Craig Ferguson is the same witty and entertaining personality from The Late Late Show. Yet his memoir is also thoughtful and honest. He is brutally honest about his addictions, career choices, perceptions of family life, everything. And he owns it. This isn't a book about how wonderful it is to be rich, funny and famous. Ferguson's memoir takes us on his journey of struggles, successes, failures and no nonsense outlook on life, with plenty of hilarious and awkward twists and turns.

Ferguson seems to be in a grimmer place than when he wrote American On Purpose. The anecdotes seem disjointed and the humor is thin.

'Riding the Elephant' is a superb collection -- a semi-memoir with many witty and wise musings on Craig's career pre- and post-'Late Late Show,' parenting, sobriety, relationships, politics, friendship . . . You know -- life itself. And it builds to a lovely and touching denouement. If you've been missing your late-night visits with the cheeky monkey, catch up with him in this engaging and delightful book.

I've enjoyed Craig Ferguson's comedy for some time and very much enjoyed his previous autobiography, so was excited to read this one. I found, however, that this particular autobiography didn't hold my attention. Perhaps it's because I've moved away from Ferguson's comedy in recent years or perhaps I simply couldn't connect with some of the stories (and multitude of fat jokes) he shared. I would be willing to try it again in audio book format as read by the author, however. I "read" his last book that was and found it very engaging. Sometimes you just need the author's actual voice, perhaps?

I loved Craig Ferguson's late night show. I enjoyed his radio show whenever I could. Even when I wasn't a big reader, I read and enjoyed his autobiography. And I enjoyed this book as well. This feels more introspective than American On Purpose, and there is plenty here to dig into and think about, from dealing with your past, fears about your present, and uncertainty about the future. It might not sound it, but I feel like it's ultimately a hopeful book, one where we can learn from each other and learn how to handle what life throws our way. (Also, the chapter on Margaret in particular was lovely.)

The one thing that I found frustrating is that it seems like Ferguson has never met a fat person he doesn't feel compelled to tell us about their fatness. Fat people are porcine and have fat fingers, and they're the ones who make toilet seats warm, never their thin counterparts. Fatness is presented as something bad. Whenever mentions of fatness happened (which wasn't a lot but enough to notice), it felt like a short slap that briefly took me out of whatever was being said. Though I could get myself back into the story being told, these quick hits against fatness were disappointing.

I've missed Craig in my television. He's my absolute favorite talk show host. He shares the stories in the book with wit, intelligence and humor. I actually should have waited to listen to on audio as his voice is perfect for audiobook narration.

Not specifically a fan of Ferguson, but he has an interesting story to tell, and does so with wit and empathy.