Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang

Starred Review. Comedienne, talk show host and daring author Handler (Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea) indulges her fans with a new compilation of shockingly direct essays, from which she emerges as a scheming farceur with an expansive range of practical jokes and winning sarcasm, pulled off beautifully against (and with help from) her closest friends and family (including her boyfriend, the CEO of the E! television network that employs her). Handler spins a deliriously sticky web of running jokes while suckering the gullible, again and again, with made-up stories of her transgendered friend, a ludicrous movie deal, and her infamous personal pilot. Never shy, Handler finds room for even more irreverent honesty regarding sex-including her earliest encounters with male genitalia and with "the feeling"-and also lets readers in on her family life, including a family dinner that ends with her missing brother found intoxicated, naked, and celebrating on a dock in the early morning hours. Whether Handler is plotting to get her father committed or convincing her dog never to "shadoobie" in her presence, her essays are packed with enough laugh-out-loud moments to rival a first-rate stand-up act. B&W photos.