There's Nothing in This Book That I Meant to Say

By: Paula Poundstone

Narrated by: Paula Poundstone

Part memoir, part monologue, with a dash of startling honesty, There’s Nothing in This Book That I Meant to Say features biographies of legendary historical figures from which Paula Poundstone can’t help digressing to tell her own story. Mining gold from the lives of Abraham Lincoln, Helen Keller, Joan of Arc, and Beethoven, among others, the eccentric and utterly inimitable mind of Paula Poundstone dissects, observes, and comments on the successes and failures of her own life with surprising candor and spot-on comedic timing in this unique laugh-out-loud book.

If you like Paula Poundstone’s ironic and blindingly intelligent humor, you’ll love this wryly observant, funny, and touching book.

©2006 Paula Poundstone. All rights reserved (P)2006 HighBridge Company; 16 9

Critic reviews

"Paula Poundstone pokes fun at her tabloid woes in wry - and occasionally pointed - tales about life in the comedy trenches as a single mom....[She] has a lively sense of the absurd." (Variety)
"Poundstone makes self-involvement entertaining in her memoir-cum-history." (Publishers Weekly)

refreshing candor from a spiritual titan

Paula would likely object to the title, but i can't say enough about the delight and epiphany she delivers.
Her many fans know this well, so let me tell the remainder: Paula does a better job of being honest than most artists ever even aspire to. She is totally at ease in her own skin, and allows it to be everything it might happen to be, regardless of how awkward, strange or random it may seem.
It's hard to say whether her unique personality lends itself to comic presentation, or her approach to the medium just nicely accommodates the true essence of an individual.
This is a must-hear for anyone who's been in any sort of rehab or psychological therapy, or for anyone who's been a parent. Probably others i missed.

love Paula

This was a fun book to listen to,and I enjoy her take on life, it was good to hear how she does radio in the morning

Fascinating and funny!

I stumbled across this book while looking for a humorous autobiography along the lines of Bossypants. I had forgotten how funny Paula Poundstone was. The book is unique in that the author weaves historical figures into her own story. I found myself laughing many times!I Very entertaining!

Laugh out loud funny!

After listening to This book once, I realized I want to hear it again 20 times so I can memorize the hundreds of hilarious.observations Paula Poundstone makes about life, love, family, and everyday instances that are both absurd and mundane. She closely mixes the biographical stories of 19th century famous people, like Dickens, Lincoln, Sitting Bull, and Helen Keller (ok she was mostly 20th century) and others, with comparative antidotes about herself and her children, and also societal systems that have influenced raising them and her own growing up. It's a unique way of telling one's own story and also much more guarded and less revealing than the books of other women comedians that have been published more recently. I hope she writes another book soon, maybe one more about her own life, but regardless, anything she writes will bring the reader much needed laughs. Be sure to savor the part in this book where she makes up descriptive Native American style names for everyone in her family, including her pets, as she tells stories about them.

it was great hanging out with Paula

I loved the historical references woven into the personal story. inspiring to see someone so willing to be so vulnerable, authentic and absolutely genuine. can you tell I really liked it?