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Memoirs and Misinformation
"None of this is real and all of it is true." --Jim Carrey
Meet Jim Carrey. Sure, he's an insanely successful and beloved movie star drowning in wealth and privilege--but he's also lonely. Maybe past his prime. Maybe even . . . getting fat? He's tried diets, gurus, and cuddling with his military-grade Israeli guard dogs, but nothing seems to lift the cloud of emptiness and ennui. Even the sage advice of his best friend, actor and dinosaur skull collector Nicolas Cage, isn't enough to pull Carrey out of his slump.
But then Jim meets Georgie: ruthless ing�nue, love of his life. And with the help of auteur screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, he has a role to play in a boundary-pushing new picture that may help him uncover a whole new side to himself--finally, his Oscar vehicle! Things are looking up!
But the universe has other plans.
Memoirs and Misinformation is a fearless semi-autobiographical novel, a deconstruction of persona. In it, Jim Carrey and Dana Vachon have fashioned a story about acting, Hollywood, agents, celebrity, privilege, friendship, romance, addiction to relevance, fear of personal erasure, our "one big soul," Canada, and a cataclysmic ending of the world--apocalypses within and without.
Meet Jim Carrey. Sure, he's an insanely successful and beloved movie star drowning in wealth and privilege--but he's also lonely. Maybe past his prime. Maybe even . . . getting fat? He's tried diets, gurus, and cuddling with his military-grade Israeli guard dogs, but nothing seems to lift the cloud of emptiness and ennui. Even the sage advice of his best friend, actor and dinosaur skull collector Nicolas Cage, isn't enough to pull Carrey out of his slump.
But then Jim meets Georgie: ruthless ing�nue, love of his life. And with the help of auteur screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, he has a role to play in a boundary-pushing new picture that may help him uncover a whole new side to himself--finally, his Oscar vehicle! Things are looking up!
But the universe has other plans.
Memoirs and Misinformation is a fearless semi-autobiographical novel, a deconstruction of persona. In it, Jim Carrey and Dana Vachon have fashioned a story about acting, Hollywood, agents, celebrity, privilege, friendship, romance, addiction to relevance, fear of personal erasure, our "one big soul," Canada, and a cataclysmic ending of the world--apocalypses within and without.
255 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2020
About the author
Jim Carrey
16 books271 followersJames Eugene "Jim" Carrey (born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian American actor and comedian. He has received two Golden Globe Awards and has also been nominated on four occasions. Carrey began comedy in 1979, performing at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto, Ontario. After gaining prominence in 1981, he began working at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles where he was soon noticed by comedian Rodney Dangerfield, who immediately signed him to open his tour performances. Carrey, long interested in film and television, developed a close friendship with comedian Damon Wayans, which landed him a role in the sketch comedy hit In Living Color, in which he portrayed various characters during the show's 1990 season.
Having had little success in television movies and several low-budget films, Carrey was cast as the title character in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective which premiered in February, 1994, making more than $72 million domestically despite receiving mixed critical reception.[1] The film spawned a sequel, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995), in which he reprised the role of Ventura. High profile roles followed when he was cast as Stanley Ipkiss in The Mask (1994) for which he gained a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, and as Lloyd Christmas in the comedy film Dumb and Dumber (1994).
Between 1996 and 1999, Carrey continued his success after earning lead roles in several highly popular films including The Cable Guy (1996), Liar Liar (1997), in which he was nominated for another Golden Globe Award and in the critically acclaimed films The Truman Show and Man on the Moon, in 1998 and 1999, respectively. Both films earned Carrey Golden Globe awards. Since earning both awards, Carrey continued to star in comedy films, including How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) where he played the title character, Bruce Almighty (2003) where he portrayed the role of unlucky TV reporter Bruce Nolan, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004), Fun with Dick and Jane (2005), Yes Man (2008), and A Christmas Carol (2009). Carrey has also taken on more serious roles including Joel Barish in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) alongside Kate Winslet and Kirsten Dunst, which earned him another Golden Globe nomination, and Steven Jay Russell in I Love You Phillip Morris (2009) alongside Ewan McGregor.
Having had little success in television movies and several low-budget films, Carrey was cast as the title character in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective which premiered in February, 1994, making more than $72 million domestically despite receiving mixed critical reception.[1] The film spawned a sequel, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995), in which he reprised the role of Ventura. High profile roles followed when he was cast as Stanley Ipkiss in The Mask (1994) for which he gained a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, and as Lloyd Christmas in the comedy film Dumb and Dumber (1994).
Between 1996 and 1999, Carrey continued his success after earning lead roles in several highly popular films including The Cable Guy (1996), Liar Liar (1997), in which he was nominated for another Golden Globe Award and in the critically acclaimed films The Truman Show and Man on the Moon, in 1998 and 1999, respectively. Both films earned Carrey Golden Globe awards. Since earning both awards, Carrey continued to star in comedy films, including How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) where he played the title character, Bruce Almighty (2003) where he portrayed the role of unlucky TV reporter Bruce Nolan, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004), Fun with Dick and Jane (2005), Yes Man (2008), and A Christmas Carol (2009). Carrey has also taken on more serious roles including Joel Barish in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) alongside Kate Winslet and Kirsten Dunst, which earned him another Golden Globe nomination, and Steven Jay Russell in I Love You Phillip Morris (2009) alongside Ewan McGregor.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,131 reviews
May 24, 2020
Wtf did I just read
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August 5, 2021I think I speak for everyone when I say actor Nicholas Cage should be a major character in more books
August 3, 2020
Uhm. I. Okay. That’s. I have no idea how to rate this.
Look, I’ve loved Jim Carrey since his first Ace Ventura movie. Shortly after this movie, or maybe the second, I happened upon a family drama he had made previously, where he played an alcoholic son. I distinctly remember a scene with him crying on the stairs, and remember marvelling at his drama performance, and have since then sought out the dramas he has done, and they’re definitely my favorite of his films. Granted, he is funny, but he is also tragic, and is great at portraying these dual personalities. Me, Myself and Irene, is a deeply serious film about mental illness, and while the people at the cinema I was in were laughing, I was wondering why they couldn’t see that he was portraying a character who was deeply troubled.
I’ve always found him as a human being deeply sympathetic, I don’t know if relatable is the right term, but at least comprehensible. I get his pain, in a sense, being a slapstick actor who had more to show but was never allowed, and I alway long to see him work his way through this. He truly shines when he plays complicated, tragic characters, and he’s brilliant at it.
I’m giving this four stars, because three is just too mediocre for this, and even though I cannot claim to understand what actually happened during this highly fictional real person fanfiction, I can appreciate that there is satire in this, and I did clearly see Carrey in it. What was he trying to say? Apart from snarky comments on current politics and the obvious shallowness of Hollywood, I’m.. not actually sure? But I will regard it in the same category as Bret Easton Ellis’ Lunar Park, a story about a fictional writer named Bret Easton Ellis who narrates his bizarre life as a hughely popular writer who tries to solve a horror murder mystery in his home, and I enjoyed that immensely. Meta stories are always a lot of fun for me.
Here’s to you, Jim Carrey, and may your maze of a brain continue to take you to new places, where we as an audience are lucky enough to catch an inside glimpse of.
Look, I’ve loved Jim Carrey since his first Ace Ventura movie. Shortly after this movie, or maybe the second, I happened upon a family drama he had made previously, where he played an alcoholic son. I distinctly remember a scene with him crying on the stairs, and remember marvelling at his drama performance, and have since then sought out the dramas he has done, and they’re definitely my favorite of his films. Granted, he is funny, but he is also tragic, and is great at portraying these dual personalities. Me, Myself and Irene, is a deeply serious film about mental illness, and while the people at the cinema I was in were laughing, I was wondering why they couldn’t see that he was portraying a character who was deeply troubled.
I’ve always found him as a human being deeply sympathetic, I don’t know if relatable is the right term, but at least comprehensible. I get his pain, in a sense, being a slapstick actor who had more to show but was never allowed, and I alway long to see him work his way through this. He truly shines when he plays complicated, tragic characters, and he’s brilliant at it.
I’m giving this four stars, because three is just too mediocre for this, and even though I cannot claim to understand what actually happened during this highly fictional real person fanfiction, I can appreciate that there is satire in this, and I did clearly see Carrey in it. What was he trying to say? Apart from snarky comments on current politics and the obvious shallowness of Hollywood, I’m.. not actually sure? But I will regard it in the same category as Bret Easton Ellis’ Lunar Park, a story about a fictional writer named Bret Easton Ellis who narrates his bizarre life as a hughely popular writer who tries to solve a horror murder mystery in his home, and I enjoyed that immensely. Meta stories are always a lot of fun for me.
Here’s to you, Jim Carrey, and may your maze of a brain continue to take you to new places, where we as an audience are lucky enough to catch an inside glimpse of.
June 11, 2021
No… no… nope…. I just can’t do it. 😖 DNF 💩
July 10, 2020
Buyers remorse
It was a random jumble of scenes and events, without a real story or theme.. was this just to see how many people bought a book simple because you wrote it?
Great intro, shockingly absurd book. I feel duped.
It was a random jumble of scenes and events, without a real story or theme.. was this just to see how many people bought a book simple because you wrote it?
Great intro, shockingly absurd book. I feel duped.
August 31, 2020
I mean, if you’re going to read a semi-autobiographical novel by an A-list celebrity in which his journey culminates in a battle against aliens to save the California Coast (and the world) alongside Nic Cage, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kelsey Grammer, Kanye West, and the essence of Rodney Dangerfield, I guess it might as well be this one.
August 17, 2020
Who actually enjoyed this book? lol no I really want to know.
Just because it's Jim Carey doesn't mean we should 5/5 star anything he writes. Yes he's one of my favorite actors of all time and I find him absolutely hilarious. BUT is he a writer? no...
This book is agonizing it's so boring and slow and meaningless and formless.
There's a couple interesting things that Jim bases off his real life, but I can get that from an interview or something not in between a random story in a book.
Just because it's Jim Carey doesn't mean we should 5/5 star anything he writes. Yes he's one of my favorite actors of all time and I find him absolutely hilarious. BUT is he a writer? no...
This book is agonizing it's so boring and slow and meaningless and formless.
There's a couple interesting things that Jim bases off his real life, but I can get that from an interview or something not in between a random story in a book.
July 12, 2020
Like Sean Penn's recent book this is just undescribely bad. Carey's name is gonna sell books and the publisher obviously just let him do whatever he wanted. It's dark while attempting to be funny, but it really just reads like word vomit with celebrity names thrown in.
Read
August 5, 2020DID NOT FINISH. The best compliment I can give the new novel Memoirs and Misinformation, "co-authored" by Hollywood star Jim Carrey and Brooklyn journalist Dana Vachon (i.e. Carrey sent him a bunch of unhinged emails at three in the morning, and Vachon turned them into a readable manuscript), is this -- that even if Carrey's name wasn't attached to this, and the story's protagonist not actually a lightly fictionalized version of Carrey, it would still be a pretty decent novel, a zany and absurdist send-up of New Agey celebrity lifestyles that in the spirit of Mark Leyner just randomly zigs and zags all over the place. But there's an inherent problem with novels like this too, which is that when you're essentially writing out a cartoon in which anything can happen and there are no repercussions to any actions, the stakes in that plot are now virtually non-existent, eliminating that burning desire to know "what happens next" that so often propels us through three-act novels in the first place. I used to have a bigger tolerance for these go-nowhere gonzo fairytales when I was younger, but I find my patience wearing thinner and thinner for these kinds of stories the older I get; so although I enjoyed the first 25 percent of this book that I actually read, at that point I reached my fill and lost my enthusiasm for reading any more. It should be kept in mind when deciding whether or not to pick it up yourself.
September 21, 2020
Is this a fantasy? I love Jim Carey but I don't know what this was. Glad I got this for free.
March 3, 2020
It hurts my heart to give this a low rating. I am sorry, Jim.
The book was weird, and had hints of existential crisis, which normally I'd be into, but it just didn't click with me. Too many celebrity cameos or something. The ending was strange and not predictable, which I suppose is good, but overall, I just didn't really like this.
I think I found a Cable Guy reference though. That was cool.
The book was weird, and had hints of existential crisis, which normally I'd be into, but it just didn't click with me. Too many celebrity cameos or something. The ending was strange and not predictable, which I suppose is good, but overall, I just didn't really like this.
I think I found a Cable Guy reference though. That was cool.
August 8, 2020
This book is incredibly weird...even for Jim Carrey.
July 10, 2020
A quick read that started out quite interesting. I was enthralled until about halfway through when it devolved into a slog of nearly incoherent rambling about the end of the world from a very rich man caught in a very deep existential and spiritual crisis.
Jim has been on the decline in my psyche for sometime now... his odd role choices in movies, his complete weirdness on Seinfields Coffee and Cars, his incredibly downer presence on the Actors Roundtable discussion, and now this book...
I know it's become a popular trope to claim that comedians are often the darkest people, but I have little sympathy/empathy for a guy waddling in his own self pity from a cozy 10 million dollar Malibu Beach house.
This book has no point... and more importantly it has no purpose other than to indirectly illuminate why actors don't typically write the stories they star in. I can't help but feel like this is a Kaufman-esque joke about the results of binge watching a bunch of crappy late night History Channel shows about ancient civilizations and aliens.
We get it Jim... there is no Jim. Now do you want us to take you seriously or are you just screwing around in Hollywood and New York with way too much free time and money?
For a while, I cut him all the slack in the world because I thought he was going method and all in on a Terrence McKenna biopic. That turned out to be BS. He isn't enlightened... he's depressed and has had his mind ravaged by looney Hollwood stars and Gurus.
The biography portions were interesting and well written, but the sci-fi stuff was seriously bad... neither Jim nor his ghostwriter Dana have any experience in this field and it really shows.
Jim has been on the decline in my psyche for sometime now... his odd role choices in movies, his complete weirdness on Seinfields Coffee and Cars, his incredibly downer presence on the Actors Roundtable discussion, and now this book...
I know it's become a popular trope to claim that comedians are often the darkest people, but I have little sympathy/empathy for a guy waddling in his own self pity from a cozy 10 million dollar Malibu Beach house.
This book has no point... and more importantly it has no purpose other than to indirectly illuminate why actors don't typically write the stories they star in. I can't help but feel like this is a Kaufman-esque joke about the results of binge watching a bunch of crappy late night History Channel shows about ancient civilizations and aliens.
We get it Jim... there is no Jim. Now do you want us to take you seriously or are you just screwing around in Hollywood and New York with way too much free time and money?
For a while, I cut him all the slack in the world because I thought he was going method and all in on a Terrence McKenna biopic. That turned out to be BS. He isn't enlightened... he's depressed and has had his mind ravaged by looney Hollwood stars and Gurus.
The biography portions were interesting and well written, but the sci-fi stuff was seriously bad... neither Jim nor his ghostwriter Dana have any experience in this field and it really shows.
July 9, 2020
I didn't expect to spend time today crying while reading a passage in Jim Carrey's new novel MEMOIRS AND MISINFORMATION in which Carrey, a character in his own book, is reunited with his mentor Rodney Dangerfield when the late comedian's "essence" is resurrected as a CGI rhinoceros in a big-budget Hollywood adaptation of HUNGRY HUNGRY HIPPOS.
Carrey's novel, co-written with Dana Vachon, is a wonderful surprise - part memoir, part fiction. The novel follows Carrey as he rebounds from a post-I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS career slump by finding love and battling an alien invasion alongside Kelsie Grammer and Nic Cage. It may be about mental illness. Or it may just be about an alien invasion. Either way, Carrey's book has a lot of satire against the Hollywood machine - fame and the pursuit of accolades - but more importantly, it has a lot of empathy. Even as he skewers his fellow actors, he does so lovingly, trying to find the humanity behind their outlandish, weird behavior and, in the process, showing his own humanity.
I had grown weary of Jim Carrey lately but this book shows that he's a powerful artist who's just been dealt some bad roles over the last few decades. I hope this book and the success of SONIC THE HEDGEHOG put Carrey in a place to return to greatness.
Carrey's novel, co-written with Dana Vachon, is a wonderful surprise - part memoir, part fiction. The novel follows Carrey as he rebounds from a post-I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS career slump by finding love and battling an alien invasion alongside Kelsie Grammer and Nic Cage. It may be about mental illness. Or it may just be about an alien invasion. Either way, Carrey's book has a lot of satire against the Hollywood machine - fame and the pursuit of accolades - but more importantly, it has a lot of empathy. Even as he skewers his fellow actors, he does so lovingly, trying to find the humanity behind their outlandish, weird behavior and, in the process, showing his own humanity.
I had grown weary of Jim Carrey lately but this book shows that he's a powerful artist who's just been dealt some bad roles over the last few decades. I hope this book and the success of SONIC THE HEDGEHOG put Carrey in a place to return to greatness.
July 21, 2020
I had to stop...it was just terrible....even listening...I just could not get into it..I gave it 2 hour...that is just all I can do. Life is too short to read CRAZY STUPID BOOKS!
August 18, 2020
Someone call Fire Marshall Bill, cause this book was a complete dumpster fire.
It's weird, it's dark, it's satire, it's biography ... there's aliens and celebrity bashing and even some hippos. And I still have no idea what I just read.
Jeff Daniels narrating was the only reason I pushed through and finished it. But even Hungry Hungry Hippos the movie couldn't save this one for me, unfortunately.
Sorry Jim, I adore you, but this was way too weird.
It's weird, it's dark, it's satire, it's biography ... there's aliens and celebrity bashing and even some hippos. And I still have no idea what I just read.
Jeff Daniels narrating was the only reason I pushed through and finished it. But even Hungry Hungry Hippos the movie couldn't save this one for me, unfortunately.
Sorry Jim, I adore you, but this was way too weird.
April 24, 2021
So remember when you were in high school and took that creative writing class? Then you had a great idea to write a story. You’d put in all your friends and all other people in your world. You’d make it an over-the-top diatribe and include some of the worldly wisdom you’d picked up during your time on the planet. Remember that? Well so does Jim Carrey. He did that, only with a wider vocabulary and tenured form.
This book drips with pathos. The grandiose rants delivered through stream-of-consciousness made this reader raise an eyebrow more than once. The thoughts presented are understandable, just not exactly palatable. For instance he writes, “Her debutante’s scream was the final cry of a certain kind of humanity, declaring the world as they’d known it a lost civilization.” Words like this need a build up and complete atmosphere to make an impact. This is just how this book is written - every page just contains a certain average of these phrases as the story plods on.
The famous characters portrayed here seem to be mostly wild, outlandish versions of themselves. True, you could say it’s art imitating life, but this is art on methamphetamines. At the beginning of the novel, I was thinking this might be Hunter S. Thompson-esque, but I was mistaken. Kelsey Grammer is written as Frasier. To me, that just doesn’t work.
I could go on, but I feel my point has been delivered. I will give Carrey this though - he really made me think about what possible type of literature this might be and what it means to be ‘good’ literature.
This book drips with pathos. The grandiose rants delivered through stream-of-consciousness made this reader raise an eyebrow more than once. The thoughts presented are understandable, just not exactly palatable. For instance he writes, “Her debutante’s scream was the final cry of a certain kind of humanity, declaring the world as they’d known it a lost civilization.” Words like this need a build up and complete atmosphere to make an impact. This is just how this book is written - every page just contains a certain average of these phrases as the story plods on.
The famous characters portrayed here seem to be mostly wild, outlandish versions of themselves. True, you could say it’s art imitating life, but this is art on methamphetamines. At the beginning of the novel, I was thinking this might be Hunter S. Thompson-esque, but I was mistaken. Kelsey Grammer is written as Frasier. To me, that just doesn’t work.
I could go on, but I feel my point has been delivered. I will give Carrey this though - he really made me think about what possible type of literature this might be and what it means to be ‘good’ literature.
November 26, 2021
This is such a brilliant book. It's not for everyone. It is bat shit crazy. Surrealism at its best. It investigates the culture we live in and the people who have shaped it. It has a spiritual heart and is quite funny. My favorite part is when Jim Carrey prepares for his role as Mao and loses his identity along the way.
April 15, 2020
A hilarious romp that asks serious questions about celebrity memoir -- and the celebrity culture that made a washed-up reality star its mad President. Also a vision of American apocalypse, the end of the world as addictive clickbait. A surreal, dark work for a surreal, dark moment. Enjoyed it.
November 30, 2021
Made it 16% of the way through this audio version… Couldn’t stop thinking “what the fuck even is this?”. Random, incoherent, irrelevant ramblings. It felt like listening to a game of Two Truths and Lie while the players were on acid. Memoirs and Misinformation indeed, and the line between is blurred beyond recognition.
August 2, 2020
I’ve always been a huge fan of Jim Carrey and his wise mind, so naturally, I was very excited when I heard about his new memoir, and looked forward to gaining a deeper understanding of this creative genius by learning about his life experiences. However, only a couple chapters was enough to tell me that this book was nothing that I expected it to be. I can tell that it’s trying to be symbolic, but the symbols are confusing and the content is jumbled in a way that makes it rather meaningless. It was fucking weird, to say the least. I decided to give up after a few chapters because I don’t want to waste any more time reading it when I have so many other books on my to-read list. I was thoroughly disappointed and wish that Jim Carrey had provided his fans with an honest and serious memoir instead of writing nonsense that seemed meaningful only to him. But then again, it’s Jim Carrey! He can do whatever the fuck he wants! And I still love the man lots! But this book was terrible.
October 1, 2020
A meandering and sometimes pointless story that tries to be odd for odds' sake, but makes you wonder, more than once, if this book would be published if it weren't for the fact that Jim Carrey wrote it.
At first it plays like an absurd version of Jim Carrey taken to the nth, Charlie Kaufman-esqe and yes, Kaufman makes an "appearance". It then devolves because the story itself isn't that compelling because nothing is taken seriously therefore you can't take it seriously either. It's neither funny nor scary enough to be entertaining on that level.
Kudos for "Nicolas Cage" though...
Skip this.
At first it plays like an absurd version of Jim Carrey taken to the nth, Charlie Kaufman-esqe and yes, Kaufman makes an "appearance". It then devolves because the story itself isn't that compelling because nothing is taken seriously therefore you can't take it seriously either. It's neither funny nor scary enough to be entertaining on that level.
Kudos for "Nicolas Cage" though...
Skip this.
February 23, 2021
Con lo que mola Jim Carrey y la cantidad de cosas que podía contar (flipante el documental Jim y Andy de Netflix) y ha publicado un mamotreto que no se lo cree ni él. He podido disfrutar un 15% del volumen. La introducción y la parte que cuenta como su colega Andy Kaufman quería que participara en un biopic de Mao Tse Tung (!). Menos mal que es de la biblioteca si me lo llego a comprar me hubiera querido morir.
September 27, 2020
Okay, I am premising this by saying I love Jim Carrey. I wanted to love this book - I was on a long hold list at the library and rushed to get it the minute the library informed me it was my turn. I tried to read this book three nights in a row, hoping to get the joke, get into the book, roll with the whimsy of it. But, nope, I just couldn't. And let me be very clear - it takes A LOT for me to give up on a book. The writing is clever, the vocabulary is intelligent - at first, I felt like there were a lot of likenesses to David Foster Wallace. However, the further I got into it, the more I felt like I was at a party where I knew no one and never understood what everyone was laughing about. The name dropping is annoying, the stories are like being in a dream on LSD, and every time I tried to fact check something, I came up empty. So, I am not sure what the point is here - and yes, I've even watched the interviews of Carrey himself explaining it. But, you know what? I think this is for people in the industry who actually know these people and get the inside jokes. For me? I felt like I was the only sober one in the room and everyone was just coming off as ridiculously stupid. I made a tough decision that there are more books out there and I was wasting my time on this one. I hope anyone reading this review gets the joke and enjoys the book. I simply didn't get the punchline.
December 9, 2020
In an interview with New York Times reviewer, Dave Itzkoff, Jim Carrey explained his latest book, “Memoirs and Misinformation,” co-written by author of Wall Street satire "Mergers & Acquisitions," Dana Vachon. “It’s the end of the world, and we have the perfect book for it.”
“Not the end of civilization,” he continued. “Just the end of a world, the selfish world. We’re getting over the Ayn Rand, ‘you can be a jerk and we can all live in a paradise of jerks’ thing. That’s what we’re going through.”
Part autobiography, part fiction, Carrey and Vachon draw disparate parts of experience together to pull off an unconventional memoir/farewell letter to civilization as they know it.
It opens with the broken, bed bound, paranoid, messy version of Jim Carrey. Apocalyptic and soulless, Los Angeles serves as a backdrop for his mental state. Visceral ruminations follow, treating Hollywood as a trope for civilization teetering on the brink of extinction.
This Jim Carrey trusts no one. Reality is fickle. Celebrities are phonies. Even time is a “trick.”
Allrighty then.
If it weren’t for Carrey’s brilliant humor, and Vachon’s taut, lyrical prose, I might not have been able to take this grim version of Hollywood culture. Jim Carrey, Drama King, is an apocalyptic persona within an apocalypse. He exposes the underbelly of acting, agents, celebrity, and privilege, while yearning for friendship, romance, and meaning.
No one is safe passing under his purview. Not even himself. While watching a television show explaining how Cro-Magnon annihilated the Neanderthals, he falls apart, drawing parallels to his fear of “total erasure.” He asks, is the “value of an existence as part of a species forever looping between horror and heartache…?” Lonely, restless, narcissistic, he looks to his guard dogs and a computerized security system, that speaks ”in the voice of a Singaporean opium heiress who summered in Provence,” for affection.
He’s in mourning for the world, and for his lost “self.” Terrified of life, terrified of death. The thought of John Lennon’s final portrait taken in the morgue, sends him into a self-grooming frenzy, just in case he dies and fanboys at the morgue sell his photo to the highest bidder.
Flashback to the beginning of the end.
This Jim Carrey is on top of his game. In a darkly comedic scenario, he’s at a banquet celebrating a whopping box office success. Surrounded by grifting dignitaries (investors), he charms them with an absurd guzzle from a bottle of expensive wine. Further laying the groundwork for a sleazy, black comedy of Hollywood culture, Carrey and Vachon go on to describe his early (fictionalized) career, poking fun at Nicolas Cage, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Tom Cruise, and the celebrity addiction to cosmetic surgery.
In a world where even reality TV is fake, Jim Carrey continually asks himself, What is real?
He affirms in interviews that some passages were written from real life experiences. As a sincere seven-year-old, he definitely was desperate to bring a smile to his ill mother’s face. He truly does carry a torch for the singer, Linda Ronstadt, who he dated in his twenties. He is still mourning the loss of his friend Rodney Dangerfield.
And yet, he is quoted in a press release, saying that "none of it is real, and all of it is true."
In the end, Carrey and other stars are battling an alien invasion, a slapstick finale that pokes fun at the book itself, as it correlates his misfortunes with Armageddon.
Ultimately, “Memoirs and Misinformation” is a feverish, visionary dream. It echoes Dostoevsky’s diary, “Notes from the Underground,” that opens with “I am a sick man.” Both books amalgamate fiction and non-fiction. Both expose illusions upon which society is formed, and the resultant effect on individual lives. And both are narrated by terribly clever, unreliable characters who emblazon the egotistical self struggling to maintain control over life rather than transform. #
“Not the end of civilization,” he continued. “Just the end of a world, the selfish world. We’re getting over the Ayn Rand, ‘you can be a jerk and we can all live in a paradise of jerks’ thing. That’s what we’re going through.”
Part autobiography, part fiction, Carrey and Vachon draw disparate parts of experience together to pull off an unconventional memoir/farewell letter to civilization as they know it.
It opens with the broken, bed bound, paranoid, messy version of Jim Carrey. Apocalyptic and soulless, Los Angeles serves as a backdrop for his mental state. Visceral ruminations follow, treating Hollywood as a trope for civilization teetering on the brink of extinction.
This Jim Carrey trusts no one. Reality is fickle. Celebrities are phonies. Even time is a “trick.”
Allrighty then.
If it weren’t for Carrey’s brilliant humor, and Vachon’s taut, lyrical prose, I might not have been able to take this grim version of Hollywood culture. Jim Carrey, Drama King, is an apocalyptic persona within an apocalypse. He exposes the underbelly of acting, agents, celebrity, and privilege, while yearning for friendship, romance, and meaning.
No one is safe passing under his purview. Not even himself. While watching a television show explaining how Cro-Magnon annihilated the Neanderthals, he falls apart, drawing parallels to his fear of “total erasure.” He asks, is the “value of an existence as part of a species forever looping between horror and heartache…?” Lonely, restless, narcissistic, he looks to his guard dogs and a computerized security system, that speaks ”in the voice of a Singaporean opium heiress who summered in Provence,” for affection.
He’s in mourning for the world, and for his lost “self.” Terrified of life, terrified of death. The thought of John Lennon’s final portrait taken in the morgue, sends him into a self-grooming frenzy, just in case he dies and fanboys at the morgue sell his photo to the highest bidder.
Flashback to the beginning of the end.
This Jim Carrey is on top of his game. In a darkly comedic scenario, he’s at a banquet celebrating a whopping box office success. Surrounded by grifting dignitaries (investors), he charms them with an absurd guzzle from a bottle of expensive wine. Further laying the groundwork for a sleazy, black comedy of Hollywood culture, Carrey and Vachon go on to describe his early (fictionalized) career, poking fun at Nicolas Cage, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Tom Cruise, and the celebrity addiction to cosmetic surgery.
In a world where even reality TV is fake, Jim Carrey continually asks himself, What is real?
He affirms in interviews that some passages were written from real life experiences. As a sincere seven-year-old, he definitely was desperate to bring a smile to his ill mother’s face. He truly does carry a torch for the singer, Linda Ronstadt, who he dated in his twenties. He is still mourning the loss of his friend Rodney Dangerfield.
And yet, he is quoted in a press release, saying that "none of it is real, and all of it is true."
In the end, Carrey and other stars are battling an alien invasion, a slapstick finale that pokes fun at the book itself, as it correlates his misfortunes with Armageddon.
Ultimately, “Memoirs and Misinformation” is a feverish, visionary dream. It echoes Dostoevsky’s diary, “Notes from the Underground,” that opens with “I am a sick man.” Both books amalgamate fiction and non-fiction. Both expose illusions upon which society is formed, and the resultant effect on individual lives. And both are narrated by terribly clever, unreliable characters who emblazon the egotistical self struggling to maintain control over life rather than transform. #
November 5, 2020
I- what was this? I don't even think that Carrey knows. This book was a nonsensical piece of work that had no definitive thread. There's nothing here that has any sort of practical application, and the worst thing is that it's trying to be funny and it's not even FUNNY. It is absolutely nothing, a bowl of tripe that seems like Carrey kind of desperately needs help but also needs to stop thinking about how much he loves titties. It's very much a 'come off it' situation', and I just really hope that Carrey leaves this alone and gets the damn help that he needs.
January 11, 2022
Daugiau fantastikos elementų nei pačiuose Jim Carrey filmuose. Kaip ir skelbia viršelis, romanas tikrai yra apie žmogų vardu Jim Carrey. Tik čia daugiau fikcijos, satyros, ironijos bei misinformacijos nei memuarų. Pradėjau skaityti vedama vienos idėjos, geriau susipažinti su aktoriumi, jo vidiniais demonais, išgyvenimais, tačiau jau po pirmųjų puslapių buvo aišku, kad ši knyga yra visai kas kita nei tikėtasi. Čia gausiai minimos žymių žmonių pavardės, pašiepiami gyvenimo guru ir mokyklos, išgyvenama dėl filmų scenarijų, atrandama meilė ir net prasideda pasaulio apokalipsė.
Jau dabar atsitraukus nuo knygos sunkiai suvokiu, kaip autorius sugebėjo visas temas sulieti į vieną. Gal todėl ir skaitant romanas pasirodė visiškai be struktūros, siužeto linijos ar vienos krypties link kurios būtų tolygiai judama. Ne, ne. Čia viskas kitaip. Mes stebime kaip Jim Carrey žiūri dokumentinius filmus ir juos interpretuoja, atranda savo meilę, patiria nesėkmę bei įvairių atsitiktinumų dėka vėl bando kilti karjeros laiptais, susipažįstame geriau su jo draugais guru stovykloje, o kur dar kova prieš blogį.
Tikrai ne kartą googlinau kai kuriuos faktus. Jim Carrey yra nuostabus aktorius ir jo paties gyvenimas tikrai vertas biografijos, tad ir čia bandžiau už kažko užsikabinti. Bent už mažiausio teiginio, kuris galbūt tiesa. Bet ar tada atsakymas būtų pateiktas google? Nemanau. Patys slapčiausi norai, mintys ir išgyvenimai taip gerai paslėpti, kad sunku juos aptikti, o prisidengiama ironija bei satyra. Nes kas kitas, jei ne tu pats, kuri savo gyvenimą ir gali viską sumalti į vieną, juk literatūra, fikcija neturi ribų. Čia autorius ir žaidžia visomis savo turimomis galiomis.
Šiais metais pasižadėjau neužbaigti romanų, jei jie manęs nesudomina, jei iš jų nepasiimu kažko sau. Tad net nežinau, kiek kartų norėjau užmesti šios knygos skaitymą, bet vis tęsiau. Vis radau įdomių įžvalgų, o ir svajojau atrasti atsakymą kodėl būtent viskas taip čia pateikta, ir kaip autorius sugebės užbaigti knygą. Net ir perskaičiusi knygą jaučiuosi pasimetusi. Jei atvirai, knygos nerekomenduočiau niekam, nebent jūs esate tas, kuriam patinka visiškai nurauti siužetai. O geriausiai šią knygą atspindinti mintis būtų „Tiesa slypi kažkur anapus“.
Daugiau apžvalgų rasite:
https://www.juoduantbalto.lt
IG: https://www.instagram.com/panele_zi
Jau dabar atsitraukus nuo knygos sunkiai suvokiu, kaip autorius sugebėjo visas temas sulieti į vieną. Gal todėl ir skaitant romanas pasirodė visiškai be struktūros, siužeto linijos ar vienos krypties link kurios būtų tolygiai judama. Ne, ne. Čia viskas kitaip. Mes stebime kaip Jim Carrey žiūri dokumentinius filmus ir juos interpretuoja, atranda savo meilę, patiria nesėkmę bei įvairių atsitiktinumų dėka vėl bando kilti karjeros laiptais, susipažįstame geriau su jo draugais guru stovykloje, o kur dar kova prieš blogį.
Tikrai ne kartą googlinau kai kuriuos faktus. Jim Carrey yra nuostabus aktorius ir jo paties gyvenimas tikrai vertas biografijos, tad ir čia bandžiau už kažko užsikabinti. Bent už mažiausio teiginio, kuris galbūt tiesa. Bet ar tada atsakymas būtų pateiktas google? Nemanau. Patys slapčiausi norai, mintys ir išgyvenimai taip gerai paslėpti, kad sunku juos aptikti, o prisidengiama ironija bei satyra. Nes kas kitas, jei ne tu pats, kuri savo gyvenimą ir gali viską sumalti į vieną, juk literatūra, fikcija neturi ribų. Čia autorius ir žaidžia visomis savo turimomis galiomis.
Šiais metais pasižadėjau neužbaigti romanų, jei jie manęs nesudomina, jei iš jų nepasiimu kažko sau. Tad net nežinau, kiek kartų norėjau užmesti šios knygos skaitymą, bet vis tęsiau. Vis radau įdomių įžvalgų, o ir svajojau atrasti atsakymą kodėl būtent viskas taip čia pateikta, ir kaip autorius sugebės užbaigti knygą. Net ir perskaičiusi knygą jaučiuosi pasimetusi. Jei atvirai, knygos nerekomenduočiau niekam, nebent jūs esate tas, kuriam patinka visiškai nurauti siužetai. O geriausiai šią knygą atspindinti mintis būtų „Tiesa slypi kažkur anapus“.
Daugiau apžvalgų rasite:
https://www.juoduantbalto.lt
IG: https://www.instagram.com/panele_zi
August 23, 2020
It was the year 1994. The economy was thriving, the Twin Towers still dominated the New York City skyline, ‘Influencers’ weren’t even sperm yet and I was watching, “The Mask” starring Jim Carrey with my neighbor-friend, Amanda. Carrey was in the height of his fame and I was in love – telling Amanda that one day I will date Jim Carrey. Lofty aspirations for a 10-year old.
Flash forward over 20 years to when I am dating a famous magician whose assistant was dating… Jim Carrey! Literally, the first day we met it was announced she was dating Carrey so clearly it was a bragging right. My jealousy was palpable but my degree of separation felt like fate (this is the girlfriend who committed suicide while dating Jim – it was huge in the media. RIP Cathriona). It is only natural that I would want to read a book penned by Carrey and co-written by Dana Vachon which is how “Memoirs and Misinformation” joined my bedside book stack. (Side note: Jim if you are reading this – call me! We have much to discuss. I live in North Hollywood).
The last few years of Jim Carrey’s life have been plagued with the media deeming him ‘weird’ and some blaming him for Cathriona’s suicide. Off the deep end, perhaps? Whatever one’s opinion; these criss-crossed, jumbled and clustered emotions are exactly the energies circulating around “Memoirs and Misinformation”. Readers expecting Carrey to offer a straight-forward memoir will find “Memoirs and Misinformation” to miss their target. Instead of a life and career recap; Carrey and Vachon create a fictional novel but based on some of Carrey’s real life meanderings (Jim is even the main ‘character’ in the plot). What is real? What is contrived? These are the questions Carrey intends for readers to explore (although a lot of it is obvious or composite – for instance, I believe the two love interests to be composites of Cathriona and Jim’s first wife, Melissa).
“Memoirs and Misinformation” is best described as a psychedelic trip that abruptly evolves into a post-apocalyptic/ dystopian narrative. Carrey’s intents and purposes are clear: the novels storyline parallels his own confused thoughts and are his attempts to understand the philosophies attached. Initially, “Memoirs and Misinformation” is inviting with its well-written structure and assertive Carrey background. “Okay, this could be good”, thinks the reader. But then it gets weird.
The blatant issue with “Memoirs and Misinformation” is that Carrey simply “tries too hard”. Carrey is clearly terribly egotistical but severally insecure and therefore constantly at battle with himself. This comes though in the writing with the text exaggerating neurotic tendencies and cloaking them as being deep and complex. Jim, I love you but these are fears and NOT deep soul vacations. Basically, Carrey focuses too much on being ‘weird’ and playing it up. “Memoirs and Misinformation” is supersaturated and simply misses a cohesive strand.
Even though, usually, a stream of consciousness novel is deliciously gripping; “Memoirs and Misinformation” fails in that there is no character growth or arc and Carrey is not likable. He is a self-pitying fool and obsessed with sex. On the other hand, Carrey successfully shows his broken interior and doesn’t attempt to gloss it up to be popular which is admirable especially for an individual so obsessed with being liked and accepted.
“Memoirs and Misinformation” does carry a sense of reader connection with relatable feelings of despair, depression, being jaded, feeling inadequate, etc. Readers like myself living in Los Angeles will especially understand Carrey’s references in a very concise way.
Carrey and Vachon pepper “Memoirs and Misinformation” with a plethora of celebrity cameos and name-dropping. These portrayals are almost certainly fictional although either based on fact or are Carrey’s perceptions of the said individuals. This offers readers some ‘food for thought’.
Memoirs and Misinformation” is rich with visuals and imagery and can almost be ‘viewed’ like a film which makes sense with Carrey’s artistic background in film.
The text as a whole often dives in post-apocalyptic themes with the end half lingering on the topic. Unfortunately, at this point, “Memoirs and Misinformation” is just too odd. The pace is upbeat but the storyline is so far off-kilter and unbelievable; that it loses its entertainment merit and readers may be reduced to skimming large passages. Simply: Carrey and Vichon are not skilled at dystopian novels.
The concluding chapters depicting Carrey’s version of the diabolical end of the world is dragged out and a lull, at best. “Memoirs and Misinformation” becomes another novel entirely and weakens as a whole. The finality is equally poor being abrupt and dissatisfying; leaving unanswered trains of thought.
“Memoirs and Misinformation” is plainly disappointing with a credible goal of presenting a unique combination memoir/novel but Carrey and Vachon tried too hard which made it fail and fall apart with an absence of natural and organic finesse. I’m sorry, Jim… It’s simply not good (but still, call me!). “Memoirs and Misinformation” is suggested for die-hard Jim Carrey fans but otherwise it can be skipped.
Flash forward over 20 years to when I am dating a famous magician whose assistant was dating… Jim Carrey! Literally, the first day we met it was announced she was dating Carrey so clearly it was a bragging right. My jealousy was palpable but my degree of separation felt like fate (this is the girlfriend who committed suicide while dating Jim – it was huge in the media. RIP Cathriona). It is only natural that I would want to read a book penned by Carrey and co-written by Dana Vachon which is how “Memoirs and Misinformation” joined my bedside book stack. (Side note: Jim if you are reading this – call me! We have much to discuss. I live in North Hollywood).
The last few years of Jim Carrey’s life have been plagued with the media deeming him ‘weird’ and some blaming him for Cathriona’s suicide. Off the deep end, perhaps? Whatever one’s opinion; these criss-crossed, jumbled and clustered emotions are exactly the energies circulating around “Memoirs and Misinformation”. Readers expecting Carrey to offer a straight-forward memoir will find “Memoirs and Misinformation” to miss their target. Instead of a life and career recap; Carrey and Vachon create a fictional novel but based on some of Carrey’s real life meanderings (Jim is even the main ‘character’ in the plot). What is real? What is contrived? These are the questions Carrey intends for readers to explore (although a lot of it is obvious or composite – for instance, I believe the two love interests to be composites of Cathriona and Jim’s first wife, Melissa).
“Memoirs and Misinformation” is best described as a psychedelic trip that abruptly evolves into a post-apocalyptic/ dystopian narrative. Carrey’s intents and purposes are clear: the novels storyline parallels his own confused thoughts and are his attempts to understand the philosophies attached. Initially, “Memoirs and Misinformation” is inviting with its well-written structure and assertive Carrey background. “Okay, this could be good”, thinks the reader. But then it gets weird.
The blatant issue with “Memoirs and Misinformation” is that Carrey simply “tries too hard”. Carrey is clearly terribly egotistical but severally insecure and therefore constantly at battle with himself. This comes though in the writing with the text exaggerating neurotic tendencies and cloaking them as being deep and complex. Jim, I love you but these are fears and NOT deep soul vacations. Basically, Carrey focuses too much on being ‘weird’ and playing it up. “Memoirs and Misinformation” is supersaturated and simply misses a cohesive strand.
Even though, usually, a stream of consciousness novel is deliciously gripping; “Memoirs and Misinformation” fails in that there is no character growth or arc and Carrey is not likable. He is a self-pitying fool and obsessed with sex. On the other hand, Carrey successfully shows his broken interior and doesn’t attempt to gloss it up to be popular which is admirable especially for an individual so obsessed with being liked and accepted.
“Memoirs and Misinformation” does carry a sense of reader connection with relatable feelings of despair, depression, being jaded, feeling inadequate, etc. Readers like myself living in Los Angeles will especially understand Carrey’s references in a very concise way.
Carrey and Vachon pepper “Memoirs and Misinformation” with a plethora of celebrity cameos and name-dropping. These portrayals are almost certainly fictional although either based on fact or are Carrey’s perceptions of the said individuals. This offers readers some ‘food for thought’.
Memoirs and Misinformation” is rich with visuals and imagery and can almost be ‘viewed’ like a film which makes sense with Carrey’s artistic background in film.
The text as a whole often dives in post-apocalyptic themes with the end half lingering on the topic. Unfortunately, at this point, “Memoirs and Misinformation” is just too odd. The pace is upbeat but the storyline is so far off-kilter and unbelievable; that it loses its entertainment merit and readers may be reduced to skimming large passages. Simply: Carrey and Vichon are not skilled at dystopian novels.
The concluding chapters depicting Carrey’s version of the diabolical end of the world is dragged out and a lull, at best. “Memoirs and Misinformation” becomes another novel entirely and weakens as a whole. The finality is equally poor being abrupt and dissatisfying; leaving unanswered trains of thought.
“Memoirs and Misinformation” is plainly disappointing with a credible goal of presenting a unique combination memoir/novel but Carrey and Vachon tried too hard which made it fail and fall apart with an absence of natural and organic finesse. I’m sorry, Jim… It’s simply not good (but still, call me!). “Memoirs and Misinformation” is suggested for die-hard Jim Carrey fans but otherwise it can be skipped.
March 3, 2021
En väldigt kaosartad läsupplevelse.
May 26, 2020
Thank you to Edelweiss for an advanced copy!
This is one of the weirdest books I have ever read. There was so much about it that was beautiful and tragic, and then the beauty was broken up by "what in the world am I reading?"
The writing is full of metaphor, imagery, and symbolism. The story is that of exaggerated Hollywood excess and a once-beloved star's existential crisis. The first half or so of the book was like walking through an art gallery where you get glimpses of individual pieces, and then those pieces come together to create the exhibit. At first it didn't seem things were terribly connected, but after a while it made sense.
The second half of the book was just so weird. As I read, I could catch scenes with much deeper meaning, but everything progressed so quickly into absurd insanity that it was hard to keep hold of the deeper meaning and importance the story was trying to project.
This is one of the weirdest books I have ever read. There was so much about it that was beautiful and tragic, and then the beauty was broken up by "what in the world am I reading?"
The writing is full of metaphor, imagery, and symbolism. The story is that of exaggerated Hollywood excess and a once-beloved star's existential crisis. The first half or so of the book was like walking through an art gallery where you get glimpses of individual pieces, and then those pieces come together to create the exhibit. At first it didn't seem things were terribly connected, but after a while it made sense.
The second half of the book was just so weird. As I read, I could catch scenes with much deeper meaning, but everything progressed so quickly into absurd insanity that it was hard to keep hold of the deeper meaning and importance the story was trying to project.
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