I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not [ILLUSTRATED] (Hardcover)

by Rena Fruchter (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

An in-depth look at the complex and fascinating star who came from a childhood of abuse and, despite all odds, rose to fame as a brilliant actor, comedian and writer.  In this unique biography, friends, colleagues, and Chevy himself are interviewed by the author, and often presented in their own words.  Chevy speaks openly about his drug problems and his fight to beat addiction.  He also offers many hilarious behind-the-scenes anecdotes about his years in Hollywood as one of the world's leading comedians.

About the Author

Rena Fruchter is the author of Dudley Moore:  An Intimate Portrait.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Virgin Books (April 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1852273461
• ISBN-13: 978-1852273460
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #305,354 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very little to learn about Chevy, May 31, 2007

By	D. B. Roe (Midwest USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This was easily the worst bio I have ever read. Let me save you the time and money before you buy. Chevy was abused as a child and had a horrible mother, otherwise he is really a great, sweet, talented, strong and good looking guy (his "Cary Grant" looks are well covered in the book). I have enjoyed most of his movies and grew up on SNL but this book does little to help you understand the real Chevy vs. what you hear from his SNL castmates and others. It is a fluff piece for Chevy written by a lightweight biographer, I'm sorry to say. The book contains, literally, pages and pages of scripts written by Chevy or lines from his movies (that any fan well recalls), as well as full reviews (mostly positive) from various movie and TV critics. She also includes several paragraphs of internet based reviews by FANS about how great some of his awful movies (as Chase admits) really are. Pretty pathetic and boring filler that struck me as something a high schooler might do to fill pages for a school assigment.

If you are interested in Chevy, SNL and that era of comedy, I can suggest "Live From New York" as it was far more insightful and honest than this fluff book.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting content marred by bad writing and an AWOL editor., June 16, 2007

By	D. W WISELY "chiffandfipple" (Birmingham, AL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Clearly, a great book about Chevy Chase is possible. A show business icon with a fascinating personal and professional history is the subject here, after all. But the book is marred by organizational problems and flat, unsophisticated writing which is nearly juvenile. Perhaps most importantly, there's little or no evidence of an author who took a critical approach. I have no reason to think Chevy is lying to her, but there's nothing here to suggest that she tried to balance Chevy's account with those of other principals in the story.

This is one of those books that makes me wonder if there was an editor involved at all.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Self-serving Autobiography, June 11, 2007

By	FinFan (Rhode Island) - See all my reviews

This is not easy for me to write, since I love Chevy's movies and TV stuff, but I really feel that this autobiography was very self-serving. Every chapter leaves you feeling as if Chevy paid handsomely for the author to portray him a certain way. I'm not saying that he isn't exactly the way the book leads you to believe, as I've never met the man...but this account of Chevy's life paints him as almost saint-like...like he is so far above everyone else in Hollywood--morally, ethically, and intellectually. As he was one of my idols growing up, I can only hope that this book accurately reflects the person that Chevy is...but it just seems to good to be true.

As for the book itself, I found the writing to be a little disjointed. The author combines sentences within paragraphs that seem to have little to do with each other. She also included lengthy descriptions for each movie that was being discussed, which I guess would be necessary if you've never seen his movies, but these descriptions were duplicated at the end of the book in an appendix of sorts. The book did provide an accurate timeline of Chevy's life and the events that shaped it...I just wish the author had delved a little deeper into some things, and gave us a little less info on some others.

Overall, I thought the book was just ok. I really, really wanted to like this book more than I did, but in the end, it is what it is--a very average, somewhat entertaining account of an actor who, for me, is one of the funniest comedians alive today.