There's no fine line. You either love her or hate her.
Two-time Emmy winner and three-time Grammy nominee Kathy Griffin, flame-haired self-appointed denizen of The "D-List," may forever be associated with her much-publicized Emmy Award acceptance speech, in which she concluded, "Suck it, Jesus! This award is my god now!" (On the chance she might win, Griffin had a writer friend pen the speech, a kind of "rebuttal" to the endless stream of winners who thank god while hypocritically living hedonistic lives.*)
She was also famously fired for a joke she perpetuated on the red-carpet in 2005, which she refers to in her book as "Fanning-Gate." Griffin was hired by E! Entertainment Television to "replace" the heavily sequined Joan and Melissa Rivers, who had just been inexplicably awarded an $8 million contract with The TV Guide Channel.
Griffin notes that since she's far from a "fashionista," and a wholly different type of performer, she opted out of "traditional" questions and commentary. She was given the "second" commentator position to blowhard diva Star Jones.
Irked by the "shout-outs" celebrities give each other when one lands in rehab ("It's so brave!"), she decided to perpetuate a prank. Her joke: angelic 10-year-old Dakota Fanning has just entered rehab - do you [random celebrity walking down the carpet] have any words of support for her? While some celebrities clearly got the joke (witty "Will & Grace" star Sean Hayes responded, "Oh Dakota, don't go south... South Dakota!"), others did not. Of course, Griffin relished the media frenzy, and loved when iconic director Steven Spielberg publicly derided her (he was allegedly angry because he thought it would affect audiences for his then upcoming "War of the Worlds.").
But those who love her, attend her concerts in droves ("Where are my gays?" she always asks at the beginning of live shows), religiously tune into her Bravo reality series "My Life on the D-List," and, devour her book. Official Book Club Selection was much covered on "D-List," and the cameras - and audience -- followed her to New York as she got her book deal and took book cover photos and more. (Griffin also finagled a book deal for her mother - and "D-List" co-star, Maggie Griffin, the appropriately named, "Tip It.")
Griffin is - and this is not hyperbole - a brilliant observer. She's sharp as a new blade. She is always "on" and "in the know." She easily admits she watches hours of television, and keeps up on the well-documented liaisons and adventures of celebrities. Griffin's dishing on her personal experience with celebs is what she's best known for - and she does it very well. The story chronicled in her book starts with the chatty child to the theatrical teen to the aspiring actress (she studied for two years at Hollywood's legendary Lee Strassberg Studio and was a very long-time member of The Groundlings), who eventually found her niche. Griffin's niche: observing celebrities in their milieu, and re-telling the experience (in a hilarious way, of course).
Meanwhile, Official Book Club Selection is Griffin at her self-deprecating, publicity-loving, celebrity-commenting best. It is primarily a memoir, and a very, very funny one at that. She opens with a letter to Oprah, who she makes a lot of fun of, but who she also fears. It wouldn't do it justice to try to reiterate what she's penned, but it's extremely funny. Griffin has a way of being referential and wry that's unique.
Also laugh-out-loud funny is Griffin's chronicling of the seeds of her now signature "set." The youngest of five, Griffin grew up in a Chicago suburb. She loved to talk (and that's no surprise). She also loved to eat (her misadventures and inevitable body issues are also chronicled in the book). And so eight-year-old Kathleen Griffin often left her boisterous Irish Catholic Oak Park Chicago neighborhood family home and headed over to the staid and proper neighbors, who relished Griffin's non-stop babble of gossip, of what was happening in her home.
Griffin also devotes a chapter to her much written about plastic surgery. Despite a near-death experience, she manages to find humor in the situation. Viewers of "D-List" were shocked when Griffin seemed to just suddenly divorce her solid, stalwart husband Matt Moline. Even though the situation was clearly devastating to Griffin, she openly discusses their relationship in the book, from the charmed beginning to bitter end.
And for all of Griffin's celeb "trash talking," she shows moments of tender compassion, for her family, for Moline, for her colleagues and others.
Official Book Club Selection is likely to be funny, even to those unfamiliar with Griffin, but it will get its strongest audience from those know and love her work - in addition to "D-List," she co-starred opposite Brooke Shields on television for four years, did a dramatic turn on "Law & Order: SVU" in 2010, and plays venues all over the country. She visited Kuwait, entertaining troops on their way to Iraq.
Comedian/actress and pop-culture princess Kathy Griffin's Official Book Club Selection is now available in trade paperback.
(*Griffin's 2007 Emmy acceptance speech: "Can you believe this sh*t? I guess hell froze over.... a lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus. He didn't help me a bit. If it was up to him, Cesar Millan would be up here with that damn dog. So, all I can say is, 'suck it, Jesus.' This award is my god now.")
After a long day of work, Joseph likes relaxing by working in his garden. He keeps his plants healthy by staking them up with plant supports such as tomato cages.
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