it might be Kelly and this book - but please keep in mind that I only say that because the book was quirky and at times shocking - not because I think you're a promiscuous alcoholic (although we really do need to have a talk about your drinking habits...jk).

Moving on. Are you there Vodka is a loose collection of somewhat autobiographical essays by Handler. I added the somewhat because I'm pretty sure she wasn't really dropping f-bombs at age 8. Speaking of f-bombs, I lasted until 8:32 this morning before cursing at the car in front of me for driving so slowly. So, as I said above - the book is quirky and at times shocking. It honestly made me somewhat uncomfortable. Granted, I'm not the most liberal person in the world (I'm not even the most liberal person in my group of somewhat conservative friends) - but I'm 24 years old (for a couple more months at least) and it shocked even me. So be warned. The stories are funny, yes, but they explore a part of human nature that I'm really not looking to explore...ever. I would probably describe the book mostly with the words vulgar and distasteful. But I would honestly guess that that was Handler's main idea. I finished the book - it wasn't so bad that I didn't - I guess it's somewhat like a car accident, you have to keep looking even though it's disturbing and morbid...although I'd compare this book more to a train accident when one of the trains was full of circus freaks (is circus freaks still a PC term?).

I will say this - I became so certain that the only thing I would take away from the book was a strangely dirty feeling that I was left unprepared for the multiple times throughout the book that Handler spoke in a voice that all females can relate to and made me laugh out loud. And that's not always an easy thing to do.

So in the end maybe I will just describe the book as I might describe Kelly - smart with a biting wit...overall wholly unpredictable in a way that pushes you out of your comfort zone and makes you redefine your boundaries...but not unhappily.