At last - someone without a sob story (Dear Fatty - Dawn French)

Member Name: yackers1

Product:	Dear Fatty - Dawn French
Date:	16/09/09 (150 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Ideal for for those times when you just want a quick read

Disadvantages: Not that funny, many boring parts, haphazard with no order

"Dear Fatty" is the autobiography of comedian Dawn French. It is unlike other autobiographies as it is written as a number of letters to various people whom helped make her what she is today. Such people include her close family (father, mother, brother, daughter and husband), extended family (grandparents, uncles etc.), friends (both past and present) and random people (such as her teenage crushes) amongst many others.

****My opinion****

I am not usually one for autobiographies, although there are some exceptions to this, and I am not overly bothered about the celebrity culture and their stories. Most autobiographies I have heard about involve some celebrity, or even worse some reality TV celebrity, and the struggles they have had to deal with in getting to where they are now. The lack of money, the council estate upbringing, the alcoholic dad, the cruel mother, the lack of education and opportunities etc. etc. It seems they all have a sob story to tell, and quite frankly, it bores me. Everybody has their own stories to tell and we have all had to put up with some hard times, that's life but most of us won't ever put it in a book for all and sundry to read. This book is not like that at all and it seems like Dawn has led a 'normal' life, if there is such a thing. Normal is good, it's just that it doesn't always make for interesting or good reading.

The concept of this book, i.e. consisting of several letters to many people who helped Dawn develop in to what she is today, is original. Well, it is to me, since I don't know of any other books like it although not being a "book worm" I guess someone is going to tell me otherwise. However, if I am going to have a reading session then I like something that I can sit down with for a few hours and only read a couple of chapters. I like lots of detail and plenty to think about and this just didn't do it for me. The letters, and hence chapters, are short, sharp and snappy and just as I was starting to get in to them they would come to the end and the next one would start.

Some of the letters were quite interesting, funny (in places) and enjoyable to read. Some, on the other hand were dull and as interesting as pulling teeth. In the end, I didn't even bother to skim read these and just ended up moving to the next chapter. The beauty of this book is that it allows you to do this. As a reader, you do not have to hang on every paragraph, and carefully read it and remember things since subsequent paragraphs don't follow on.

Whilst I like the fact that you don't need to read every page, meaning I could skip the boring parts, I did find the lack of order annoying. I am one of those people that likes a bit of direction, a forward planner some may say, so this haphazard jumping around all over the place is not my sort of thing and I don't think it adds anything to the book. I appreciate everybody's different and some may like this approach, and I have read reviews that state this haphazard approach is the unique selling point of this book and is the element that makes it so good.

On the front cover the Sunday Telegraph states "Heavens she is a funny lady. I can't remember the last time a book made me laugh so much", and since Dawn is a comedian, I thought I was going to be in for a lot of laughs. Don't get me wrong, there are some funny phrases, such as "leg puppies" but these are few and far between. Looking at the book as a whole I would describe it as mildly amusing at best, so if you are reading this and thinking you are going to be in stitches with laughter all the way through the book, then I am afraid you are going to be sadly disappointed.

There are quite a few photographs scattered throughout this book, in both black and white as well as some in colour, and whilst these follow no chronological order (once again, I find this annoying) they are quite interesting to look at. It is very easy to pick Dawn out in all the school and group photos since she does not appear to have changed much at all.

I am struggling to see why Dawn wrote this book since I feel there is no purpose to it. She has led an interesting life, but no more than your average Joe walking down the street. She hasn't done anything amazing, nor has her life been so strange, bizarre or surreal that anyone would be desperate to see what makes this lady tick. Whilst Dawn is a celebrity I would not say that she is a massive celebrity. She isn't in the public eye every day, she doesn't appear to be an attention seeker who craves attention nor does she do wild things to make sure she is in the limelight. She comes across as a normal person who is living the life she wants to live so what is the point of this book? Maybe she has run out of money or something.

****Conclusion****

If you are settling down for a long reading session then I would not recommend this book as the content is not there, it is too shallow, it is not interesting and it is definitely no page turning thriller that will have you gripped. In my opinion, this book is ideal for journeys to work, or lunch times at work and other instances when you want to spend 10 or 15 minutes reading. It is ideal for this since you can read a few letters in this short time frame. I think it is the ideal book to keep in the bathroom, by the toilet, for both you and any guests whilst using the facilities.

****Other****

Published by Arrow Books in 2009
Number of pages - 366
ISBN - 978-0-09-951947-8
Cost - Paperback version costs around £7.00, although look out for it in the "two for X pounds" deals
Availability - Widely available both online and offline, so getting a copy should not be a problem.

Summary: A collection of letters