Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Good: Larry David and the Making of Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm

by Josh Levine

As a comedian, then producer of Seinfeld , and now the creator and star of Curb Your Enthusiasm , Larry David has a fanatical following. In his early stand - up days, if he walked on stage and didn't like the crowd, he would walk off. Together with Jerry Seinfeld, he pitched NBC on a sitcom where nothing happens. A whole show could be about waiting in line at a Chinese restaurant. And somehow Seinfeld became the most successful comedy show of all time.
After nine years of writing and producing Seinfeld , and after making a huge amount of money, Larry David began to create a new show for HBO. Without much separation between himself and the character he plays, Curb follows the daily routines of Larry David. Being politically correct is far from Larry's mind, and the audience cringes as he berates, torments, and blusters his way into the hearts of TV watchers.
Follow the early exploits of Larry's stand - up career, his days writing for Seinfeld , and learn how Curb was conceived and developed. Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Good - titled after Larry's key catchphrase - also explores Larry's on - and off - screen relationships with famous pals like Richard Lewis, Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, and the cast of Seinfeld , and contains an in - depth episode guide to Curb Your Enthusiasm .

Genres: Nonfiction, Comedy, Biography, Tv, Humor, Pop Culture

364 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2010

Reviews

[Robert Genevro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Curb Your Criticism

I have seen all CURB episodes twice. So, I found this book a welcoming informational guide. It was a pleasure to recall episodes as the author gave side notes, opinions and detailed scenes. This for all of us curbside fans and bald brethren.

[Thebrig]

I'd like my two hours back, Josh Levine. This book is basically a lengthy Wikipedia entry, complete with a ridiculously chunky episode guide and list of references for articles written by people who actually spoke to Larry David. Nice business model, I admit, but dull reading.

[Meghan · Rating 2 out of 5]

In spite of the title, this book is actually just sort of okay. In the age of Wikipedia, there's just no excuse for padding out your book with an episode guide that is mostly plot description with a little light analysis. Still, it's a nice biography of the show.

[Francesco · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fans of "Seinfeld" or "Curb" would have heard all of this already. In the year of Curb Your Enthusiasm's final season, I was eager to learn more about how this cult show came about. But, I was disappointed. Not only the book is dated (it stops at season 7), but also contains information that one can easily find online. I would say it is a useful introduction for those who wants to find more about Larry David's world in one place.

[Sammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An exercise in clever marketing, this.

I was worried from the short introduction, when Levine takes one page to describe why "Curb Your Enthusiasm"'s fans like the series, but can only manage one short paragraph on how non-fans don't find anger funny. What I'd expected to be an analysis of one of my favourite series didn't even mention the show's slips into creaky plotting, obvious twists and the risk of crumbling under the formula. Still, I progressed cautiously.

The book's blurb describes it as:

+ "A biography of Larry David": well, perhaps. Levine compiles a couple of tiny chapters on David's early life and career, cribbed from pre-existing interviews, articles and "Seinfeld" DVD extras. It was little I didn't know before, and Levine's prose was somewhat clunky, but it cobbles together the basics. Of course, I wouldn't be the first reviewer on this website to argue that you could find 60% of this on Wikipedia. Levine at least manages to note where most of his former collaborators pop up in either of David's two famous TV series.

+ "The making of 'Seinfeld'": I'd dispute that a little. Covering all of five pages, Levine gives us the basics of the making of the pilot, and then roughly a sentence per season - all information which can be found on the DVD extras, I assure you - without really any analysis. Perhaps that's the main problem. While I understand that it was probably the publishers who added "Seinfeld" onto the book's subtitle, and not the author, it's still unfortunate that Levine couldn't have given us even a minute of analysis. Instead, he's basically just happy to state what happened in as few words as possible. Calm down, Levine, no-one's racing you.

+ "The making of Curb Your Enthusiasm": at least here there were a few surprises, since I haven't seen much supplementary material on this series. Levine covers basic casting and goes into more detail here about preconceptions of the series. However, he can't fight the fact that he himself admits: David had the money, the cachet and the network approval to do whatever he really wanted. This is the story of a TV show which - although, like any program, came together through the confluence of so many events - really had to fight for nothing once it got on the air. Having said that, I've amended my initial, rather cynical view of this section. Although he's only compiling information from pre-existing sources, Levine does manage to give a pretty good overview of the making of the series, and the ways in which David and his actors developed the series into the cult phenomenon it is today.

+ "Analysis of the series": a bit rich. I've only browsed this latter section thus far (bathroom reading, anyone?), but it seems to consist at least half of an episode guide. Not only is that a bit much for an improv series, but I would've appreciated something more than what could be found on the internet. As a kid I really enjoyed those in-depth episode guides for "The X-Files", but in this age of DVDs and Netflix, can't most people just watch the series? Levine is clearly a fan, and he gives lavish and evocative descriptions of the episodes. He's not completely unaware of the series' sometimes structural flaws, but doesn't venture as many opinions as one would like, particularly when he's devoted two pages over to a single half-hour episode.

(Two examples: 1) In the episode "Shaq", Larry's oft-downtrodden luck changes for the better until the episode's final scene. From this, Levine surmises that luck is a fleeting thing. Why not use this opportunity to examine how - in spite of the usual formula of shows with unlucky protagonists - Larry quite often has luck turn in his favour, or has season-long arcs that actually work out for him on occasion, refuting many series? 2) There's an instance where Larry witnesses a river baptism but interrupts, mistaking it for a murder attempt. Are we really to believe that Larry is so ignorant of an act that has featured in many iconic film and TV scenes throughout time? And if not, how does this fit into Larry's portrayal of Judaism?)

I've been spoiled, it's true, by great analytic books such as Running Through Corridors: Rob and Toby's Marathon Watch of Doctor Who or Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium and The Lone Gunmen. "Curb" is one of my favourite comedies of the last decade, and I would have enjoyed some more academic analysis of the series' pros and cons, reasons for its popularity, and questions such as whether we needed "Seinfeld" to precondition us for this, or whether the series' treatment of gender, sex, race, materialism, arrogance, modern-day Judaism, etc, are timely or not. In short, SOMETHING. Still, I did enjoy the basic information that was provided, even if it seemed to rest primarily on the surface. No-one could accuse Josh Levine of being an author, but well done to him for picking a subject he enjoys and making a few bucks out of it.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a life-changing or groundbreaking book by any means, but I learned a few things about Larry David, Seinfeld, and Curb that I didn't know before. A good part of the book is an episode guide, so it was kind of fun to revisit the plots of some of my favorite Curb episodes. It was a light read for before bed.

[Stan · Rating 3 out of 5]

good

[Kris Gaudet · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was not pleased with this book at all. I should have dug deeper, but it’s my fault for not reading up on this book.

Half of the book is more like a TV guide than a book. And even the pages that weren’t the aforementioned “TV guide”, there was still too much of a synopsis going on in each chapter.

This book felt like it was just an after thought… “oh maybe I’ll write a book about this subject”, then had no clue what to put in it.

Definitely a one star rating. Do yourself a favour, if you love Larry David. find yourself another book about him. Because this one, is not the one.

[Neal Campbell · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worst biography ever.

The author doesn’t offer any insight uncovered from research or interviews. Instead this book tells the story of Larry David available in a few easy to find interviews.

The majority of the book is an episode by episode synopsis of Curb Your Enthusiasm, along with the author’s personal opinion about when the comedy worked for him and when it didn’t.

This book would only be meaningful to people you love the author personally and cares what he thinks is funny or not funny.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love Curb and anyone else who does will most likely dig this book. There is an amusing analysis of every episode (as of 2010) that brought them all back for me. So, it’s an easy read but the idea this was sorta thrown together kinda bugged me. It seemed the author just deep dived into existing interviews instead of doing any of his own. The sited sources confirm this suspicion compellingly. Still, it was a breezy read so, if you’re a fan, the title sums up the quality.

[Zak Bowen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first portion of the book is great as it reveals the behind the scenes insights to Larry David and Curb, but not so much Seinfeld as the subtitle of the book would have you believe. It’s a great book don’t get me wrong, but I wish it focused evenly on both Seinfeld and Curb. And half the book is just an episode guide so yeah. First half is good, second half….. eh

[Marguerite Guineheux · Rating 5 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this book. It's very interesting to get the background stories
and it was very well written. It was worth it to me to get this book. I will probably
enjoy going over it again in the future. There are synopsis of episodes for reference
at the last quarter of the book.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

For fans of Larry David...

....and Curb Your Enthusiasm.. I am a big fan of both so this book was particularly interesting. The first part is a brief bio of Larry David and the second is a synopsis of all the shows up until the book was published.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty, pretty, pretty meh. I admit I’ve never seen Curb, but was interested in hearing more about it. I thought the book was pretty good, but it ended with a very lengthy episode guide that read like a tv guide

[Gary Pointon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple read nice insight to Larrys weird world

[Melissa Crocker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty, pretty, pretty boring. And I love everything in the title.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, like a Wikipedia entry

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written but much of it is focused on breakdowns and summaries of the various Curb episodes.

[Seth Petok · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quintessential Larry David, fiction and non-fiction.

[Jon Higgins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Average.

[William · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was fine. No amazing insights. A mediocre documentary of how Curb got started and what happened during production.

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

meh

[Euge Fernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

As Curb Your Enthusiasm recently ended, being one of my favorite shows, I really enjoyed the anecdotes of Larry David, his friends and the beginning of his stand up career.
The parallels between his life and his shows are hilarious.
The second part of the book analyzes every episode of Curb, with unknown comments. It’s a book for fans of his witticisms.

[Luís Castilho · Rating 3 out of 5]

This books is pretty pretty pretty great actually. It is non-authorized biography of Larry David (my favorite comedian of all time), but a very insightful one. Sadly however it is just too short. It is case to say that “it could have been an email”.

[B.T. Hogan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've seen it said (probably on here, now that I think about it) that this book reads like an extended Wikipedia entry. I must say that I agree with this statement. Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Good: Larry David and the Making of Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm gave me no new insight, facts, or anything that I didn't know before I read it.

And the episode guide? What was the point of this, as it only broke down each show piece by piece - again something that a fan would already know. What would have been insightful were little-known facts about the episode, or even input from the cast.

[Michael Migliaccio · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book focuses little on Seinfeld. It's heavy on Larry's life and career afterward. That's not a problem. What is a problem is that Levine screws up too many facts. Mind you, some are not integral to the plots of Curb episodes or our understanding of them, but errors that should have been easy to find and correct are the sign of lazy editing, and it makes me question more important information in the book. One example of this type of non-integral error (and there are a few of these) is writing that Larry sang Stephen Foster's "Swanee River" at the karaoke night where he first encounters Mel Brooks in season 4. Larry sang Gerwshin's "Swanee," a completely different song. It's as if the author hasn't even seen the episode.

In addition, the author's analyses in the episode guide often do not represent characters' motivations and the implications of Larry's actions accurately. Certainly, such synopses are minimally subjective, but if someone told you that in the movie "Rocky," that the title character was interested in Adrian because he wanted to piss off Paulie, you would immediately jump up and shout, "Wrong." It's in that vein that I critique Levine's opinions.

Finally, because the book was published in 2011, it only covers the first seven seasons of the series. I wouldn't recommend purchasing this book, but if you do get a hold of a copy, it's worth reading the first half that contains information about Larry's life before Seinfeld, assuming that all of that information is correct. That is without a doubt the best part of the book, and what initially led me to believe that it would turn out to be a 4-star read. Unfortunately, I was wrong about that.

[Arthur Cravan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The biography section (roughly the first half) gave me some good insight - at least a lot more than Wikipedia/the more accessible articles on Google did. Having said that, whether it's due to secrecy or just a general lack of information, there wasn't really too much told on Larry's life. The book talks mostly about his two shows & the events surrounding those, which is nice, though I feel it could have gone a lot further in-depth with Larry's earlier life. Most times a player in the saga is introduced, Levine gives a brief bio on why that person is important in the pop culture mythos (or at least in Larry's), which helped me form a better picture of the whole (somewhat incestuous) scene.

The second half is basically the plot outlines of all the Curb Your Enthusiasm episodes up to the time of publication. I skimmed through a few to see if there was any behind-the-scenes gossip, but I found it lacking. It's mostly Levine's critical opinion blended with the actual story outline. I figure if you've seen it, you've seen it, & if you haven't, watch it for chrissake before reading all the twists & turns.

But, if this review somehow came out worse than I intended, I'll make a point of saying I still think it's four stars-worthy for what it is. I do hope that some time in the future, perhaps after LD's passing, a more complete portrait gets painted.

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got this book for Chris, but am going to steal it from him to read next. We have been watching Curb Your Enthusiasm DVDs from the library--done with season three. Love it almost as much as I love Seinfeld!

Nothing wrong with the book at all, I would give it 3.5 stars, but a biography of a man with a rather tame and normal life can only be so interesting. I liked the back story to how/why Seinfeld and Curb were done. Half of the book is an episode by episode guide to the show...talks about the ideas behind the episode, why the guest stars appeared, how it links to previous episodes, etc....I only read that part up to the season I have finished watching. If you are a big fan of either show, it's worth reading, but certainly not laugh out loud funny!
He's no Tina Fey!!!

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 3 stars only pertain to the first half of the book. Basically its got some of Larry David's history, and the schematics of the worldview or latent philosophy which David imbues his work with. That was all the most interesting stuff. Then there was also the biographical information on David which was kind of interesting, as well as the backgrounds of the actors and whatnot. It isn't particularly deep, but its more information about this stuff than is available on most websites. The second half of the book is pretty much useless. Its just an "episode guide." I don't know why I'd need that unless I was a Larry David scholar who didn't have time to rewatch every episode to look for a particular scene.

[Judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know what I was expecting with this book, but it wasn't a rather tame look at Larry David's experiences with Seinfeld and then the creation and filming of his HBO series, Curb Your Enthusiasm. That was about a third of the book and then the rest is an examination of every episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, the plots, best lines, and a little commentary. Too many books and too little time to be spending it on this one.