Book-It 'o13! Book #20
The Fifty Books Challenge, year four! (Years one, two, three, and four just in case you're curious.) This was a secondhand find.
Title: Nothing's Sacred by Lewis Black
Details: Copyright 2005, Simon Spotlight Entertainment
Synopsis (By Way of Front Flap): "You've seen him on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart offering up his trademark angry observational humor on everything from politics to pop culture. You've seen his energetic stand-up performances on HBO, Comedy Central, and in venues across the globe. Now, for the first time, Lewis Black translates his volcanic eruptions into book form in Nothing's Sacred, a collection of rants against stupidity and authority, which oftentimes go hand in hand.
With subversive wit and intellectual honesty, Lewis examines the events of his life that shaped his antiauthoritarian point of view and developed his comedic perspective. Growing up in 1950s suburbia when father knew best and there was a sitcom to prove it, he began to regard authority with a jaundiced eye at an early age. And as that sentiment grew stronger with each passing year, so did his ability to hone in on the absurd.
True to form, he puts common sense above ideology and distills hilarious, biting commentary on all things politically and culturally relevant. "No one is safe from Lewis Black's comic missiles." (New York Times)
You have been warned.... "
Why I Wanted to Read It: I find Lewis Black generally funny from his appearances on The Daily Show and this seemed an easy enough read.
How I Liked It: The book isn't what you'd expect. At least, it isn't what I was expecting. I assumed it'd be various essays that are generally transcribed from his stand-up and that consist of various rants. Given that this book was published eight years ago, I was guessing this would be an extremely dated book, but still fairly interesting.
Turns out the book is far more autobiography than rant, which makes it more interesting to me, if a more confusing format all around. Black goes into detail about his early life, peppering the pages with photographs and scans of everything from his artwork to flyers for his shows to his confirmation announcement. The book marches on a slightly predictable Boomer path down to Black's almost kneejerk expected responses to various historic events (his shock and horror at the Kennedy assassination, which made high school "a piece of cake" after that; his disgust at Nixon's presidential victory which led him to take a shit, while drunk and cheered on by his friends, on the television set while Nixon spoke, his adventures at various concerts of the era stoned on pot and/or acid). The only difference is the fact Black intersperses the book with almost non-sequitor rants generally (but not always) warranting their own separate chapters. It would be easy (if odd) to read if the book was confined to memoir, rant, memoir, rant, but he intersperses the two frequently. The problem with this is that his rants generally have little if anything to do with biography section in which they are invading. For fans of his stand-up looking for more of his material, the memoir must feel awkward and out of place (particularly since he is frequently sincere and profoundly earnest when recollecting various events and people in his life) amidst the rants and comedy. The book ends abruptly in the '90s, and the play-by-play we were given of his career (actually a pretty interesting read for fans of comedy dissection and the stand-up process) flits off sometime before that, marking only his participation in a failed Joy Behar sitcom and his arrest for his participation in an Opie and Anthony (local shock jocks in New York City) stunt. His relationship with The Daily Show, which I was really hoping to hear about, isn't mentioned.
This book may appeal only to those already fans of Black but looking to know more about him, rather than someone picking it up and expecting a book in the decently-carved comedy rant/ponder niche. But interestingly, it also offers, in a way, a decent amount of Boomer nostalgia with a slightly wicked twist (if only slightly).
Notable: In what should be on the front cover, hell, on his tombstone, is a blurb from none other than George Carlin on the back, proclaiming,
"Whenever I'm asked, 'Who makes you laugh?' or 'Who do you pay to see?' I don't hesitate for a moment. 'Lewis Black!' Period. He's got it all: brains, balls, and chops. And he sees through all the bullshit."
Title: Nothing's Sacred by Lewis Black
Details: Copyright 2005, Simon Spotlight Entertainment
Synopsis (By Way of Front Flap): "You've seen him on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart offering up his trademark angry observational humor on everything from politics to pop culture. You've seen his energetic stand-up performances on HBO, Comedy Central, and in venues across the globe. Now, for the first time, Lewis Black translates his volcanic eruptions into book form in Nothing's Sacred, a collection of rants against stupidity and authority, which oftentimes go hand in hand.
With subversive wit and intellectual honesty, Lewis examines the events of his life that shaped his antiauthoritarian point of view and developed his comedic perspective. Growing up in 1950s suburbia when father knew best and there was a sitcom to prove it, he began to regard authority with a jaundiced eye at an early age. And as that sentiment grew stronger with each passing year, so did his ability to hone in on the absurd.
True to form, he puts common sense above ideology and distills hilarious, biting commentary on all things politically and culturally relevant. "No one is safe from Lewis Black's comic missiles." (New York Times)
You have been warned.... "
Why I Wanted to Read It: I find Lewis Black generally funny from his appearances on The Daily Show and this seemed an easy enough read.
How I Liked It: The book isn't what you'd expect. At least, it isn't what I was expecting. I assumed it'd be various essays that are generally transcribed from his stand-up and that consist of various rants. Given that this book was published eight years ago, I was guessing this would be an extremely dated book, but still fairly interesting.
Turns out the book is far more autobiography than rant, which makes it more interesting to me, if a more confusing format all around. Black goes into detail about his early life, peppering the pages with photographs and scans of everything from his artwork to flyers for his shows to his confirmation announcement. The book marches on a slightly predictable Boomer path down to Black's almost kneejerk expected responses to various historic events (his shock and horror at the Kennedy assassination, which made high school "a piece of cake" after that; his disgust at Nixon's presidential victory which led him to take a shit, while drunk and cheered on by his friends, on the television set while Nixon spoke, his adventures at various concerts of the era stoned on pot and/or acid). The only difference is the fact Black intersperses the book with almost non-sequitor rants generally (but not always) warranting their own separate chapters. It would be easy (if odd) to read if the book was confined to memoir, rant, memoir, rant, but he intersperses the two frequently. The problem with this is that his rants generally have little if anything to do with biography section in which they are invading. For fans of his stand-up looking for more of his material, the memoir must feel awkward and out of place (particularly since he is frequently sincere and profoundly earnest when recollecting various events and people in his life) amidst the rants and comedy. The book ends abruptly in the '90s, and the play-by-play we were given of his career (actually a pretty interesting read for fans of comedy dissection and the stand-up process) flits off sometime before that, marking only his participation in a failed Joy Behar sitcom and his arrest for his participation in an Opie and Anthony (local shock jocks in New York City) stunt. His relationship with The Daily Show, which I was really hoping to hear about, isn't mentioned.
This book may appeal only to those already fans of Black but looking to know more about him, rather than someone picking it up and expecting a book in the decently-carved comedy rant/ponder niche. But interestingly, it also offers, in a way, a decent amount of Boomer nostalgia with a slightly wicked twist (if only slightly).
Notable: In what should be on the front cover, hell, on his tombstone, is a blurb from none other than George Carlin on the back, proclaiming,
"Whenever I'm asked, 'Who makes you laugh?' or 'Who do you pay to see?' I don't hesitate for a moment. 'Lewis Black!' Period. He's got it all: brains, balls, and chops. And he sees through all the bullshit."