And Faith in Stages - A Little Bit Wicked

You know what, I'm not all that big on memoirs or the celebrity book of the week, but when the world seems to be a cesspool of negativity, greed and people getting laid off left and right, it is almost refreshing to read a book about a really really decent, genuine and endlessly interesting person who did things the right way.

She made a name for herself by working hard, taking chances, weathering the down times and working even harder to push herself over the hump.

Films, Broadway, a voice like an angel, charm that comes across in the words of the book and a life based in religion and just a plain and simple matra of being good to people. We all should take note and learn how to smile and enjoy life. We're not here that long.

A great book that I enjoyed and my wife is enjoying now.

Kristin Chenoweth has reached the ranks of "Broadway royalty", but is also one of those rare talents who is at home in any medium, be it film, television, or the recording studio, and now she has added author to that list. If you are a fan of Kristin, this is a must-read. She tells the story of her journey to stardom exactly the way she comes across in interviews; with plenty of self-deprecating humor that draws you in and makes this a quick and enjoyable read. The only reason for deducting one star from my rating is her occaisional use of profanity for comic effect, which I will admit to laughing out loud while reading, but it still seemed a tad unnecessary. Even so, I would highly recommend her book.

I greatly enjoyed this book - it was fun, sweet, sad, interesting, entertaining, and completely honest.
I never have high hopes for celebrity autobiographies, but after finally having the privilege to see Ms. Chenoweth perform live, I was excited to read it and find out more about her. The book didn't disappoint - it chronicles her childhood, starting out in theater, and her path to stardom, all mixed in with funny and lovely tales of family and friends, and by the end, you feel like you just had a good conversation with a great person.
It must be those family and long time friends that keep her grounded, because despite her enormous success, she never seems to have 'gone Hollywood', never more obsessed with fame and fortune than the work itself. It's clear she loves her career and is incredibly grateful, but also proud of her hard work too. She knows young girls look up to her, so she offers great advice and is proud to be a role model. So many performers starting out today could learn a lot from her.
Her open and unapologetic discussion of her faith really resonated with me too, and anyone who has ever criticized her for it from either side should listen to what she has to say.

As someone still heartbroken that Pushing Daisies didn't last, I hope to see Kristin in many more shows and films, and would gladly read another book if she chooses to continue to tell her story.

WoW!!!! Witty!! Whimsical!! Wicked!?!?! I absolutely loved this book from first page to last! I read this book in about 6 hours time and hated putting it down for a much needed nap. This is a short synopsis of the life of [author:Kristin Chenoweth|1539383]. As a lover of theatre and musical production, I really appreciated the "insiders view" of life in the limelight. Kristin's wit and humor kept me entertained, yet she let's her readers know that life isn't always a bowl of cherries. I have an even greater appreciation for theater now and I'm glad she shared the "secret" to Elphaba's 'Defying Gravity' flying scene. Having seen "Wicked" twice, I still find it amazing the things that are done these days!

Life as Chenorkin? Keep us posted please!

Kristin Chenoweth's book is more of a tale of how she got to where she is in her career than a true memoir. In a very engaging style, she tells the story of how she began singing and dancing at an early age, and how little by little and with a lot of hard work she got different opportunities that took her where she is today: the teacher who believed in her, the first Broadway audition, the life of a struggling actress in New York City. She colors her narrative with wonderful vignettes of her childhood, her faith, and her love life, but she never goes into real detail about any of these. This is not a criticism, since I found the book to be great fun, and I think it paints a very realistic picture for any aspiring performer. In the end, the book is an entertaining account of how a girl from a small town worked her way to the top.

One additional note: Kristin's on-again off-again boyfriend Aaron Sorkin makes "guest appearances" in the book, and he writes a section in which he describes how they met and how he fell in love with her. This section is toward the end of the book, and it is the gem of the book.

Kristin Chenoweth's autobiography, A Little Bit Wicked, is a fun, funny, sometimes self-deprecating look at this hugely talented vocalist/actress' career thus far. The Tony winner (You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown) and star of Wicked (as Glinda, the 'good' witch), among many other Broadway shows tells of her life with candor and honesty, with many a backstage tale about her route to the top of Broadway's echelon and her experiences on network television - from her little known sitcom, Kristin, to The West Wing and Pushing Up Daisies.

This is an enjoyable, fun read. If you're a fan of this talented lady or just a fan of Broadway and musicals, you will find A Little Bit Wicked to be a lot of fun. Highly recommended.

NOTE TO PUBLISHER/EDITOR! -- Typo on page 176 (today instead of toady) which really affects the meaning of the sentence...

Is Kristin Chenoweth "A Little Bit Wicked?" Oh, I suppose it depends on how you define the word. I would say definitely not!

She has been a serious performer, and has even posed for suggestive photographs, so if you consider those things wicked, it would be only a little. Her attitude in the book is full of generosity toward those she has worked with. She tells a lot about how performers help each other. It's certainly not a life for many of us, but it seems to be the choice she was meant to make.

Chenoweth has a Master's degree, and tons of talent. She has appeared in concerts, on television, on Broadway, and in movies--a very substantial career.

She writes that this book is a "tell-a-little" slice of life. She says perhaps when she is a grand dame of the stage, maybe she'll do a "tell-all" autobiography. It would be well worth reading. And so is this book.

My husband and I recently listened to this audio book during a long road trip. It was fun to listen to. I've always liked Kristin, but now that I've heard her story, I can honestly say I'm a fan. I loved the fact that she was the person who actually read the book...it made it a very personal experience. It was also fun to hear a few of the actual people she was talking about in the book do some of the reading. Kristin talks about her faith and how she lived it in Hollywood and on Broadway. I highly recommend this audio book -- especially if you're into music or drama!

I've been a huge fan of Kristin Chenoweth for years now. Her singing voice is so gorgeous and she's a brilliant comedienne. A lot of people recognize Kristin for her high-pitched talking voice and who originated the role of Glinda (or Galinda) in the smash-hit musical "Wicked" and in her Tony Award winning role of Sally in the revival of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown". Also for her acting in the now canceled "Pushing Daisies" and "The West Wing" and films like "4 Christmases", "Deck the Halls", "RV", and "Bewitched".

"A Little Bit Wicked" tells the story of how Kristin was born to a flight attendant who gave her up for adoption. She was adopted by a couple from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and became Kristi Dawn Chenoweth (She didn't become Kristin until she was in college). She tells of growing up and immediately being drawn to the arts. She also tells of her partly but mostly non-successful pageant days and how she started in the Broadway community and how the Tony Awards went when she won her Tony for Best Featured Actress in a musical.

Fans of "Wicked" looking for a lot of information about Kristin's time as Glinda might be slightly disappointed. While Kristin tells about how Stephanie J. Block and Kristin started the "Wicked" process and some of the rehearsal stories, there aren't a lot of pages devoted to "Wicked". She does make sure to say that the rumors of a Kristin and Idina Menzel (her co-star in "Wicked") feud are completely untrue. She makes sure to say that she has the utmost respect for Idina and there was no competition between them. She also makes sure to say that they are not lesbian lovers either (maybe that mention is for the Chenzel fans out there).

While Kristin skims over a lot of the details about what happened in the shows she was in, she's surprisingly candid about her love life. In the past, when she's been interviewed, she doesn't reveal much about her love life and doesn't mention names usually. But in this book she mentions her past loves-including the one's who are famous: Broadway actor Marc Kudisch, violinist Josh Bell, and of course her on again and off again relationship with writer Aaron Sorkin. Aaron actually makes an appearance in the book to write about how he met and fell in love with Kristin.

"A Little Bit Wicked" is full of stories about her life, a lot of them laugh out loud funny. She even includes a couple of dessert recipes and some advice to young actors. She included a lot of pictures from her life, especially a lot from before she became famous. Fans get to see Kristi the ballerina and Kristi the piano player. I would definitely recommend this to fans of theatre and fans of Kristin's character Olive from "Pushing Daisies". And I definitely think this is a must-read for fans of Kristin Chenoweth, no matter if you like her as a musical actress, recording artist, or a TV actor. I know I loved the book and I can tell that it's one of the books that I'll re-read.

Kristin Chenoweth comes off as a genuinely nice, funny, and entertaining person when you see her on tv, but how does that translate to the written word in her memoir `A Little Bit Wicked'? Well, I'm happy to say that the book reads in that same genuine Kristin-esc way.

A Little Bit Wicked includes facts and stories about everything from Chenoweth's parents and childhood, to her beauty pageant days, as well as her various stage shows and experiences. As a Wicked and Pushing Daises fan, I thought I would be most interested in those two chapters, but surprisingly found myself just as engaged in the stories about the many other things she has done in her career thus far. It's not exactly chronological. Stories skip around quite frequently, but I didn't find it confusing. We even get a `special guest chapter' written by Aaron Sorkin. It was an easy, fun read, though I warn anyone who has trouble with small print that this books typeset looks a twinge smaller than normal.

I'm not a memoir buff and I can say I could have read this in one sitting if I had the time. This is a memoir for people who don't read strict `on the nose' memoirs and who just want to read a book that happens to be about a shorter than average Christian girl from Oklahoma that believed in her dreams enough to go after them and achieve them.

I actually had no idea who Kristin Chenoweth was until I caught her on radio interview a few months ago (and when I first heard that Southern accent, I mistook her for Reese Witherspoon!). At the time, she was lending her voice to one of the characters for the short-lived animated Fox sitcom, "Sit Down Shut Up," and I'd somehow managed to miss her in anything else, including the hit musical WICKED, for which she originated the starring role of Galinda/Glinda on Broadway (I did in fact see WICKED, but not the Broadway cast). But I was intrigued by the bits of Chenoweth's life that came up during the interview, from her career path (want-to-be opera singer turned Broadway star turned TV star) to her romantic relationships (broken engagement; on-again, off-again relationship with TV writer Aaron Sorkin) to her staunch commitment to her Christian faith. So, even though I don't usually read celebrity bios, when I saw this memoir shortly thereafter at a used book sale, I decided to take a look.

Chenoweth does have the assistance of a contributing author, Joni Rodgers, in writing her story. Her organizational choices are sometimes a bit confusing: in general, the book proceeds chronologically, beginning briefly with Chenoweth's childhood, moving on to talking about her decision-making process for where to go to college to study voice, and so forth. However, the opening scene of the book actually features Chenoweth as an adult, flying home for her grandfather's funeral; frequent time shifts of this nature are not uncommon throughout the narrative, and Chenoweth's writing style is often quite chatty and tangential. Despite this, her stories are funny and engaging, if a bit over-the-top at times. She is not afraid to poke fun at herself, but even this can get wearying at times. For example, every time she mentions her ill-fated sitcom, "Kristin," she jokes about what a "big hit" it was--not only does this joke start to get a bit old after the fifth or sixth time, but also there starts to seem to be an underlying bitterness to it.

And therein lies the one problem I had with this book. Although Chenoweth basically bills herself as just a sweet Southern girl from Oklahoma who hasn't been changed by the bright lights of stardom, it almost seems as if she puts too much effort into maintaining this image. Furthermore, she appears to contradict herself--i.e., on the one hand, she notes that she is NOT perfect, briefly mentioning her bouts with depression, but on the other, she talks about ways that she has intentionally presented a certain image of herself in the media (e.g., noting that she gave "coquettish" answers to a men's magazine interview). In the end, however, despite these issues, I still enjoyed reading this book. Chenoweth's existing fans will no doubt want to add this memoir to their reading lists, but others may find something here to amuse them as well. My final rating is 3 1/2 stars.

Kristin Chenoweth, Kristi :-) ... Broadway Dynamo, television and movie actress has written an autobiography that is light and breezy and often times, touching. She hits many interesting aspects of her life: being adopted, being a short girl, participating in pageants and giving up a promising opera (yes OPERA!) career for Broadway and Hollywood.

She discusses the challenges of being a gay-friendly, devout Christian in a business that can't seem to comprehend such a person.

Very enjoyable read especially for anyone with a love of the stage!

Kristin Chenoweth's autobiography is laugh-out-loud funny. It's like spending the weekend with a high maintenance but charming friend who's hilarious, spontaneous, and super talented.

It can be a bit rambling at times, and I have no idea why Aaron Sorkin wrote a small section (he's an on-off boyfriend), but it absolutely works. As with any autobiography, who knows how much of this is true. Still, it's a delightful way to spend some time with a kooky goof (or goofy kook) who also has a heart of gold.

The color photographs are an added bonus.

Kristin Chenoweth is a doll. Except for You Tube excerpts and Pushing Daisies (which was a huge disappointment when it was canceled) I didn't know her well until this book. It reads like she is standing there telling her story. Although she has a standard life of ups and downs she maintains her positive and humorous outlook with just the right amount of humbleness.

The book does tend to jump around a bit chronologically but is easy enough to follow. Although I enjoyed this book, my wife loved it!

This is a fabulously entertaining book. The voice is in Kristin's own southern drawl, and her personality just shines through with each paragraph. Reading about her trials and tribulations made me love her even more. She's definitely not a writer, she's an actress, so there were times when she would go off on tangents and it would be a bit confusing. But as a whole, it's a great book.

She speaks about her faith through the entire book because it has always been a part of her life and she has never felt the need to hide it while on Broadway or in Hollywood. She is proud of how God has helped her to get to where she is today, and she mentions it more than once. Some reviewers have mentioned they think she has a "holier-than-thou" attitude, and I completely disagree. Her faith is part of who she is, and when writing an auto-biography, it needs to be included. She can't leave out a piece of herself. She wasn't pushy or arrogant about it, only matter-of-fact and straight-forward. And I admire her even more for not being afraid to show it.

Pick up this book and give it a whirl, especially if you are a fan of Kristin. She brings you along on her journey from high school performances to singing at the Oscars and "defying gravity". You'll laugh, you'll cry, it'll be just like a Hollywood movie.

Let me start of my saying that the world would be a better place if there were more Kristin's out there. Yeah, yeah...so she's a great singer and a great performer...but that's not what makes her a great person. If you are a fan of hers, you'll love the book.

This was a great little memoir book; it's very much like her - bouncy and zany. At times, I found myself confused at where the story was going, but all I can say is sit back and relax. I recommend the audio-book, as she reads it herself. COME ON! How can you pass up an opportunity like that? I immensely enjoyed laughing one minute, crying the next, then laughing some more... I was so sad when it ended, but I can only hope that she there will be another book later.

Kristi Chenoweth's delightful dalliance into writing was all that I could have hoped for and more. From Broken Arrow to Broadway, I was able to feel and see and experience her adventures. This book was so wonderfully done. It was as if I was having a wee visit with Kristin at the local Starbucks, double chocolate cream frappacino (with peppermint)in hand, having her tell me all of her adventures.

I suspect that she writes like she talks...which was doubly delightful.

The only drawback...not enough. More...please!

This little niblet of a book is fraught with wisdom, a positive outlook, how-to's, escapades, capers, hair, hoo-hoos...well, you couldn't ask for much more, quite frankly. And, even though it is an easy read, there is great substance...great joy and great faith.

Thank you, Kristin Chenoweth...it was well worth my time!

Kristen does give you the background of her childhood and her road to Broadway, and at that point, she becomes guarded. Her story is told in a very likeable, talkative style, as if the ghostwriter just transcribed tapes of Kristen talking on various highlights of her career so far. But she doesn't go into depth or detail about the Broadway productions or TV shows she was involved with. It's obvious she is trying not to burn any bridges because she still has a lot of career ahead of her. I don't know any more about being behind the scenes on Broadway than when I started.

So it's very curious why a publishing house offered her a biography at this point in her life, when there is so much more to go and discretion is so important. I enjoyed it, but it was quick and not much more than a long magazine article really. She seems like a very nice person. And it's comforting to know that probably no actress is wearing her real hair, so don't judge yourself by movie star hair. It's all extensions.

I'm not a huge fan of Kristin--then again, I'm not really a huge fan of anyone, so there is nothing to blame there. However... I really do quite like her after "Wicked" and "Pushing Daisies". So read a bit about her? Why not? Anyone who likes her style will probably enjoy this sparkling read that sounds exactly like her as she discusses her childhood, family, various aspects of her career, etc. There is really no rhyme or reason to it, but somehow it works. A delightful and inspiring read her fans will enjoy.

I should confess at the outset that I'm not what anyone would consider to be a major fan of Kristin Chenoweth. I don't dislike her in the tiniest (no pun intended), but I've never seen her in any of her stage productions and I own none of her albums. My main acquaintance with her -- and a very delightful one it is -- comes from being a huge fan of PUSHING DAISIES, a show whose cancellation still makes me see red and spit in the general direction the ABC headquarters. And while there were many things that made DAISIES so spectacular, one of them was undoubtedly Olive Snook. I'm utterly convinced that 50 years from now people will watch PUSHING DAISIES, incredulous that it wasn't embraced as the masterpiece it was.

I also had some interest in this book because Kristin Chenoweth have a couple of things in common. We are both apparently something along the lines of lapsed Southern Baptists (I had to leave the convention after it made a number of offensive declarations, such as wives being expected to obey their husbands). We are from the same region, she from Tulsa, Oklahoma while I'm from Little Rock, Arkansas. We both have arts backgrounds (though mine is vastly less impressive--I'm not sure"vastly" emphasizes sufficiently the gulf, though I am quite proud that I have also have perfect pitch). And we have both ended up in large cities in other parts of the U.S. (her in L.A. and N.Y. while I'm in Chicago). Plus, my first major romantic involvement was with a little girl from Texas who was 4'10 ½". So I know all about the short ones. The point is, apart from her successes we've had some of the same broad cultural arc. So I was quite interested in the book from that angle.

All in all, this book is a heck of a lot of fun. I don't read many books along this line. I'm not very interested in celebrities. But if you've seen her on talk shows, you know she is vivacious and a lot of fun. That sense of fun comes out in the book. The book was written in conjunction with Joni Rodgers. It is really difficult to know precisely how much Kristin contributed. She might have written out bits for Rodgers to process into prose. They might have conducted a series of conversations that Rodgers recorded and then organized for publication. I had a friend who was a ghostwriter and was frankly astonished to learn how many books by people who were fixtures on public television she wrote almost in their entirety. But most of those books contained little of the personality of their purported authors. This one does. Whether that is because Rodgers was a genius at channeling Kristin Chenoweth or because Kristin was deeply involved in the process is hard to say, but suffice it to say that it feels more like the latter. Rodgers may have given the book its final shape, but I suspect most of the content came from Chenoweth.

Most of the book is fun but some were more interesting than others. I was fascinated by early pages in which Chenoweth talks about her adoption in infancy. Her birth mother (who was one quarter Cherokee and a flight attendant who became pregnant by a married airline pilot) gave her up at birth after she moved from California to Tulsa to give birth. The story of how Chenoweth ended up in her family was quite interesting, as was speculation that a woman who came up to her very early in her career and told her that she had followed her career and was proud of her might have been her birth mother. She reasons that if that was her birth mother and if she had followed her up to that point, it was far more likely that she had followed her through the more famous parts of her career, and almost certainly would be reading this book. I hope her speculations are true. While she doesn't want to meet her birth mother (so many adopted kids want to meet their biological parents, but often that is because there is a mystery about why they were given up for adoption in the first place; Chenoweth obviously knows why she was given up), it was a nice way for her to say "thanks." As to her family, you can tell that she is intensely devoted to all her family members.

Not being a big fan of Broadway musicals (if I have hundred buck to spare, I'd rather spend it on a small stack of books than on a ticket to a stage production), I probably didn't enjoy the many stories of being in musicals onstage, but this will undoubtedly be the highpoint for fans of her stage career. She passionately disavows rumors that she and Idina Menzel hate each other (why do these rumors of paired individuals always get started? - Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers by all accounts were friends but we get unfounded stories that they hated each other, while similar rumors haunted David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson). If anything, I would have liked even more about PUSHING DAISIES. But hey, that is what I've love Kristin Chenoweth in most. In fact, two of my all time favorite memories of that show (and you have to understand that 1) I'm a huge fan of quality TV but that nonetheless 2) PUSHING DAISIES is my all time favorite show after only BUFFY and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA) are Olive Schnook moments. One is from an early episode where the Narrator says "Olive Schnook loved to win" as Kristin jumped up and down on a bed, a massive smile gracing her face. The other is when Olive is knocked off the belfry of a church and dressed as a nun falls down to the ground (where she lands on a cart of hay, thus averting death) with a blissful, peaceful smile on her face.

So, in short, this is a fun book. And her bigger fans will love this even more than I did.

Just in case people don't know, many, many of the moments in this book can be experienced via Youtube. There are many, many clips of some of her performances, such as Swoosie Kurtz presenting her with her Tony for her role as Sally in YOU'RE A GOOD MAN CHARLIE BROWN or any of a number of clips of her in WICKED. If, like me, you never have been able to see her live, you can do so in this fashion.

If only there were six or seven stars to rate a book...

I LOVED this entertaining autobiography by the fabulous Broadway and television actress Kristin Chenoweth, who tells her story with a delightfully "wicked" sense of humor that made me frequently laugh out loud. So if you're a fan, this book is a must-read. And if you're not a fan, I predict that you will fall in love with Ms. Chenoweth as she shares her fascinating life with you.

Why I read It
Kristin Chenoweth is the cutest person alive.

The Good
Very self depreciating and full of fun facts I never knew.

The Bad
Focused on the good and only briefly touched upon the bad. That said it's her life and she can remember it anyway she wants.

The Ugly (my opinion)
A delightful book well worth the time to read. Kristin comes across as a genuinely nice person.

As frothy as a cappuchino, this memoir by Broadway actress/comedienne Kristin Chenoweth details her life from her adoption in Oklahoma to the start of her singing career (in church) to her winning a scholarship to train with Florence Birdwell to attending an audition on a whim and getting a role in a Broadway show (derailing her potential career as an opera singer).

Blessed with a gorgeous four(?)-octave range, Chenoweth moves from television to stage and back again with ease. It's a terrific, funny book, complete with some of the actress's favorite recipes and lists.

I adored the whimsical TV show Pushing Daisies, which I think may have suffered an early death under the weight of the writers' strike. Kristin Chenoweth was one of the main reasons I watched. This vivacious, talented, perky, lovely, versatile, vivacious, sweet as her recipe for Butterfinger Pie - and did I mention vivacious? - singer and actress tells of her life from beauty queen to Tony award winner and beyond. Self-effacing and just plain nice, she writes sweet and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny stories about her life in and out of the limelight.

I've been a fan of Kristin Chenoweth since I saw her on a talk show.The term "Cute as a bug's ear" comes to mind.She's pretty,talented and funny;a great combination for an actress.This book is a funny,touching and entertaining story of her life in and out of show business.The book is fun for all the right reasons and is a fast read.While her faith is everpresent,she never bludgeons you over the head with it.The breezy style fits her perky personality to a 'T' and makes the book a delightful way to spend an afternoon or two.

If you are looking for a salacious tale of Broadway life, this is not the book for you. Instead, Chenoweth provides a thoughtful and humble approach to her memoir. Her energy and faith come through in the text. Chenoweth shares her religious beliefs in a tolerant yet enthusiastic way that doesn't offend. I came away with a better understanding of the passion and dedication to artistic training that performers undertake. I'd recommend this book to young theater students and Broadway buffs. My only complaint is that the book's chronology jumped between present and past somewhat frenetically. While I don't need an autobiography to be linear, the author could have used some better transitions to guide the reader.

I listened to the audiobook of this. It is narrated by Kristin herself and she allows some people in her lifestory to appear as themselves in the narration too. What a clever idea! Listening to Kristin tell her own story was delightful.
I'd agree with other positive reviews on the book and wanted most to share about the audio benefits.

On the page, Kristin is funny, charming, and fun to read. A Little Bit Wicked was a wonderful little gem! This is a great summer read, quick and easy to pick up and put down as the chapters are mostly self-contained stories. If you're a big fan of KC, snatch yourself a copy and get ready to laugh!

Considering that Chenoweth's career presumably has a long way to go, in some ways the structure of this book - jumping around based more on topic than time - is a good thing. It should also be said that Chenoweth is a very engaging host. Still, it's hard to get past the fact that as of this moment we're still talking about someone whose career for all its merits doesn't necessarily scream out a need to be immortalized. As a result, the book was as inconsequential as it was entertaining.

Kristin Chenoweth enchants audiences in theatre and movies and on television, now we can add books to that list. She fills every page with hilarity and a look into this rising legend's life. Readers going into this book looking for profound literature may be disappointed because thats not what it tries to be. Like Chenoweth, it sticks true to what it is, fun and light with a dash of drama. This is a must read for anyone looking into this business as she gives wonderful advise and shows what it is really like. Of course, this is also a must read for any and all Kristin Chenoweth fans, young and old! I recommend this to everyone!

I did like it and it was funny at times. However, it got old fast. I was ready for the book to be over. But as far as celebrity autobiographies, this was one of the better ones. If you're a fan of Wicked, you'll enjoy it, at least somewhat.

Being a fan of both Pushing Daisies - The Complete First Season and Wicked the Broadway Musical, I was primed to enjoy this autobiography. Kristin is a sparkling talent, which comes through just as easily in the printed word as her work on stage and screen.

The book was wonderful and so like Kristin. I was captivated by every word. I was so glad she mentioned Broken Arrow and Mr. Thompson in her book. I will certainly recommend the book to everyone I know. Since I am from Kristin's home town, Broken Arrow, I keep a close watch on her budding career. My husband was a teacher at Sequayah Middle School where Kristin attended.

On the Wicked scale of Elphaba verses Galinda, I've always fallen on the Elphaba side. I love Idina and loved her album and saw her in concert pre-baby. However, I picked up this autobiography and found Kristin to be wonderfully revealing and yet endearing at the same time. Chronicling her journey from small town Oklahoma girl to major celebrity in a not totally chronological fashion, she answered all my questions about how she handles fame, love, being a performer and her faith. By the title you can tell she doesn't purport to be perfect, but more than that she puts her faith and family first in a way that seems totally authentic and is not at all off-putting. Great job, Kristin! Fantastic, quick read with a lot of juicy stuff for your average Broadway-lover like me.

I have been a huge fan of Kristen Chenoweth for a few years now. She's a great singer and actress and still the best Galinda there is (in my opinion). I'm not a huge fan of biographies, but this book isn't like other biographies. She doesn't tell you every important detail of her life from the time she was born. It's more like getting to know a friend. You can hear her voice throughout the whole thing. Very enjoyable, funny book.

I have ALWAYS been a fan of Chenoweth, and was thrilled to discover her book was published! Just as you would expect, the writing is reflectively bubbly and full of life. I read it in two days. The anecdotes made me feel like I was her new best friend. Chenoweth isn't one the paparazzi follow 24/7 and document her every move and love interests in Star, so I learned a lot from reading the memoir! Such a great, fun summer read. I highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan - and if you haven't been already, you soon will be!!

For anyone who's a Kristin Chenoweth fan, a Wicked fan, or simply a Broadway fan, this is a great book. I love her sense of humor. Kristin tells of her journey from Oklahoma to Broadway to LA with wit and humility. It reminds us that behind the glitz and the glam, she's only human too.

I enjoyed this book in one night, as it's a fairly short, fun read. Let me first say, though, that I am a big fan of Kristin's, and those who are not fans might not be as enamoured of this book. In fact, I would actually give it 3 1/2 stars, but because I am a fan, I rounded up. There were several glaring errors ("who's" instead of "whose," "you're" instead of "your," etc.) and there were many instances of choppy sentence structure. Kristin would start out telling a story and it would get kind of muddled and I would have to reread the sentence over again. All in all, though, it's a great read for anyone who's a fan of Broadway or Kristin.

Kristin, You have done it again! This is a simply wonderful auto-biography and it makes me like her even more, which I didn't think was possible. If you Love Kristin, you will Love this book! A piece of advise for Kristin, if you read this.... Forget Mr.Wrong... MOVE ON Please... he's so undeserving of You! And for the record.. I loved your album "As I Am", you sang some of my favorite songs! Keep bringing us great things Kristin!!!

I'm a huge Kristin Chenoweth fan and I felt very let down by this memoir.

The book feels extremely unfocused. It is a mish-mash of silly anecdotes, the trials and tribulations of fame, the journey to becoming a successful singer/actor, and romantic life. The prose jumped around from one of these to another. The only real structure I could see was chronology. I couldn't tell what was the goal of the memoir. To convince fans that Chenoweth is a normal person? To help fans get to know her better? These are just wild guesses on my part. The beginning chapters were overwhelmed by these goofy stories (e.g. her grandfather's rigid hand, the singing hoo-hoo). It seemed like Chenoweth was trying too hard to be funny. There were some nice reflective moments, but there were either too brief or presented in a half-jocular manner (e.g. "Aunt Kristin's" guide to making it in theater) that I struggled to recall them after I finished reading. I could only remember the goofy stories.

The writing tone is frivolous when it's clear (from other sources) that Chenoweth is a hard working, dedicated professional. I don't think one needs to "brag" but there could have been material about the work she was most proud of or a chapter on how she prepares for her shows. I know very little about acting, but I understand there are different techniques (for instance, method acting). I would have enjoyed learning about Chenoweth's unique approach to the craft of acting and singing, or hearing about how she comes up with her comedic ideas, for example.

Perhaps Kristin Chenoweth herself is not to blame, but her agent or ghost writer. Who knows?

Fun, relaxed, laugh out loud story of a very committed performer and all around nice girl. No ugly name dropping or big ego or blaming someone else for anything. She did a great job of telling her story of the hard work to get where she is, crediting some luck and a tiny bit of failure once in a while. Through it all she kept her sense of humor and stayed grounded. I'll miss Pushing Daisies, but she'll find something else wonderful!

A LITTLE BIT WICKED, Kristin Chenoweth's autobiography, seems to be ten or twenty years too early. Granted, she's accomplished a lot during her life, but when it's all put on paper and bound between two covers, it seems a little trite. It's basically a "Cornfed hometown cutie makes good without compromising her values and principles, by gosh-golly!" Chenoweth seems like a nice enough person, at least the little bit of her that shines through all the ham-fisted ghost-writing, but A LITTLE BIT WICKED has a maddening tendency to digress when it gets to something you might really be interested in. The name of the book is a cute spin on WICKED, but the play itself, which I assume is going to be what brings readers to the table, barely gets any mention at all, aside from a few lines about how much she loves Idina Menzel, no matter what kind of nasty rumors may be going around about them. She mentions how much she idolizes Joel Grey, but never gets around to telling what it was like to meet him and work with him. A LITTLE BIT WICKED isn't a terrible book, but it's also not a particularly interesting one, either.

30 word review:
Rather saucy autobiography from a hugely hardworking person. Southern humor, LA style, written in a surfacy vein but entertaining nonetheless. Get it from the library, invest in her recordings instead.

Kristin Chenoweth does an amazing job of telling about her road to stardom. Her ability to take life with a grain of salt shines through in this book, her ability to prosper and do amazing things in the entertainment world without being jaded by stardom is a rare gift in today's society.

This is only one reader's opinion...

I really enjoy Kristin Chenoworth as an actress. She's bubbly and entertaining in a highly comical way.

I thought reading a bio of hers would prove equally entertaining. Though I enjoyed her 'voice', I wasn't prepared for the amount of reference to her faith. How can I criticize that? I cannot. That said, I simply lost interest in the book because it wasn't the read I was hoping for.

If you already love this Broadway star, then you'll like this cutesy book that matches her personality and it won't make any difference what she writes. She does briefly go through her theatrical history and spends about 15 pages on Wicked. There's also an interesting section written by Aaron Sorkin detailing their relationship. So if those things interest you, you will enjoy this book and this review is not for you.

If you have an analytical bone in your body, you'll see through her perky God-loving demeanor and see a rather self-absorbed, sadly-single woman who plays fast and loose with her Christian faith. This review is for those who don't believe Kristin can do no wrong and who question why her public choices don't match her claims of private faith.

She tells stories that often seem exaggerated and subtly puts down others. She is crass and crude, making inappropriate sexual references and explains things away as "karma" despite her born-again Christian background. There's also a repeated gag about her failed "Kristin" sitcom that tires after the second mention, yet she insists on repeating it in just about every chapter--showing that she has a tough time handling failure (admitting she went into a deep depression after that series was cancelled).

The book's narrative gets confusing when she skips ahead in the middle of a story and mixes up timelines. She also mentions people briefly without resolution and often says she doesn't know what happened to key people in her life (hey, go online and look for them!) She excuses it away by saying, "People stay with me, even when their phone numbers and addresses don't." The one first love who does contact her years later she decides not to return his call!

Namely, she is a mass of contradictions. What she should have done in the book was dig deep regarding why she feels and acts the way she does. Why has her best friend in life for over 20 years been a gay male (she says, "What eventually bonded us was our mutual lust for the cello player")? Why are her jokes tainted with sexual references (even about her birth mother or her grandpa's funeral)? Why does she feel the need to complain about so many things but then always adds that she would never say something negative in person?

The fact that she is adopted has impacted her philosophy of life, but she doesn't see it as having any effect. To her "family has never been restricted by genetics or paperwork." If she doesn't understand what a family is, no wonder she believes the way she does and remains single. She seems to want to gloss over the hurt caused by the fact that she was given up twice for adoption--once by her birth mom and once by the woman who was supposed to originally adopt her. Yet the pain she denies is evident in her stories and her lifestyle choices.

She claims that she's a Christian who uses the "Jesus smell test" in deciding on issues--just like her Democrat Southern Baptist grandmother who thought Jimmy Carter was "the greatest man who ever lived." Kristin lightly pushes politics in saying that Democrats, like Jesus, care for the poor--which is an insult to well-meaning conservative Christians like her dad. She even oddly pushes for gay marriage in the middle of the story of her grandpa's death.

Kristin also avoids giving details of some aspects of her life and merely teases with others. In one case, when she was dating an actor from the show Prison Break, she writes, "Long story. We don't have time for that now." Or in another spot she writes, "I'm not going to tell my 9/11 story." Then why bring these things up??? Despite her claims of being an open book, she's a tease who likes to hide things from the public.

She does write of her love of her parents and brother, but it's odd that the photo gallery does not have a picture of her brother nor one of her parents together. She claims she is "desperately old-fashioned" in believing in a spiritually-bound Christian marriage without prior cohabitation (like her parents and grandparents), but admittedly she has "lived in sin," almost married a Jewish actor, seriously dates a Jewish writer/producer and remains single at age 42. She point blank says in the book that marriage isn't going to happen to her and she wants to just live with someone. So much for being an old-fashioned Christian.

The picture that she paints of herself is someone who puts on a happy face in public and doesn't want to deal with the serious issues in her background that make her a dichotomy. She doesn't seem to know herself very well and, like the Wizard in Oz, needs to peel back the curtain to reveal her true self.

I feel this book was beautifully written, i love how she would be telling you about a point in her life only to go off on a completly diffrent tangent but then bring it back to one central point! beautifuly comical and light hearted but still a great read!

I just love Kristin Chenoweth! You will love this book. She tells a lot of funny stories in this book and I can't wait to see more of her on TV, movies, etc. I dare you not to hear her voice in your head as you are reading this book....I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, lol! Buy it, you'll like it!

I loved this book. It's kind of funny, because if you know Kristen, you know she talks really fast. The way she spoke in the book, you had to follow it very quickly, just like you were listening to her talk! I loved it! She's quirky, she's quick witted and she's just plain FABULOUS!

Chenowith talks and writes about being a good Christian, and then blows that out of the water in this book, as she talks of the lovers she's had. She talks of being in bed with her 'Third Great Love' Aaron Sorkin, her nude photo shoot for Allure magazine. A Christian is supposed to set an example, true, but not the type she has in recent years.
She's an immensely talented individual - One of the most to hit the scene in years. But writing really isn't her line, and she should stick with what she knows.