I enjoy reading humor books whenever I can. But my favorite humor books to read are those that also have some depth to them. I found that depth in Amy Schumer’s The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo and Rainn Wilson’s The Bassoon King.
Schumer is a stand-up comedian who is also an actress, writer, producer and director. She has her own television series called Inside Amy Schumer, which has won several television awards. She also wrote and starred in Trainwreck, which released in the summer of 2015.
So I have to preface this by saying that I have never seen her TV shows, her stand-up acts or her movie. So I did not have any expectations when I picked up the book.
I say this because some of the reviewers for The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo mention that they were disappointed with all the serious parts that Schumer snuck into her book. They thought she should just stick to her comedy side. I loved those serious places, though. I thought they were classy, truthful and deep. I really enjoy when people who are funny can tie their humorous stories into something meaningful, and Schumer did this well in several different places.
It’s not easy to write comedy in the first place. Not everyone shares the same sense of humor. But I’ve read a lot of comedy books that seem to be just empty comedy. Or they’re roasting people. Or they’re writing a book because it’s the next thing to do for their career. Schumer approached her book knowing that she had a greater duty to her public.
She wrote about her relationships and the phenomena of body shaming and her dad’s battle with multiple sclerosis and her eventual acceptance of her body and its imperfections. She was brutally and refreshingly honest in a heartwarming and funny way, and I was as encouraged as I was entertained by her words. It was a great read.
The Bassoon King chronicled Rainn Wilson’s journey into acting and also his journey into faith. He began at his childhood and walked readers through the twists and turns of his life that led to acting and, eventually, The Office, one of the most popular television shows in America. Periodically throughout the book, Dwight Schrute, which was Wilson’s character on The Office, would put in asides that were typical Dwight-like observations. It made for hilarious reading.
But interspersed in the hilarious parts, Wilson showed his humanity. He talked about his wife and his son and the hard parts of his acting journey. He talked candidly about his journey through faith.
What I also enjoyed about Wilson’s book was that he was not afraid to make fun at himself. He did not try to pretend like he was one of those awesome people who just made it to the top with little or no effort. He worked really hard at becoming an actor and had a hard time embracing his humor side for a while. He lets the reader in on all of that struggle, all of that dorkiness, and I appreciate that he never lost sight of where he began, even though he ended up living a dream.
Here is one of my favorite quotes from The Bassoon King, which happens to be the very last lines of the book:
“When you are able to tell your own story, you heal yourself. Therapists work with victims of trauma to tell the story of their life, to help them own their story, warts and all, and in so doing to find their voice, spirit, and healing.
“Children from every culture and era on Earth have listened with rapt attention to stories. All you need is a hero; a beginning, middle, and end; and some kind of surprising twist, and you’ve got a story. You’ve just read mine. What’s yours?”
I hope you’ve enjoyed these book recommendations. Be sure to visit my recommendation page if you’re interested in seeing some of my best book recommendations. If you have any books you recently read that you think I’d enjoy, don’t hesitate to get in touch. And, if you’re looking for some new books to read, stop by my starter library, where you can get a handful of my books for free.
*The books mentioned above have affiliate links attached to them, which means I’ll get a small kick-back if you click on them and purchase. But I only recommend books I enjoy reading myself. Actually, I don’t even talk about books I didn’t enjoy. I’d rather forget I ever wasted time reading them.
