How to Talk Dirty and Influence People: An Autobiography

I enjoyed so many of his observations. Funny at times but also sad commentary on where we were and where we still are in 2022.Don’t miss the forewords.

Some comedians write funny autobiographies; others write their stories as the sad clown. Lenny Bruce’s story is neither and both, paralleling his pathbreaking but tragic career. What starts as a slanted look at life in childhood, war, and love devolves into long excerpts from the transcripts of his obscenity and drug trials intended to vindicate himself by exposing hypocrisy. With the exceptions of a few justifications of his mental state strewn around, Bruce’s perspectives turn outward at the moment when we (and maybe he) need to know what social backlash and his chemical coping strategies were doing to his art and life. An important document of an American comic genus in a era that both created and destroyed him.

I didn't know much about the man, but I know understand a little about his legendary status. Very good read.

I really liked the first half of the book. It goes into funny situations and things this man has been through, for instance with a hooker dressed as a nun, and an older lady that was kind enough to supply him with fancy coats and orally delivered pleasure below.As the book progresses after that it seems to go off into a direction where the man becomes more and more estranged from who he really was based on drug abuse. This to the extent that maybe he wasn't fully delusional, but he was far off from the critical questioning man, interested in the nature of language in itself in relation to the humor he conveyed.It's both a good read about what made this man the great comedian that he was and the obvious demise, run ins with the law, and ultimate death of his character, unfortunately even before he actually died.

I was born in 1964 so I have heard about Lenny Bruce all my life, but never had any direct experience of him. He was a metaphor for lewdness and crude humor, and became morethan a man, but an idea. But i also heard of him as a fighter for freedom of speech and ideas, freedom to mock the naked emperor.Well I finally got introduced to the man behind the mythology through his own words and found that he was slightly more self absorbed than your idolized martyr but still going to jail repeatedly for and being the target of scorn and abuse for....saying words.The history lesson alone was worth reading this book, meeting the man behind the name was fantastic.

Upon reading this book, I am sure the actor who plays Lenny in the Marvelous Ms. Maisel, knows this book well. A little boggy with the testimony in the legal proceedings. On the other hand, pretty darn funny that the legal system even wasted time and money to prosecute a man for jokes.

This is a very enjoyable listen. The narrator does a decent job of recreating the cadence and rhythm of Lenny himself. As a fan of comedy and appreciating the role it plays in culture and change this is a must. He is sometime forgotten as his standup appearances don't hold up as well to modern audiences, but his memoir will hang for many years to come as relevant and entertaining. Sits right alongside Steve Martin's Born Standing Up for an understanding of the art and it's importance to us all

I have come to Lenny Bruce through other comedians I listen to, and I am a fan already! This book is a great starting place for me. Easy read and very interesting!

Buy it

Na het eerste hoofdstuk wist ik al dat dit mijn favoriete boek zou worden.

lesen!

I have heard about Lenny Bruce from present day comedians and their interviews on how he influenced them. I wanted to know who is heI decided to pick up this book.I am glad that I did, because it was hilarious and introspective at the same time. You could see the humour that Bruce mined from the random incidents that happened in his life. He commented on religion, societal hypocrisy, show business, legalization of marijuana, and the saddest part is that the same problems are still relevant today. There certain chapters that you would burst out laughing when he talks about sex and masturbation. A part of this book also provides look into Bruce's court cases and how absurd and archaic obscenity laws were enforced. Trigger warning for people who believe in faith as there are certain chapters bruce spoke about the hypocrisy in organized religion.There are certain elements in the book that would be considered offensive to the new PC controlled world. I came to the conclusion that it was that time period.I would recommend everybody to read this book as people would understand the importance of free speech.

Lettura imprescindibile per chiunque si interessi di Satira, umorismo e Stand Up Comedy.Non può mancare nella libreria di un appassionato.Lenny Bruce è il comico "maledetto" che ha lottato contro la censura americana e che ha ispirato intere generazioni di comici di tutto il mondo.