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Roseannearchy: Dispatches from the Nut Farm
BESTSELLING AUTHOR AND TELEVISION STAR ROSEANNE BARR IS BACK—WITH A VENGEANCE—AND THE RESULT IS ROSEANNEARCHY. Roseanne Barr is a force of nature. Whether taking the sitcom world by storm, challenging accepted social norms, or battling the wild pigs inhabiting her nut farm in Hawaii, she is not to be trifled with. In this return to the printed page, Roseanne unleashes her razor-sharp observations on hypocrisy, hubris, and self-perpetuating institutions of questionable value—as well as menopause, pharmaceuticals, and her grandkids. And she’s as controversial, original, and funny as ever. Raised half-Jewish, half-Mormon, and 100 percent misfit, Roseanne made a deal with Satan early on as the price she paid for stardom. But now she’s looking to refinance the loan of her soul—this book represents her final exorcism of fame. Displaying her brilliance and sharp wit, Roseanne discusses the humor of everyday life with musings on more serious topics, such as class warfare, feminism, the cult of celebrity, and Kabbalah. Bold, brash, and insightful, Roseannearchy shows that she can still skewer any subject under the sun and why The New York Times describes her appeal as “the power of a whole planet, pulling everything around it inexorably into its orbit.”
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 21, 2010
53 people are currently reading
448 people want to read
About the author
Roseanne Barr
10 books67 followersRoseanne Cherrie Barr is an Emmy Award-winning American comedian, actress and writer. At times in her career she has also been known as "Roseanne Arnold" and "Roseanne Thomas". On the opening credits of one final-season episode of her TV show Roseanne, she was credited as "Roseanne Barr Pentland Arnold Thomas". For several years in the late 1990s and early 2000s, she was known simply as Roseanne, but by 2005 had resumed referring to herself by her maiden name, Roseanne Barr.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 97 reviews
January 15, 2012
I really like Roseanne Barr. I think she's entertaining and witty. I enjoy her twitter feed, and I don't think all of her ideas are totally out there. That said, this book is terrible. You can only read it in chunks or else your mind starts to revolt from the lack of decent editing (both self-editing from Barr and professional editing). It kind of reads as though you're having a conversation with someone who is utterly stoned. I am going to just pretend I didn't read this book.
June 24, 2017
I LOVE Roseanne....her sitcom was simply amazing- it showed a REAL family enduring REAL life, with a lower income, generic brands of food, job losses, etc. As a 'poor kid' I appreciated the hell out of her for creating this show that made me feel more normal. So, I bought the book. It...definitely had some great ideas and moments in it, but MAN this book was all over the place, imo. It needed some editing or a different structure. However, the parts that were good were very good.
June 20, 2020
No longer using this website, but I'm leaving up old reviews. Fuck Jeff Bezos. Find me on LibraryThing: https://www.librarything.com/profile/...
"Roseannearchy is my attempt to weave my own revolutionary code into the mind of the reader."
Roseanne is my hero: a fat crazy Jewish mystic radical socialist feminist self-proclaimed fierce working-class domestic goddess. I was in the middle of reading this book when Roseanne came out in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement, dressed New Left guerilla-chic, proposing that everyone in a higher income bracket face the guillotine or put in a reeducation camp. This is when I fell in love!
I finished this book and now I'm wading through the 9 seasons of her groundbreaking television show. I watched it as a child, but never got the full weight of how profoundly working class and feminist it was. Roseanne is a longtime radical, having cut her standup teeth while also working at a radical feminist collective bookstore called Woman to Woman.
It was the story of Woman to Woman, where Roseanne became deeply embedded in a bulwark of feminist struggle for justice that I thought was most intriguing about the book. At the peak of that particular wave of radical feminism in the 80s, Roseanne offers a glimpse of the Reagan counterrevolution that I hadn't previously understood. The manufactured scarcity of social program resources caused local services to become overwhelmed and then shut down. Fractious infighting blossomed as people fought for the scraps left over and the people who relied on social services could no longer support revolutionary projects with as much fervor.
Roseanne seems to have consistently landed on the side of justice, favoring an interracial and revolutionary socialist feminism. Others spun off into priveleged new age paganism, single-issue identity neocolonialism (e.g. queer bookstores with no books about feminism or revolution), and refusing to acknowlege racial injustice within the movement. But Roseanne kept it as real as she could in a failing collective as the waves of counterrevolution spread from top to bottom. Sometimes Roseanne is stupid: though she engages with the white supremacy inherited from the culture at large, and comes around to admitting it, she takes a couple of transphobic pot shot jokes with no such self-criticism. But she is definitely real, and in these pages, she seems like a comrade who is familiar with struggle.
The book is a little over 10 hours long. The section on Women to Women books, made up about 25 minutes, or about 5% of the book. In my opinion, it was so good that it carries the rest of the book, and makes up about 80% of my recollection. There is certainly a lot more in there, especially about Judaism ("All of the holidays were about who killed our people, when and where, and what kind of food goes with each of those massacres."), grandmotherly love, personal spirituality, and politics ("Democracy is based on female freedom. Silencing old loudmouth pushy women is the first thing a smart despot tries to do.").
Lucky for us, Roseanne is coming back into public life, writing, appearing on TV, even perhaps running for president (???). I'm so excited. At the height of her popularity, Roseanne used her pulpit of a primetime show to do amazing things, showing the only honest working class family on television, for one. And from this perspective, Roseanne is incredulous that others don't do similarly envelope-pushing things. She can't stand Oprah's milquetoast bookclub: "Hey Oprah, tell your fans to read Das Kapital by Karl Marx. Talk about a good, relevant read. Oprah has never done one show on economics or capitalism, and that pisses me off. Not one show on how television advertising (which made Oprah a billionaire) makes money by keeping people in front of their TV sets while the guys at the top rob 'em blind! Are we supposed to ignore the elephant in the room? That yes, we need more socialism and less banksterism here in America?"
"Roseannearchy is my attempt to weave my own revolutionary code into the mind of the reader."
Roseanne is my hero: a fat crazy Jewish mystic radical socialist feminist self-proclaimed fierce working-class domestic goddess. I was in the middle of reading this book when Roseanne came out in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement, dressed New Left guerilla-chic, proposing that everyone in a higher income bracket face the guillotine or put in a reeducation camp. This is when I fell in love!
I finished this book and now I'm wading through the 9 seasons of her groundbreaking television show. I watched it as a child, but never got the full weight of how profoundly working class and feminist it was. Roseanne is a longtime radical, having cut her standup teeth while also working at a radical feminist collective bookstore called Woman to Woman.
It was the story of Woman to Woman, where Roseanne became deeply embedded in a bulwark of feminist struggle for justice that I thought was most intriguing about the book. At the peak of that particular wave of radical feminism in the 80s, Roseanne offers a glimpse of the Reagan counterrevolution that I hadn't previously understood. The manufactured scarcity of social program resources caused local services to become overwhelmed and then shut down. Fractious infighting blossomed as people fought for the scraps left over and the people who relied on social services could no longer support revolutionary projects with as much fervor.
Roseanne seems to have consistently landed on the side of justice, favoring an interracial and revolutionary socialist feminism. Others spun off into priveleged new age paganism, single-issue identity neocolonialism (e.g. queer bookstores with no books about feminism or revolution), and refusing to acknowlege racial injustice within the movement. But Roseanne kept it as real as she could in a failing collective as the waves of counterrevolution spread from top to bottom. Sometimes Roseanne is stupid: though she engages with the white supremacy inherited from the culture at large, and comes around to admitting it, she takes a couple of transphobic pot shot jokes with no such self-criticism. But she is definitely real, and in these pages, she seems like a comrade who is familiar with struggle.
The book is a little over 10 hours long. The section on Women to Women books, made up about 25 minutes, or about 5% of the book. In my opinion, it was so good that it carries the rest of the book, and makes up about 80% of my recollection. There is certainly a lot more in there, especially about Judaism ("All of the holidays were about who killed our people, when and where, and what kind of food goes with each of those massacres."), grandmotherly love, personal spirituality, and politics ("Democracy is based on female freedom. Silencing old loudmouth pushy women is the first thing a smart despot tries to do.").
Lucky for us, Roseanne is coming back into public life, writing, appearing on TV, even perhaps running for president (???). I'm so excited. At the height of her popularity, Roseanne used her pulpit of a primetime show to do amazing things, showing the only honest working class family on television, for one. And from this perspective, Roseanne is incredulous that others don't do similarly envelope-pushing things. She can't stand Oprah's milquetoast bookclub: "Hey Oprah, tell your fans to read Das Kapital by Karl Marx. Talk about a good, relevant read. Oprah has never done one show on economics or capitalism, and that pisses me off. Not one show on how television advertising (which made Oprah a billionaire) makes money by keeping people in front of their TV sets while the guys at the top rob 'em blind! Are we supposed to ignore the elephant in the room? That yes, we need more socialism and less banksterism here in America?"
March 28, 2011
probably more like two & a half stars. when jared saw the cover, he said, "wasn't there some scandal some years back about roseanne shooting off assault rifles?" i replied, "i think you may be making a mistake i make all the time, & confusing roseanne with my mom."
reading this book was A LOT like stumbling across my mom's blog or getting a crazy e-mail from her (before i blocked her e-mail address). the difference is that my mom is not jewish, & roseanne is & talks about it constantly. the other difference is that roseanne talks a lot about various celebrities she knows, like shelley winters or sandra bernhard, while my mom prefers to regale people with lengthy, non-sensical stories about the guys that hang around the townie bar in bowling green, ohio. other than these few differences, they're more or less the same person.
as such, i found the book kind of difficult to read, but sickeningly compelling. it made almost no sense. she'd spend forty pages writing about how important it is for everyone to be kind to one another, & then forty pages writing about how the most important aspect of humor is telling the truth & the truth is usually mean. one second she'd be writing about her daughter's wedding & suddenly she'd turn around & start writing about the lengthy conversations she used to have with god as a child. one minute she'd be writing about her hawaiian macademia nut farm being colonized by feral pigs, & suddenly she'd be detailing exactly how she wound up in a mental institution after breaking it off with tom arnold. parts of the book were really interesting--especially her experience volunteering at a feminist bookstore & being part of the feminist collective that published "big mama rag," one of the most influential of the many feminist newspapers that proliferated in the 1970s. she went into a lot of detail about the factional divisions within the collective & tied it into a salient critique of the factional divisions that tend to tear apart most radical communities. & then she'd go back to writing about how she made a deal with satan in order to become rich & famous.
in terms of loose ends, narrative structure, & coherence, this book is a bit of a slog. it might have gone down more easily with the aid of some fermented spirits. but it was also like a good fermented spirit in that i'm glad i tried it at least once.
reading this book was A LOT like stumbling across my mom's blog or getting a crazy e-mail from her (before i blocked her e-mail address). the difference is that my mom is not jewish, & roseanne is & talks about it constantly. the other difference is that roseanne talks a lot about various celebrities she knows, like shelley winters or sandra bernhard, while my mom prefers to regale people with lengthy, non-sensical stories about the guys that hang around the townie bar in bowling green, ohio. other than these few differences, they're more or less the same person.
as such, i found the book kind of difficult to read, but sickeningly compelling. it made almost no sense. she'd spend forty pages writing about how important it is for everyone to be kind to one another, & then forty pages writing about how the most important aspect of humor is telling the truth & the truth is usually mean. one second she'd be writing about her daughter's wedding & suddenly she'd turn around & start writing about the lengthy conversations she used to have with god as a child. one minute she'd be writing about her hawaiian macademia nut farm being colonized by feral pigs, & suddenly she'd be detailing exactly how she wound up in a mental institution after breaking it off with tom arnold. parts of the book were really interesting--especially her experience volunteering at a feminist bookstore & being part of the feminist collective that published "big mama rag," one of the most influential of the many feminist newspapers that proliferated in the 1970s. she went into a lot of detail about the factional divisions within the collective & tied it into a salient critique of the factional divisions that tend to tear apart most radical communities. & then she'd go back to writing about how she made a deal with satan in order to become rich & famous.
in terms of loose ends, narrative structure, & coherence, this book is a bit of a slog. it might have gone down more easily with the aid of some fermented spirits. but it was also like a good fermented spirit in that i'm glad i tried it at least once.
October 9, 2012
Roseanne is a human tornado - powerful and messy! This book is a bit overlong, but the first third - chapters on her childhood - are almost breathtaking in terms of storytelling, and the pieces, "Left of Center in Denver," (about the long hard road of leftist community activist) is kind of a must-read if you've ever been involved in a subculture that struggles to reconcile the dream (Everyone Will Be Like Us One Day!) with reality (Striving Together is Really Fucking Hard). I also enjoyed "Flattery Will Get You Everywhere," about her co-dependent marriage to Tom Arnold and the horrible National Anthem incident. I found the essays on marriage and her general rants to be more sloppy, but when she talks about her kids that is super interesting. The last half dozen pieces take a real spiritual bend, and I didn't always understand them, but they are fast reads. Roseanne is brilliant and I am in awe of her genius. I can definitely see how difficult she would be to deal with in person, but unlike many people she is actually committed to growing and becoming a wiser human being. The book is worth a read, at least for the parts I mentioned. And if you have experienced mental illness or are close to people in your life who are brilliant AND mad, you might find this a bit edifying.
13: To anybody who asks me who I think I am to tell political bigwigs, captains of industry, and religious honchos where to get off, I answer: Who do I *have* to be?
pg. 18: Instead of knocking myself out trying to understand or rationalize a bunch of holidays (holy days?) with their symbolism and oh-so-deep, arcane significance, I'm a little less quick to chase that merry-go-round and more apt to just dig the seasons and the real turning points in the year, which are less about myth and interpretation and more about *real* signposts on our trip around the sun. Why believe a bunch of Bronze Age stuff we can't prove when we have dependable occurrences to believe in, like the summer solstice - the day with the most light and the least dark? No believing required, nothing to argue about. Or the vernal (spring) and autumnal equinoxes - the balance of day and night - perfect, predictable, and plenty spiritual *and* scientific for me. I guess we were all pagans back when - observing, accepting, and respecting the natural world - and that wasn't such a bad thing.
13: To anybody who asks me who I think I am to tell political bigwigs, captains of industry, and religious honchos where to get off, I answer: Who do I *have* to be?
pg. 18: Instead of knocking myself out trying to understand or rationalize a bunch of holidays (holy days?) with their symbolism and oh-so-deep, arcane significance, I'm a little less quick to chase that merry-go-round and more apt to just dig the seasons and the real turning points in the year, which are less about myth and interpretation and more about *real* signposts on our trip around the sun. Why believe a bunch of Bronze Age stuff we can't prove when we have dependable occurrences to believe in, like the summer solstice - the day with the most light and the least dark? No believing required, nothing to argue about. Or the vernal (spring) and autumnal equinoxes - the balance of day and night - perfect, predictable, and plenty spiritual *and* scientific for me. I guess we were all pagans back when - observing, accepting, and respecting the natural world - and that wasn't such a bad thing.
June 21, 2011
Roseanne Barr is my biological mother, and I can prove this because she hates cats.
Barr picks up a ton of steam once you hit chapter 10, "Left Of Center In Denver". She provides recipes for garlic bread, peace of mind, raising grandchildren post-menopausal, humor, lokshn (noodles), et al.
The best thing I learned about her life was her experience guest-editing the first (and only) women's issue of The New Yorker, which featured Amy Sedaris, among others. She signed Judd Apatow and Joss Whedon to write for her television show. She ran a non-profit for women's rights in Denver, and sang "...'Satisfaction' by The Stones at three times the speed they did, and changed the words to be about menstruation and Chernobyl" at CBGB. She recommended Henry Miller's, Under The Roofs Of Paris, which I'll read soon, and taught me some wonderful, new French.
Golden! moments:
"...slutwear is America's burka."
Drink recipe: Belvedere Martini, filthy, 3 olives
"Baby let Me tell you: In the entertainment world, like you said, the breasts may be fake, but the assholes are real."
Barr picks up a ton of steam once you hit chapter 10, "Left Of Center In Denver". She provides recipes for garlic bread, peace of mind, raising grandchildren post-menopausal, humor, lokshn (noodles), et al.
The best thing I learned about her life was her experience guest-editing the first (and only) women's issue of The New Yorker, which featured Amy Sedaris, among others. She signed Judd Apatow and Joss Whedon to write for her television show. She ran a non-profit for women's rights in Denver, and sang "...'Satisfaction' by The Stones at three times the speed they did, and changed the words to be about menstruation and Chernobyl" at CBGB. She recommended Henry Miller's, Under The Roofs Of Paris, which I'll read soon, and taught me some wonderful, new French.
Golden! moments:
"...slutwear is America's burka."
Drink recipe: Belvedere Martini, filthy, 3 olives
"Baby let Me tell you: In the entertainment world, like you said, the breasts may be fake, but the assholes are real."
May 12, 2011
Kindle for iPhone
I am a huge fan of "Roseanne" and not as much of an admirer of Roseanne, and this book reinforces that distinction. However, I must confess that I became interested in the book after seeing Roseanne on Oprah, and she seemed so together and witty, I thought she must have mellowed with age (she describes herself, both on Oprah and in the book, as an old lady, which is quite surprising, considering that she's only in her fifties, I presume), but, alas, she's still filled with her own importance. It's a shame, really, because she has some insights worth exploring, but most readers won't be interested after having to Wade through pages of name-dropping, self-love and unfocused rants to get there. Spend your time watching some old episodes of the show instead (just not those from the final season).
I am a huge fan of "Roseanne" and not as much of an admirer of Roseanne, and this book reinforces that distinction. However, I must confess that I became interested in the book after seeing Roseanne on Oprah, and she seemed so together and witty, I thought she must have mellowed with age (she describes herself, both on Oprah and in the book, as an old lady, which is quite surprising, considering that she's only in her fifties, I presume), but, alas, she's still filled with her own importance. It's a shame, really, because she has some insights worth exploring, but most readers won't be interested after having to Wade through pages of name-dropping, self-love and unfocused rants to get there. Spend your time watching some old episodes of the show instead (just not those from the final season).
March 8, 2011
I like this broad. I like what she has to say. And I like the way she says it.
My S.O. commented several times, as I laughed my way through Roseanne's latest, that he hadn't seen me enjoy a book so much as this one. Not only is it devastatingly funny, this series of essays and reminiscences is wise, challenging and has just the right amount of devilishness.
Although Roseanne is right about almost everything, I can't agree with her disdain for perfumes and smellums. (I'm woman on a quest to re-create the scent of a 1970s head shop on her person and in her home.) If not for that, I'd be enlisting in Gen. Barr's Truth Army at the drop of a beret. Maybe she can use me in the outlying provinces.
My S.O. commented several times, as I laughed my way through Roseanne's latest, that he hadn't seen me enjoy a book so much as this one. Not only is it devastatingly funny, this series of essays and reminiscences is wise, challenging and has just the right amount of devilishness.
Although Roseanne is right about almost everything, I can't agree with her disdain for perfumes and smellums. (I'm woman on a quest to re-create the scent of a 1970s head shop on her person and in her home.) If not for that, I'd be enlisting in Gen. Barr's Truth Army at the drop of a beret. Maybe she can use me in the outlying provinces.
August 4, 2011
I love Roseann Barr and was anxious to read this book. It started out well but could have used a better editor.
Parts of the book were very well-written but others were much too long. A shorter, better edited book would have gotten a much better review.
Parts of the book were very well-written but others were much too long. A shorter, better edited book would have gotten a much better review.
August 19, 2012
I have nothing but love and respect for Roseanne, always and forever. I don't give a fuck and neither does she.
March 9, 2011
Definitely amusing, especially if you're a Roseanne fan.
April 28, 2011
I'll read anything Roseanne writes, and I've read just about everything she has. And still I want more! She's awesome, she's a radical feminist, she's probably insane--what more could you want?
May 20, 2011
I loved this book a lot. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading. Hollywood isn't always going to save you sometimes you have to save yourself.
July 23, 2011
She's an original. Watch her show "Roseanne's Nuts" on Lifetime.
May 18, 2012
I would give this book ten stars out of five. I want her to be president. No. Queen.
September 16, 2012
Love this book and Roseanne. She is the epitome of feminism and standing up for what you believe in. Def. worth reading for anyone not just females.
October 15, 2012
I wish I could have given this book a three-and-a-half star rating but there was no way I was going to give it four, no matter how much I loved parts of it. Roseanne's previous autobiography, "My Lives" (1994) has an average rating of 3.49 and "Roseannearchy" only has a 3.29 but I think this is a much better (or less crazy & bridge-burning) look at herself. She certainly has done a lot of work on herself since her previous book, as evidenced by the foreword by first husband Bill Pentland, who even reads his bit for the audiobook. Her second bio trashed him and most of the producers on her sitcom, so this time she saves most of her resentment for Tom Arnold, though she blames herself as much as him for her craziness during the early '90s, and she is quite amusing when discussing Arnold's quest for fame. Roseanne does need someone to edit her, however, as some of the chapters seem self-indulgent or overreaching. She also apologizes for airing her family's dirty laundry and her poor choices of words in the early '90s, and then proceeds to criticize some of her children's spouses --oops! My favorite chapter details the tedium of growing up in Utah and playing dolls with brainwashed girls, when Roseanne would say "When playing Barbie dolls with the other Mormon girls I would get so bored with the inevitable dating and wedding planning storylines that were the subject of every play date that I would say 'Why don't we play a game where Barbie parachutes behind enemy lines to save the Jews?'" Relegated to playing with a Ken doll, she continues, "I tried to give Ken some balls by having him say, 'Barbie, why don't you and I parachute behind enemy lines and save some Jews from the Nazis before our wedding?' But the Mormon girls would just ignore Ken and emasculate him by telling me to shut up." Her command of language can be quite stunning, as in the previous example whereby Ken, whose primary signifier in popular culture is that he has no genitalia, is further emasculated by the girls who buy into the notion that a woman's greatest feat is landing a man. Everybody loses! Roseanne is particularly adept at pointing out contradiction and irony, especially when describing the left going crazy after Reagan became president. She describes the blooming of a multiracial feminist collect in Denver that soon becomes mired in identity politics. "You haven't lived till you've heard a man with breasts tell you how her decision to keep her penis is a feminist issue." Overall, I was impressed with how extremely well-read she is, and how visionary in her choice of projects post "Roseanne". She feels that what she tried to do with her daytime and late night shows have been aped by cable television and "which proves the old saying, 'Imitation is the sincerest form of show business.'" She also believes that one of the reasons she had so many cosmetic surgeries was to get painkillers, which is pretty awesome. The book often outwears its welcome, and certain chapters feel aimless or unable to live up to their ambition, but the parts that work are quite brilliant and imminently quotable.
March 11, 2011
After numerous attempts, I finally got picked to be in the audience of the Oprah show. Until we were walking in the studio we still did not know what the show topic of the day would be. It was Roseanne and when we left we got a free copy of the book. When I sat in my seat, at first I groanned, because I was angry with Roseanne for leaving the stage of the Wizard of Oz in Madison Square Garden a dozen years ago and then was on a talk show the next morning looking well. I had spent a lot of money to take my family to see her in that role and I didn't think she was really ill. My expectations were low, but she really surprised me and was the Roseanne I always loved from the past. As a fellow head nut (girl scout version), the book is pure Roseanne. You can hear her voice as you read. Roseanne may be a little wacky, thats why we love her, but she is a lot of other things, I was surprised at how smart she is and how religious as well. Growing up Jewish in Utah must have been totally confusing. Then trying to find herself. A marriage, kids and her comedy... Fame, second and third marriages...surgeries...Zift...Kabbalah...O.J...you name it-all touched on in a not very long book. Not a pulitzer prize nominee, but a slice of life to enjoy on a rainy weekend.
June 2, 2011
This book made me laugh, cry, think and pee my pants. ;) Really it was full of insight not just in her own life, but in the world. She warns you not to take it too seriously and you can sometimes glean when she is making a joke.
I have a new-found respect for this woman because she takes responsibility for a lot of mistakes she made in life, not just the horrible version of the national anthem she sang, but her marriages, saying horrible things about her parents and even having children. She constantly jokes about her kids hounding her for money and that she doesn't like them much, but she makes the point that she isn't a very good mother and had she known then what she does now she wouldn't have become a mother in the first place.
She does however love her grandsons, her family, and her current boyfriend. However, she is unapologetic about who she is now, and old jewish woman. Kind of refreshing that she has thrown off all the bullshit and is just being herself. I wish I had that chutzpah.
I have a new-found respect for this woman because she takes responsibility for a lot of mistakes she made in life, not just the horrible version of the national anthem she sang, but her marriages, saying horrible things about her parents and even having children. She constantly jokes about her kids hounding her for money and that she doesn't like them much, but she makes the point that she isn't a very good mother and had she known then what she does now she wouldn't have become a mother in the first place.
She does however love her grandsons, her family, and her current boyfriend. However, she is unapologetic about who she is now, and old jewish woman. Kind of refreshing that she has thrown off all the bullshit and is just being herself. I wish I had that chutzpah.
December 13, 2011
i loved this book. i picked it up after being amusing and befuddled by some of her twitter posts. she is a prolific twitterer for sure. has a lot to say about politics and generally strikes me as an extremely intellient, well read woman who likely has ADHD in addition to the many psychiatric diagnoses she labels herself with. she has a hyperbolic humour style which i find hysterically funny. it reminds me most of john waters, just completely over the top. she's obviously a talented comic and i associate that with being a very astute observer and having a great gift for analysis of situations. i think she's really sharp.
having said all that i enjoyed the book so much i hate to criticize anything but she can ramble and at times is not at all logical sometimes. she's had an interesting life; clearly she makes no apologies for her scathing views of american politics and the entertainment industry.
this is pretty much the opposite of most 'content lite' celebrity books; she covers a ton of stuff; it's almost overwhelming. love her!
having said all that i enjoyed the book so much i hate to criticize anything but she can ramble and at times is not at all logical sometimes. she's had an interesting life; clearly she makes no apologies for her scathing views of american politics and the entertainment industry.
this is pretty much the opposite of most 'content lite' celebrity books; she covers a ton of stuff; it's almost overwhelming. love her!
March 13, 2021
3.5 Stars
From a very young age, I watched Roseanne. My dad used to call me Darlene. I've also watched Roseanne's more recent tv show, Roseanne's Nuts. I didn't realize she had more than one book, so I will probably go back and find the other two. This is her third book. I wouldn't really call it a memoir or an autobiography or even a tell-all.
Roseannearchy is a good collection of random rantings and writings of Roseanne. They go from her childhood dreams to be the next Shirley Temple to her political views to sex to her kids to everything else. There were so many instances where I laughed out loud or had to tell my husband a passage from it. He is going to end up reading it from what I told him.
It was a decent read for a non-fiction.
Added thought when I cringe at my past review: I didn't read any of her other books and won't. I did enjoy Roseanne's Nuts, but she really went off the deep end with her political leanings and racist outbursts. Really disappointing.
From a very young age, I watched Roseanne. My dad used to call me Darlene. I've also watched Roseanne's more recent tv show, Roseanne's Nuts. I didn't realize she had more than one book, so I will probably go back and find the other two. This is her third book. I wouldn't really call it a memoir or an autobiography or even a tell-all.
Roseannearchy is a good collection of random rantings and writings of Roseanne. They go from her childhood dreams to be the next Shirley Temple to her political views to sex to her kids to everything else. There were so many instances where I laughed out loud or had to tell my husband a passage from it. He is going to end up reading it from what I told him.
It was a decent read for a non-fiction.
Added thought when I cringe at my past review: I didn't read any of her other books and won't. I did enjoy Roseanne's Nuts, but she really went off the deep end with her political leanings and racist outbursts. Really disappointing.
April 3, 2011
i mostly got this from the library because i read ciara's review of it & she mentions that roseanne was a 70'd feminist who worked at a womyn's bookstore?! whoa! i was surprised & intrigued. i enjoyed it, so much so that i found it impossible not to read paragraphs to my boyfriend, who laughed, but after a while asked, "um, does this book have any narrative structure?" no! it doesn't. but i was still entertained by it and it mostly made me really happy. it's really nice seeing ANYONE who's famous be such an unashamed, unabashed feminist! so rare.
interestingly, i had a falling-out with my mom about 1/2 way through reading this, and it REALLY diminished my enjoyment of the book. reading roseanne's complaints about her ungrateful kids suddenly took on a new, crappy dimension. maybe your kids have valid points that you aren't listening to, roseanne! but overall, an enjoyable read. i found myself agreeing with her a lot, even the irrational things.
interestingly, i had a falling-out with my mom about 1/2 way through reading this, and it REALLY diminished my enjoyment of the book. reading roseanne's complaints about her ungrateful kids suddenly took on a new, crappy dimension. maybe your kids have valid points that you aren't listening to, roseanne! but overall, an enjoyable read. i found myself agreeing with her a lot, even the irrational things.
November 4, 2016
Rosanne is as misunderstood as Andrew "Dice" Clay. I have never been a fan and only saw a few episodes of her sitcom. I found out through this book that she had a late night talk show at some point.
I continue to believe that her national anthem incident was something that she tried to recover from mistake and save face by making it a joke, though a poor one, from on the spot improvisation that many performers have had to attempt if they have had sufficient opportunity to be the 'Ace or The Ass'.
She is a very intelligent woman. She is also a self admitted annoying bitch.
If you, like me, are not a fan you can enjoy this book for what it is as self described. If you are closed minded in the classic sense and cannot bear the opinions of other, nor look deeper than surface offense to get to the meaning, you won't be disappointed.
Sarcasm/Cynicism is something you must be able to understand or you will not enjoy this.
I continue to believe that her national anthem incident was something that she tried to recover from mistake and save face by making it a joke, though a poor one, from on the spot improvisation that many performers have had to attempt if they have had sufficient opportunity to be the 'Ace or The Ass'.
She is a very intelligent woman. She is also a self admitted annoying bitch.
If you, like me, are not a fan you can enjoy this book for what it is as self described. If you are closed minded in the classic sense and cannot bear the opinions of other, nor look deeper than surface offense to get to the meaning, you won't be disappointed.
Sarcasm/Cynicism is something you must be able to understand or you will not enjoy this.
February 20, 2012
This was much more readable than her first book - the lack of terrible poetry was a huge relief. I find Roseanne as a character fascinating in a trainwreck sort of way, and I have to keep reminding myself as I read that she's a comedian, she's totally writing this stuff for effect, but I still flinch at a lot of the ethnic stereotyping.
I don't know that I'd recommend this book particularly, but it was entertaining enough. I think the vast majority of it would work much better as standup comedy, and I'm totally done hearing about Roseanne's childhood (I had expected this one to focus more on her adult and recent career, and it did, to some extend, but she still spent a good third of the book talking about growing up in Utah.) But it wasn't bad, exactly, and I'm not sorry I picked it up.
I don't know that I'd recommend this book particularly, but it was entertaining enough. I think the vast majority of it would work much better as standup comedy, and I'm totally done hearing about Roseanne's childhood (I had expected this one to focus more on her adult and recent career, and it did, to some extend, but she still spent a good third of the book talking about growing up in Utah.) But it wasn't bad, exactly, and I'm not sorry I picked it up.
Read
September 19, 2012Every woman, feminist, fan of comedy HAS to be a fan of Roseanne! She paved the way for real life in comedy shows, and I cannot think of another comedy that depicts the modern day family in such an honest way.
This book is a collection of Barr's musings, from life on her farm in Hawaii to her new thought on Tom Arnold (well, new since her last book where she loved him to death and now - well - you know where she stands) this is an awesome read which will get you thinking, laughing and fills in the gaps between her last book.
I highly recommend you read her second book before this one if you aren't familiar with her life story. I was a kid at the height of her fame, so I didn't see her face and her life slashed across People magazine like a lot of people older than me did!
This book is a collection of Barr's musings, from life on her farm in Hawaii to her new thought on Tom Arnold (well, new since her last book where she loved him to death and now - well - you know where she stands) this is an awesome read which will get you thinking, laughing and fills in the gaps between her last book.
I highly recommend you read her second book before this one if you aren't familiar with her life story. I was a kid at the height of her fame, so I didn't see her face and her life slashed across People magazine like a lot of people older than me did!
August 15, 2013
I heard the audiobook - the first few chapters were quite funny indeed. Though I'm not usually a critic (and moreover, it was fun just to hear Roseanne reading anything to begin with), this book seemed a little self-indulgent and I couldn't find it in myself to finish hearing the rest of it. That said, it is worth a try, especially if you are a deeply committed Roseannarchist who wants to change the world.
Alas, I wonder what the pages of History will say about this woman. If you've ever watched her reality show (God help you!), her life seems like a bit of an anecdote in wasted living... that said, I loved Roseanne and would still recommend this book if you want to get to understand why she is what she is, and how she became it to begin with. Get the Audiobook, it's more fun that way!
Alas, I wonder what the pages of History will say about this woman. If you've ever watched her reality show (God help you!), her life seems like a bit of an anecdote in wasted living... that said, I loved Roseanne and would still recommend this book if you want to get to understand why she is what she is, and how she became it to begin with. Get the Audiobook, it's more fun that way!
March 2, 2015
This book is...weird. I suppose that would be a good word to use. I could also say "all over the place" "leaning towards insane" and "what was Roseanne on when she wrote this?" I like Roseanne and I love her old sitcom still today (well, the early years before they won the lottery...it was all down hill after that), but this book is filled with ramblings that did not quite go together and were organized in an odd fashion. I agree with numerous things she has to say, but she delivers it in a rather crazy rambling sort of way. I wish the book had been edited better, organized differently and perhaps written with less pot consumption during?
May 26, 2011
As soon as I read Barr's truly magnificent New York Magazine article, I knew I had to read this book.
Sadly, one thing is not like the other.
Barr has been a huge influence on me as a writer and a feminist, so it's frustrating that reading this book was like getting locked in a small room with a friend's crazy mom who is determined to tell you everything she finds relevant about life before you can go, even if she repeats herself, goes off on confusing tangents, and contradicts the shit out of everything.
That said, whatever, you guys know I still love Roseanne.
(read: 41 - read a script in between)
Sadly, one thing is not like the other.
Barr has been a huge influence on me as a writer and a feminist, so it's frustrating that reading this book was like getting locked in a small room with a friend's crazy mom who is determined to tell you everything she finds relevant about life before you can go, even if she repeats herself, goes off on confusing tangents, and contradicts the shit out of everything.
That said, whatever, you guys know I still love Roseanne.
(read: 41 - read a script in between)
December 26, 2012
Even though I didn't particularly like her other book, I still want to give this one a try since it's a lot more recent.
UPDATE:
I'm not sure how it's possible, but this book made even less sense than "My Lives" did. However, I found this one a lot more entertaining.
There's not really much to say here. Roseanne is certifiably nuts and often repeats herself and goes off on tangents about absolutely nothing. Once in a blue moon, she makes a statement that really makes a lot of sense, but then takes it all back in the next paragraph.
I'm not sure what she was trying to accomplish with this book, but at least it was interesting.
UPDATE:
I'm not sure how it's possible, but this book made even less sense than "My Lives" did. However, I found this one a lot more entertaining.
There's not really much to say here. Roseanne is certifiably nuts and often repeats herself and goes off on tangents about absolutely nothing. Once in a blue moon, she makes a statement that really makes a lot of sense, but then takes it all back in the next paragraph.
I'm not sure what she was trying to accomplish with this book, but at least it was interesting.
November 21, 2015
In all honesty , I wanted to give this book three and a half stars, but since Goodreads doesn't permit for that, I gave it the benefit of the doubt and gave it four.
Roseanne is one out there chick. The book meanders, jumps back and forth in time, and diverges on tangents pretty frequently. But that's what is so enjoyable about it, I think. It's very stream of consciousness. As someone who gets off on tangents a lot myself, this is a thing I can appreciate.
There are people who probably shouldn't read this book. If you vote republican, you're probably going to have a bad time with this book. So, you know, you've been, like, warned and stuff.
Roseanne is one out there chick. The book meanders, jumps back and forth in time, and diverges on tangents pretty frequently. But that's what is so enjoyable about it, I think. It's very stream of consciousness. As someone who gets off on tangents a lot myself, this is a thing I can appreciate.
There are people who probably shouldn't read this book. If you vote republican, you're probably going to have a bad time with this book. So, you know, you've been, like, warned and stuff.
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