Format Read: Audiobook
From YouTuber Laura Clery, “Idiot” is her memoir written in the form of comedic essays. She tells us her story of her being broke trying to make it in the Hollywood scene, her addiction, problematic romances and how she got to where she is today.
I have never heard of Clery before this – I guess her videos never made it on my recommendation on my YouTube homepage. I picked this up because my sister and cousin have started a mini book club and this was our monthly pick. I love memoirs as they are one of my guilty pleasures. I usually pick up the audiobooks for memoirs because they are usually narrated by the author themselves. This was the case for Clery and I think that is what made her story even more enjoyable. Because her background is in comedy, she gives her stories so much more energy and you can feel how much fun she is having through the narration. It is fun to hear a celebrity read their own book, but if they can make it their own story as if they are talking to me directly, that is when the story can be elevated. And Clery nails that with her comedic timing partnered with her somber moments when she describes what dangers she has been in with her past.
The essays are fun and entertaining, but at the same time do not really seem different than a typical celebrity memoir. I actually did not know they were supposed to be essays as I was listening to the book as I could not see them being broken up so it just felt like I was going chapter to chapter. Each essay was also formatted in the same style – nothing changing from story to story – which also made it feel like I was just reading a traditional style of memoir. I wish that with each essay you could tell when it was something new instead of just going through chapter by chapter style. So many of these memoirs are the same kind of format and hearing that it was essays, if anything, made me more disappointed that she did not put a fun spin on it. Overall, I wanted more from this format of storytelling that we do not usually see.
While Clery’s stories are full of heart and her narration draws you into her storytelling, this is nothing new outside of a typical memoir. If she was able to pull more from her creativity online and comedy aspect, it could have been more enjoyable, but I feel as though the only reason why I liked it as much as I did was due to the audiobook.
