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I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight
INCLUDES NEW MATERIAL FOR PAPERBACK EDITION
With all her notorious, righteous comic rage, Margaret Cho lays out in no uncertain terms what's wrong, what's right, and what's definitely worth fighting for.
That includes: freedom of expression, gay rights, racial equality, the right to choose, and the right to life-a real life, on your own freethinking, liberty-loving all-American terms.
Cho's is a vehement, principled, and resoundingly funny political agenda, and with this manifesto she encourages us all to go through our warrior rituals now-it's time to get visible, get loud, and "get your war on."
With all her notorious, righteous comic rage, Margaret Cho lays out in no uncertain terms what's wrong, what's right, and what's definitely worth fighting for.
That includes: freedom of expression, gay rights, racial equality, the right to choose, and the right to life-a real life, on your own freethinking, liberty-loving all-American terms.
Cho's is a vehement, principled, and resoundingly funny political agenda, and with this manifesto she encourages us all to go through our warrior rituals now-it's time to get visible, get loud, and "get your war on."
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
28 people are currently reading
757 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Cho
30 books142 followersMargaret Cho is an American comedian, fashion designer and actress. Cho is known for her stage performances, recordings, and concert movies. Her shows are a mixture of her comedy stylings with strong political and cultural commentary. Apart from these shows she has also directed and appeared in music videos, and started her own clothing line. She has frequently supported gay rights and identifies herself as queer and has won awards for her humanitarian efforts.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews
July 8, 2009
This is sucking so far. I am a big fan of Margaret Cho, but because she's FUNNY. This book is anything but. She's angry, and I feel like I'm being scolded or yelled at. I even agree with most of what she's saying, but the tone is incredibly off-putting. I intend to finish it, but this is so far the worst book I've read in a long time.
Updated 7/8 -- I finished it last night, and my opinion didn't change much. If you read some of the other reviews, you'll see that there's a division between people who love Margaret Cho and would watch her eat ice cream and read the phone book and people who love Margaret Cho, but still expect quality writing and humor. I have discovered that I am in the latter camp.
Updated 7/8 -- I finished it last night, and my opinion didn't change much. If you read some of the other reviews, you'll see that there's a division between people who love Margaret Cho and would watch her eat ice cream and read the phone book and people who love Margaret Cho, but still expect quality writing and humor. I have discovered that I am in the latter camp.
October 30, 2011
A few times in this book, Margaret Cho asks why she isn't asked her opinion and only white men in business suits get to share their ideas on the news. After reading this book, I have a feeling of why she isn't invited on the news to speak that often. Most of this book was of her spouting off emotional rants that were not backed by an evidence. She was shooting from the gut.
Two of the most obvious display of this lack of refinement in expressing her opinion were of her rant on George W. Bush and a rebuttal to an article written about her. Her Bush monologue was akin to a freshman in college spouting off sound bites that he heard from other "informed" students with no real experience or knowledge of the situation. In rebuke of the article, she admits many times throughout the spiel that she has never read the article but still felt she had to reply.
Despite this negativity, if Margaret Cho wished to express her opinions about minorities, immigrant families, life of as a woman or gay and lesbian issues, I am all ears. She has personal experience and empirical evidence about these situations because of her life.
Cho does say a lot of humorous things and in stand up she has a good delivery. Unfortunately, her speaking and written style parallels a girl fresh out of high school. I personally prefer something a little bit more refined.
Two of the most obvious display of this lack of refinement in expressing her opinion were of her rant on George W. Bush and a rebuttal to an article written about her. Her Bush monologue was akin to a freshman in college spouting off sound bites that he heard from other "informed" students with no real experience or knowledge of the situation. In rebuke of the article, she admits many times throughout the spiel that she has never read the article but still felt she had to reply.
Despite this negativity, if Margaret Cho wished to express her opinions about minorities, immigrant families, life of as a woman or gay and lesbian issues, I am all ears. She has personal experience and empirical evidence about these situations because of her life.
Cho does say a lot of humorous things and in stand up she has a good delivery. Unfortunately, her speaking and written style parallels a girl fresh out of high school. I personally prefer something a little bit more refined.
January 11, 2009
This book was pretty hit-or-miss. Even though I am also an ultraliberal, I was annoyed how intolerant Cho is of people with different views. She also contradicts herself at times - for example, at one point she makes the rather extreme statement "If you're not a feminist, you should just kill yourself." But then a few pages later she says how much she loves hip-hop music, and she knows that much of it is horribly violent and mysoginist, but she just doesn't care because it's so wonderful. So there's a big double standard there. I enjoyed some of her essays, but the book was nowhere near as funny or entertaining as most of her stand-up routines.
February 27, 2008
She's shrill, she's pissed, she's funny as hell.
Okay, so this might be just a notch above bathroom lit.
It's still a great, fun read and she usually cracks me up about three times a page.
I love her stand up persona....I love how she delivers this indictment of the Bush administration with the conviction of Martin Luther King...
"We need to recognize that a government that would deny a gay man the right to a bridal registry is a fascist state!"
Okay, so this might be just a notch above bathroom lit.
It's still a great, fun read and she usually cracks me up about three times a page.
I love her stand up persona....I love how she delivers this indictment of the Bush administration with the conviction of Martin Luther King...
"We need to recognize that a government that would deny a gay man the right to a bridal registry is a fascist state!"
June 20, 2007
I loved her bit on Ann Coulter. If you read no other part of this book, at least read that part.
August 7, 2012
I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight is a collection of comedienne Margaret Cho’s blog essays, and boy does that show. Cho is considered to be a powerfully expressive and genuinely funny stand-up comedienne by many, including me, but I feel that this book doesn’t do her that much justice. It feels like a jumbled, confusing collection with very little humour in it, and there isn’t as much ‘oomph’ and power behind Cho’s statements as there is in her shows.
As always, Cho covers issues that absolutely need to be discussed in my opinion, and she tackles contemporary topics that she has strong opinions on. This is interesting to read if one’s looking for just a little bit more background into the person that is Cho, but as most of it comes off as ranting and disjointed, it’s not a very entertaining or well-written read. I imagine that the essays might be a somewhat enjoyable, liberal activist read if they were read separately and with some time in-between them (as they probably have been read in their original format, as blog posts), but they aren’t that strong all bundled together in this book. There is nothing wrong with rants or anger, and Cho does have a valid voice which she should be able to let the world hear, but it just gets plain boring when presented in this manner. It’s all very personal, without many backups or well-brought arguments, and it simply doesn’t seem to work that well in the format that it is in.
As far as the actual content of the segments… Well, that I consider to be problematic as well. Like I said, Cho’s writing mostly comes off as ranting, disjointed, and with no real support. And especially in the first theme chapter of the book (Who do you think you are?), she often refers to incidents or happenings so vaguely that I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, again taking away from the strength of her writing. (That said, this book is mostly about Cho and her experiences in the USA, of course, but that might warrant quite a few look-ups on people, politicians or incidents for the non-USA-based readers.)
Don’t get me wrong, there are also a number of segments that I really enjoyed, and in which Cho managed to get her point across quite beautifully (My mother’s heart immediately comes to mind). This book is not an inherently bad read by all means, but it just doesn’t hold up to Cho’s comical genius on stage, and reads as a poor attempt at a book. I would’ve liked to see more work on turning the original blog entries into something more than I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight is right now.
Everything considered, this book simply doesn’t seem to be a very suitable medium for Cho to present her views to her audience. Constructions and rants that might work better on the stage seem to fall flat in this particular writing work of hers, and mostly failed to elicit any type of emotional response from me. I felt this was a pity, as I do think Cho has a valid voice and a valid story to tell (and is a great comedienne in general), but I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight is definitely not one of her best works. It’s probably best suited for people who are already fans of her work and simply wish to absorb more of it, though be warned that there’s little humour in this book (and that it feels quite jumbled in general).
As always, Cho covers issues that absolutely need to be discussed in my opinion, and she tackles contemporary topics that she has strong opinions on. This is interesting to read if one’s looking for just a little bit more background into the person that is Cho, but as most of it comes off as ranting and disjointed, it’s not a very entertaining or well-written read. I imagine that the essays might be a somewhat enjoyable, liberal activist read if they were read separately and with some time in-between them (as they probably have been read in their original format, as blog posts), but they aren’t that strong all bundled together in this book. There is nothing wrong with rants or anger, and Cho does have a valid voice which she should be able to let the world hear, but it just gets plain boring when presented in this manner. It’s all very personal, without many backups or well-brought arguments, and it simply doesn’t seem to work that well in the format that it is in.
As far as the actual content of the segments… Well, that I consider to be problematic as well. Like I said, Cho’s writing mostly comes off as ranting, disjointed, and with no real support. And especially in the first theme chapter of the book (Who do you think you are?), she often refers to incidents or happenings so vaguely that I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, again taking away from the strength of her writing. (That said, this book is mostly about Cho and her experiences in the USA, of course, but that might warrant quite a few look-ups on people, politicians or incidents for the non-USA-based readers.)
Don’t get me wrong, there are also a number of segments that I really enjoyed, and in which Cho managed to get her point across quite beautifully (My mother’s heart immediately comes to mind). This book is not an inherently bad read by all means, but it just doesn’t hold up to Cho’s comical genius on stage, and reads as a poor attempt at a book. I would’ve liked to see more work on turning the original blog entries into something more than I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight is right now.
Everything considered, this book simply doesn’t seem to be a very suitable medium for Cho to present her views to her audience. Constructions and rants that might work better on the stage seem to fall flat in this particular writing work of hers, and mostly failed to elicit any type of emotional response from me. I felt this was a pity, as I do think Cho has a valid voice and a valid story to tell (and is a great comedienne in general), but I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight is definitely not one of her best works. It’s probably best suited for people who are already fans of her work and simply wish to absorb more of it, though be warned that there’s little humour in this book (and that it feels quite jumbled in general).
June 23, 2017
It's bad when you can't even classify a book by Margaret Cho as "humor" on your Goodreads bookshelf. While I am also a far lefty who shares Cho's political beliefs, this book was bad. Random rantings about various topics, most often gay marriage/ LGBT issues and race and war, aren't really her forte. Glad she's passionate and loud, but her appeal has always been that she's also funny- perhaps her schtick doesn't translate to books, or perhaps she was trying to be too serious in this one, but it wasn't fun to read at all, and since it's over a decade old, it was slightly jarring to be reading about all the vitriol against GW Bush (lord help us if she writes about Trump- so. much. worse.). That said, the amount of noise made about gay marriage, including by celebrities like Ms. Cho, helped, and it was a small comfort to know that the DOMA was defeated and the Supreme Court ruled that gay people are allowed to marry since this book's publication. I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this book to people, though, because it disjointed, not funny, and not particularly original or insightful, and at this date, not even timely. Only one star. Wish I liked it more, because I am a Margaret Cho fan.
April 14, 2011
I love me some Margaret Cho, but not so much this book. I personally agree with almost everything she says here and enjoy her exercising her mind and voicing her frustrations with being a woman of color. However, I hated how this book was formatted. It's basically a bunch of blog entries made into a book. Also, while I did agree with most of what she has to say, when I did disagree with her I couldn't help but kind of shake my head at her ignorance. Here she is striving and fighting against ignorance and yet she has her own on full display in some passages. I could see myself reading this book as separate blog entries and going, "Yea! You're right girl!", but it didn't work for me at all in book format.
November 20, 2008
I loved this book and read it twice at work on CD. I was expecting it to be a comedic book because I know she's a stand-up comic, but I was wrong. This book has funny moments, but it mostly has a gloves-off look at life. I loved it. I found myself at my desk a couple of times with tears in my eyes. Everything she said about dieting and bellydance was absolutely right. And in some spots she was the voice of my outrage.
February 6, 2009
Let me start off by saying I LOVE Margaret Cho. I've seen her perform live. I went to her reading and book signing for "I'm the One That I Want" (which I loved). I watched every episode of The Cho Show, either cracking up at Margaret's antics or feeling emotionally moved.
I did not like this book. I was bored by it. I couldn't even finish it. Maybe the topics were just more political than I wanted. But I still heart Margaret Cho and look forward to watching and reading her future work.
I did not like this book. I was bored by it. I couldn't even finish it. Maybe the topics were just more political than I wanted. But I still heart Margaret Cho and look forward to watching and reading her future work.
July 26, 2017
I liked this book but my criteria for rating a book a 4 is that I would recommend it to my friends. It is very political and starts out pretty strikingly with her personal experiences and some things about racism against asians. But later we get generic liberal jokes. This was written during the Bush years and so it is pretty outdated because we already went two steps ahead, with Obama and the Trump. Fun times
November 7, 2010
This book, which is mostly comprised of Cho's blog entries leading up to 2004 or 2005, was just as you would expect from Cho: loud and to the point. And that's a good thing :)
If you like Margaret Cho, it's a must read. If you don't, you should read it anyway. You might just come away with your eyes more opened that before.
If you like Margaret Cho, it's a must read. If you don't, you should read it anyway. You might just come away with your eyes more opened that before.
March 26, 2012
Holy crap she is funny. And smart, and politically aware, and if you tend to run on the liberal side of the spectrum you should read this book. If you don't mind a lot of swearing, which I obviously don't. I disagreed with her a couple of times, but still loved this book.
June 28, 2007
the survival guide to making it through to 2008
August 1, 2008
Written in 2005, Cho writes about racism, sexism, politics, and having the strength to keep fighting.
November 18, 2008
Sometimes, even if you are a comedienne, you have to get angry, get it all out of your system and say exactly what is on your mind...even if its not the usual comedy in your stand up act. Margaret Cho has done that---something we all need to do considering the political climate we have lived under since the hijacking of the White House by Dubya and his cronies. Once Bush # 2 leaves office, this country will be in a horrible state (actually its already in a horrible state!) and all Margaret is doing is reacting to the devastation created not only by Bush but by the conservative religious right that he so vigorously caters to.
The topics Margaret rants about (and rightly so) ranges from racism, which she has experienced, to the venomous hatred that people have toward gay people and any rights they are asking for. I've always found it so strange that so many Christians have an overpowering hatred of homosexuals when Christ, himself, is a symbol of compassion and love for others. The one group who should be showing more love than anyone else devotes a great deal of hatred to a group of people who only want the same rights in a country that was founded to give its citizens the liberty to choose and live life as an individual without the government forcing unwelcome regulations on his/her personal life.
To my delight she rails on the ridiculous and overbearing Bill O'Reilly and the slender blonde, well dressed daughter of the devil better known as Ann Coulter. While people like O'Reilly and Coulter spew their hatred for anyone but those who appeal to the right wing, Margaret is standing up for those who are being victimized, for people who are looked down upon, for misfits who don't meet the outdated standards of the moral majority or the Republican party. She is standing up for the rights of you and me, for anyone who isn't a cardboard cut out of what conservatives think the typical man or woman should be. She is fighting for you and me to be who we are WITHOUT APOLOGY!
If you are a Margaret Cho fan, you should support her in this endeavor. We should not only support her but also let our voices be heard with her so that the corrupt men who run this great country will see that this country belongs to US and not them. Until Americans realize that politicians and big business have stolen our government and how little our opinions matter, until we make them KNOWN, they will continue on this path and the quality of all of our lives will continue to deteriorate.
This may not be the funniest material Margaret has written but it is certainly necessary. I hope that she will continue to be bold and speak her mind, eventually awakening the sleeping masses to the danger of our disappearing personal freedoms. We need a thousand Chos screaming out to this nation about the injustices that are occuring daily!! Buy this book and share it with a friend!
The topics Margaret rants about (and rightly so) ranges from racism, which she has experienced, to the venomous hatred that people have toward gay people and any rights they are asking for. I've always found it so strange that so many Christians have an overpowering hatred of homosexuals when Christ, himself, is a symbol of compassion and love for others. The one group who should be showing more love than anyone else devotes a great deal of hatred to a group of people who only want the same rights in a country that was founded to give its citizens the liberty to choose and live life as an individual without the government forcing unwelcome regulations on his/her personal life.
To my delight she rails on the ridiculous and overbearing Bill O'Reilly and the slender blonde, well dressed daughter of the devil better known as Ann Coulter. While people like O'Reilly and Coulter spew their hatred for anyone but those who appeal to the right wing, Margaret is standing up for those who are being victimized, for people who are looked down upon, for misfits who don't meet the outdated standards of the moral majority or the Republican party. She is standing up for the rights of you and me, for anyone who isn't a cardboard cut out of what conservatives think the typical man or woman should be. She is fighting for you and me to be who we are WITHOUT APOLOGY!
If you are a Margaret Cho fan, you should support her in this endeavor. We should not only support her but also let our voices be heard with her so that the corrupt men who run this great country will see that this country belongs to US and not them. Until Americans realize that politicians and big business have stolen our government and how little our opinions matter, until we make them KNOWN, they will continue on this path and the quality of all of our lives will continue to deteriorate.
This may not be the funniest material Margaret has written but it is certainly necessary. I hope that she will continue to be bold and speak her mind, eventually awakening the sleeping masses to the danger of our disappearing personal freedoms. We need a thousand Chos screaming out to this nation about the injustices that are occuring daily!! Buy this book and share it with a friend!
September 6, 2015
I bought about five autobiographical books from comics, Cho, Billy Cyrstal, Roseanne Barr, George Lopez and Kathy Griffin. The Barr ad Lopez books were unreadable, the Billy Crystal book was good, but light-hearted fluff, haven't read the Griffin book yet, but I really enjoyed this book from Cho more than I expected. Some parts were tough getting through, but then she would surprise with some spiritual insights and wisdom. I'm not at all familiar with her stand-up or comedy at all, but I do stand-up comedy and I like where she's coming from, she's a subversive comic looking to take down the system because it's hurt her and the people she loves and she's pissed! But loving. I found myself in deep agreement with her politics and her views on comedy, she's not playing nice and is willing to take the heat, unlike, in my opinion Bill Maher, Steven Colbert and yes, John Stewart. Those comics pose no threat to the system, Cho does. Cho is a real Patriot, loves freedom and free expression and I think she was ahead of her time in seeing the looming threat our country is facing now. I'll pay more attention to her from now on.
January 18, 2013
If nothing else, this book makes for a good bathroom read. Cho covers many subjects, and has the uber-liberal stance you'd expect, which I'm mostly good with. She does unveil many issues that our society would just as soon forget and sweep under the rug, which made it more enlightening than I'm used to for a comedian's textual rant. However, she steps into pseudo-scientific "what the bleep" territory at times, which could easily make a rationalist reader uneasy.
On a personal note, I was truly offended at her proclamation that anyone who didn't classify themselves feminists should commit suicide. The term has become so nebulous thanks to some extremists with a persecution complex that I'm getting ready to roll under the "misogynist" label with pride. Because I think equal rights does not mean kissing their feet, I am a hater to these nimrods. That's a road bump for any male reader who is also left uncertain where to stand.
End all, liberals will generally enjoy it, moderates will be challenged, and neo-cons won't get past page one.
On a personal note, I was truly offended at her proclamation that anyone who didn't classify themselves feminists should commit suicide. The term has become so nebulous thanks to some extremists with a persecution complex that I'm getting ready to roll under the "misogynist" label with pride. Because I think equal rights does not mean kissing their feet, I am a hater to these nimrods. That's a road bump for any male reader who is also left uncertain where to stand.
End all, liberals will generally enjoy it, moderates will be challenged, and neo-cons won't get past page one.
August 29, 2015
THE UNABRIDGED AUDIOBOOK READ BY MARGARET CHO:
Cho's blistering, funny and articulate follow-up to her 2001 memoir "I'm the One That I Want", is a collection of essays declaring war on sexism, racism, homophobia and apathy. While many of the pieces have appeared on her prolific blog (www.margaretcho.com ), there is a distinct pleasure in hearing Cho articulate them herself.
Fans of the standup comedian's concert films (including Notorious C.H.O. and Assassin ) should be aware that this is not a series of comic riffs but thoughtful, often incendiary manifestos. Unlike many comics who read with an eye on the upcoming punch line, Cho is a relaxed narrator who takes great joy in playing with words as well as ideas. She talks about the personal (her elastic sexuality, the media's reaction to her marriage, hate mail she receives), the political (gay marriage, the White House's "war on errorism") and pop culture (defending Courtney Love, Martha Stewart, Michael Jackson and even The Passion of the Christ ). Helpfully, virtually all essays begin with a new CD track.
Cho's blistering, funny and articulate follow-up to her 2001 memoir "I'm the One That I Want", is a collection of essays declaring war on sexism, racism, homophobia and apathy. While many of the pieces have appeared on her prolific blog (www.margaretcho.com ), there is a distinct pleasure in hearing Cho articulate them herself.
Fans of the standup comedian's concert films (including Notorious C.H.O. and Assassin ) should be aware that this is not a series of comic riffs but thoughtful, often incendiary manifestos. Unlike many comics who read with an eye on the upcoming punch line, Cho is a relaxed narrator who takes great joy in playing with words as well as ideas. She talks about the personal (her elastic sexuality, the media's reaction to her marriage, hate mail she receives), the political (gay marriage, the White House's "war on errorism") and pop culture (defending Courtney Love, Martha Stewart, Michael Jackson and even The Passion of the Christ ). Helpfully, virtually all essays begin with a new CD track.
September 19, 2017
I love to listen to Margaret Cho on Pandora: Women in Comedy and watch her on DVD....
I like her views on life, her honesty & her fight for humanitarianism... She is right on and bluntly honest.
Apparently, however, I do not like reading her books. This is the 3rd I've read and the 2nd I didn't like. I was thinking about this last night and I was comparing my dislike of reading her work to my reaction to Andy Rooney's books.... Which was/is the same. I love the sound clips & the visuals, but reading them is tediously boring for me....
I find watching & listening them both enjoyable & funny, but not reading them..... It is like an overdose of birthday cake.
There was one other thing that peeved me, There was a great quote by Jerry Seinfeld comparing Margaret Cho to Richard Pryor, but is was wrongly attributed to some newspaper on the back of the cover....
What she says in her book, is the same as her stand-up routines, they are funnier in her live voice than her voice in my head....
I like her views on life, her honesty & her fight for humanitarianism... She is right on and bluntly honest.
Apparently, however, I do not like reading her books. This is the 3rd I've read and the 2nd I didn't like. I was thinking about this last night and I was comparing my dislike of reading her work to my reaction to Andy Rooney's books.... Which was/is the same. I love the sound clips & the visuals, but reading them is tediously boring for me....
I find watching & listening them both enjoyable & funny, but not reading them..... It is like an overdose of birthday cake.
There was one other thing that peeved me, There was a great quote by Jerry Seinfeld comparing Margaret Cho to Richard Pryor, but is was wrongly attributed to some newspaper on the back of the cover....
What she says in her book, is the same as her stand-up routines, they are funnier in her live voice than her voice in my head....
October 9, 2007
I have always liked Margaret Cho ("I'm the one that I want" was one of her best comedy acts and books. However, I felt this book was too much bitching and raving and not enough humor. Interesting, Margaret who is an extreme left libral (ain't nothin' wrong with that) is very intolerant of anyone who does not share her exact same views (got a big problem with that). If I had to sum this book up in one sentence I felt that Margaret believes "If you don't openly accept your child/neighbor/friend who is a transgender, blood-letting, feminist who refuses to eat meat but is okay with carrying leather bags that were made out of 8 alligators then you are a waste of life and should not be on this planet". Okay that's a bit extreme. Lets just say I smiled a few times and yawned a few more.............
July 11, 2011
I possibly liked this book for the reason many reviewers disliked it: I thoroughly enjoy a humorous rant and there are plenty of those in there. I haven't seen Margaret Cho perform, nor have read any of her other books so I didn't really have any expectations. I came across it at the library while looking for something else and I enjoy her writings online (and admire her activism) so I decided to give it a shot.
It wasn't terribly heavy reading but that's okay, I need a break from that sometimes. It's important to read what marginalized authors have to say, particularly for people coming from places of privilege (though virtually everyone has some form of privilege); this includes myself. Some of the things she alluded to in this book make me want to seek out earlier works.
So yeah, I considered it worth the read and enjoyed it.
It wasn't terribly heavy reading but that's okay, I need a break from that sometimes. It's important to read what marginalized authors have to say, particularly for people coming from places of privilege (though virtually everyone has some form of privilege); this includes myself. Some of the things she alluded to in this book make me want to seek out earlier works.
So yeah, I considered it worth the read and enjoyed it.
November 4, 2011
Listened to this on audio, and oddly enough, as Cho is such a terrific live performer, her reading really fell flat. It seemed as though she were reading someone else's work and not her own. As I was listening, I kept thinking to myself "This would really be so much better as a blog..." In the conclusion, she explains that they do actually come from her blog.
I see that some other reviewers really rated this low because they were expecting 6 discs of her stand-up routine. Having read the back of the box (and well, the TITLE), it was pretty obvious that this was a politically-oriented work. She makes absolutely astute observations, and is very open about where her philosophy originates. I came away with not only a new understanding of Margaret Cho, but an even greater appreciation of her. Had I read it rather than listened, I would most likely have given it the full five stars.
I see that some other reviewers really rated this low because they were expecting 6 discs of her stand-up routine. Having read the back of the box (and well, the TITLE), it was pretty obvious that this was a politically-oriented work. She makes absolutely astute observations, and is very open about where her philosophy originates. I came away with not only a new understanding of Margaret Cho, but an even greater appreciation of her. Had I read it rather than listened, I would most likely have given it the full five stars.
October 10, 2007
There are some real gems in this collection of essays, but there was also a good deal of underdeveloped or rant-like fluff that wasn't particularly interesting to me, even though I agree with most of Cho's politics. My favorite line in the whole collection was about gay marriage and how detractors try to get people all riled up about gay people getting married and living in their neighborhoods, "as if a newly married gay couple would choose to live in a trailer park." Cho has essays here on everything from the Bush administration to the Iraq War to various forms of racial discrimination to sexual identity to the death penaltly. She is also able to express, very clearly, her love for David Bowie and Richard Pryor.
February 5, 2008
i was disappointed by this book but only because i had really really high expectations for it. for some reason, i expected more political analysis but instead got ranting which isn't necessarily a bad thing when it's margaret cho doing it.
overall, the book is more of margaret reflecting on her personal life more than anything else. the part i enjoyed the most was the entry about how her mom drew her a treasure map of where all her jewelery was hidden. oh asian mothers.
i also learned from this book that she is married.
it's not the best margaret cho has to offer but i think most of her fans would still enjoy this read.
overall, the book is more of margaret reflecting on her personal life more than anything else. the part i enjoyed the most was the entry about how her mom drew her a treasure map of where all her jewelery was hidden. oh asian mothers.
i also learned from this book that she is married.
it's not the best margaret cho has to offer but i think most of her fans would still enjoy this read.
October 25, 2009
Some good bits interspersed between rantings. Was expecting more from a book read by the author -- less recitation, I suppose, and more conversationalistic style. Do not read/listen to unless you are liberal or have an open mind about such things as most of the ranting is aimed at close-minded conservatives but does not seem to distinguish them from open-minded conservatives at all. This book was culled from the authors blogs, which I assume is why there is so much ranting and less story-telling.
June 8, 2015
While I found Cho's obvious and railing anger rather refreshing I never quite took to her rambling lay out of stories. There are divisions in the book yes, but the constant topic-jumping made me feel like there just wasn't much effort put into this. It's like a collection of half-baked rants stapled together and this is supposed to be a book? It feels more like a blog, just printed and published as was.
So sorry, but it's a thumbs down from me. There's not much reason for anyone to read this even though some of the topics are still very much relevant today.
So sorry, but it's a thumbs down from me. There's not much reason for anyone to read this even though some of the topics are still very much relevant today.
October 5, 2015
I've tried to read this book twice. I got it several years ago and made it about halfway through before losing interest and moving on to other books. I recently picked it up again and made it maybe... a fifth of the way through before stopping.
It reads like a series of angry blog rants, and these are topics I agree with her on! I'm super liberal and I like her stand up, but I can't handle reading through this book. It's not funny and it's just stressful to read. I think I'm going to end up giving this away.
It reads like a series of angry blog rants, and these are topics I agree with her on! I'm super liberal and I like her stand up, but I can't handle reading through this book. It's not funny and it's just stressful to read. I think I'm going to end up giving this away.
August 10, 2007
While I agree with some of her political views, reading this book is like reading a rant. It would probably be a lot more enjoyable in audio-book format. She has a lot of opinions but these are not well thought-out and researched arguments, and for me it doesn't work so well. It also feels really choppy. Still interesting stuff, and a rant about Ann Coulter is still amusing when read because I feel rants about Ann Coulter (anything negative, that is) are amusing in any form.
November 24, 2007
I think Margaret Cho is hilarious and I respect everything that she stands for but I really didn't take much from this book. I feel like it is just sort of her way of ranting and I'm guessing that her audience probably already shares her views. Maybe if I had read this in high school it would have been eye opening for me but as an adult it didn't really change my opinions of anything although I completely respect her point of view.
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