Anyone who's seen "The Kids in the Hall" on television will probably already be familiar with Buddy Cole, the outrageous gay-and-having-fun-being-so sort of flashy, irreverent guest every good party needs. Buddy is the self-absorbed, wickedly funny narrator of Buddy Babylon: The Autobiography of Buddy Cole (Dell, 274 pages, $17.95 paper) by Scott Thompson and Scott Bellini.

Comprised of Buddy's anecdotes about himself and his eccentric friends, Buddy Babylon is totally dependent on Buddy's narrative voice (for the most part highly entertaining) and his seemingly undeflatable ego, which, while notably large, doesn't take itself altogether seriously. For instance, after describing his escape from his roots as the twenty-third child of poor Quebec pig farmers (he won the Prettiest Feet in Quebec contest) and subsequent escapades, he says, "So, let's recap, shall we? I moved to Toronto, became a zombie waiter, starred in a movie, had my own television show, conquered modeling, made two life-long friends, found and lost my brother, and discovered washroom sex. That's not too bad for a piece of Quebec trash, eh?"

There are segments, however, that cross over into the completely ridiculous, especially near the end when Buddy moves to California and plays house with an actor who has a two-headed daughter (yes, you read right) and who marries him as a way of covering up her lesbianism.