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About the author
Lenny Bruce
43 books88 followersLenny Bruce, born Leonard Alfred Schneider, was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, and satirist. He was renowned for his open, free-wheeling, and critical style of comedy which contained satire, politics, religion, sex, and vulgarity. His 1964 conviction in an obscenity trial was followed by a posthumous pardon in 2003.
Bruce paved the way for counterculture-era comedians. His trial for obscenity was a landmark of freedom of speech in the United States. In 2017, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him third (behind Richard Pryor and George Carlin) on its list of the 50 best stand-up comics of all time.
was a controversial American stand-up comedian, writer, social critic and satirist of the 1950s and 1960s. His 1964 conviction in an obscenity trial was also controversial, eventually leading to the first posthumous pardon in New York history.
Bruce paved the way for counterculture-era comedians. His trial for obscenity was a landmark of freedom of speech in the United States. In 2017, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him third (behind Richard Pryor and George Carlin) on its list of the 50 best stand-up comics of all time.
was a controversial American stand-up comedian, writer, social critic and satirist of the 1950s and 1960s. His 1964 conviction in an obscenity trial was also controversial, eventually leading to the first posthumous pardon in New York history.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 13, 2012
This is a two-part book, so a it gets a two-part review.
Part 1, the CD's: The reason most people would want this is for the 6 (!) CD's, each over an hour long, of Lenny Bruce. This means we get some bits from his 4 records, some bits from his live performances, some bits that he recorded to test microphones, some bits that he recorded while wiring himself to capture proof that he was being harassed ... Because of the various states of recording, the sound quality is very mixed. That means some of the tracks are perfectly adjusted and it is easy to hear what is being said whereas others have the mumbling set too low, the screaming too loud and everything else so distorted that making out the words takes all your concentration. That's unfortunate since so much of what he says is only interesting (and let's face it, Lenny Bruce is only sometimes funny. I love the man, but his jokes have not aged very well) if you can distinguish what he says, let alone understand the Yiddish and Jazz lingo spread throughout his monologues.
Truth be told, about 30% of the material recorded is actually essential. What listening to over 7 hours of Lenny Bruce does convey is how paranoid he was getting as he got older, and also his growth as a performer (not a comedian, even he makes the distinction). These discs should NOT be anyone's entry point to Bruce. But, a sampling from these discs would be fine. Maybe even The Essential Lenny Bruce is a better introduction. First, sound quality is taken care of (it's a book!) and second, you get almost all the important bits organized by topic. Really nice.
For the historian, though, there are lots of tracks that are on these CD's that illuminate Lenny Bruce's life.
Part 2, the book: Essays all praising Lenny Bruce (to write critically of the man now is heresy, I think ... which just seems wrong). A glossary of terms. This is, in essence, a "box set", not a book. Still, there is enough information weaved between praises that you get a chance to glimpse the man. It's good to have the Timeline too.
Overall, only essential to those who love Bruce already. If you know him, get this set. If you don't, research him and then get this set. This is history now. This is why seeing South Park censored today is scary. This is why books like Rationale of the Dirty Joke have to be written and read.
But all of this is only important if you care about Free Speech, obscenity and corruption of law.
Part 1, the CD's: The reason most people would want this is for the 6 (!) CD's, each over an hour long, of Lenny Bruce. This means we get some bits from his 4 records, some bits from his live performances, some bits that he recorded to test microphones, some bits that he recorded while wiring himself to capture proof that he was being harassed ... Because of the various states of recording, the sound quality is very mixed. That means some of the tracks are perfectly adjusted and it is easy to hear what is being said whereas others have the mumbling set too low, the screaming too loud and everything else so distorted that making out the words takes all your concentration. That's unfortunate since so much of what he says is only interesting (and let's face it, Lenny Bruce is only sometimes funny. I love the man, but his jokes have not aged very well) if you can distinguish what he says, let alone understand the Yiddish and Jazz lingo spread throughout his monologues.
Truth be told, about 30% of the material recorded is actually essential. What listening to over 7 hours of Lenny Bruce does convey is how paranoid he was getting as he got older, and also his growth as a performer (not a comedian, even he makes the distinction). These discs should NOT be anyone's entry point to Bruce. But, a sampling from these discs would be fine. Maybe even The Essential Lenny Bruce is a better introduction. First, sound quality is taken care of (it's a book!) and second, you get almost all the important bits organized by topic. Really nice.
For the historian, though, there are lots of tracks that are on these CD's that illuminate Lenny Bruce's life.
Part 2, the book: Essays all praising Lenny Bruce (to write critically of the man now is heresy, I think ... which just seems wrong). A glossary of terms. This is, in essence, a "box set", not a book. Still, there is enough information weaved between praises that you get a chance to glimpse the man. It's good to have the Timeline too.
Overall, only essential to those who love Bruce already. If you know him, get this set. If you don't, research him and then get this set. This is history now. This is why seeing South Park censored today is scary. This is why books like Rationale of the Dirty Joke have to be written and read.
But all of this is only important if you care about Free Speech, obscenity and corruption of law.
February 2, 2019
Lenny Bruce was a satirist/commedian from the early 60s. He was ahead of his time, with jokes about sex, religion, politics--in fact he tended not to tell jokes, but comment on things.
This "book" was good--was only 100 pages long, with tributes to Lenny Bruce, some transcriptions of his acts. It also came with 6 CDs--good to listen to on drives to and from DC. No deep looks into Bruce, the person.
Lenny was a tragic figure--died when he was around 40 from a heroin overdose. When we were in Australia, we saw a play about his "tour" of Australia--basically he never got to appear anyplace because of censorship.
This doesn't fill my craving to find out more about Lenny Bruce.
This "book" was good--was only 100 pages long, with tributes to Lenny Bruce, some transcriptions of his acts. It also came with 6 CDs--good to listen to on drives to and from DC. No deep looks into Bruce, the person.
Lenny was a tragic figure--died when he was around 40 from a heroin overdose. When we were in Australia, we saw a play about his "tour" of Australia--basically he never got to appear anyplace because of censorship.
This doesn't fill my craving to find out more about Lenny Bruce.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews