The League of Extraordinarily Funny Women: 50 Ladies Who Used Comedy to Change the World, by Sheila Moeschen, is a wonderful introduction to these groundbreakers.

First, make sure you know what you are getting. This is not a comprehensive work, in either depth or breadth. There will be deserving women you probably think should be included. There are lists under each grouping that includes many others. The 50 chosen are for what they did to move women in comedy forward as compared to simply being popular and funny. The biographical sketches are just that, sketches. How big would a book have to be to get in depth on 50 successful and complex women? If you want that, maybe get 50 biographies. But the beauty of this work as it is is that in addition to the names we know there will be some we either haven't heard about or didn't appreciate everything they accomplished (usually behind the scenes).

By the way, there will likely be some included that you don't personally "like." Who cares, this book is not about popularity itself. If you can't appreciate what someone has accomplished just because you don't like their form of humor, well, that helps explain what is wrong with the world. "If I don't like how you do your thing, then I dismiss all of your accomplishments as insignificant." Regurgitate that!

The brief bios cover how they overcame what has always been a man's business and what they have done to help pave the way for future generations. It was fascinating to learn some of the less public aspects of their legacies. I was also pleased to learn new names with which I was unfamiliar. I'm always thankful for that type of new knowledge.

So if you want to read a brief bio about 50 of the most important women of comedy then I think you will enjoy this. If you decide to read it through, as I did, it is a nice quick read. I use books like this (short story and essay collections included) to fill in short time slots where I don't want to get back into one of the novels I'm reading nor do I want to concentrate on one of the nonfiction books. This makes a great "I have a few minutes..." book.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )

The League of Extraordinarily Funny Women: 50 Ladies Who Used Comedy to Change the World by Sheila Moeschen is a book I requested from NetGalley and the review is voluntary. I found this a great travel back in time and a review of great women of today. This book goes back to the turn of the century and gives the reader a brief history of how each female comedian got into the business. Usually a page or so. There were a few I didn't know but most was a wonderful trip down memory lane! I am 62 and remember laughing at Carol Burnett, Phillis Diller, and Lucy Ball! There are so many more! The current comedians too! I enjoyed learning new information about these wonderful women! It was a feel good book! ( )