Man Up! Tales of My Delusional Self-Confidence
By: Ross Mathews / Foreword: Gwyneth Paltrow / Afterword: Chelsea Handler / Narrated By: Ross Mathews
Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins
Mathews is aDORable, and I love his All-Out Life Is Grand outlook! …but…
First? I’ve loved Ross Mathews since “The Tonight Show” where he was Ross The Intern. He was vibrant, joyful, quippy, and he was most unabashedly HIMSELF, in all his over the top glory.
So, after having a cruddy week last week, I sooo was looking forward to Man Up! thinking that Ross would be, well, Ross.
And he sooo is! If you have sensitive ears, you might give this a pass since, as Ross discusses, his voice! Oh his voice! Not the usual “Man-Voice” and not the usual “Voice” PERIOD. But a high pitched and ebullient kinda sorta effusiveness just thiiiiis shy of SCREAM. As he does indeed find himself in WOW Situations, you’d better believe he’s telling us each event with a joy unheard of by the even-keeled run of the mill person whose emotional baseline is BLAH. Ross appreciates everything that’s come to him, and here in this audiobook, he even touches on the painful as well, also delivered with emotion… rather loud emotion. Getting fired from Lane Bryant? It was all Those DAMNED Pajama Bottoms! Hate ‘em hate ‘em hate ‘em!!! A teeny tiny Chihuahua at the Farmers Market? Love it love it love it!!!
Being called in to do a quick bit on “The Tonight Show”?
WONDERFUL as he’d decided, to tamp down nerves that were almost overwhelming, to Just Be Himself (“There you go: David Duchovny was my First…”)
Expect Over The Top
Like, for aaaallll of this audiobook. Cuz Ross has gotten into a lot, and he had many many, oooodles, of thoughts rushing through his head as he navigates his way through each situation. Girlfriends in high school? Attracted to them cuz Dang! the things he could do with their hair! His LAST girlfriend? Very graphic musings as he Went Down There… and…? Well, he’ll never be able to watch “The Lion King” EVER AGAIN!!! But at least it made clear what he’d kinda sorta reeeally known his entire life? Boys? He’s THERE! And I don’t think I’ve ever heard a sweeter Coming Out story in my entire life: Mom is adorable, and his hunting, fishing, truck driving, swear-like-you’ve-never-heard-before Dad is pretty gosh danged incredible as well.
Acceptance and Love. Through this entire book.
That Ross “reads” this himself? Okay, it’s nowhere near that he’s reading, rather it’s him speaking directly to his rapt and attentive audience, all his joy comes out, all his affectionate nature on full display as well.
And now to where I have that little “…but…” caveat in the title of this review: This, the whole structure of the book, is WRETCHED. Truly it is. It needed an editor to craft it into something far more chronological as the whole book is one event, flowing into another, jumping back in time, jumping way forward, falling way back, hitting an exciting spot, then we’re back to, say, Coming Out. Which happens relatively early in his young life.
Then too, I really really wanted to hear some more of his exploits with celebrities. It’s not that I’m all interested in celebs, but it IS that I find his quips and one-liners to be vastly amusing. Gwyneth Paltrow is his bestie? Okaaaay. It’s nice that he loves her and theirs is a warm, unique, lovingly equal give and take -BUT- did I really need to hear about lunch? Besides which, she annoys me. So more celebrity comments and musings and less Isn’t Gwyneth AMAZING, please.
Other than that, and other than the near-constant shrill screaming, I greatly enjoyed Man Up! not for the pithy little lessons Ross attempts to impart, but just for the sheer positivity, the good nature, the joyful acceptance of Life Taken On Life’s Terms, and reveling in the hard stuff as learning fodder just as much as he appreciates all the gifts that have come his way.
What can be better than that? Maybe some editing, but for the most part just fun…!
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