The Harm in Asking- Book Review

I admittedly went out on a limb in selecting this book.  I was not at all familiar with author Sara Barron, and comedy-type books are tricky.  Some people you think are funny in stand-up are not that funny in print, or an unknown comedian turns out to not be your type.  Sara Barron is just not my type.

Let me put it this way: I am on page 116 of 306, and I will have to force myself to read the rest of it.  I am all for weird humor, and I am not of a conservative nature that finds cursing or ribald humor inherently unfunny. This book has both, which may turn some people off, but this entire book just misses the mark for me.  There are nineteen chapters (essays?) that are vaguely connected in that they chronicle Sara's life in a generally chronological order, but address various issues or events.  Her essays largely focus on her voracious need for attention since childhood and the myriad ways in which she attempts to gain such attention (forcing herself to attempt lesbianism is one example).  There are a few anecdotes that I found funny but they were few and far between.  

Some of the stories seem forced, like the only way to be funny is to be provocative, but the provocativeness is of the more desperate for attention variety.  Maybe I'm wrong and this book is a perfect reflection of Sara's personality and life.  Even if that is true, there is little about this book that is appealing to me personally.

This book was provided for free from Blogging for Books in exchange for my review.  All opinions are my own.