The Fool Reads: Clash of Kings and Rachel Dratch

It's been a long month of March and April, and I embarrassingly only have two books to show for it. However one was crazy long (and I admit, I read slow). So here are some thoughts.

First up, the second in A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin: A Clash of Kings. I will admit, I got into this book series after seeing videos of the series on HBO. While that sort of makes me a wagon-jumper, I have no regrets arriving to this fantasy series a bit late. In my spare time I suffer from an addiction to the computer game Dragon Age, and I have come to realize I must have some sort of soft spot for the dragon-slaying, sword fighting crowd.

But the reason I really love this series is the huge ensemble cast. I love well-written characters and George Martin gives a whole slew of them, each giving their own perspective on the goings-on in the country. At the center of this novel is Tyrion, the clever dwarf who always has a hilarious wisecrack and a plan up his sleeve. We also get chapters from Jon Snow who is off dealing with all sorts of nasty things in the forest, and we get two new narrators in the rascal-y Theon Greyjoy and the "onion knight" Davos Seaworth.

Emillia Clarke as Daenerys

I confess to being partial to the amount of strong female characters this series offers, my favorite being the self-proclaimed Queen of the Dragons, Daenerys. Like the first book, she spends her time away from the rest of the main characters, but her trials are one of the most challenging and I secretly hope she'll take the crown one day. Other strong women include Catelyn Stark and her young daughter Arya, who both show of their strengths: Catelyn emotionally and Arya physically. The other Stark daughter, Sansa, is growing on me. In the first book she was incredibly naive, which made it frustrating to read her chapters. However, in this book she has grown more and it's more entertaining to see her struggle to survive.

I also have to give a shout out to Varys, the eunuch, who is probably my favorite male character. He doesn't serve anyone whole-heartedly: he does what is best for his kingdom, and what is best for him. We never get inside his head and that really adds to his intrigue. I hope he stays around for future books. I also enjoyed the addition of the character Brienne, a mannish woman who serves as a knight for King Renly (who is in a "don't ask, don't tell" relationship with Ser Loras, who is technically his brother-in-law. Gay drama!)

I really enjoy the TV series, and happily I finished the book BEFORE the entire season aired. There are supposed to be seven in this book series, and only five are released. I would like to tackle the third, but they take so long (this one was 1,000 pages) I need some lighter reading in between epicness. Which brings me to:

The last book I read, courtesy of Kindle: Girl Walks into a Bar: Comedy Calamities, Dating Disasters, and a Midlife Miracle by comedian Rachel Dratch. Dratch was a star on Saturday Night Live for seven years, and was cast members with Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Maya Rudolph (my personal dream team). She was always one of my favorite cast members ever, and I'm puzzled as to why she's not a household name like the rest of her ladies. Her most famous character was Debbie Downer, a woman who always brought down the room with a horribly depressing fact (usually cat AIDS statistics).

Dratch starts off her book talking about showbiz, answering some questions about SNL and about her work on 30 Rock (she was originally supposed to play the role played by Jane Krakowski). Her book doesn't have as many "laugh out loud" moments like Tina Fey's did, but it was really entertaining due to the conversational way she writes.

Dratch as Debbie Downer

She tells stories about her early work in Second City (where she met Fey) and some behind-the-scenes stuff on SNL, which I love reading about. While she keeps an optimistic feel throughout the book, she doesn't shy away from admitting some harsh truths: Hollywood sees her as the "lesbian best friend" caricature, she hasn't really worked long term since 30 Rock, and she even read comments saying she was replaced by Krakowski because she was the prettier actress (and at times, Dratch worried that was the case herself).

The second half of the book deals with the discovery that Ms. Dratch was pregnant at age 43. Since it was considered an impossibility, she thought the child-bearing time of her life was over and never dreamt she'd become pregnant. When she did, by a man she dated for six months, she stepped into the role of mother, although not so gracefully or willingly. She doesn't harp on "the joys of motherhood" or anything; rather she pokes fun at herself for being disgusted by a breast pump and loathing baby showers.

She sums up her attitude perfectly in her closing chapters (Spoiler alert? Can you spoil an autobiography?). She says a typical call from her agent would be for a movie: Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, and Maya Rudolph are in it playing superheroes. They want Rachel to play Amy's obese, lesbian, alien mother. Dratch happily agrees to do the film for little money (the producers thought she'd like to work with her old friends). She then hangs up the phone and goes to her baby Eli. She plays with his little feet and his toes, and says there is no better feeling.