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

by Kristin Chenoweth (Author), Joni Rodgers (Contributor)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Currently seen as waitress Olive Snook in ABC's Pushing Daisies, the Tony Award–winning singer-actress Chenoweth looks back at her multifaceted career, which has encompassed recordings (As I Am), films (Four Christmases), television (The West Wing), Broadway (Wicked), solo concerts, animation (Tinker Bell), opera and Opryland. Beginning with the intriguing speculation that her unknown birth mother could be watching her career rise, she recalls her Oklahoma childhood and vocal training when she learned "[t]he music didn't come from notes and lyrics; it came from life and mileage." Personal revelations, such as her experiences with Ménière's disease, are balanced with bubbling backstage anecdotes. A chapter about her on-and-off relationship with writer-producer Aaron Sorkin includes a section written by Sorkin himself. With digressions, detours and words like "whack-a-noodle," the book is busy with show-biz flip quips and writing reminiscent of Julia Phillips's You'll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again (minus the drugs and invective). Chenoweth has a frenzied, free-associative style; it's as if she's speaking breathlessly into a tape recorder between sitcom scenes. To use her phrase, this book is "a hoot and a holler"—a fast-paced frolic that her fans will appreciate. (Apr. 14)
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Product Description

"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. (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 her appearance on Pat Robertson's The 700 Club? Kristin is a wonderful collection of contradictions -- but everyone who's ever met her remembers her as the little girl with the big voice. At four foot eleven, Kristin Chenoweth is an immense talent in a petite but powerful package.

In this lively, laugh-out-loud book, Kristin shares her journey from Oklahoma beauty queen to Broadway leading lady, reflecting on how faith and family have kept her grounded in the dysfunctional rodeo of show biz. The daughter of an engineer and a nurse, Kristin was singing in front of thousands at Baptist conventions by age twelve and winning beauty pageants by age twenty-two. (Well, actually she was second runner-up almost every freaking time. But, hey, she's not bitter.) On her way to a career as a professional opera singer, she stopped in New York to visit a friend and went on a whim to an audition. Through a combination of talent, hard work, and (she's quick to add) the grace of God, Kristin took Broadway by storm. But of course, into every storm, the occasional drizzle of disaster must fall.

Filled with wit, wisdom, and backstage insight, A Little Bit Wicked is long on love and short on sleep; it's essential reading for Kristin's legions of fans and an uplifting story for anyone seeking motivation to follow his or her dreams -- over the rainbow and beyond.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone; First Edition, First Printing edition (April 14, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416580557
• ISBN-13: 978-1416580553
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (57 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,863 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Memoir!, April 1, 2009

By	tvtv3 "tvtv3" (Sorento, IL United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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I have to confess that I've just recently become a fan of Kristin Chenoweth. I knew she had won an Tony for Sally Brown in the revival of YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN and other than that, that was about it. Last summer some friends played a few songs of hers from her albums and I was blown away by her amazing voice and from that moment on became a fan. I bought her Christmas album and saw her amazing performance in St. Louis in January. We share a common faith and though I'm not from Oklahoma, I did live there and I'm involved in theatre myself (though in a completely different sphere than Chenoweth). When I heard she had a book coming out, I knew that it would be one I would be reading as soon as I could get it.

Even though it's being marketed as an autobiography, A LITTLE BIT WICKED isn't an autobiography. It is a memoir filled with autobiographical anecdotes. There are parts of her life that are completely skipped and though there is an overarching progression moving from her childhood to the present, the story skips around quite often and zig-zags all over the place. It's definitely told in Chenoweth's voice; the book was written in the same style, manner, and syntax as the way she talked when I saw her perform and in the interviews I've seen her in. However, a true autobiography has a person telling as much as their life story as they can possibly remember or are allowed to tell. A LITTLE BIT WICKED has a lot of great stories and fills in some background information people might not be familiar, but there's a lot that's been held back and isn't revealed. As Chenoweth points out in the afterwards to the book, she knows this and perhaps years in the future she'll write a true autobiography. Until then we have A LITTLE BIT WICKED and though it's not a full meal of a book, it's a tasty little divine snack that's quite satisfying.

The most covers many of the major events of Chenweth's public life: her Miss America attempts; the Tony win for YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN; WICKED; THE WEST WING; PUSHING DAISIES; the FHM pin-up shoot; her appearance on THE 700 CLUB. Interspersed between all of this is her story about growing up in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and her training at Oklahoma City University. She talks a lot about her faith and a little time about starting out in New York City with the seemingly random audition for ANIMAL CRACKERS that brought her to New York. There's also her recipe for "No-Calorie-Left-Behind Pie", her simple advice for young actors, a timeline of her life, and a list of questions she wants to ask God when she meets him. She also briefly discusses the four grand loves of her life, including Aaron Sorkin. True to Chenoweth's spirit, Sorkin even writes a small part of this book explaining how he fell in love with and later met Chenoweth.

For me, the most interesting part of the book was the story Chenoweth tells until she first came to New York. I really enjoyed the learning about where she came from, who her parents and siblings are, what she thought of school, her early training, etc. In all honesty, this part of her life is the most informative and detailed in the book.

I really enjoyed reading A LITTLE BIT WICKED. It's a book that every fan of Kristin Chenoweth will enjoy. It's also written in such a way that casual readers who don't know much about Chenoweth will probably like it as well.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars She's delightful, she's de-lovely! (And, yes, Cheno is the real deal.), April 6, 2009

By	Joni L. Rodgers (Houston) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Obviously, Kristin Chenoweth is far too young for an autobiography, but this is the perfect moment in her life and career for a "so far, so good" memoir, and I was happy to help her do that. I've never worked with anyone who has more talent or tries harder, and I've never had so much fun on a ghostwriting project. Kristin is such a what-you-see-is-what-you-get person, it was easy to catch her unique voice on the page. I think you'll enjoy hanging out with her as much as I did. (And you won't have to work as hard to keep up!)

If you're looking for a fusty mug of theatre history, this ain't it. "A Little Bit Wicked" is more like a fizzy champagne flute of laughter and tears, offering a delicious slice of Kristin's not-always-charmed life, including her thoughts on adoption, faith, and family, the ins and outs of show biz, and the ups and downs of love. (She even gives famously on/off romantic interest Aaron Sorkin the opportunity to add his own "He Said" to the story, which he does with trademark humor, warmth, and style.)

Kristin Chenoweth radiates the joy of an artist at work. She can raise the ceiling seven inches in a symphony hall, blow the doors off Broadway, or melt a movie camera. Offstage and behind the scenes, she's smart, funny, ridiculously generous, and genuinely sweet. An amazing performer and an extraordinary human being...with just enough of a wicked streak to keep things interesting.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Folksy and Fun, March 11, 2009

By	Jennifer Donovan "www.jennifersnapshot.blogsp... (Connecticut, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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Celebrity biographies are not usually my first pick of books, but since the West Wing is probably my favorite TV drama ever, and since Wicked is absolutely the best Broadway show I've ever seen -- I was curious.

Kristin is a good Southern girl who's managed to stay out of the trouble that many starlets get into. She's been outspoken about her Christian faith, which has hit her from both sides -- from the Christians who say her views on homosexuality are too liberal and from homosexuals who say that she aligns herself with their enemies.

So, I wanted to see for myself.

At first I thought that the book was a little too chatty and folsky, but that grew on me, and in the end I did feel as if I knew Chenoweth better. I was also a bit bothered by the fact that there was no real time-line or even a theme to the chapters, but then I realized that's exactly the way we get to know a friend.

We don't hear their whole story from age fifteen to the present day. We pick up bits of a person's life and experiences here and there. It's sort of like mining for gold: In the "Sift, sift, sift, sift" of everyday conversation suddenly a gold nugget about a past love or a life-changing mistake is uncovered and you see that person in a totally new way.

So if you like celebrity bios, you'll probably like this one. If you don't particular like celebrity bios, but like Kristin Chenoweth or are curious about musical training or Broadway, then you might like this one too.