Jennifer Saunders: Bonkers, My Life In Laughs is an autobiography from the very talented and funny Jennifer Saunders.
I’m liking
This is, quite simply, a great read. As a fan of Jennifer Saunders I approached this book with some trepidation. So often someone whose work you like and admire can turn out to be a bore in real life. I have also read autobiographies from people who really can’t write.
That is not the case with this book. It is very much written in the style of a chat between friends. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with ‘Podge’ and having her tell me fascinating stories filled with famous people. She strikes a fantastic balance between knowing famous people and telling you about them, without making you feel like she is just doing it to name drop. She also (nearly) has her feet on the ground, knowing that she is lucky to have met and worked with so many incredible people. She also allows limited insight into her family providing you with just enough information to feel like you are learning something without giving up her husband and children’s privacy for the sake of an interesting line in a book.
As with any good biography the photos are terribly important. The pics in this book are great – there’s a great shot of Jennifer (may I call her by her first name?) and Ade Edmondson on their wedding day (almost a shock to see them not pulling faces or in character) and with a slew of famous friends getting up to hijinks.
Things that made me go hmmmm
There’s nothing really off about the book. There was the odd moment I suspected a ‘true’ story was being embellished for comedy value – but seeing as that’s what she’s good at I was happy to concentrate on being entertained rather than skeptical.
The conclusion
This is a fantastically easy and entertaining read. Unsurprisingly it’s in the ilk of Dawn French’s autobiography Dear Fatty. If you’ve read one you’ll like the other, and if you’ve read neither you should!
