Reviews for Diary Of A Mad Diva

by Joan Rivers

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A Dear Diarystyle recounting of the authors day-to-day professional and personal life.Rivers (I Hate EveryoneStarting With Me, 2013, etc.) merciless, yearlong skewering of the universe begins Jan. 1 and proceeds through the year. Sparing no one, including herself, the author employs her typically ribald take on the numerous individuals, groups or topics encountered while the author travels from her home in New York to gigs around the country and vacations in Mexico or the Hamptons. A sampling of the real or imagined scenarios Rivers recounts in her trademark style include: Anne Franks diary-keeping skills; Barbara Streisands looks; dating services; Paula Deen and the N-word; her ideas for new TV shows; Kirstie Alleys weight (Today is National Pig Day and I completely forgot to call [her]! Ill send her a note. Or a bucket of slop. Shes not that fussy); J. Edgar Hoovers fashion choices (J. Edgar Hoover and I were very close. In fact, we were the same size. I used to lend him my clothes for special occasions. He looked especially fetching in a simple summer shift with matching cloche and open-toed-shoes). Rivers also includes numerous photos showing her swigging from a bottle of vodka with cigarette and prescription pill bottle in hand; holding up a will work for food sign; dressed as a parody ofthe twerking Miley Cyrus; and decorating a Christmas tree with an Orthodox Jewish friend. Its all grand fun for the author, but after a while, the daily entries read like snippets of a stand-up routine.For a live audience, Rivers may astound with her stories and blue language, but when continually lobbed on the page, the shtick grows predictable and stale.Readers who never tire of Rivers and her distinctive take on the world will lap up the newest entree from the octogenarian comedian. Others will want to take a pass. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.