Chelsea Devantez's memoir finds the humor in dark situations

NPR's Book of the Day

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Books, Arts

4.2 • 671 Ratings

🗓️ 13 June 2024

⏱️ 12 minutes

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Summary

Comedian, TV writer and podcast host Chelsea Devantez moved around a lot as a kid. She jokes in today's episode that her mom "loved to get divorced" — but that also led to what she describes as a pretty great co-parenting situation between her mom and godmother for a while. It's one of the many stories in Devantez's new memoir, I Shouldn't Be Telling You This (But I'm Going to Anyway). She spoke to NPR's Elizabeth Blair about the book, her journey as a domestic violence survivor and the experience of being the product, in part, of a sperm donor

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's NPR's book of the day. I'm Andrew Limbong. We cover a lot of big topics in today's
0:07.8	interview. We're talking about diet culture, domestic abuse, what it's like being the child of a sperm
0:12.4	donor, and the beauty of celebrity memoirs. The book is itself a memoir. It's called, I shouldn't
0:18.9	be telling you this, but I'm going to anyway. And it's
0:21.6	by Chelsea Devontes, a comedian, TV writer, and podcast host. She talked to NPR's Elizabeth
0:26.9	Blair about the book. And the through line through all of these big topics is that you have to
0:33.0	laugh about it because she says, otherwise, it breaks you. That's ahead.
0:39.0	In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life. Distant wars, murky
0:45.2	conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, Sources and Methods. NPR reporters
0:51.0	on the ground bring you stories of real people helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.
0:58.0	Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:03.3	Chelsea Devontes is a rabid fan of celebrity memoirs.
1:08.3	She herself is something of a celebrity in the world of comedy. Her list of
1:12.1	credits includes Headwriter on The Problem with John Stewart, co-executive producer on ABC's Not
1:18.7	Dead Yet, starring Gina Rodriguez, and writing for the series Girls Five Eva. DeVontes hosts a podcast
1:25.4	about celebrity memoirs called Glamorous Trash. And today we're
1:29.7	book clubbing Donna Summer's memoir published in 2003 titled Ordinary Girl. I am such a huge
1:37.6	Donna Summer fan. And now she's written her own memoir called I shouldn't be telling you this,
1:42.9	but I'm going to anyway. Chelsea joins me now.
1:46.0	Hello, Chelsea. I'm so thrilled to be talking with you. Likewise. You write in your book
1:52.2	that from the beginning you say this is a sad story. And I'm wondering if you can talk a little
1:58.4	bit about where the sadness comes from.
	...

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