Chelsea Handler
If you've read one of Chelsea Handler's many bestselling books — Are You there Vodka, It's Me, Chelsea, or My Horizontal Life, or Lies That Chelsea Handler Told Me — or seen her irreverent take on talk show hosting on shows like Chelsea Lately, Netflix's Chelsea, or on her recent documentary series Chelsea Does — you might think you know what you're getting with comedian and cultural commentator Chelsea Handler. Boundary-smashing, can-she-say-that jokes, a withering and unapologetic focus on the illusions around which we construct our lives, and a commitment to deflating pretension wherever she finds it. But in her new book Life Will Be the Death of Me... and You Too!, Handler shatters expectations again, with a memoir touched off by a sense of emotional crisis that leads to a journey of self-discovery, and a reconsideration of everything she thought she knew about herself and how to live her life. In it, Handler talks openly about the trauma of losing a beloved family member as a child, her long struggles with intimacy, and her newfound commitment to empathy and connecting to the present. And if you're wondering, the jokes are still there. We spoke with Chelsea Handler the other day by phone, and asked her to talk about what it was like trying to get this journey chronicled on the page.