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I Can Barely Take Care Of Myself: Tales From A Happy Life Without Kids (2013)

by Jen Kirkman(Favorite Author)

3.45 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1451667000 (ISBN13: 9781451667004)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Simon & Schuster

review 1: I read as much as I could but just couldn't make it to the end which is not usually the case with me. I thought I would be able to relate based on the title, the fact that I too have chosen not to have any children, I'm also a comic and I am currently single-handedly caring for my mother. None of this made it easy for me to connect with this author. Whether it be the age difference, background or very different life experiences, I found my mind wandering and didn't find her story particularly interesting or funny for that matter.I wish her well and hope she continues to have a "happy life without kids". I know I am.
review 2: Jen Kirkman is a standup comic and staff writer for Chelsea Lately and After Lately. She has also released two CDs, Self Help and Hail t... moreo the Freaks. I have always enjoyed her on the panel on Chelsea Lately and had hoped to see her live at some point. When her book came out in 2013, I quickly purchased it. However, I wasn’t motivated enough to read it until I actually did see her perform live as the opening act to Chelsea Handler’s concert in St. Louis on April 12, 2014. I was very excited to see Ms. Kirkman and after the concert, I got out her book and read it.I Can Barely Take Care of Myself is part autobiography and memoir and part rant. Kirkman’s standup is a long, but very funny monologue on how society keeps pressuring her to have kids and how she has no interest in having any. Her book contains many of her experiences and thoughts on this same subject. She makes a lot of sense and it’s easy to understand her frustration and annoyance at having her life choices constantly questioned, intentionally or by inference.Kirkman also is open and as honest as possible about her growing up, her struggle to become a standup comedian, her failed relationships, and the friends that have supported her. I don’t want to try and write too much about her experiences and thoughts as she does a far better job than I can, and besides, she’s very funny in describing it all. This is well worth reading, especially if one is a woman with no interest in having kids and finds society’s expectations unfair and unreasonable. Kirkman has been there and knows what you’re going through. Not only will you find a sympathetic voice, but her stories will resonate. Also, the book is a valuable chronicle of one woman’s struggle to be a standup comic. Standup comedy is still a male-dominated field and women have some special challenges in being successful, not the least of which is the standard comment that women are not funny. What a crock! There are so many funny women out there doing all types of comedy from standup to sit coms to movies (Bridesmaids, anyone?). My only complaint, and it is a very small one, is that her life experiences and struggles are all seen through a lens of not wanting children. That’s certainly fine with me, but it does, on occasion, seem like flogging a dead horse. less

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