A Little Bit Wicked: Life, Love, and Faith in Stages

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A Little Bit Wicked: Life, Love, and Faith in Stages

by Kristin Chenoweth, Joni Rodgers (Goodreads Author)

3.84 of 5 stars 3.84 · rating details · 3,774 ratings · 642 reviews

"Life's too short. I'm not."

You might know her as a Tony Award-winning Broadway star, who originated the role of Galinda the Good Witch in the smash musical Wicked and won a Tony for 1999's You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Or you may recognize her from her starring roles on TV—The West Wing, Pushing Daisies, Sesame Street...oh, and her Huge Hit Sitcom Kristin on NBC. (Hug...more

Hardcover, 256 pages

Published April 14th 2009 by Touchstone (first published March 5th 2009)

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Feb 19, 2012 cecilia rated it 5 of 5 stars

I don’t normally venture into the non-fiction section of a bookstore unless by accident, but when I spotted Kristin Chenoweth’s memoir A Little Bit Wicked I knew that I had to read it because 1) I love all things Wicked (although it does not dominate her story); and 2) I fell in love with Kristin Chenoweth when she played Olive Snook in Pushing Daisies.

THE GOOD BITS

{A little slice goes a long way} I loved the format of this book. Yes, Kristin Chenoweth goes in chronological order, but it never f...more I don’t normally venture into the non-fiction section of a bookstore unless by accident, but when I spotted Kristin Chenoweth’s memoir A Little Bit Wicked I knew that I had to read it because 1) I love all things Wicked (although it does not dominate her story); and 2) I fell in love with Kristin Chenoweth when she played Olive Snook in Pushing Daisies.

THE GOOD BITS

{A little slice goes a long way} I loved the format of this book. Yes, Kristin Chenoweth goes in chronological order, but it never felt that way. A Little Bit Wicked seemed more like a compilation of bits and pieces of Kristin Chenoweth’s life, never quite connect-the-dots but everything had its time and place and I felt lucky to be reading about it. I ate A Little Bit Wicked it up in one evening, but this book can easily be stretched out like a decadent and rewarding dessert for 16 evenings!

{Warning: Avoid any liquids while reading} I guarantee that there are a whole lot of snort-worthy moments, and I giggled my whole way through reading! Kristin Chenoweth is honest-to-goodness adorable, even when she has her non-bubbly moments, and I love how the writing captures this effervescent woman. She is 100% human (I know, I had concern that she was all bubble) with hurts and hopes, trials and triumphs, and she knows how to throw a decent punchline. From the truth behind where babies come from to her eat-them-and-maybe-die White Trash Cookies to the inspiration behind Ellen: The Musical to being tricked into a date with a pilot while racing across the country, it is hard to NOT laugh at Kristin Chenoweth’s mishaps on her rise to popularity.

{On Aaron Sorkin} So I didn’t know much about Kristin Chenoweth’s love life before I read A Little Bit Wicked and really the her current status is nobody’s business but her own, but can I say that I adored Aaron Sorkin’s own account of how he fell in love with her? All I can say is that, in A Little Bit Wicked, I can sense how much Kristin Chenoweth and Aaron Sorkin care for each other – even if they were off-and-on, even if they never get back together – despite everything, Aaron Sorkin wrote a beautiful piece for A Little Bit Wicked and I think it was pretty cool of Kristin Chenoweth to share it with the reader.

THE BAD BITS

{Wicked-ly disappointed} Okay, the lack of Wicked was not exactly the end of the world, and I am sure Kristin Chenoweth may be all Wicked-out, but I had thought there would have been more dish on Wicked as suggested by the title. There were a few brief mentions, but if you shared my expectations of Wicked delights, this is not the book for you. This is more for fans of Kristin Chenoweth and perhaps GLEE-hards.

THE OVERALL

I don’t know how A Little Bit Wicked does it, but somehow it embodies the bubbly known as Kristin Chenoweth and delivers anecdotes that can either make you laugh or cry or even sniffle with a hint of chuckle. A Little Bit Wicked may have be Wicked in name only, but it is everything I expected from Kristin Chenoweth! A Little Bit Wicked may be short in length, Kristin Chenoweth most definitely is not – and I hope that there may be more stories to share in the future.(less)

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Jan 28, 2012 Felicia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-read, audiobook, audible-purchase-2009-to-2011

Bought on Audible
Actual Rating 4.5 Wine Glasses

What I Loved: Kristin Chenoweth is just such a delightful personality. She has great stories from her life both professionally and personally. I don't feel like she held anything back! She does it with such poise, humor, and a little wink/nudge to her friends. This was like getting a glimpse into what I think is one of the most down-to-earth celebrities there is today. It might be her southern roots but you just feel like she is someone you could si...more

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Nov 25, 2011 Galinda rated it 5 of 5 stars

Everyone who knows me knows that Kristin Chenoweth is my all-time favorite actress in the entire world! Everytime something of hers is on, or I find new stuff about her I buy it. So when I heard that she was coming out with an autobiography, it was all I talked about for weeks. Sadly I did not get it for my birthday, or Christmas that year, and I found myself having to read it at the library since I did not have it.
Well I read it and I loved it. I kept getting looks from people in the library be...more

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Jun 09, 2011 Devon rated it 4 of 5 stars

As a long fan of Kristin Chenoweth (who I will from now on refer to as Cheno) I was very excited to read her first (and a bit overpriced) book. It's pretty short, like her, but as she states this is her first "slice" of an autiobiography, and I hope she writes one without a ghost writer later in life. No offense to Joni Rodgers, she did a masterful job at crafting the book to sound just like Kristin would tell you in person, but added the clever timeline and bouncing back and forth between past...more

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Jun 07, 2011 Peep (Pop! Pop!) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: clean-enough, liked, read-in-2011, tis-funny, adult-cravings, audiobooks

I listened to A Little Bit Wicked a while ago, so I don't remember much of the story.

I do know that Kristin is a great narrator. She made me laugh when I really didn't think I would. Hearing her giggle always made me grin.
One of favorite parts was listening to her talking about her weave drama. You don't mess around with hair!

And her beauty queen drama was funny. Every time she mentioned the HUGE, HUGE show named Kristin, I smiled. Any other time something like that would have annoyed me but s...more

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Mar 22, 2011 Lindsey rated it 4 of 5 stars

Kristin Chenoweth is a Broadway singer and I was extremely excited to read her biography. She played the role of Glinda in the Broadway production of Wicked and was featured in TV shows such as Pushing Daises, The West Wing, and Sesame Street.
Throughout the book, she maintains a positive outlook on every negative event in her life. When she spoke about her birthmother, she had nothing negative to say about her adoption. She also wrote about her absolute love for the mother she grew up with. Whe...more

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Jan 16, 2011 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Being an avid Broadway and Wicked and Kristin fan in general, and since it was on sale, I felt it only necessary that I read A Little Bit Wicked. This book, wonderfully written with the assist of a ghost writer gives you insight into Kristin's life, from her adoption as a baby, to her years on the stage, to her budding TV/film career. I read this one pretty quickly as well, it's an easy read that goes very quickly, especially when you know the events, shows and other famous people she's referrin...more

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Nov 05, 2010 Christina Catalano rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed-books

My platonic-super-long-distance-one-sided love affair with Kristin Chenoweth started back in high school with the opening of the musical Wicked. I was enchanted by the story, the sets, the costumes, the fantastic lighting, but most of all the music. And not just the music, oh no, the voices. Those gorgeous voices that carried melodies with grace and danced their way into my heart. Being the theatre dork that I was (and still am), I was already familiar with Idina Menzel, but what really blew me...more

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Jul 20, 2010 Tobinsfavorite rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am glad Ms Chenoweth did the reading for her book. (I know, who else would have?) I just read a few negative reviews, and it seems to me people were annoyed that 1) Ms Chenoweth doesn't agree with them the way they thought she would or 2) the book is not about her being in Wicked.

No, the book is not about her being in Wicked. It's about her being Kristin Chenoweth.

The book is, in fact, "disjointed" if your reference point is an encyclopedia article, but we can already get those. I liked hearin...more

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May 16, 2010 Leigh rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Things Kristin Chenoweth and I have in common: a life-long affection for The Sound of Music and a deep and abiding love for all things Aaron Sorkin. Where we part? She's met Julie Andrews and slept with Aaron Sorkin. Damn. But its the first two traits that got me to read this book (that and the fact that it was a $1.50 at a local book sale and my book budget has recently gone, well, on a budget.)

This is the first of my GoodReads reviews and I can't say I would have started with this book if give...more Things Kristin Chenoweth and I have in common: a life-long affection for The Sound of Music and a deep and abiding love for all things Aaron Sorkin. Where we part? She's met Julie Andrews and slept with Aaron Sorkin. Damn. But its the first two traits that got me to read this book (that and the fact that it was a $1.50 at a local book sale and my book budget has recently gone, well, on a budget.)

This is the first of my GoodReads reviews and I can't say I would have started with this book if given a choice. A real high-brow selection, eh? Instead this is my first book because it happened to be the book I was reading when my friends--yes, you, Slav and Mrs. Marlene--said "Why aren't you on GoodReads? You should be." They spoke, I listened, then read and now I'm reviewing. Full disclosure, I have little faith in how consistent I will be on this site but I am throughly intrigued by the idea so I'm going to try my very best. I know I will read. I know I will have an opinion on what I've read. I'm not sure I will always record those opinions here for posterity (an ambitious description of my current total zero "friends".)

Anyway, as usual, I digress. The book. Since I love Aaron (yes, we are definitly on a first-name basis) and Kristin loves Aaron, I found the portions about Aaron to be the most appealling and passionate sections of the book. Otherwise as (auto)biographies go, Kristin Chenoweth's recorded life is relatively uninteresting. It is what she is--cute, impressive but with no particularly intriguing conflict. While her faith and my faith (or your faith) may not always agree, I enjoyed her resolution in the face of a community who (at best) disagrees and (at worse) doesn't care. But her faith is so unshakable, so absolute, that the story of maintaining that religious resolve in the entertainment industry isn't all that complicated or, as a result, interesting. And really, besides her whole-hearted declarations of love for Aaron whether or not they ever get "together forever," the religion-in-Hollywood angle was her best shot at telling a compelling story and its just not there.

Her writing style, or rather her ghostwriter's style, is very disjointed and self-indulgent, essentially a loosely-organized stream of consciousness. I'm not opposed to this in general but when telling the story of one's life, it isn't particularly effective. Characters and events are introduced in one moment before the story whirlwinds away. When those same moments are referred to later, the writer assumes her reader should automatically remember them. But when a person/event/story line's arrival onto the scene, so-to-speak, is so unremarkable, it is hard to remember the who's, what's, where's or why-we-care's of it all. This is my strongest criticism of the book--it's just too all over the place.

All that said, if you loved Wicked, want to know more about that girl on Glee, or have a giant crush on Aaron Sorkin, then this is an easy, funny and lighthearted book to read that never aims to be more than the fluffy, good girl gets famous story that it is. Just remember, the most amazing part about Kristin is her voice. That huge, only happens a few times in a generation kind of voice. And you just can't hear that in a book.

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Apr 27, 2010 Cori rated it 4 of 5 stars

Is Kristin Chenoweth the cutest thing ever? I sort of want to fold her up and put her in my pocket, so I can take her out when I’m sad or bored and she can sing me show tunes to cheer me up. And perhaps she could introduce me to her delicious Pushing Daisies (may it RIP) costar Lee Pace.

Anywho, I enjoyed A Little Bit Wicked a lot. Listening to Chenoweth ramble on about her life on Broadway and in Hollywood was a joy — all of her spunk and personality came through in this book. I think it’s best...more

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Mar 29, 2010 Miki Garrison rated it 3 of 5 stars

I picked this book up because I've always been interested in Broadway, and in the path that gets people there -- and while I have not seen a lot of Kristin Chenoweth myself, I have enjoyed what I have seen, and I thought it would be interesting to read a memoir by her.

And parts of the book were definitely very interesting -- I especially liked the parts where she is talking about her experiences with her music training in college, and the strong connection she had with the teacher there.

There...more

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Aug 12, 2009 Stephanie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: biographical

- jacket description:

You might know her as a Tony Award-winning Broadway star, who originated the role of Galinda the Good Witch in the smash musical Wicked and won a Tony for 1999's You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Or you may recognize her from her starring roles on TV -- The West Wing, Pushing Daisies, Sesame Street...oh, and her Huge Hit Sitcom Kristin on NBC. (Huge hit. L.A. breast-implant huge. Ask either of the people who watched it.) Or maybe you saw her sexy spread in FHM magazine? Or h...more

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May 05, 2009 Danny rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: library-book

It was a lot of fun, frothy and light. There's a lot of talk about her faith, so don't read it if that bothers you, and it actually might have bothered me (not the fact of it, just reading about it) but her sense of humor, and I think maybe of faith, is almost exactly like a friend of mine's from high school, so it just made me want to recommend it to her, which I already have.

Quotes:

After going down too hard while trying to do the splits: "The official diagnosis was a fractured coccyx. I also...more It was a lot of fun, frothy and light. There's a lot of talk about her faith, so don't read it if that bothers you, and it actually might have bothered me (not the fact of it, just reading about it) but her sense of humor, and I think maybe of faith, is almost exactly like a friend of mine's from high school, so it just made me want to recommend it to her, which I already have.

Quotes:

After going down too hard while trying to do the splits: "The official diagnosis was a fractured coccyx. I also pulled a hammy, but that was hardly noticeable, due to the profound agony radiating from the center of my poor little Georgie O'Keeffe. I missed a few shows, then returned to grin and bear it for the rest of the season with altered choreography and an unswerving devotion to Opryland."

On a song cycle of Emily Dickinson poems she sang for her master's thesis: "Emily Dickinson is such a wonderfully obstinate little cuss. I've always wondered what it was in her life that so turned her against comfort, company, and faith. An atheist who wrote hymns, a hermit who wrote love poems--maybe she simply didn't want to be figured out. It took a few years for some of the cycle to sink in, but parts still haunt me.

'Heart, we will forget him! You and I tonight!
You may forget the warmth he gave, I will forget the light.'"

And about a cat: "Now, please don't go blogging about what a cat hater I am. I promise I love all God's creatures like a Care Bear lives high-fructose corn syrupo, but sally is a malcontented wheezer, a shoe-chewer, a three-hundred-pound ball of contempt and shedding who hisses and spits like a python every time I walk by."

She, or her writer-person, just turns a good phrase. It's a fun read if nothing else. (But there IS something else. You also get some show business insider info. And anecdotes and stuff.)

Plus fun facts about Wicked and Pushing Daisies and The West Wing and all the things she's been a part of.

Also, there's a play I was probably going to see called The Wild Party but Chenoweth mentions it in her book and says the writer is awesome, so now I'm definitely seeing it. On Chenoweth's suggestion. Look at me name-dropping...the people whose books I've read.(less)

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Aug 21, 2011 Dana Neily rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was an entertaining, light read about someone I really admire both personally and professionally. There were many parts that made me laugh, think, and quote to my family as I was reading it and I'm glad I did.
There were some nice insights into the entertainment business and I really enjoyed hearing about her career and life in general.
You can tell that she is a singer and actress, not a writer and though I'm sure Joni helped, I still found the narrative somewhat confusing, as it tended to j...more

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Sep 27, 2010 Betsy rated it 4 of 5 stars

I breezed through this light autobiography in about one day sitting on the beach. I'd recommend Kristin Chenowith's musings for a very specific population - people who love Broadway, Aaron Sorkin, Pushing Daisies and the South. If that describes you (as it does me), you might want to curl up with this book.

More of a collection of thoughts than a serious autobiography, this book touches on both the successes and the challenges Chenowith faced as she broke into show business. She's surprisingly fo...more

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Dec 15, 2009 Rachel C. rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fellow Broadway freaks

Shelves: non-fic, music, biography-and-memoir, new-york

This book is chock-full of people and productions I know and love:

Kristin: A tiny little lady with one heck of a big voice. Loved her as Olive Snook in Pushing Daisies; loved her cameo in Glee; listen to the cast album of Wicked all the time (I saw it, too, but after she and Menzel had already left).

Idina Menzel: saw her in Aida; saw her in Vagina Monologues; I think she and Taye Diggs are the cutest couple ever.

Marc Kudisch: saw him in Thoroughly Modern Millie and just last month in Broadway Un...more

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Jun 27, 2010 Alisha rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: humor, memoirs, non-fiction, favorites

Most people know Kristin Chenoweth from Wicked, The West Wing, and/or Pushing Daisies. I'll confess something: I've never seen either of these things. Don't get me wrong: I would love to see her (and Idina) in Wicked (but I think that ship's already sailed, although, I am hoping for a film adaptation with Kristin and Idina as the leads, of course) and probably would've gotten into Pushing Daisies (but I vaguely remember scheduling conflicts for me between this and another show. Which show you as...more Most people know Kristin Chenoweth from Wicked, The West Wing, and/or Pushing Daisies. I'll confess something: I've never seen either of these things. Don't get me wrong: I would love to see her (and Idina) in Wicked (but I think that ship's already sailed, although, I am hoping for a film adaptation with Kristin and Idina as the leads, of course) and probably would've gotten into Pushing Daisies (but I vaguely remember scheduling conflicts for me between this and another show. Which show you ask? I really can't remember so apparently is wasn't memorable), but I just never got the chance.

No. The first time I heard about Kristin Chenoweth was when I was 12 years old and had just seen the Wonderful World of Disney version of Annie in which Kristin plays Lily St. Regis. She was just all-around hilarious in that film and was really my favorite character (sure, I liked Annie and all, but Lily St. Regis was just so charming and adorable). After watching that movie over and over (and okay, over) again (and learning all the songs and dance routines), I grew up (somewhat) and didn't watch it again until a couple of months ago when I dusted up my VHS version of the film and watched it with my five year old sister (and it by the way still held up). Soon after that, I caught Kristin on Glee, loved her in it and decided to read her autobiography/memoir. And...it was amazing.

Going into this, you know A Little Bit Wicked isn't going to be some literary masterpiece and you also know that it's not going to be some scandalous tell-all (because really that would've been all over the media). It seemed like a cute and funny book, so I thought what the hell. I sure didn't expect to start laughing as soon as I turned to Page 1. Kristin just oozes fun and is not afraid to poke fun at herself. From saying to Ellen that she has to sing from her "Hoo-hoo" to kissing Idina Menzel to break the tension after the bigheads of Wicked stormed out, you can just tell that Kristin is possibly one of the coolest people around.

I'm not a religious person at all, so I thought that that particular element would bother me coming up as much as it did, but surprisingly it didn't. It's probably because Kristin Chenoweth seems like one of those people who's just really open-minded about most things that would piss off a majority of uber-religious people. I honestly can't find one thing that I had a problem with in regards to this book. It really delivered what I wanted. A humorous memoir that wasn't too angsty, yet had the right amount of heart.

I'm sure that Kristin Chenoweth will go on to do even more great things and I'll be rooting for her every step of the way. You know, all us short girls (I'm five feet, if that) have to support each other. Also, now when I push in my Annie DVD (I've since upgraded) for the umpteenth time and my older sister walks in and rolls her eyes asking, "Why are you watching this AGAIN?", I can reply with the utmost certainty "Because Kristin Chenoweth is just THAT awesome!"(less)

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Mar 19, 2013 Jkhickel rated it 3 of 5 stars

After reading this book, I want to shake Kristen Chenoweth by the shoulders and say, "Listen, honey, life isn't that great. Cheer down."

Seriously: I love Kristin Chenoweth's perky, upbeat personality. But in a book-length autobiography, there is a thin line between perkiness and superficiality, and this book seems to cross it. Chenoweth is a highly successful singer and entertainer, but there is little sense of the struggles, headaches, and rejections that a young girl from Oklahoma must have de...more After reading this book, I want to shake Kristen Chenoweth by the shoulders and say, "Listen, honey, life isn't that great. Cheer down."

Seriously: I love Kristin Chenoweth's perky, upbeat personality. But in a book-length autobiography, there is a thin line between perkiness and superficiality, and this book seems to cross it. Chenoweth is a highly successful singer and entertainer, but there is little sense of the struggles, headaches, and rejections that a young girl from Oklahoma must have dealt with on her way to the top of one of the world's most competitive professions. Everyone she meets is an utter joy, and she loves them. God seems to have handed her one opportunity after another, which she made the most of through her cockeyed optimism.

Her relationship with Idina Menzel, her co-star in Wicked, is a case in point. Rumor is that the relationship between the two is strained, in part because both were nominated for a Tony in Wicked, and Menzel won. I'm guessing that the relationship is indeed strained, but not because Chenoweth openly admits it. I'm basing that instead on the fact that (a) Chenoweth seems to heap less praise on Menzel than she does on almost everyone else in the book, (b) the most she'll say about the subject is "our paths haven't crossed enough for a mediocre rivalry, let alone a healthy steam of hatred" and "I'm not a hater. It takes too much energy."

Also, and I found this rather interesting, (c) she says this of the Tony Award: "I wasn't at all surprised when she [Menzel] won, and I couldn't have been happier." Remember when Chenoweth sang "I Couldn't Be Happier" in Wicked? Her character wasn't very happy when she was singing that song. Is Chenoweth giving her fans a Wicked little hint here? Why doesn't she just come out and say it?

If you are interested in cute perky stories about Chenoweth's glide up the ladder of success -- and particularly if you are interested in her recipies for cookies and pies, which are for some reason scattered throughout the chapters -- this could be the book for you. If you want the behind-the-scenes inside story of her Broadway, stage, and television shows and her road to success, check out the internet gossip sites.(less)

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Feb 03, 2011 Joanie rated it 5 of 5 stars

LOVED IT!! Kristin is funny and honest. I loved the way she talked about her family, especially about growing up knowing she was adopted (and how that shaped her) I also enjoyed her take it or leave it..this is me attitude about life. Her honest and openness about her Faith was probably one of my favorite parts of the book. She has this quote about dealing with her Grandpa's death "How can anyone who's seen a dead body question the existence of the soul? The difference between the living and the...more

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Oct 04, 2009 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
I didn't know too much about Kristin Chenoweth before reading her autobiography. I didn't know she espouses a faith in Jesus Christ or that she's adopted.

At first this book gives you a little bit of whiplash because she runs back and forth from past to present and the time line isn't always clear. Her tone of writing is fun and makes you laugh more often than not. After awhile you get used to the skipping around and it just becomes part of the charm

As an adoptive mom I really enjoyed her per...more
I didn't know too much about Kristin Chenoweth before reading her autobiography. I didn't know she espouses a faith in Jesus Christ or that she's adopted.

At first this book gives you a little bit of whiplash because she runs back and forth from past to present and the time line isn't always clear. Her tone of writing is fun and makes you laugh more often than not. After awhile you get used to the skipping around and it just becomes part of the charm

As an adoptive mom I really enjoyed her perspective on adoption. Of course it was all really positive so how can I argue with that?!

Her perspective on Christ, well that I had some bones to pick with her.

She emphasizes that she feels it's not her job to be the world police (no problem with that) and that she has many friends who don't agree with her faith in Jesus (again, all A-Ok) in fact she's dated/lived with men who don't have her faith/any faith in God. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Captain iceberg dead ahead!

Since when does God say it's fine with him that you kinda cut him out of the whole dating/sex thing? I kept tripping up on that. How could she not make the connection? I think God's pretty clear that we belong to him and frankly that having sex with people you're not married too or who don't share your faith (these are two separate issues, I'm not implying that if you take away one and just do the other that's somehow better) grieves the Holy Spirit.

I don't really want don't go on a tirade about this (possibly a bit too late for that?) but I think my real issue is that she picks and chooses what to believe in scripture. I've been seeing this more and more, the idea that somehow God isn't fallible on salvation but is just a little bit off on what he told us about right and wrong. I know I can be a giant screw-up but I never claimed that God was mistaken about what my sins were.

To sum up: I really enjoyed this book and I'm sure that Kristin Chenoweth is a nice, fun, human being, but several times she made me want to get out my big family Bible and thump her with it.

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Jun 24, 2009 Josh rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Chenoweth/Broadway fans

I've been a fan of Kristin's for years now and this is exactly what I've been looking forward to. Insight into the workings of a Broadway darling turned Hollywood rising star.

The stories she tells are funny and inspirational and I found myself laughing every other page. Granted she does go on about God and faith and all that, which is fine. Even as a devout agnostic I loved every word of what she had to say and felt much of it rings true.

If you're looking for a Spelling-style tell all, pick up M...more

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Aug 02, 2011 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011, to-buy

I have to admit, that ever since I saw her on Pushing Daisies, I’ve been a little bit fascinated by Kristin Chenoweth. She’s such a teeny-tiny lady, with a very quirky speaking voice and a crazy powerful singing voice. Her character on Pushing Daisies, Olive Snook, was adorable. I just recently read and fell in love with Wicked by Gregory Maguire, so of course I started looking up stuff about the play and guess who played Glinda the Good Witch on Broadway? You guessed it. Anyways, that reminded...more I have to admit, that ever since I saw her on Pushing Daisies, I’ve been a little bit fascinated by Kristin Chenoweth. She’s such a teeny-tiny lady, with a very quirky speaking voice and a crazy powerful singing voice. Her character on Pushing Daisies, Olive Snook, was adorable. I just recently read and fell in love with Wicked by Gregory Maguire, so of course I started looking up stuff about the play and guess who played Glinda the Good Witch on Broadway? You guessed it. Anyways, that reminded me of how much I liked Kristin on Pushing Daisies, so then I did an internet search on her to see what else she’s been in, and then I saw that she had written a book. I promptly went the my library and checked out the book AND the audiobook, which she reads herself.

Yup, I adore her. This memoir is informative, funny, and thought-provoking, which is a lot for a 232 page book. She’s one of those stereotypical perfectly sweet Southern women, and from her book seems like such a genuinely nice person. Now, I really liked learning about Chenoweth’s life – her family, her introduction to music and the entertainment business, and the different projects she’s done. I was a little disappointed that there was only a short section on Pushing Daisies, but oh well. She mentioned The West Wing a lot, which I’ve never seen and now I’m thinking I should check out because it seems everyone has seen it but me. I have to say that oddly enough, the parts I liked most about her memoir were about her Christian faith.

I’m not religious. I went to a Catholic school as a kid, was baptized, did my First Communion, my Confirmation, etc… but by the time I left middle school, I was agnostic at the least and uneasy with organized religion. Since then my spiritual beliefs have become more atheist, and I’ve grown sort of a big aversion to organized religions – they irk me. I have friends of different religions, and I can respect anyone’s beliefs, and even study some when the mood strikes. But it’s more from an intellectual / curious approach, rather than a spiritual quest approach. I just can’t get behind the idea of religion. A nice concept, but not for me.

ANYWAYS, Kristin was raised as a Christian in Oklahoma, and she mentions God and her belief in him quite a lot throughout the book. Normally this would annoy me, but somehow she made it work. She’s the kind of Christian that makes me wish I believed in some sort of religion, that I had those sort of beliefs and faith in a higher power. She’s honest about her beliefs, and doesn’t apologize for them. She looks to her religion in times of sadness and joy. She actually studies her religion and thinks about her beliefs, instead of just prescribing to what her church or religion tells her. She embraces her own religion, respects the religion of others’, and tries not to pass judgement on other people. She actually puts a list in the book of the question she would ask God if she could, which includes some serious ones that we’ve all thought at one time or another, plus some funny ones, such as:

“What if you made it so that hate would cause hemorrhoids? Just an idea.”

Basically, if more people took Kristin’s approach to their religions… well I think the world would be such a nicer place.

I enjoyed this book. I switched between the paper version and the audiobook, but I really enjoyed listening to Kristin read it. She has such a distinctive voice, and she occasionally sang little bits here and there. Also, the book includes fun stuff like recipes. Some parts definitely made me laugh out loud, such as when she realized that her Ambien was making her unknowingly eat while she slept. And then there were some of the profound moments, such as when she’s giving advice to young actors and one piece of advice was:

“… let your ambition be about who you want to be, not what you want to get.”

And that quote right there pretty much sums up what a cool person she is.

I highly recommend this for anyone really, especially women. It’s a great memoir – it’s interesting and fun to read, but doesn’t reach for anything too profound – as Kristin herself says in the book, this is a recollection of some times in her life, not a tell-all autobiography. But I’ll definitely read that when she writes it.

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Aug 31, 2010 Jennie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I listened to this on audiobook, which I think is the way to do it... Kristin Chenoweth's voice adds another dimension to her words (well, actually the words are Joni Rodgers, who ghost wrote for Kristin), which I don't think one would get just by reading the text.

I thought I knew a pretty good deal about Kristin Chenoweth because I'm a big fan of Wicked, and I've seen the clip of her singing My New Philosophy from You're A Good Man Charlie Brown about a hundred times... I've also seen her pop...more

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Jul 28, 2009 Joanne rated it 3 of 5 stars

I haven't read many celebrity memoirs, and I'm not really familiar with Kristin Chenoweth's TV shows, movies, or singing. I was intrigued by an interview with her I read in a gay magazine and by her self-description as a liberal Christian. The memoir, which is co-written with Joni Rodgers, is breezy and funny. Chenoweth is self-deprecating and relentlessly optimistic, along the liens of "when God closes a door He open a window."

Towards the end it is too full of name-dropping about various costa...more

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Feb 10, 2013 Alice rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, audio, humor, library, nonfiction, memoir

I know next to nothing about Kristin Chenoweth. I've seen the episode of Glee she guest starred in, but I didn't have cable while Pushing Daisies was on the air, and I've never had the disposable income for a trip to NYC for a Broadway show. Nonetheless, I found her memoir funny, enlightening, and overall enjoyable.

Kristin Chenoweth is deeply spiritual, and she makes no secret of that fact from the first paragraphs of her memoir. Initially, her singing brought her to several Oklahoma churches to...more I know next to nothing about Kristin Chenoweth. I've seen the episode of Glee she guest starred in, but I didn't have cable while Pushing Daisies was on the air, and I've never had the disposable income for a trip to NYC for a Broadway show. Nonetheless, I found her memoir funny, enlightening, and overall enjoyable.

Kristin Chenoweth is deeply spiritual, and she makes no secret of that fact from the first paragraphs of her memoir. Initially, her singing brought her to several Oklahoma churches to show off her talent. She also references her grandmother, who advocated against using religion to judge, and befriended people across religious lines. Chenoweth says little about religion or spirituality I can argue with, though I don't feel her fervor. Hers is the gentle, loving, accepting religion that's a lot more palatable than the evangelical type.

The story is told through vignettes about her current life (as of the book's publication, at least), which spark flashbacks or long stories about how she got where she is now. The narrative jumps around in time, but still manages to paint a whole picture of how she got where she is. She discusses her struggles with Meniere's disease, an inner ear disorder that leaves her nauseated and useless for random periods of time. She mentions only briefly that she struggled with depression, though it doesn't show in her narrative. Mostly, the story seems like one charmed-life anecdote after another. Her coming in third in a Miss America beauty pageant, after all, leads to a lucrative offer to attend a prestigious singing school free and clear, which allows her to stumble into her Broadway career.

It's possible I'm too cynical for this book. It seemed easy to espouse her philosophies of "keep on keepin' on" and regarding everything cheerfully and being kind to people when you've led this sort of life. She describes her parents as not being well-off, but she certainly has a lot more opportunities than a lot of the people I grew up with. It probably helps that she knew what she wanted from day one, and that she had the luxury of choosing only what was fun to her.

Despite the sometimes saccharine outlook of the book, though, I enjoyed it. It's frequently funny, sometimes wry, and I found myself liking her by the end. She never uses her platform to tear anyone down, and she comes across as very down-to-earth, and deserving of her success.

I listened to this book on audio, which is narrated by Kristin Chenoweth. She sometimes bursts into song, and punctuates with laughter. She has a lovely voice, and I think there would be a dimension missing to read this on the page instead of hearing it. I was lucky enough to find it through my local library, and it was a bright spot in an otherwise dreary week.(less)

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Jan 17, 2010 Jamie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2010

I'm not really sure why I started 2010 with two womens' autobiographies, but there you go. I think I needed a nice, light start to the year.

I like Kristin Chenoweth and her book was an interesting peek into the real life of a Broadway star. I must confess that I love to hear about how celebrities' jobs and lives are much the same as ours: ridiculous coworkers, hair mishaps, embarrassing mistakes, disappointing relationships or jobs that don't work out. Kristin's book has all of these.

It is a bit...more

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Jun 29, 2009 Rory rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites-over-time, nonfiction-treasures

To quote George Gershin, " 'S wonderful! 'S marvelous!" I would hope this book would be what Gershwin would want to read if he was obviously still alive.

I don't want this book to be just this one. I want this book to be many books. I want it to be a science-fiction novel, a horror novel, a book of jokes, a book of plays, a book of everything that has ever been put into a book. This made me more of a fan of Kristin Chenoweth than I already was, having seen her in "The West Wing" (my favorite TV s...more

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Feb 12, 2011 Malinda rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have always thought that I would love to hang out with Kristin Chenoweth, if she weren't so dang nice (this is a bit of a joke from her book). :) I really enjoyed the snap shots of her life that she painted in this book.

I guess I never thought about how annoying it can be to constantly be called short and sweet. I am taller than the average girl and meaner than the average girl, so these things haven't ever been said to me. That isn't to say that I couldn't relate to Kristin. She and I couldn'...more

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Dec 08, 2009 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars

I first found out about Kristin from Pushing Daisies. When I started looking around, I realized she was in Wicked, one of my favorite musicals (and book!). If you read her book you really should consider listening to the audio version. Kristin reads it and she has such a distinctive voice that it's really a pleasure to listen to. That, along with her giggles and snorts as she tells stories. That as well plus the guest appearances by her best friend Denny and her on again off again beau Aaron Sor...more

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About Kristin Chenoweth

Kristin Chenoweth is an American singer, musical theatre, film, and television actress, and author. Some of her best-known roles have included her Tony Award winning role as Sally Brown in Broadway's ,You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, her role as Glinda in Broadway's Wicked, and her role as Annabeth Schott in television's The West Wing. She was a cast member on the ABC comedy-drama Pushing Daisies...more

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The Complete Peanuts, Vol. 11: 1971 - 1972

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“But there's the beauty of life beyond the bubble. It's possible for someone to see your wicked bits and still love you.” — 45 people liked it

“I'm sick of people who've never been to church telling me that church is full of hypocrites, and people who've never read the Bible telling me that it's baloney.” — 27 people liked it

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