Rating: 
Summary: Little Margaret, Happy At Last.
Review: If you are coming to this book with the idea that it is an extension of Margaret Cho's life as a stand-up comedian, you will be disappointed.While she does talk about her life on the comedy club circuit, the comments are filled with bitterness, loneliness, and drunkenness. "I'm the One That I Want" tells the story of a girl reviled by her peers, ignored by her parents, and generally put upon by a world that couldn't force her into a mold of conformity. Cho's autobiography goes beyond frankness into scatological vulgarity. In this book, she details the abuses and ignominies heaped upon herself and those that she heaped upon others. Cho's battles with racism, sexism, and weightism are all explored so meticulously that the reader is at first horrified, second discomforted, and finally numbed by it all. It wasn't until I had read the last twelve pages of the book that I felt Cho had reached solid ground and might actually escape the quicksand her life had become. It has been said that it better not to know the author of the art you enjoy because they are so much less than the art. If you enjoy Margaret Cho's comedy then take a pass on this book.
Rating: 
Summary: I wish it didn't have to end like this
Review: As a Korean-American girl, I've enjoyed watching Margaret Cho's stand-up comedy over the years, but when I picked up this book, thinking it was going to be an extension of that--humor mixed with some painful memories of her past mixed with some more jokes about growing up Korean-American--I was dissappointed. To say that she speaks candidly about sex and drugs is an understatement; at times I felt that Margaret went too far and crossed over into tastelessness (i.e. going into great detail to describe ex-boyfriend's sex habits, dropping names and then snuffing them later on because she's supposedly 'the better person' now). Of course, I don't expect her to be a great writer because she's a comedienne, but I was expecting a good story...I guess that was my downfall. I was not expecting her to make me feel physically uncomfortable while reading the book! She tries so hard to label herself the 'ugly, fat, dumb' girl that it gets repetitive and annoying. I find her life interesting but her book a put-off. There was one joke that I found amusing enough to laugh at (the Star Search International memory), and I wish she had put everything else in the same perspective...
Rating: 
Summary: An angry young woman speaks out
Review: If you like your women (especially your Asian-American women) modest, soft-spoken, and all-forgiving, this book may startle, sicken, or even frighten you, as well it should. Margaret Cho is very frank here about both her strengths and weaknesses, and where they come from. From the schoolgirl sadists who made her childhood a living hell and the incompetent parents who turned their backs on her as an adolescent, leaving her to make her own way through a morass of drugs, bad sex and self-hatred, you can see exactly how this beautiful, gifted creature gained both a determination to make audiences love her and an abysmal need to obliterate the monsters in her brain by any means necessary. The readers who will get the most out of Cho's tale are the women like her, the young Ophelias in desperate need of revival, and the older ones who somehow managed to crawl out of the drink and survive the perils of a world where "ruined" girls, or those who aren't quite nice or pretty or well-behaved enough, are all too often thrown away, when all they need to be good as gold is the guidance, shelter and love that they are owed by us.
Rating:
Summary: Where's Margaret?
Review: As tell-all autobiographies go, this one leaves out some important factors. While Margaret Cho is frank and honest about her weight issues, drinking, narcotics, sexual promiscuity...she forgets to tell us much else. Unfortunately very little of her spirit comes through as she gives us a mind-numbing catalogue of the crimes she has performed against herself. And allowed others to perform. Sure, it would be hard to joke when you're giving the details of some of these events. But Cho has always been able to see the humor, satire, absurdity in life -- her own and others. Her comedy work is noted for crossing boundaries and delving into areas that make an audience initially uncomfortable but then break through and bring us remarkable insights and great laughs. That so little of that perspective can be found here is disappointing. Without that voice, she is nothing more than your standard celebrity giving us the sordid details of his/her shameful past. Margaret has a better book to give us and I hope to read it someday.
Rating:
Summary: Very UNinspiring!
Review: I bought this book after reading Rosie O'Donnell's interview with Margaret Cho in her magazine. I can't tell you how very disappointed I was. If you are looking for an uplifting and inspirational autobiography, you won't find it here. There is little generosity of spirit or love to be found in this book. I can't count the number of times Margaret gleefully talks about using her fame and popularity as a weapon to take revenge on this person or that person for having slighted her in the past. She even talks about her mother as though she is some horrible monster, and yet what we actually SEE of her mother, telling her that it is the best mother's day of her life because of Margaret's success, except for that other best mother's day, which is when she did not miscarry Margaret ... well, she seems pretty loving to me. Perhaps Margaret is too busy wallowing in self pity to notice it. I find it hard to believe anybody could have been as miserable and despised as Margaret Cho claims she was. Okay,if she truly peed her pants at school and chose to go back to the playground and play wet and smelly rather than change, I could understand why she wasn't very popular ... because she was deliberately offensive. And she continues to be so in this book. She talks about her little heart just full of love, but in actual fact her heart seems to be full of hate. Margaret, I am very disappointed in you. And you, too, Rosie.
Rating: 
Summary: No joke!
Review: More than you ever wanted to know about Margaret's misguided escapades into drugs, booze, food, and sex. This book is a more brutal account of her life than she portrays in her stand-up routines; I don't think her intention is to make you laugh. Moreover, I found it annoying that she "name-drops" Madonna in a few places (one doesn't know if she's ever met or talked with the over-rated Material Girl, but for some reason she likes to mention her name!). Alas, one can see why Margaret would have such a liking for the notorious Boy Toy. Margaret reveals much in her book and gives many of life's lessons through all the mistakes she's made in her turbulent life. But then again, what comedian hasn't had a turbulent life?
Rating:
Summary: Well written but written too soon.
Review: Ms. Cho only "cleaned up" in the year 2000. So this book is the story of a life unredeemed. Although it gives the appearance of a happy ending, I would rather she had waited to see if her clean and sober life stayed clean and sober, or if she found more meaning and benefit over time from a clean and sober life. If she falls off the wagon after the publication of this book, it will become a fairly useless read.
Rating:
Summary: Well written but written too soon.
Review: Ms. Cho only "cleaned up" in the year 2000. So this book is the story of a life unredeemed. Although it gives the appearance of a happy ending, I would rather she had waited to see if her clean and sober life stayed clean and sober, or if she found more meaning and benefit over time from a clean and sober life. I'll be interested in a sequel.
Rating:
Summary: Slow but sincere...
Review: I bought the book hoping to gain insight into the young and talented Margaret Cho. As a stand-up she has a quick wit and fantastic personal and political observations. But as an author she is not as clever, shocking or provocative as she thinks she is. She has a good story to tell. Suffering from low self-esteem, communications deficits with her family and a clear, uphill battle with prejudice, it's easy to see the obstacles she had to deal with and subsequently triumph over. But her story-telling abilities still need some work and polish. She should read more biographies and perhaps take some classes on story development. The first 2/3 of the book are a slow, predictable read. She tries to describe her history as though it was decades ago - with the cynical eye of time, age and perception. But, in fact, it's fairly recent history. Granted, she made it through, but hindsight is always 20/20. The story is not finished. The lesson may be yet to learn. I'm sure it was great therapy for her to pound out her lurid tale of a young life gone awry. But the constant self-loathing, self-pity, fast times, "sex-drugs-and-rock & roll" lifestyle is a tune we've all heard before. The deal is: she made it out the other side but that's the shortest part of the book! A quick fix at the end of the book tries to wrap it all up in a nice neat package - and we all know that's not the way life happens. I wish she'd spent more time on putting it all together, gathering up the pieces of herself and telling us how difficult (and in what ways) she re-connected the pieces of her life and her personality. How she mended fences, the relationship with her parents at present and what she wants from life. THAT would have been a book with a real ending, not just a pretty package.
Rating:
Summary: Comedian, TV Star, Icon, Fag Hag...................
Review: Margaret (Moran) may be known as a lot of things; comedian, TV Star, Icon, Fag Hag, but what she really is a warm, passionate, and wise woman. I expected this book to be a very funny autobiography, but was surprised at how serious this book turned out to be. Margaret has certainly experienced many low points in her life along with a few highs. I think Margaret Cho deserves a lot of credit for exposing to the world the many problems she has had dealing with drugs, alcohol, and a failing TV sitcom, plus the fact she's an Asian-American and the prejudice that she has experienced because of this. I think that's why she has always been so supportive and accepting of other minorities and has established a large gay following. She has a unique perspective on personal identity and acceptance. This gives her comedy an edge, and the courage to say what she really feels about human nature and the world we live in. I had a hard time putting this book down. As I said, there are some funny parts, but most of this is a serious reflection on her life up to now. It gave me an honest look into the real "Margaret Cho." Yes, she does sound spiteful and a little revengeful in some parts of the book, but who wouldn't be with the hatred, and prejudice she has experienced in her life. However, I think she has become a better person for it. She hasn't lost her sense of humor, and still deeply cares about others, especially outsiders. I enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.
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