It's "Official": Kathy Griffin's Memoir a D-List Dream Come True

By Alex Laska

You think you know Kathy Griffin.

You think you know her, because you’ve watched her multi-Emmy-winning show, “My Life on the D-List.” Because you’ve seen any of her numerous HBO Specials, such as “Kathy Griffin Is… Not Nicole Kidman.” Because you’ve listened to her Grammy-nominated cd, “For Your Consideration,” and laughed out loud. Or maybe just because, let’s face it, you secretly thought it was kind of funny when she told Jesus to suck it.

But as it turns out, you don’t know Kathy Griffin at all, not until you read her new book, “For Your Consideration: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin.” A mouth-watering 350 pages in length, Ms. Griffin’s memoir explores aspects of her life you’d never even realized existed. From her dysfunctional family life in Oak Park, Illinois, to her days of getting bullied by the other students AND the nuns throughout Catholic school, to the interminable months she spent clawing her way to the top of the talent heap at the Groundlings, Kathy shows us what her life was like before the Bravo series, before the Emmy wins, and before all the fame. Hollywood’s Public Enemy Number One gives us a never-before-seen insight into her early life, showing us the framework for what would become a successful, if not notorious, career bringing down the A-Listers for fun and profit.

And there’s plenty of A-List-bashing fun in this book. For instance, did you know that she spent an entire night cuddling – just cuddling – with Quentin Tarantino? Or that she had sex with Jack Black and loved it? Perhaps you were unfamiliar with the running feud she has with Jerry Seinfeld, or the time she got in trouble for telling people on the red carpet that Dakota Fanning was in rehab. Yes, Ms. Griffin brings her A-Game for this venture, poking fun at every star from the Lohans to the Jonas Brothers, from Brooke Shields to Bill Maher, from Oprah and Gayle to Mary Kate and Ashley and everyone – and I mean everyone – in between.

But those of you just expecting a 350-page celeb-basher will be surprised to find a deeper, darker, and decidedly more poignant side to this book. Here you will find tales of her brother Kenny, a pedophile and a drug addict who literally died in their mother’s arms. She also discloses what it was like to film for her show while simultaneously dealing with a divorce from her embezzling husband, Matt, and the death of her father.
And then, in perhaps the most gruesome chapter of the book, she tells us in horrid detail about her botched plastic surgery, complete with pictures of her bruised body (“My post-op lipo photos?” She asks in the caption, “Or first date with Chris Brown?”).

But through the good, the bad, and the very ugly, Griffin maintains that conversational, spur-the-moment style of delivery that she’s become known for from her stand-up specials; reading this book – which climbed to #8 on the Amazon charts - comes easily, as though the bombastic comedienne is sitting with you in your living room and telling you a story, asides and interjections intact. So go ahead and take a chance on this one (especially if you happen to be a famous talk-show host with a book club); despite its length, “Official Book Club Selection” will leave you wanting much, much more.