Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Jazz Chickens (Random House Large Print)

I received an Arc of this book from First to Read in exchange for an honest review. My apologies for being late. Eddie Izzard is a hilarious British stand-up comic ( "cake or death?"). I have always enjoyed his stream-of-conscious comedy and respected him for being "out" as a transvestite at a time when it was very hard. We say Transgender now, but I don't know if that completely covers it- he feels both masculine and feminine and refers to himself often in the book as an "action transvestite", loving sports and GI Joe and girls.... and sometimes their skirts and makeup. Reading this book gave me a new respect for Izzard as an individual and a professional. Loosing his mother at a young age to cancer, Eddie and his brother then went to boarding school- not the easiest thing for anyone, especially a grieving boy with confusing feelings about himself. We face the drama of puberty, flirting, self discovery, and hacking one's way into the comeday set (street performing, the London circuit, tours, America and acting); all the while trying to make it so that his sexuality is not the only thing he's known for. It is sad, honest, and often hilarious as Izzard bears all to let us into his world. This is a five star book for me. In fact, I loved it so much I bought it so that I could check the printed version and give quotes. I loved the flow of the book- a tiny bit choppy and out there as if you are just sitting listening to him talk. He speaks here much like he does in his stand-up (and, indeed some of my favorite zingers here were one show or another). As someone with a transgender person close to me, knowing what they have been through even now, it was nice to hear Izzard's take. As far as the Adult Content Scale, it was maybe a three. There is a great amount of language, but not much else. Now, for the quotes: (On having the confidence to ask a girl out) If you don't have the confidence to walk out the door and say, "Hey, who wants to have a relationship with me? I'm a teenage guy with no real experience or confidence! But it's going to be fun," then it's just not going to happen. (How he came out as trans during one of his routines) I had one joke about being TV that I had been carrying around for about four or five years. It was this: "If you're a comedian, it's good to have something to rail against. So if you're from the working class background, you can say 'Oh, the rich people! They're always in control.' If you're a woman you can say "oh, men! They're always getting paid more!' If you're from an ethnic background, you can say, 'Oh, white people. They're always making it hard for every ethnic group.' But if you're a white, male, middle class, stand-up, you have no one to rail against. So thank god I'm a transvestite!" .... When I finally told the joke it got a laugh, but people didn't actually believe that I was a transvestite. They thought I was joking! (On his choice to go in "girl mode" sometimes). ...How I dress and what I look like is not a character. It's me. I'm just talking. And sometimes I just happen to be wearing lipstick. (On his constant drive to push himself) Most of us think that while we are here on earth if we eat cake and watch television, that's fine. That's what we're supposed to do. But that's now what our bodies are built for. I believe we can all do more than we think we can do. (His outlook on our differences) ...If you look at what makes us all similar instead of looking to find what makes us different, you'll see that there is one thing that is the same for all of humanity: And that is love. ........We are all worth fighting for. Running and hiding and separating, building walls, hating the Muslims, hating the Jews, hating immigrants-none of this builds a better world. The twenty-first century is a key century for us on this planet. Either we make a world, where all seven billion people have a fair chance in this century-or forget it. I don't think we are going to make it as a species. Despair is the fuel of terrorism and hope is the fuel of civilization, so we have to put more hope into the world than despair. Hatred and separation and building walls is not the way to progress. ....Some people say I am a nonbeliever. But I am a believer; I believe in humanity. I believe in people. I believe in our ability to make the world a better, more compassionate, and more civilized place.

It’s lovely to read a memoir and hear the voice so clearly. I’ve loved all the shows and am amazed to learn more about the choice to run the marathons, speak multiple languages, and learn to fly a plane. Funny and smart with a cause. Short a star because he lost me a bit with the creation theory chapter.

Eddie Izzard has to be one of the smartest comedians out there. I also find his overall stage presentation to be fascinating because he is such a great speaker, especially when doing all his silly routines. It's no surprise then that when I learned he has a book coming out, I pre-ordered it right away, For those reading this book hoping for explanations or deep thoughts on the origins of "Cake or Death", or my absolute favorite "Deathstar Canteen", you will not find that here. What you will find,however, is a very personal story about a man who worked very hard to make it to the stage, hone his craft, and deal with some deep personal issues and experiences that had a sincere effect on his life all along the way. His first-hand account of coming out as a transvestite was quite interesting and explains all of the hopes, fears, and prejudice that went along with that process. I also found it interesting that, despite his comedy routines, there was literally almost no swear words in the book, but there were what had to be the most amount of foot notes usage I have ever seen. Yes - Eddie's rambling verbal style is in full swing here, and we love him for it. This book makes a great companion to his documentary about his life, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in his career. Well done Eddie, and keep polishing those nails. I wouldn't want you to be any other way.

I became a fan after I saw Eddie Izzard on HBO. You get the feeling he’s enjoying himself, which makes it more fun, and I think his humor is smart and silly and different. His delivery cracks me up. I admire that he’s an “out” transvestite and performs that way and that he was honest about that journey. I’m always curious about people’s backgrounds and, though the book bogged in a few parts and he kept going off on tangents in his footnotes, I enjoyed learning more about him. His mother died when he was young and he and his brother were sent off to boarding school due to this father’s job. He talks about how that affected him and still affects him today possibly in his personal relationships, which he hardly mentions. What came through for me is his tenacity and that he’s always looking for the next challenge such as running marathons for charity and doing comedy shows in other countries in their languages. He’s positive, optimistic, inspiring, and puts good energy out there. Well done!

Before purchasing this E-book, I listened to an abridged reading by the author on the radio, which made it even easier to imagine Mr. Izzard telling me his story personally in his familiar, funny intelligent way. After years of unofficial biographies and short documentaries and films, it is great to hear about the life of one of my favorite people in personal detail. As always with this type of book, Eddie's choice of highlights which matter to him may not cover all of your favorite Eddie Izzard shows/films/plays etc. etc., but it is all fascinating, modest and funny. He did not become interesting only after he became famous! These days I read very few novels in my scant spare time, preferring real life 'making of' books - whether they be about movies or people - who I can learn to know and love more through books like this.

I expected more laughs but still enjoyed it.

Quite inspiring and engaging autobiographies. I was kind of quite connected to the each chapter even though I didn't read the entire book in one go. Last two chapters made the book truly unique.

Funny book. Can’t get in bookstores anymore. Fast delivery.

I'm a fan of Eddie Izzard and I found his story both amusing and sad at times but the main trait of his character that came across was his sheer stubborness of attitude towards achieving his goals in life. He accepted the setbacks and just put his head down to getting on with the job - something I find most commendable. Very brave in his truthfulness, I'm an even bigger fan of Eddie's than before. A very good read.