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Recent Reviews
Carrie Courogen
Rave The Washington Post Splendid ... Revelatory scholarship that gives full measure to this artist who despite obstacles and setbacks (some self-inflicted) is an exalted figure in the comedy pantheon, a distinct voice whose outlier creative life Courogen captures through original research, archival material and scores of interviews ... Like its subject, contains multitudes, and it captures the complexities and contradictions of the fiendishly funny and fiercely independent artist.
James Burrows
Rave Washington Post Burrows’s memoir, Directed by James Burrows, co-written with Eddy Friedfeld, makes great binge reading for comedy buffs and aficionados of Must See TV...It’s as difficult to put down as a Friends marathon is to turn off...Burrows has directed more than 1,000 episodes of television, but who’s counting? He is...Directed by James Burrows is enlivened by script excerpts of memorable moments from Burrows’s oeuvre...The reader’s ability to visualize the scenes is a testament not only to the writers and actors who brought to life these indelible characters, but also to Burrows’s genius for finding the grace notes that get what he calls \'the best, smartest, character-driven laughs\'...The book is brimming with great behind-the-scenes stories about some of television’s most beloved series and the artists who created and starred in them.
Judd Apatow
Rave Washington Post As sequels go, this second collection of interviews with creative artists, featuring a diverse lineup and wide-ranging conversations about life and comedy, is more The Godfather Part II than Jaws: The Revenge ... A more inclusive mix of subjects than the first book ... The interviews in Sicker in the Head go well beyond origin stories to fruitful discussions about the mysterious creative process ... Apatow’s movies are funny, and in times as dark and divided as these, funny is never ridiculous.
Kliph Nesteroff
Positive The Washington Post Throughout the book, Nesteroff shares the Native comedians’ own stories against a backdrop of the horrific harassment, discrimination and subjugation that Native Americans have endured in this country. This forms a wellspring of much indigenous comedy that comments on unique struggles while confronting stereotypes.
Jerry Seinfeld
Positive The Washington Post ... not a memoir along the lines of Steve Martin’s Born Standing Up, but it does serve as Seinfeld’s This is Your Life, only with jokes instead of trotting out distant relatives and former teachers ... The bits are presented in their polished form. It might have been instructive for aspiring comedians had Seinfeld illustrated how he took an idea and worked it until it was where he wanted it to be. But they will learn some lessons through the way Seinfeld finds fresh takes on well-trod topics ... Seinfeld’s keen-eyed encapsulations of the minutiae of daily life are testament to the old saw about how in the specific there is the universal ... With the exception of jokes about now-outmoded technology (the BlackBerry), this material doesn’t feel dated ... captures the output of one of our great comic minds, still in thrall to the process of working \'tiny clubs with flimsy stuff, night after night, month after month. And it takes however long it takes\' ... And that’s a big deal.
Aaron Cohen
Rave The Chicago Tribune ... a meticulously reported and illuminating social history that has more on its mind than simply replaying greatest hits ... Cohen conducted just over 100 interviews spanning two decades. They capture still vibrant living witnesses to this pivotal era in Chicago music ... vividly chronicles several benchmarks in the evolution of Chicago soul and R&B.
Gary Sinise
Positive The Washington Post Grateful American isn’t your typical navel-gazing celebrity dispatch. The plain-spoken, Midwest-grounded Sinise has always been about the work and not the fame ... He’s more interested in unifying messages, and if Grateful American has one it’s the recurring phrase \'I can do more.\'
Sam Wasson
Positive The Chicago Tribune The book is not encyclopedic. There are omissions (Ace Trucking Company), while some stellar ensembles, such as The Groundlings (which spawned Will Ferrell, Phil Hartman, Kristin Wiig and Melissa McCarthy) and the Upright Citizens Brigade (whose alumni include Amy Poehler, Kate McKinnon and Horatio Sanz) get comparatively short shrift ... Wasson also hews to one of Second City’s primary directives: 'Play to the height of your intelligence.' He etches vivid portraits of comedy’s best, brightest and most off-center...It is thrilling to read how future icons fumblingly found their artistic voices through the trapezelike improv process and performance ... Come to Improv Nation for the entertaining and enlightening anecdotes, but stay for the wisdom that can be used to enrich our everyday lives.
Carrie Fisher
Mixed The Chicago Tribune The Princess Diarist is something more intensely personal, cringe-worthy (in good and bad ways), and, unlike the Star Wars films, anything but escapist entertainment ... The journal excerpts, presented undated and without commentary, capture the emotional maelstrom of an affair that was as doomed as the planet Alderaan ... But the book is bound to frustrate those fans who want the inside scoop on the making of the films ... Those who want Fisher to spill all the juicy details about the illicit affair will likewise be disappointed ... Compared with Fisher's earlier Wishful Drinking, the Force is not as strong here.