In The Book of Joan: Tales of Mirth, Mischief, and Manipulation by Melissa Rivers, readers catch a glimpse of the mother-daughter relationship between the late Joan Rivers and her daughter, Melissa. Most people are familiar with Joan Rivers, but this memoir gives little details about the comedian’s life that only a daughter can narrate.

The book is funny, and Melissa Rivers is a great storyteller. Joan was known for being rude, but Melissa has a kinder approach to her humor. Each chapter is like a comical essay, and the writing has a nice flow. There was a nice mix of stories – some were about growing up, some were about vacations and trips, and others were about Joan’s idiosyncracies. Some of Melissa’s stories were sentimental, while others were mostly humorous. I learned a lot more about Joan River’s life, including trivial but interesting details. (She wasn’t a fan of Ben Stiller or Dane Cook.) And I even learned some new things unrelated to Joan and Melissa, such as what “duty-free” merchandise is.

Joan Rivers made very insensitive and rude comments, and I don’t condone those comments in any way. But I do like to read stories about people, and this was an interesting one to read.

I received a review copy from Blogging for Books. The book is availabe here on Amazon.