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39 Years of Short-Term Memory Loss: The Early Days of SNL from Someone Who Was There
A memoir from the Emmy-winning Saturday Night Live writer that is “funny, spiky, and twistedly entertaining” (Entertainment Weekly). 39 Years of Short-Term Memory Loss is a seriously funny and irreverent memoir that gives an insider’s view of the birth and rise of Saturday Night Live, and features laugh-out-loud stories about some of its greatest personalities—Al Franken, Lorne Michaels, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Bill Murray, Michael O’Donoghue, and Chris Farley. Tom Davis’s voice is rich with irony and understatement as he tells tales of discovery, triumph, and loss with relentless humor. His memoir describes not only his experiences on the set of SNL but also his suburban childhood, his high school escapades in the sixties, his discovery of sex, and how he reveled in the hippie culture—and psychoactive drugs—from San Francisco to Kathmandu to Burning Man over the last four decades. Hysterical, lucid, and wise, 39 Years of Short-Term Memory Loss is an unforgettable romp in an era of sex, drugs, and comedy. “Though it features some lurid and hysterical SNL stories, Davis’s memoir is less a backstage expose than a winning coming-of-age story featuring a funny Midwestern kid following his unlikely dream to the top.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
321 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2004
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Tom Davis
76 books12 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 110 reviews
May 13, 2014
Captivating for its often hilarious and, in the very least, entertaining stories about life as a writer for Saturday Night Live in its earlier years.
Thirty-Nine Years of Short-Term Memory Loss is an autobiography of sorts, sketching out Tom Davis's life with a patchwork of details. Davis was Al Franken's long-time writing partner. The duo formed up early in their lives, working out bits that garnered them, if not fame and fortune, enough notoriety to attract the attention of SNL's producer Lorne Michaels.
Davis is a natural writer, so the book is interesting enough on its own, but once the stories featuring SNL alumni kick-in...that's when the good shit hits the fun-fan! There are plenty of oddball and incredible tales that many of the principles would no doubt rather weren't published. If you enjoyed the show in the 70s and 80s, this is for you.
Where Thirty-Nine Years of Short-Term Memory Loss falters is...well...it's in the title. Davis took a lot of drugs when he was young, not all of which were entirely beneficial, especially in relation to his current state of coherence. The latter half of the book gradually succumbs to his disjointed mind, as the stories flitter from one topic or time period to an entirely different one without the slightest segue or any seeming purpose. Occasionally a story ends for no apparent reason at all. At other times you're left wondering just how reliable Davis' memory is and how skewed the facts may be.
Even with all its failings, if you get through just half of this book you'll have consumed a chunky collection of prime-grade comedy.
Thirty-Nine Years of Short-Term Memory Loss is an autobiography of sorts, sketching out Tom Davis's life with a patchwork of details. Davis was Al Franken's long-time writing partner. The duo formed up early in their lives, working out bits that garnered them, if not fame and fortune, enough notoriety to attract the attention of SNL's producer Lorne Michaels.
Davis is a natural writer, so the book is interesting enough on its own, but once the stories featuring SNL alumni kick-in...that's when the good shit hits the fun-fan! There are plenty of oddball and incredible tales that many of the principles would no doubt rather weren't published. If you enjoyed the show in the 70s and 80s, this is for you.
Where Thirty-Nine Years of Short-Term Memory Loss falters is...well...it's in the title. Davis took a lot of drugs when he was young, not all of which were entirely beneficial, especially in relation to his current state of coherence. The latter half of the book gradually succumbs to his disjointed mind, as the stories flitter from one topic or time period to an entirely different one without the slightest segue or any seeming purpose. Occasionally a story ends for no apparent reason at all. At other times you're left wondering just how reliable Davis' memory is and how skewed the facts may be.
Even with all its failings, if you get through just half of this book you'll have consumed a chunky collection of prime-grade comedy.
October 21, 2010
True story: I was in the midst of reading Tom Davis' memoir when our phone rang... and it was a campaigner from the Midwest PAC trying to raise support for his former partner in comedy, U.S. Senator from Minnesota Al Franken, of all things. I couldn't resist telling her that I was reading this book, though I turned her down anyway, this time. I hope she didn't think those things were related.
I did find this book rambling and choppy, though, more a series of flashbacks told out of order than a coherent autobiography. This is not a tell-all book, either, although it gives that impression from time to time. Davis did do lots of drugs, which are described in loving (if sometimes censorious) detail, and made out with lots of women, who are described in rather less detail. He also seems to be bitter about his relative lack of success—even though he had a great run and made lots of friends in high places and low. I guess it depends on whom you're measuring yourself against. (By the way: "Franken and Davis" really is more euphonious than "Davis and Franken," and not at all confusing—it's not just Franken's mom who thinks so, Tom.)
Davis was certainly familiar with some fascinating people, before he moved out to his house in the woods, including countercultural icons like the Grateful Dead and Timothy Leary, as well as the show-business folks with whom he's more obviously linked. He drops some fascinating tidbits about Jerry Garcia, Dan Aykroyd, Don Novello, Chris Farley... there are names here you'll want to read about.
He went to some interesting places, too... though Davis' visits to exotic locales always seemed to be cut short by some random, seemingly minor setback (sometimes one that didn't even happen to him personally), usually signaled by the phrase "Time to leave..." Like this one:
Neither a glorious train wreck like Warren Zevon, nor yet a role model... Davis is a guy from Minnesota who put himself into some right places at some very right times, and on the whole did right well for himself. His life has certainly been interesting enough to write a book about... I'm just not entirely sure that this is the book that should have been written about it.
I did find this book rambling and choppy, though, more a series of flashbacks told out of order than a coherent autobiography. This is not a tell-all book, either, although it gives that impression from time to time. Davis did do lots of drugs, which are described in loving (if sometimes censorious) detail, and made out with lots of women, who are described in rather less detail. He also seems to be bitter about his relative lack of success—even though he had a great run and made lots of friends in high places and low. I guess it depends on whom you're measuring yourself against. (By the way: "Franken and Davis" really is more euphonious than "Davis and Franken," and not at all confusing—it's not just Franken's mom who thinks so, Tom.)
Davis was certainly familiar with some fascinating people, before he moved out to his house in the woods, including countercultural icons like the Grateful Dead and Timothy Leary, as well as the show-business folks with whom he's more obviously linked. He drops some fascinating tidbits about Jerry Garcia, Dan Aykroyd, Don Novello, Chris Farley... there are names here you'll want to read about.
He went to some interesting places, too... though Davis' visits to exotic locales always seemed to be cut short by some random, seemingly minor setback (sometimes one that didn't even happen to him personally), usually signaled by the phrase "Time to leave..." Like this one:
"We walked over to sit on a wall under some shade trees, but the monkeys started to fuck with us. When they began to throw small stones, I decided it was time to leave Kathmandu."Or this:
—p.57
"I was told of a house on the beach where a dog entered and fell asleep on someone's bed pillow on his mattress. He took the dog out and beat it to death with a chair leg. Time to leave Goa."
—p.63
Neither a glorious train wreck like Warren Zevon, nor yet a role model... Davis is a guy from Minnesota who put himself into some right places at some very right times, and on the whole did right well for himself. His life has certainly been interesting enough to write a book about... I'm just not entirely sure that this is the book that should have been written about it.
October 19, 2013
For a professional writer - much less an award winning professional writer - I have never read a more amateurish book. The final chapter - which you would think would be some sort of conclusion or catharsis - is literally just a description of random news stories he has pinned to his bathroom walls over the years. This book includes phrases like "the next day I reminded him of the nonincident" and at one point he relates an anecdote which he can't remember if he saw himself or read in an unnamed book - both signs of a judiciously edited tome.
There is no chronology in the book, leading to weird gaps, repetitions and inexplicable jumps. At the bottom of one page he's talking about a movie he wrote which never got made and the next paragraph on the top page describes John Belushi's funeral with no segue between the two topics and not even a mention that Belushi had died (that's saved for a chapter on Belushi that's a hundred pages later.) Even the layout is haphazard: photos are stuck in on random pages regardless of whether those people are mentioned in that chapter, emails he got from friends trying to source his stories are inserted into the text even though they would be better off as reference material, and the random scripts he includes as examples of his writing are only intermittently worthy of archiving.
Basically, I would say that this book is garbage unless you are interested in random stories of freebasing with Jerry Garcia, of which there are a bunch. But people that are interested in SNL - the putative topic of the book - have plenty of better options to read.
There is no chronology in the book, leading to weird gaps, repetitions and inexplicable jumps. At the bottom of one page he's talking about a movie he wrote which never got made and the next paragraph on the top page describes John Belushi's funeral with no segue between the two topics and not even a mention that Belushi had died (that's saved for a chapter on Belushi that's a hundred pages later.) Even the layout is haphazard: photos are stuck in on random pages regardless of whether those people are mentioned in that chapter, emails he got from friends trying to source his stories are inserted into the text even though they would be better off as reference material, and the random scripts he includes as examples of his writing are only intermittently worthy of archiving.
Basically, I would say that this book is garbage unless you are interested in random stories of freebasing with Jerry Garcia, of which there are a bunch. But people that are interested in SNL - the putative topic of the book - have plenty of better options to read.
March 10, 2012
This is one of the most disjointed books I have ever read. Davis flits around from one memory to another without any relationship to what was related before or the time frame. Perhaps this lack of discipline is a product of the life he has lived, which comes across as largely self-serving and aimless. It reminds me of an elderly person who lives so much in the past that all conversation hinges on the 'good old days.'. Some of the vignettes were entertaining and enlightening in relationship to the private lives of some well-known persons.
November 6, 2020
I liked this book because I was interested in hearing more about Franken and Davis, the early years of SNL, and especially about their connection to the Grateful Dead through the years. It was those threads that kept my interest, despite the fact that the writing was all over the place, with stories jumping constantly from one place and time to another.
August 9, 2009
Quite uneven, but perhaps that was his intent. This dude sure knew a lot of crazy and interesting famous folks, including Jerry Garcia and Timothy Leary. The book is not so much about SNL but about all of his crazy, mainly drug-induced, adventures. It's interesting what has happened now with Al Franken in light of these early years.
I lost interest in it pretty early on but something kept me reading. I guess I wanted to see who else he knew or had worked with. He didn't really impress me much and some of those early SNL skits are so BAD. Now I have someone to blame!
On the other hand, he seems like a pretty smart and lucky guy. I especially like the photos throughout, including one of Al Franken as Mick Jagger. He also has a list at the very end of the book of the books he was reading while he was writing the book and his top movies of all time. I may have to check some of those out.
I lost interest in it pretty early on but something kept me reading. I guess I wanted to see who else he knew or had worked with. He didn't really impress me much and some of those early SNL skits are so BAD. Now I have someone to blame!
On the other hand, he seems like a pretty smart and lucky guy. I especially like the photos throughout, including one of Al Franken as Mick Jagger. He also has a list at the very end of the book of the books he was reading while he was writing the book and his top movies of all time. I may have to check some of those out.
June 23, 2009
An absolute mess of a book. I imagine Tom David getting stoned and dictating most of this into a microcassette recorder and then having someone transcribe it all onto a typed page. The stories/memories are all in a jumble, with no linear timeline in place anywhere in the book. Some events are mentioned twice, lots and lots of names are dropped (most of whom I've never heard of) and some chapters devolve into one-line remembrances that read more like trivia than insights.
It may have been the drugs, it may have been the Minnesota upbringing, but there's not a lot of emotional connection to his story telling. Sure, he's grateful to Lorne Michaels and to the Dead, but other than that, there's not a lot of insight into the whys of what he's lived through. The stories may be entertaining but they still seem a bit lacking to me.
And yet, I still find myself liking this book. Davis may have lived a Thompson-esque "Fear and Loathing" life through most of his life, but his writing it straight-forward (okay, fairly straight-forward) in that honest memoir-ish sort of way, not shirking away from putting himself in a less-than-favorable light.
It may have been the drugs, it may have been the Minnesota upbringing, but there's not a lot of emotional connection to his story telling. Sure, he's grateful to Lorne Michaels and to the Dead, but other than that, there's not a lot of insight into the whys of what he's lived through. The stories may be entertaining but they still seem a bit lacking to me.
And yet, I still find myself liking this book. Davis may have lived a Thompson-esque "Fear and Loathing" life through most of his life, but his writing it straight-forward (okay, fairly straight-forward) in that honest memoir-ish sort of way, not shirking away from putting himself in a less-than-favorable light.
August 26, 2009
An interesting but ultimately unsatisfying memoir. There really isn't any narrative, it is all a series of anecdotes. Each chapter is essentially stand-alone. By itself that wouldn't be too much if a problem, but I found the character introductions to be tedious after a while. For instance, I got real tired of reading "Susan Forristal, Lorne's supermodel girlfriend." I wanted to yell back "yes, I remember her from all the previous introductions!". That, and fact that the chapters are not chronological tend to distract from the actual story. I guess this would be very interesting to a SNL enthusiast, but I didn't find much meat here. There was one line that I loved: "I looked it up in the encyclopedia (for you younger readers, that's a hardcopy search engine)"
June 10, 2009
What a mess! I had...er.... well, I had mediocre hopes for this book. Davis spent time with a lot of funny people, but unfortunately they don't appear in this book very often. Most of the book is about his girlfriends or his drug use, and even the parts that aren't are frequently interrupted by a memory of a girl or a drug experience. I couldn't finish this one, and I'll stick to Franken's books in the future!
December 15, 2009
Do you want to read a book about the early days of SNL? Great! So do I. However, this is not that book. However, if you are looking to read a jumbled, all over the place memoir that mentions SNL in passing, but basically boils down to "I did drugs. I did drugs with famous people" then this is the book you want to read.
I read half and couldn't take it any longer.
I read half and couldn't take it any longer.
February 3, 2017
Great book, especially the end. I enjoyed his correspondences with Franken the most. It was a little hard to follow at times because it was far from chronological, but I reckon that was the artist in him emerging...or the years of acid.
August 26, 2010
Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of drugs.
August 7, 2018
Really cool and interesting behind the scenes of the crazy life Tom Davis lived, including SNL and closely following the Grateful Dead. But writing was a bit all over the place, and hard for me to follow at times.
October 25, 2013
The vagaries of fate. How does one member of a 22 year old comedy partnership end up with considerably greater success -- a better show business career and best selling author -- while the other member is slowly relegated to the edges of show business. Davis wrote this book three years prior to dying from brain cancer, while his former partner is a well regarded US Senator, so the disparity in career paths has only accelerated.
This book is easy to read and is written in a rather matter of fact style. Davis is a little resentful of his relative lack of success (relative is a matter of degree, of course: he did help found the initial SNL and was with the show around 15 years all told) but the tone isn't bitter. Davis himself recognizes some of his own shortcomings: a large degree of drug use (LSD, cocaine, heroin, uppers, alcohol, inter alia) over prolonged decades, an inability to form a stable relationship (or at least a faithful one) and a disinclination to compromise or get along (Davis would probably call it "sucking up").
Despite the fact he didn't find the success of many of the original people associated with SNL did, however he still did pretty well. He made a good living, he had a succession of good girlfriends (and assorted shorter-term liasons) and was able to partake in recreational drugs whenever he choose (and he choose to quite often). His SNL position enabled him to become friends with members of his favorite band, The Grateful Dead, for instance. He also got to know on a passing basis the members of The Rolling Stones. Mick sometimes was quite friendly, other times refusing to recognize him, thus acting as something of a barometer of Davis's career position. Davis also was pretty close to John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd. Ackroyd comes across as a decent person and good friend throughout the years and regardless of Davis's career position.
Franken comes across pretty well too. Davis and he had a bitter falling out (seemingly based on different career projectories and money issues -- it's not really detailed very clearly) but seem to have mostly patched things up. Why was Franken more successful? A few reasons come to mind. For one, he is brighter (Davis freely acknowledges that -- Franken didn't go to Harvard just by chance), he also seems more stable (entering into a long marriage and giving up drugs). Franken also seems tougher -- more focused and determined -- as well as better at getting along with people. And lastly, perhaps, Franken is a bit luckier. Luck is a hard thing to quantify, but it's there nonetheless.
Davis tells many amusing anecdotes and also discusses many SNL sketches (his own as well as those of some other writers). Some are memorable, some not so much. He doesn't, however, explain how he and Franken wrote. Did they do it together? Did they edit each other's pieces? It's a missed opportunity, unfortunately.
Davis seems pretty fair-minded, overall. Lorne Michaels comes across as a decent enough person, although one changed (in subtle but not particularly likeable ways) by success. Other comedians of the 1970s and 80s pop in and out of the pages. He says Jay Leno was one of the most amusing comics, and based on the stand-up performance I saw Leno give around 1988 I'd have to agree (although I still prefer Letterman's show).
There isn't a lot of reflection or analysis in the book though, unfortunately. Davis just relates different stories in his life. Other than the continual drug use Davis seems pretty much of an everyman, and despite his failure to reach the top rung he had a lot more success than most people ever will. He seems okay with all of it. So if you accept the books' limitations, it's a fun, light read.
This book is easy to read and is written in a rather matter of fact style. Davis is a little resentful of his relative lack of success (relative is a matter of degree, of course: he did help found the initial SNL and was with the show around 15 years all told) but the tone isn't bitter. Davis himself recognizes some of his own shortcomings: a large degree of drug use (LSD, cocaine, heroin, uppers, alcohol, inter alia) over prolonged decades, an inability to form a stable relationship (or at least a faithful one) and a disinclination to compromise or get along (Davis would probably call it "sucking up").
Despite the fact he didn't find the success of many of the original people associated with SNL did, however he still did pretty well. He made a good living, he had a succession of good girlfriends (and assorted shorter-term liasons) and was able to partake in recreational drugs whenever he choose (and he choose to quite often). His SNL position enabled him to become friends with members of his favorite band, The Grateful Dead, for instance. He also got to know on a passing basis the members of The Rolling Stones. Mick sometimes was quite friendly, other times refusing to recognize him, thus acting as something of a barometer of Davis's career position. Davis also was pretty close to John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd. Ackroyd comes across as a decent person and good friend throughout the years and regardless of Davis's career position.
Franken comes across pretty well too. Davis and he had a bitter falling out (seemingly based on different career projectories and money issues -- it's not really detailed very clearly) but seem to have mostly patched things up. Why was Franken more successful? A few reasons come to mind. For one, he is brighter (Davis freely acknowledges that -- Franken didn't go to Harvard just by chance), he also seems more stable (entering into a long marriage and giving up drugs). Franken also seems tougher -- more focused and determined -- as well as better at getting along with people. And lastly, perhaps, Franken is a bit luckier. Luck is a hard thing to quantify, but it's there nonetheless.
Davis tells many amusing anecdotes and also discusses many SNL sketches (his own as well as those of some other writers). Some are memorable, some not so much. He doesn't, however, explain how he and Franken wrote. Did they do it together? Did they edit each other's pieces? It's a missed opportunity, unfortunately.
Davis seems pretty fair-minded, overall. Lorne Michaels comes across as a decent enough person, although one changed (in subtle but not particularly likeable ways) by success. Other comedians of the 1970s and 80s pop in and out of the pages. He says Jay Leno was one of the most amusing comics, and based on the stand-up performance I saw Leno give around 1988 I'd have to agree (although I still prefer Letterman's show).
There isn't a lot of reflection or analysis in the book though, unfortunately. Davis just relates different stories in his life. Other than the continual drug use Davis seems pretty much of an everyman, and despite his failure to reach the top rung he had a lot more success than most people ever will. He seems okay with all of it. So if you accept the books' limitations, it's a fun, light read.
July 10, 2009
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Writing for Saturday Night Live during the sketch show's legendary early seasons may be Davis's claim to fame, but this captivating memoir is about much more, including his suburban Minneapolis childhood, couch-surfing through his hometown, San Francisco, and New York City during the 1970s, and a life-long friendship with comedian-turned-political commentator-turned (probable) Senator Al Franken. Of course, that doesn't stop Davis from hooking readers at the outset with the true Coneheads origin story, involving Dan Aykroyd, LSD and a trip to Easter Island. Later, Davis recalls poignantly Aykroyd's eulogy at John Belushi's funeral, which began, "I so did not want to have to do this." Davis also speaks reverently of Lorne Michaels, despite their (often hilarious) professional differences. Davis's portrait of Franken, though, is most endearing. Fellow Minneapolisians, Franken and Davis were a comedy team throughout their young careers; Davis recreates their partnership in rich, funny details, bolstered by transcripts of their recent e-mail correspondence. Though it features some lurid and hysterical SNL stories, Davis's memoir is less a backstage expose than a winning coming-of-age story featuring a funny Midwestern kid following his unlikely dream to the top.
I did not like this book and I did not finish it. The writing style was kind of jerky and did not flow, and it was not funny. I mean, a book about Saturday Night Live, you expect to be funny. The pictures that were included were grainy and ficcifult to see. Very disappointing. :(
Starred Review. Writing for Saturday Night Live during the sketch show's legendary early seasons may be Davis's claim to fame, but this captivating memoir is about much more, including his suburban Minneapolis childhood, couch-surfing through his hometown, San Francisco, and New York City during the 1970s, and a life-long friendship with comedian-turned-political commentator-turned (probable) Senator Al Franken. Of course, that doesn't stop Davis from hooking readers at the outset with the true Coneheads origin story, involving Dan Aykroyd, LSD and a trip to Easter Island. Later, Davis recalls poignantly Aykroyd's eulogy at John Belushi's funeral, which began, "I so did not want to have to do this." Davis also speaks reverently of Lorne Michaels, despite their (often hilarious) professional differences. Davis's portrait of Franken, though, is most endearing. Fellow Minneapolisians, Franken and Davis were a comedy team throughout their young careers; Davis recreates their partnership in rich, funny details, bolstered by transcripts of their recent e-mail correspondence. Though it features some lurid and hysterical SNL stories, Davis's memoir is less a backstage expose than a winning coming-of-age story featuring a funny Midwestern kid following his unlikely dream to the top.
I did not like this book and I did not finish it. The writing style was kind of jerky and did not flow, and it was not funny. I mean, a book about Saturday Night Live, you expect to be funny. The pictures that were included were grainy and ficcifult to see. Very disappointing. :(
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July 27, 2010I've read all the SNL memoirs, and of course they're all juicy and entertaining, but Tom Davis writes with a "fuck it" sense of truth that makes you really believe SNL was as he says it was. S
teve Martin, Alan Zweibel, Anne Beatts and many others have attempted this type of memoir regarding the early days of the show. I loved all these books, and respect their authors as honest, but not totally unbiased. Tom Davis has somehow managed to write a book about his part in the creation of the greatest sketch show of all time without tooting his own horn at any point, and in fact choosing to focus more on how he messed up over and over (thus, probably, what ended up being funny about his sketches).
This inattention to (and seeming inability to give two shits about)his own personal successes is probably why Tom Davis didn't make it in show business. The drugs he did and the company he kept probably also didn't help. But who else will tell you that Chris Farley was actually an amateurish, calculating and attention-seeking baby-man, instead of lauding him as the greatest dead fat guy of all time?
Hats off, Tom Davis. I feel you.
teve Martin, Alan Zweibel, Anne Beatts and many others have attempted this type of memoir regarding the early days of the show. I loved all these books, and respect their authors as honest, but not totally unbiased. Tom Davis has somehow managed to write a book about his part in the creation of the greatest sketch show of all time without tooting his own horn at any point, and in fact choosing to focus more on how he messed up over and over (thus, probably, what ended up being funny about his sketches).
This inattention to (and seeming inability to give two shits about)his own personal successes is probably why Tom Davis didn't make it in show business. The drugs he did and the company he kept probably also didn't help. But who else will tell you that Chris Farley was actually an amateurish, calculating and attention-seeking baby-man, instead of lauding him as the greatest dead fat guy of all time?
Hats off, Tom Davis. I feel you.
April 21, 2010
It's tough because this was written by a guy who was THERE at SNL alongside Al Franken and the original "Not Ready For Primetime Players." And yet it's kind of a sluggish, stream of consciousness read for the most part. It jumps back and forth, making it kind of confusing. Regardless, it's a great account.
For a book that promises to talk about "the early days of SNL," it skips a LOT of details. Most of the book details the weird and wacky days of Franken & Davis trying to make it in show business. And that's a GOOD THING. Great stories of Davis and Akyroid in far-reaching parts of the world, bombed out of their minds, Franken & Davis stints at Brave New Workshop, etc. These are PRICELESS stories told by a guy who's clarity of mind comes close to surpassing Dylan's in "Chronicles Volume One."
But if you want the REAL skinny on SNL, pick up "Live From New York: the Oral History of SNL." Easier to track, a quick read and, more importantly, several viewpoints from people who were there.
For a book that promises to talk about "the early days of SNL," it skips a LOT of details. Most of the book details the weird and wacky days of Franken & Davis trying to make it in show business. And that's a GOOD THING. Great stories of Davis and Akyroid in far-reaching parts of the world, bombed out of their minds, Franken & Davis stints at Brave New Workshop, etc. These are PRICELESS stories told by a guy who's clarity of mind comes close to surpassing Dylan's in "Chronicles Volume One."
But if you want the REAL skinny on SNL, pick up "Live From New York: the Oral History of SNL." Easier to track, a quick read and, more importantly, several viewpoints from people who were there.
March 15, 2015
Tom Davis did a lot of drugs.
A good 30-40% of "Thirty-Nine Years" is spent spinning tales about drugs (pot, LSD, heroin--but never, he assures us, with a needle) and the famous people with whom he shared them (Timothy Leary, Jerry Garcia, Belushi et al). In fact, the storytelling isn't unlike hanging out with a friend who's high on whatever -- stories begin and end without warning, and seemingly meaningful events like Belushi's death show up in mid-paragraph while he's recalling one of Lorne Michael's girlfriends. I swear the same stories -- or at least the same intro to the stories -- pop up multiple times throughout the book.
Don't get me wrong -- just like hanging out with an inebriated friend, the storytelling can be fun even as it meanders.
Davis shared an early manuscript of his book with Jerry Garcia's widow, Carolyn, who observed: "All this amazing stuff happened to you -- and you hardly ever mention your feelings." That's the book in a nutshell -- a lot of amazing stuff happens, but Davis made no effort to make sense of it all.
A good 30-40% of "Thirty-Nine Years" is spent spinning tales about drugs (pot, LSD, heroin--but never, he assures us, with a needle) and the famous people with whom he shared them (Timothy Leary, Jerry Garcia, Belushi et al). In fact, the storytelling isn't unlike hanging out with a friend who's high on whatever -- stories begin and end without warning, and seemingly meaningful events like Belushi's death show up in mid-paragraph while he's recalling one of Lorne Michael's girlfriends. I swear the same stories -- or at least the same intro to the stories -- pop up multiple times throughout the book.
Don't get me wrong -- just like hanging out with an inebriated friend, the storytelling can be fun even as it meanders.
Davis shared an early manuscript of his book with Jerry Garcia's widow, Carolyn, who observed: "All this amazing stuff happened to you -- and you hardly ever mention your feelings." That's the book in a nutshell -- a lot of amazing stuff happens, but Davis made no effort to make sense of it all.
July 19, 2009
yet another insanely uneven book about/by one of the original SNLers. this baby is all over the board, jumping through time more than scott bakula. each chapter seems to have a theme, but there is very little apparent in the way of rhyme or reason. the tone is very odd, the author employing a style nearly devoid of any emotional attachment to the subject's life, which an exceptionally odd effect given that this is a memoir. Davis seems to be relating the many (often very interesting) tales of his life, but offering next to no insight, instead taking a kind of res ipsa loquitur approach. nonetheless, and almost despite itself, this book charmed the hell out of me. it isn't hilarious, by any means, but Davis has an easy, self-deprecating humor & he was buddies with some amazing people. i give this 3.5 stars lines of cocaine.
October 13, 2016
this is a nonlinear memoir by tom davis, half of the franken and davis duo and part of the early writing team for saturday night live. about half of it is about the grateful dead and the other half is about his relationship with al franken. there are a lot of drugs, and it's at its funniest when it is relentlessly namedropping and pulling stories out of the 70s and 80s, giving them a point of view that is unsentimental and so very funny. one thing that stands out is how much of a prick al franken seems to be. i mean that in the best way, as he was consistently the funniest part of the book and his attitude complements davis's in a way that makes it clear that their group functioned as successfully for as long as it did because they were very opposite in demeanor. a minor, but fun, memoir from an interesting time in comedy.
April 18, 2013
This was a frustrating read for me. I honestly had never heard of Tom Davis, despite having been an SNL fan for many years. I was more interested in the "behind-the-scenes" history of the show that was promised in the books subtitle. Sadly, this is seriously lacking in the book. Really, really, really lacking. In fact the only reason I finished this book was because of the hope of actually getting to a chapter that talked about SNL.
I wasn't interested at all in Davis' many years and types of substance abuse, a history of his sexual partners, or his infatuation with the Grateful Dead. The book was conspicuously void of humor; another thing I found weird coming from a guy responsible for many of SNL's funniest sketches.
I wasn't interested at all in Davis' many years and types of substance abuse, a history of his sexual partners, or his infatuation with the Grateful Dead. The book was conspicuously void of humor; another thing I found weird coming from a guy responsible for many of SNL's funniest sketches.
October 19, 2010
This book just goes to show that it may be easier to win an Emmy than write a good book. Not to say "39 Years" didn't have its moments. It clearly did and that's why I waded through the jumbled editing, second-hand recollections, acid trips, and constant praises to the Grateful Dead. There will still enough behind the scenes stories to hold my attention. Tom Davis is not someone I clearly remember from the early SNL days but, based on this memoir, he doesn't clearly remember most of it either. Fun read for SNL fans, Deadheads, or anyone with a short attention span but not the definitive SNL story.
March 27, 2012
This often hilarious memoir weaves together the coming-of-age stories of a comedy writer and the television institution he helped spawn. When Saturday Night Live first hit the airwaves, Gerald Ford was president. No one expected it to run for decades; least of all, footloose midwestern hippie and cutup Tom Davis. Perhaps best remembered today as the other half of the Franken & Davis comedy team, Davis won four Emmy Awards during the '70s, but his free-spirited 39 Years of Short-Term Memory Loss jogs through the honors, lingering instead on his interactions with Lorne Michaels, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and Chris Farley.
January 23, 2016
Thirty- Nine Years of Short-Term Memory Loss: The Early Days of SNL From Someone Who Was There by Tom Davis (Grove Press 2009)( Biography). Tom Davis was U.S. Senator Al Franken's comedy partner in the duo "Franken & Davis" on Saturday Night Live back in the 1970's when the show was still funny. He was a notorious Deadhead; he emceed the Grateful Dead New Year's concert that became the DVD “The Closing of Winterland.” Al Franken became a U.S. Senator from Minnesota; Tom Davis was propelled into obscurity or oblivion by his undying love of drugs. Sound familiar? My rating: 7/10, finished 2010.
June 1, 2009
I read this thing straight through for a couple of days after I received it from the library. This is a memoir by a former writer for Saturday Night Live, who was a writing partner of now-Senator Al Franken. Though this guy is a huge Grateful Dead fan, he's fun to read nonetheless, and seems to have stumbled upon every interesting person on the planet of the last few decades. It gives interesting insight into the early and not-so-early days of SNL and the people behind them. Recommended for memoir buffs and 60's/70's nostalgists.
February 20, 2011
39 Years of Short-Term Memory Loss is a scatter-shot memoir from Davis (of Franken and Davis semi-fame) of his life and days as a writer for Saturday Night Live. There are a few anecdotes of the people who were around SNL at the time (Belushi, Aykroyd and Michaels), but he has surprisingly little to say about the rest of the cast.
You might expect that the autobiography of a comedy writer would be replete with humor, but you'd be wrong. Of course, this is the same guy that wrote Coneheads, so it's also possible I was expecting too much.
You might expect that the autobiography of a comedy writer would be replete with humor, but you'd be wrong. Of course, this is the same guy that wrote Coneheads, so it's also possible I was expecting too much.
July 27, 2011
As a longtime fan of SNL, I enjoy reading about the early days. While this book claims to cover these, and we get some interesting tidbits and backstage scoop, it also meanders thru time and place pretty randomly. The drug use was pretty well chronicled prior to this book, but with the amounts documented here, it's amazing that the writer could recall this many details. I like a good backstory, but this effort could have used a better writer -- but wait, that's what Tom Davis is.... huh. Somebody get this man an editor.
April 29, 2012
Tom Davis has some great stories. He's been around the world several times, counted Jerry Garcia among his personal friends and wrote for Saturday Night Live during it's most subversive period. He also did a ton of drugs. Perhaps this is why his autobiography is written in a non-linear format. Davis has some great stories and a remarkable memory for someone that has taken so many acid trips. However, the jumping around is a bit jarring. I prefer my biographies to be chronological, but I guess I'm old-fashioned.
April 7, 2009
I’m sure half of my frustration with this book is that I didn’t know all the characters discussed. Clearly my knowledge base is a later SNL.
Overall it sounds like Tom Davis was always in the right place at the right time, so that was interesting. If you don’t want to read something that sounds like he wrote it while he was high, don’t bother with this book. The amount of ‘funny’ did not outweigh the amount of inner monologue, ‘why am I trying to finish this thing?’
Overall it sounds like Tom Davis was always in the right place at the right time, so that was interesting. If you don’t want to read something that sounds like he wrote it while he was high, don’t bother with this book. The amount of ‘funny’ did not outweigh the amount of inner monologue, ‘why am I trying to finish this thing?’
April 14, 2009
The sloppy but entertaining story of a drug fueled funny man. Gratuitous name dropping competes with detailed descriptions of acid trips to the point where you'd think one or the other would have to give. But if it were in fact fictionalized you'd have to wonder why he didn't portray himself a little better... overlooking all that, there are some genuinely hilarious moments here, mostly sober and involving Franken.
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