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Pryor Convictions: And Other Life Sentences
Richard Pryor’s life story is one of the most controversial and shocking of any performer in American history. Raised in the bars and whorehouses of Peoria, where he gained first-hand knowledge of racism and hypocrisy, he toiled for years as a bland Cosby clone before finding his true voice as one of America’s most brilliant comedians — and one of its most profound, and profane, social critics. At the apex of his career — one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, and one of the most influential black men in the world — it all came tumbling down in a maelstrom of drugs, multiple marriages, heart attacks, violence, and suicide attempts, finally ending in a notorious incident where he lit himself on fire while freebasing cocaine. Pryor Convictions tells the uncensored story of the man behind the myth. Written in Pryor’s own words, this human and compelling account is like the man raw, funny, fearless, and completely unforgettable.
288 pages, Paperback
First published May 10, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 184 reviews
March 8, 2019
Exposed! It's funny,exceptional,raw,extremely honest about his life,revealing information of his vulnerabilities,all the ups and downs in his life -- lots of deep painful stuff (paperback!)
July 27, 2021
This is a story of a broken, womanizing, abusive, drug, alcohol & sex addicted, warm, caring, giving comedic genius. Richard used levity to get us through this 8 hour audiobook....But, there was still parts of this book, parts of his life that was really sad. I think it took a lot of courage to remain transparent through telling this story. He talked a lot about his life growing up in Peoria, Illinois....He really had a colorful life in Peoria....He spoke about his parent and his Grandparents a lot in this story, particularly, his father & grandmother. I really didn't realize how much pain & abuse Richard Pryor himself endured and those issues went unaddressed and taken into his adulthood....still unaddressed...which was the reason he had so many issues. Richard was also candid about his history with MS, Richard really had a rough life. Excellent Narration from J.D. Jackson....
August 9, 2015
Fascinating, Compelling & Funny! An Unforgettable Story! I Loved It!
August 17, 2012
Richard Pryor was not a great man, or even, come to think of it, a very good one. He was, however, likely the most important voice in American comedy since Lenny Bruce.
This telling autobiography pulls back the curtain on the life that shaped the legacy. It uncovers a tragic figure with keen insight into the human condition, but with a perfectly Richard Pryor-shaped blind spot that often prevented him from turning his attention to the true roots of his own beliefs, behaviors and vices.
To Pryor's credit, he seldom paints himself as a victim in the text, and he is all too willing to admit to the scores of others that he mistreated on his journey. At its heart Pryor Convictions is the tale of a child scarred by sexual abuse, weighed down by the rigors of racism and struggling to find self-worth that becomes a wealthy, influential adult still haunted by the same.
His methodical recollection of drug abuse is gritty and his misogynistic tendencies – which he sadly never seemed to get past – come through as equally disturbing. Yet somehow, peppered with the wit and hard-fought wisdom of decades in the spotlight, the book is a tell-all worth reading.
Behind the sexual conquests there was a man striving to be loved and to love himself. Beneath the absentee father and abusive, unfaithful husband was a lonely boy trying desperately to understand the wholly foreign concept of family.
Richard Pryor was not a great man, and few people are as quick to admit to this as Richard Pryor himself. His journey was long and hard and dirty, and even the reader can't escape this memoir unsoiled. But for your trouble you are granted a look into the mind and heart of a great thinker and keen social satirist who never quite achieved the enlightenment he truly sought.
This telling autobiography pulls back the curtain on the life that shaped the legacy. It uncovers a tragic figure with keen insight into the human condition, but with a perfectly Richard Pryor-shaped blind spot that often prevented him from turning his attention to the true roots of his own beliefs, behaviors and vices.
To Pryor's credit, he seldom paints himself as a victim in the text, and he is all too willing to admit to the scores of others that he mistreated on his journey. At its heart Pryor Convictions is the tale of a child scarred by sexual abuse, weighed down by the rigors of racism and struggling to find self-worth that becomes a wealthy, influential adult still haunted by the same.
His methodical recollection of drug abuse is gritty and his misogynistic tendencies – which he sadly never seemed to get past – come through as equally disturbing. Yet somehow, peppered with the wit and hard-fought wisdom of decades in the spotlight, the book is a tell-all worth reading.
Behind the sexual conquests there was a man striving to be loved and to love himself. Beneath the absentee father and abusive, unfaithful husband was a lonely boy trying desperately to understand the wholly foreign concept of family.
Richard Pryor was not a great man, and few people are as quick to admit to this as Richard Pryor himself. His journey was long and hard and dirty, and even the reader can't escape this memoir unsoiled. But for your trouble you are granted a look into the mind and heart of a great thinker and keen social satirist who never quite achieved the enlightenment he truly sought.
November 29, 2023
I remember watching Richard Pryor movies as a child and loving them. In my adulthood, as I became obsessed with stand-up comedy, I dove into the treasure trove known as Pryor's stand-up specials. I still consider his work some of the best, especially when you factor in how risqué his material was at the time of filming. As an autobiography junkie, I was beyond ready for this book. I expected it to be lighthearted and comical like Pryor's work and other autobiographies I've read. Boy, was I wrong.
This book cemented the idea that the best comedy comes from a very dark place buried deep inside the comedian. The late great Robin Williams comes to mind. Richard grew up poor and in probably one of the worst environments for a kid to grow up in. His talents quickly skyrocketed him to stardom, but he never dealt with his childhood trauma. Instead, his entire life is just one long drug-filled sex-capade. The number of women, broken relationships, ruined marriages, and children is staggering. The drug and alcohol binges range from awful to deadly. When you factor in his MS diagnosis, it's no wonder he passed away in his 60s. I think, and I think Richard would agree, that he has lived much longer than anyone anticipated.
This was a great read into a very troubled but highly intelligent mind. Pryor's ability to self reflect and analyze was the reason his comedy was so enjoyable. That clearly shines in this book. There's even some funny inner monolog here worthy of his namesake.
This book cemented the idea that the best comedy comes from a very dark place buried deep inside the comedian. The late great Robin Williams comes to mind. Richard grew up poor and in probably one of the worst environments for a kid to grow up in. His talents quickly skyrocketed him to stardom, but he never dealt with his childhood trauma. Instead, his entire life is just one long drug-filled sex-capade. The number of women, broken relationships, ruined marriages, and children is staggering. The drug and alcohol binges range from awful to deadly. When you factor in his MS diagnosis, it's no wonder he passed away in his 60s. I think, and I think Richard would agree, that he has lived much longer than anyone anticipated.
This was a great read into a very troubled but highly intelligent mind. Pryor's ability to self reflect and analyze was the reason his comedy was so enjoyable. That clearly shines in this book. There's even some funny inner monolog here worthy of his namesake.
May 16, 2024
Pryor Convictions: And Other Life Sentences by Richard Pryor was published a decade before Richard Pryor’s death. Although I knew a few details of the comedian’s life, this made me feel sorry him. His childhood, raised in a whorehouse, molested/raped, his heavy drug use, and volatile relationships were heartbreaking to read! 😞 Rest In Peace Mr. Pryor.
April 27, 2018
Definitely enjoyable
April 8, 2016
After reading this I don't like him anymore.
June 22, 2009
"Sir, 't was all one! My favor at her breast,
The dropping of the daylight in the West,
The bough of cherries some officious fool
Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule
She rode with round the terrace -- all and each
Would draw from her alike the approving speech,
Or blush, at least. She thanked men, --good !
but thanked
Somehow -- I know not how -- as if she ranked
My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name
With anybody's gift."
It is a testament to the talent of Robert Browning that he was able to so subtly allow the speakers in his dramatic monologues to condemn themselves with their own words, although they seemed at first to plead their case. As in the lines quoted above from "My Last Duchess" when the Duke first reveals his obsessive jealousy, leading up to the point where he admits he had her killed, Browning's speakers reveal their flaws bit by bit even as they are explaining the flaws of another.
All this is by way of saying that Richard Pryor is not a likeable man--and that I have it by his own words.
Pryor has led a fascinating life of success, excess, and misadventure. So, although not a sympathetic character, he is definitely an interesting one. He grew up in a whorehouse in Peoria, never finished school, and was kicked out of the army. But, despite these inauspicious beginnings, he made millions of dollars and drew himself thousands of fans through his work in films, concerts, records, and comic writing. This creative fire in him also had a dark side, though: a self-destructive tendency that was with him throughout his life. This is what caused his years of drug and alcohol abuse, dozens of failed relationships, and eventually led him to set himself on fire.
It almost sounds like a Hollywood cliche. Poor, small town boy makes good in Tinseltown, and then ruins his life with drugs, women, and fast cars. But we never tire of hearing it. The problem with Richard Pryor is that he hasn't gained any insight or understanding of his life, even with all his troubled times and extended rehabillatory hospital stays for reflection on the error of his ways. He will remember outstandingly stupid things he has done, and comment only on the great material it gave him for his stand-up.
And back to him not being very likeable. I'll let the man speak for himself. Here is what he had to say after bringing his new wife Debbie home to meet his family, and then sneaking away with his Uncle and two new female friends, only to have a heart attack while having sex with one of them: "My family worried themselves sick. They were probably closer to death than I was. They saw their money supply gasping for air, moaning, and writhing in pain...They weren't going to have none of that shit. Not about to lose my fame and money." What a thing to say so unselfconsciously about one's family. But here is what he had to say after he discovered that he had multiple sclerosis:
"Afraid that I might die alone, I remarried Flynn on April 1...we divorced a few months later and then I was just as alone as before, you know? But I didn't want to be dead without a wife. Honest. If I was going to die, I wanted a bitch there to cry."
So the allure of the book is in reading about all the outrageous things Pryor has said and done. One irritating thing is that the book is written as Pryor speaks, as if it has been transcribed from tapes (which is entirely possible, given his condition). The text is also interspersed with excerpts from his stand up which echo the events of his life that he is explaining, just to complete the effect.
The dropping of the daylight in the West,
The bough of cherries some officious fool
Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule
She rode with round the terrace -- all and each
Would draw from her alike the approving speech,
Or blush, at least. She thanked men, --good !
but thanked
Somehow -- I know not how -- as if she ranked
My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name
With anybody's gift."
It is a testament to the talent of Robert Browning that he was able to so subtly allow the speakers in his dramatic monologues to condemn themselves with their own words, although they seemed at first to plead their case. As in the lines quoted above from "My Last Duchess" when the Duke first reveals his obsessive jealousy, leading up to the point where he admits he had her killed, Browning's speakers reveal their flaws bit by bit even as they are explaining the flaws of another.
All this is by way of saying that Richard Pryor is not a likeable man--and that I have it by his own words.
Pryor has led a fascinating life of success, excess, and misadventure. So, although not a sympathetic character, he is definitely an interesting one. He grew up in a whorehouse in Peoria, never finished school, and was kicked out of the army. But, despite these inauspicious beginnings, he made millions of dollars and drew himself thousands of fans through his work in films, concerts, records, and comic writing. This creative fire in him also had a dark side, though: a self-destructive tendency that was with him throughout his life. This is what caused his years of drug and alcohol abuse, dozens of failed relationships, and eventually led him to set himself on fire.
It almost sounds like a Hollywood cliche. Poor, small town boy makes good in Tinseltown, and then ruins his life with drugs, women, and fast cars. But we never tire of hearing it. The problem with Richard Pryor is that he hasn't gained any insight or understanding of his life, even with all his troubled times and extended rehabillatory hospital stays for reflection on the error of his ways. He will remember outstandingly stupid things he has done, and comment only on the great material it gave him for his stand-up.
And back to him not being very likeable. I'll let the man speak for himself. Here is what he had to say after bringing his new wife Debbie home to meet his family, and then sneaking away with his Uncle and two new female friends, only to have a heart attack while having sex with one of them: "My family worried themselves sick. They were probably closer to death than I was. They saw their money supply gasping for air, moaning, and writhing in pain...They weren't going to have none of that shit. Not about to lose my fame and money." What a thing to say so unselfconsciously about one's family. But here is what he had to say after he discovered that he had multiple sclerosis:
"Afraid that I might die alone, I remarried Flynn on April 1...we divorced a few months later and then I was just as alone as before, you know? But I didn't want to be dead without a wife. Honest. If I was going to die, I wanted a bitch there to cry."
So the allure of the book is in reading about all the outrageous things Pryor has said and done. One irritating thing is that the book is written as Pryor speaks, as if it has been transcribed from tapes (which is entirely possible, given his condition). The text is also interspersed with excerpts from his stand up which echo the events of his life that he is explaining, just to complete the effect.
June 6, 2014
Richard Pryor
1940-2005
Raised in his grandmother’s Peoria, Illinois whorehouse, Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor uses his experiences growing up with prostitutes, criminals, drunks, hustlers, and junkies as the center of his comedy. Like many great comedians, Pryor took his pain and transformed into a genuine legend of comedy. Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Dave Chapelle, etc., etc., etc., point to Pryor as there influence.
In one of the sordid moments of an already tormented life, Pryor almost burns himself to death in 1980. After an intense free-basing binge, Pryor doused himself with cognac and set himself on fire. “When that fire hit your ass, it will sober your ass up quick! I saw something, I went, ‘Well, that’s a pretty blue. You know what? That looks like fire!’ Fire is inspirational. They should use it in the Olympics, because I ran the 100 in 4.3.” After the intense physical and mental process, Pryor is released from the hospital and one of the first things he does at his home is to find his stash and " hit the pipe again"...WOW!!!
"Pryor Convictions..." - profane, outrageous, frank, raw, sad but most of all filled with humor that only Richard Pryor could bring. It is his truths - - the legendary performances, the movies, the money, the women, the cocaine addiction, the self-immolation, the six marriages, the quadruple-bypass surgery, and the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis he brings his readers into his life exposing all that he is. This is a powerful autobiography of a talented man who made every effort to ruin his body and his career and lived to tell about it. "People can't always handle it," he writes "But I knew that if you tell the truth, it's going to be funny."
1940-2005
Raised in his grandmother’s Peoria, Illinois whorehouse, Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor uses his experiences growing up with prostitutes, criminals, drunks, hustlers, and junkies as the center of his comedy. Like many great comedians, Pryor took his pain and transformed into a genuine legend of comedy. Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Dave Chapelle, etc., etc., etc., point to Pryor as there influence.
In one of the sordid moments of an already tormented life, Pryor almost burns himself to death in 1980. After an intense free-basing binge, Pryor doused himself with cognac and set himself on fire. “When that fire hit your ass, it will sober your ass up quick! I saw something, I went, ‘Well, that’s a pretty blue. You know what? That looks like fire!’ Fire is inspirational. They should use it in the Olympics, because I ran the 100 in 4.3.” After the intense physical and mental process, Pryor is released from the hospital and one of the first things he does at his home is to find his stash and " hit the pipe again"...WOW!!!
"Pryor Convictions..." - profane, outrageous, frank, raw, sad but most of all filled with humor that only Richard Pryor could bring. It is his truths - - the legendary performances, the movies, the money, the women, the cocaine addiction, the self-immolation, the six marriages, the quadruple-bypass surgery, and the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis he brings his readers into his life exposing all that he is. This is a powerful autobiography of a talented man who made every effort to ruin his body and his career and lived to tell about it. "People can't always handle it," he writes "But I knew that if you tell the truth, it's going to be funny."
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February 29, 2024
They say you shouldn't meet your heroes...
This is a cold, dark, bleak little book, not at all what I expected from Pryor. All those movies he was in, the ones I loved growing up? He hated them all. All those stand-up routines and jokes? They were a cover for the desperate, lonely, untethered, miserable man he really was. Behind the scenes he was a neglectful father, an abusive husband, a victim of childhood molestation by pedophiles... Growing up in a brothel, abandoned intermittently by everyone except his grandmother, raped as a child by a guy who later brought his own child to meet the star Richard had grown into, Pryor never seemed to get past the horrors inflicted upon him. And apparently he wound up becoming a nihilist. I mean, can you blame him?
That's without addressing the cruelty of racism he faced growing up, without getting into the nightmare of Multiple Sclerosis that ate away at him over his final decades, without going into his sad realization that his drug addictions mattered more to him than any of his children or his lovers or his family...
Like I said: Cold. Dark. Bleak.
This is a cold, dark, bleak little book, not at all what I expected from Pryor. All those movies he was in, the ones I loved growing up? He hated them all. All those stand-up routines and jokes? They were a cover for the desperate, lonely, untethered, miserable man he really was. Behind the scenes he was a neglectful father, an abusive husband, a victim of childhood molestation by pedophiles... Growing up in a brothel, abandoned intermittently by everyone except his grandmother, raped as a child by a guy who later brought his own child to meet the star Richard had grown into, Pryor never seemed to get past the horrors inflicted upon him. And apparently he wound up becoming a nihilist. I mean, can you blame him?
That's without addressing the cruelty of racism he faced growing up, without getting into the nightmare of Multiple Sclerosis that ate away at him over his final decades, without going into his sad realization that his drug addictions mattered more to him than any of his children or his lovers or his family...
Like I said: Cold. Dark. Bleak.
August 16, 2010
A lot of nasty stuff leads up to a crescendo of sorts where he talks about MS & its effects on life more than the effects of growing up in a Whorehouse.
By page 198, Ch. 28. Pryor begins to describe having MS and the slow march to a life dominated by it.
pg. 215 - "Every day ya gotta try'n get your lazy ass out of bed in thew morning." even though life is like in an earthquake with unsure footing.
pg. 226 - "...the future doesn't let you know it's there until it bites you in the ass, particularly, as I discovered, when it includes Multiple Sclerosis."
pg. 232 - "...the beginning of me not being able to do shit anymore ... The MS took over."
pg. 238 "Each day it seemed. I was forced to confront the disease. It was like being held captive by a truly nasty m_____f_____.)
By page 198, Ch. 28. Pryor begins to describe having MS and the slow march to a life dominated by it.
pg. 215 - "Every day ya gotta try'n get your lazy ass out of bed in thew morning." even though life is like in an earthquake with unsure footing.
pg. 226 - "...the future doesn't let you know it's there until it bites you in the ass, particularly, as I discovered, when it includes Multiple Sclerosis."
pg. 232 - "...the beginning of me not being able to do shit anymore ... The MS took over."
pg. 238 "Each day it seemed. I was forced to confront the disease. It was like being held captive by a truly nasty m_____f_____.)
May 6, 2015
The thing that sets this book apart from any other autobiography I've read is the brutal honesty of it. Pryor doesn't try to sugarcoat or explain away his faults. He simply tells you what happened. That's it and that's all. This is not a romanticized rendering of his life. Straight facts, no chaser. It is gut clutching-ly hilarious at times, poignant at others, and puzzling in places. It's raw and real and that's what we love about Richard.
January 9, 2019
HOMEHGAWD LMAOLMAOLMAO
50% Done: Beware, this is for those who love all things Richard Pryor. Written like a conversation it's flat out brilliant.
Listening to the accounts of his fire are horrifying no matter the Pryor spin put on it. Bless his heart.
50% Done: Beware, this is for those who love all things Richard Pryor. Written like a conversation it's flat out brilliant.
Listening to the accounts of his fire are horrifying no matter the Pryor spin put on it. Bless his heart.
October 5, 2011
It was kind of enjoyable and certainly easy to read but I can't help but feel disappointed. Before I read this I liked Richard Pryor and admired much of his work. Sadly, reading this made me lose a lot of respect for him as a man.
Basically, it's an American rags to riches story where Pryor describes his terrible childhood and then a life where he inexplicably jumps from woman to woman, taking copious amounts of drugs and treating the people around him very badly while at the same time become a global comedy and film star.
He has numerous marriages, several children he never seems to show affection for and at one point sets himself on fire. He also seems to think very little of most of the films and comedy he manages to produce.
Stylistically, it reads a little like 'On The Road' as Pryor jumps from one event to the next, missing details of big events. I wondered if this was intentional because he wanted his life to be seen like that or just because Pryor had limited recall over certain times in his life. I found this style frustrating at times and it also meant that attention was diverted to different parts of the story than I wanted to hear about.
The biggest flaw, however, was the lack of empathy Pryor manages to gain from his reader. He shows little caring or affection for anyone else in his life and seems intent on self-destruction throughout. It's therefore very hard to feel sorry for him when he encounters hard times. I've read other books written by people suffering with addiction and there's usually a sense of a greater person beneath the addiction whereas in this book there's very little to like about the protagonist.
At the end of his story, Pryor is diagnosed with MS which does add some poignancy to the book. It seems a sad ending to a very sad life. It's clear throughout that he never learnt how to love or respond to being loved and suffered his whole life because of it.
Basically, it's an American rags to riches story where Pryor describes his terrible childhood and then a life where he inexplicably jumps from woman to woman, taking copious amounts of drugs and treating the people around him very badly while at the same time become a global comedy and film star.
He has numerous marriages, several children he never seems to show affection for and at one point sets himself on fire. He also seems to think very little of most of the films and comedy he manages to produce.
Stylistically, it reads a little like 'On The Road' as Pryor jumps from one event to the next, missing details of big events. I wondered if this was intentional because he wanted his life to be seen like that or just because Pryor had limited recall over certain times in his life. I found this style frustrating at times and it also meant that attention was diverted to different parts of the story than I wanted to hear about.
The biggest flaw, however, was the lack of empathy Pryor manages to gain from his reader. He shows little caring or affection for anyone else in his life and seems intent on self-destruction throughout. It's therefore very hard to feel sorry for him when he encounters hard times. I've read other books written by people suffering with addiction and there's usually a sense of a greater person beneath the addiction whereas in this book there's very little to like about the protagonist.
At the end of his story, Pryor is diagnosed with MS which does add some poignancy to the book. It seems a sad ending to a very sad life. It's clear throughout that he never learnt how to love or respond to being loved and suffered his whole life because of it.
May 24, 2023
This memoir gives more meaning to the phrase, “Truer words have never been spoken”. Richard Pryor unflinchingly recounts his life and sparingly laments his regrets as some memoirs have done. But he tells the bald-headed, butt naked truth. Then he takes his final bow at curtain call.
If you observe poetry in jive and appreciate a beautiful string of well placed cuss words, you’ll love this book.
If you observe poetry in jive and appreciate a beautiful string of well placed cuss words, you’ll love this book.
June 23, 2013
As a young bookseller with a filthy ear (and a mouth to match), watching Richard's films and his stand up from the early 80's gave me a lot of pleasure and countless jokes to tell an awed playground and horrified teachers. When he died, it broke my heart.
May 13, 2021
I really had no idea Richard had such a journey.
March 22, 2022
Good narration for this audiobook. Well worth reading if you are even remotely interested in Richard Pryor.
June 26, 2014
"You all know how black humor started? It started on slave ships. Cat was rowing and dude says, 'What you laughing about?' He said, 'Yesterday, I was king.'"
Richard Pryor. That was one of the Big Names that I heard of when I got into stand-up comedy when I was a teenager. By that point Pryor hadn't done any stand up in years, but his work in the 70's was legendary. I also saw some of his movies of course, like Blue Collar (which he barely talks about in the book but shows incredible dramatic depth) and Lady Sings the Blues (hell, even in The Mack he's great, which he underrated as a low-budget exploitation pic, but I digress). He's the kind of dude that is actually funnier now than when I was younger - though the silly shit is always silly shit - as I've lived more of a life and understood more things about people, race, gender, sex, etc.
This book is some dark, depressing shit about a man who just wanted to look for some sunshine and flowers, and got completely fucked up along the way.
It's not a great book - maybe a few too many if the italicized quotes from his act, albeit they are there for a purpose, usually, which is to highlight how much the truth of his act bled into the truth of his life, as an artist of course it's kind of essential probably - but the pages went by quickly and there was a some humor along the way. It's mostly a tome of how the darkness and despair, of being beaten and (at one point) molested as a kid didn't fuck up a little silly kid from Peoria, despite (or because of) the whorehouses and the players and gamblers and weirdos, it all informed him for later in life.... or rather, they did fuck him up, but he persevered just barely to spin it all into the absurd, which is a gift.
There are some things that could have gone on longer. The book is a breeze to read through - read it in a day, which for a 250 page book isn't common for me - but he only briefly mentions his kids, when they were born at any rate, or about the conflicts with his family as they, as Pryor says, loved his riches and obviously got comfortable from his profits, but still treated him (at least he felt) like the dumb little kid who got raised by his grandmother instead of his actual parents.
Maybe it's for the best though; the book is really the story of a drug addict, or just an addict in general, and when it comes to addiction you only break the pattern or else it breaks you, I suppose. Pryor's candidness and matter-of-fact bluntness carries a lot of the book in such fascinating detail. Of course there's only so many times you can read about a dude doing cocaine, but in a way that's what makes the book so compulsively readable and interesting: even without knowing, say, that he set himself on fire while high out of his mind, or drove all of his (ex) wives crazy but ended up going back to them, you want to find out how, if any, redemption can come.
For a motherfucker like Pryor, redemption wasn't really easy, or wanted most of the time, except for those bits of clarity. Or the MS. Yeah, definitely the MS.
I actually rate this 3 1/2 stars or something - after a point, the repetition gets to be too much. But two things keep it worth reading and a good book: Pryor never loses his sense of humor, as dark and fucked up as it is (and the section on MS is actually quite funny even as he is a sad puddle of his former self), and he doesn't ever go too long in a section about being a sob story. He is clear eyed about his fuck ups, knows them well, but the artistic side isn't diminished either. I got a good strong sense about what his goals were as a comedian, as a performer, and he doesn't mince words about the bullshit he put up with in his career. Ultimately, the thing to take away from such a book is: ain't it something the guy is still alive? (at the time anyway, he died in 2005)
Richard Pryor. That was one of the Big Names that I heard of when I got into stand-up comedy when I was a teenager. By that point Pryor hadn't done any stand up in years, but his work in the 70's was legendary. I also saw some of his movies of course, like Blue Collar (which he barely talks about in the book but shows incredible dramatic depth) and Lady Sings the Blues (hell, even in The Mack he's great, which he underrated as a low-budget exploitation pic, but I digress). He's the kind of dude that is actually funnier now than when I was younger - though the silly shit is always silly shit - as I've lived more of a life and understood more things about people, race, gender, sex, etc.
This book is some dark, depressing shit about a man who just wanted to look for some sunshine and flowers, and got completely fucked up along the way.
It's not a great book - maybe a few too many if the italicized quotes from his act, albeit they are there for a purpose, usually, which is to highlight how much the truth of his act bled into the truth of his life, as an artist of course it's kind of essential probably - but the pages went by quickly and there was a some humor along the way. It's mostly a tome of how the darkness and despair, of being beaten and (at one point) molested as a kid didn't fuck up a little silly kid from Peoria, despite (or because of) the whorehouses and the players and gamblers and weirdos, it all informed him for later in life.... or rather, they did fuck him up, but he persevered just barely to spin it all into the absurd, which is a gift.
There are some things that could have gone on longer. The book is a breeze to read through - read it in a day, which for a 250 page book isn't common for me - but he only briefly mentions his kids, when they were born at any rate, or about the conflicts with his family as they, as Pryor says, loved his riches and obviously got comfortable from his profits, but still treated him (at least he felt) like the dumb little kid who got raised by his grandmother instead of his actual parents.
Maybe it's for the best though; the book is really the story of a drug addict, or just an addict in general, and when it comes to addiction you only break the pattern or else it breaks you, I suppose. Pryor's candidness and matter-of-fact bluntness carries a lot of the book in such fascinating detail. Of course there's only so many times you can read about a dude doing cocaine, but in a way that's what makes the book so compulsively readable and interesting: even without knowing, say, that he set himself on fire while high out of his mind, or drove all of his (ex) wives crazy but ended up going back to them, you want to find out how, if any, redemption can come.
For a motherfucker like Pryor, redemption wasn't really easy, or wanted most of the time, except for those bits of clarity. Or the MS. Yeah, definitely the MS.
I actually rate this 3 1/2 stars or something - after a point, the repetition gets to be too much. But two things keep it worth reading and a good book: Pryor never loses his sense of humor, as dark and fucked up as it is (and the section on MS is actually quite funny even as he is a sad puddle of his former self), and he doesn't ever go too long in a section about being a sob story. He is clear eyed about his fuck ups, knows them well, but the artistic side isn't diminished either. I got a good strong sense about what his goals were as a comedian, as a performer, and he doesn't mince words about the bullshit he put up with in his career. Ultimately, the thing to take away from such a book is: ain't it something the guy is still alive? (at the time anyway, he died in 2005)
August 29, 2012
Pryor Convictions, published in 1995, is a surprisingly candid autobiography written by the very successful and talented comedian and actor, Richard Pryor. In fact, some readers might describe it as shockingly candid. Richard Pryor covers the good and bad of his life. However, the good parts of his life seem to have been far overshadowed by an extremely lurid childhood environment and an extremely self-destructive lifestyle, which continued (really increased) even after he became famous and wealthy. He grew up in a rough area of Peoria, IL where racism was plentiful and he certainly experienced the consequences of racism from an early age. However, he states that he never knew he was black and didn’t see color when he looked at people when he was a child. In addition, his father and other family members were associated with brothels (whorehouses as Pryor would say) and he lived and worked in those brothels throughout his childhood. Many people would suggest that that experience provided a very destructive viewpoint on sexuality and relationships with women. His environment also taught him much about violence, drugs, and other criminal behaviors. Pryor openly describes a very destructive lifestyle in this book. He admits to crimes and violent behavior, including abusive behavior toward women. He also admits that he was an addict. His many addictions included cocaine and freebase cocaine, which almost killed him during a fire while he was freebasing. However, sex was probably one of his most destructive additions. The book devotes much space to discussions of sexual behaviors. The book is not for the demure reader, but then the same is true about his comedy and many of his movie roles. While reading the book there were times when I found him to be a despicable person, but overall the book engendered my sympathy toward him. Although he was never able to achieve a monogamous relationship with women, he maintained ongoing affectionate relationships with all five of his ex-wives and his children. In addition, his grandmother really was his primary caregiver when he was a child and he remained close to her during most of his life. I have always enjoyed Richard Pryor’s comedy acts and many of his movies, and this book explains much about his revolutionary approach to comedy and how he developed that approach and eventually achieved his success. The book also reveals a very confused, conflicted, imperfect, sad and self-destructive human being who recognized his many faults and regretted them. I’m glad I read this “tell-all” book, and recommend it strongly to anyone who admires Richard Pryor’s work.
July 10, 2012
Firstly, this book needs to be twice as long. It covers pretty much what he talks about in his stand-up routines and pretty much takes every opportunity to lift as much as possible directly from those routines. Therefore, if you're already a Richard Pryor fan, you're not getting an awfully lot more from this book. Secondly, he should have wrote this book with somebody, a co-author or someone, to prompt him to elaborate and reflect. The trouble is Richard has done many things in his life which are destructive both to himself and those around him, much of which has to do with his cocaine addition. To his credit he never asks for pity or sympathy, he merely states what happened. But in doing so, he makes no reflection on these events, so there is no sense of his own emotions towards them. Thirdly, the saddest thing is the utter absense of his children in his life story. Except to note their births, they feature not at all. Instead of the end of his life being about becoming a grampa and seeing his kids mature, it's about continued cocaine abuse and prolonged ill-health. It seems like such a waste. This book is like the life it describes, both tragic and funny, but most of all, a missed opportunity.
December 14, 2008
Richard Pryor recounts his hellish childhood and self destructive adulthood here. He was raised by people who were more or less criminals, his Grandmother was a whorehouse Madame, his Father and Uncle were involved in pimping and drug dealing, his Mother was at least at times working as a prostitute, etc. At one point Pryor was molested by a Catholic priest and instead of going to the police or just killing the bastard his family devises a scheme to blackmail the pedophile and encouraged Pryor to lead the old priest on, so yeah you get the picture. After that his adulthood is one self destructive fiasco after another, or at least you would think it was from this book. You would almost think Pryor never had any fun whatsoever. Something tells me Pryor for all his self destructive tendencies at least at times, had more than his share of fun too. Even though I don't think even half of the story gets told here I thought this was a good read if for no other reason I always enjoy over the top tales of celebrity debauchery and thats more or less what the bulk of Pryor Convictions is.
October 7, 2010
Another book picked up on a whim: I'd no real interest in Richard Pryor as a person; I enjoyed some of his films and been intrigued by his whole setting himself alight incident, but not a fan as such.
This book chronicles his turbulent (perhaps an understatement) upbringing and his constant battles with substance addiction.
His personal relationships are a car crash too, veering from one marriage to another, leaving a trail of children in his wake.
It's a sad tale, particularly as he pulls few punches, and there is little in terms of light relief in here.
His attitudes to women and drugs are appalling, and there are few moments in the book that I could relate in any way to.
Another comic who has a background of tragedy and finds humour as an escape route.
I was disappointed that the sole focus was women and drugs: I'd have liked more revelations about his film making and his interactions with his peers. He does touch on this very briefly, but not in any real depth.
This book chronicles his turbulent (perhaps an understatement) upbringing and his constant battles with substance addiction.
His personal relationships are a car crash too, veering from one marriage to another, leaving a trail of children in his wake.
It's a sad tale, particularly as he pulls few punches, and there is little in terms of light relief in here.
His attitudes to women and drugs are appalling, and there are few moments in the book that I could relate in any way to.
Another comic who has a background of tragedy and finds humour as an escape route.
I was disappointed that the sole focus was women and drugs: I'd have liked more revelations about his film making and his interactions with his peers. He does touch on this very briefly, but not in any real depth.
January 4, 2013
It's an interesting book if you're interested in Pryor, but if you're interested in learning something about the stand-up comic, this book is going to be disappointing to you. He talks a little bit about his development as a comic. How he first imitated Cosby and then came into his own. Beyond that, though, nothing.
No advice about what he learned about being on stage.
Nothing about how develops bits.
No real peeks behind the curtain.
Also - he's a terrible, terrible person. He deals with this straight on but somehow he seems to think that if he's honest about all the lying and cheating and evasion of his responsibility's to the country and to those closest to him, that that excuses him.
Yeah - lousy human being. Great comic. Terrible, terrible person.
But at least he doesn't try to cover it up.
No advice about what he learned about being on stage.
Nothing about how develops bits.
No real peeks behind the curtain.
Also - he's a terrible, terrible person. He deals with this straight on but somehow he seems to think that if he's honest about all the lying and cheating and evasion of his responsibility's to the country and to those closest to him, that that excuses him.
Yeah - lousy human being. Great comic. Terrible, terrible person.
But at least he doesn't try to cover it up.
March 31, 2022
This book was better than Jo Jo Dancer. He’s open and outspoken about the issues in his life from childhood to adulthood. He shares his life through laughter, sincerity, and an open heart.
Your childhood molds the adult you’ll be later on in life. Shown not one bit of love as a child but readily accepted as a star by his family as an adult. His environment lead him through the path of self destruction. He willingly admits what was wrong or missing in his life. I won’t spoil it for you but a lot of things he did in his career, he didn’t enjoy doing .
One thing I can say is that he learned these things the hard way but still able to smile until he died.
Your childhood molds the adult you’ll be later on in life. Shown not one bit of love as a child but readily accepted as a star by his family as an adult. His environment lead him through the path of self destruction. He willingly admits what was wrong or missing in his life. I won’t spoil it for you but a lot of things he did in his career, he didn’t enjoy doing .
One thing I can say is that he learned these things the hard way but still able to smile until he died.
April 24, 2019
Funny but sad memoir from the legendary comedian, detailing his successes and failures in H0llywood, in standup, and in his tragic personal life. He ties in a lot of his famous comedy routines to the various stories, and they still sound as fresh and relevant as they always have. I would've liked to hear more about his film work, his thoughts on the movies he made and his costars, but he glosses over a lot of this. Still, not many complaints here. A great memoir and a great voice.
May 26, 2019
This was a very honest and provocative book. It amazes me how one's circumstances however dire, can be used to propel one to stardom. Yet, at the same time, be(come) still, what holds one back.
I love the passage where Pryor honestly assesses that a woman breaking his heart, cuts deeply than he cares to admit. Yet, I come away from that in that the deep pain cuts both ways.
I love Pryor's comedy, but all comedy comes from the roots and experiences from one's life. I really loved this book!
I love the passage where Pryor honestly assesses that a woman breaking his heart, cuts deeply than he cares to admit. Yet, I come away from that in that the deep pain cuts both ways.
I love Pryor's comedy, but all comedy comes from the roots and experiences from one's life. I really loved this book!
April 15, 2018
Pretty good read, Jack, pretty good read.
December 30, 2020
Pryor never had the answers to life; if he did then who knows what he would've become. He may never have gotten out of Peoria if he didn't misunderstand or neglect his own problems. Because of this, his memoir doesn't answer questions, but raise them. Why is there such a pronounced link between pain and comedy? Why do the most injured of us go on to seek so much attention? How do we deal with positivity when all we've known is the negative? The human condition contains much paradox, is it better to confront it or let it slide? Maybe there aren't answers, and we should focus more on how to create happiness and positivity out of confusion and pain. Richard Pryor probably wasn't the best of men.. but he was honest. In confronting his demons he encouraged his successors to better understand their own. For a man who's seen and experienced more pain than any one human should, he had a beautiful if not troubled soul. All the things he'd experienced added into who he was as a person and as a standup and while he'd be the first to tell you the result wasn't pretty - it was a reflection of reality.
The memoir also shed a harsh light on addiction and, sitting in my armchair, I could imagine the reason for such heavy usage. Vices can replace that which we feel we are missing. Sex, alcohol, drugs - to excess, take away any need for individual thought or reflection. While they won't replace love lost or failure endured - they numb the pain and serve as companion to an ailing soul. We too often see addicts, whatever their vice, as other - for good reason - to separate us from the looming disaster that we can all easily slip into. However, as Pryor would say, we're all just people. Black, white, purple - we're all people. Couldn't we just as easily be in the addict's position? Maybe we already are.
The memoir also shed a harsh light on addiction and, sitting in my armchair, I could imagine the reason for such heavy usage. Vices can replace that which we feel we are missing. Sex, alcohol, drugs - to excess, take away any need for individual thought or reflection. While they won't replace love lost or failure endured - they numb the pain and serve as companion to an ailing soul. We too often see addicts, whatever their vice, as other - for good reason - to separate us from the looming disaster that we can all easily slip into. However, as Pryor would say, we're all just people. Black, white, purple - we're all people. Couldn't we just as easily be in the addict's position? Maybe we already are.
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