I am not sure why I picked this book up. I do remember hearing a discussion of his writings and remembering a passage about life that I really liked but was never able to find again. I guess I thought I might find it in this book. Unfortunately, I did not, at least, I did not recognize it.
The book was interesting enough to keep me going but not interesting enough to recommend it highly. It traces George's life, from his tumultuous childhood, at odds with parents and all kinds of authority, no surprise, to being thrown out of school in 9th grade, never going back. At seventeen, he enlists in the Air Force, a mediating force in life, though he is eventually thrown out with a semi dishonorable discharge. In the Air Force, however, he began his career, as a disk jockey on Air Force radio stations, achieving some notoriety, enough to land him a job in Texas, as a disk jockey after the Air Force.
He hones his skills on the radio, eventually gets fired for his antics, and goes to Hollywood, hoping to make it big, first as a disk jockey, then as a stand up comedian, lastly as a actor. He starts to make a name for himself as a stand up comedian in the 1960's, appearing on various television shows like Mike Douglas, Merv Griffin, later on Johnny Carson, even Ed Sullivan. At this time, drugs especially cocaine begin to take over his life. He also smokes marijuana almost everyday, even before going on stage, but cocaine raised the stakes, and effected his life, his marriage, and his daughter over the next twenty years. Sad.
His life seems to be one show after another, all over the United States, where he seems successful but eventually does something to get him fired. Much of his comedy, so he says, has always been attempt to find himself, the real self, not the fictitious one that was on stage. He seems to have disdain for most of television, those who make their living from it, and assumes that he is different, sees through the BS, and eventually will find the real self.
It does get a little repetitious as he moves from one club to another, makes one album after another, spends a good part of his life trying to pay off debts he has incurred. He was one of those guys who never looked at his accountants mailings, never realizing how far in debt he had gotten. He begins to make it with his 'Seven Words You Cannot Say on Television," becomes an icon for the yuppies, the educated audience who like his kind of humor. HBO specials also make him, as he begins them just as HBO is becoming popular, and grows along with the network. In the 1990's, he finally makes it into films, especially Dogma,Outrageous Fortunes, and Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and the children's series which he narrates, "Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends."
Quite a bit of the book takes lines from various comedy acts, TV shows, books and movies, so you do get a feel for his writing, for his evolving comedy and thought. He is a wordsmith, in a sense, loving language and playing with it. He finally sees himself as someone who opens the eyes of his audience, to seeing the world around them in new ways, whether it's words, conservative politics, or religion. All three seem to be his major antagonists.
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