Confessions of a Late-night Talk-show Host: The Autobiography of Larry Sanders

by Garry Shandling

Told in Garry Shandling's inimitable style which weaves together fact and fiction so that it makes it impossible to determine the difference between Sanders and Shandling. This is a close-up inspection of what makes Larry Sanders his loves, his addictions, his friends and his enemies.

Genres: Fiction, Comedy, Humor, Tv

240 pages, Paperback

First published November 2, 1998

Reviews

[Gil Basque · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a waste of paper - and I don't mean that about the writing content! Large print, big margins, the huge microphone image printed at the start of every section, whole backs of pages left empty.. They really stretched an essay-length collection of musings out to make it look like a book.

The writing itself was fine. It has some memories, some laughs - but I had hoped for more variety than primarily the same I slept with her, I didn't sleep with her, I slept with her but don't ask her she'll say no joke over and over.

[Ryan Werner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a pretty silly book with giant, almost large-print size text. Still, I laughed at something on every single page. There is an authentic Larry presented on these pages, and while an argument could be made that the book suffers from not having the show's intermittent flashes to the POV of the wonderful supporting cast, the narrative here is as wrought with insecurity, ego, and humor as I'd hoped. A wonderful nightcap to the end of the show. You may now flip.

[Mark Ramsden · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a Larry Sanders fanatic a little underwhelmed by this which will trigger some rueful smiles but then it would hardly have been realistic for Larry to have laboured long and hard to give us a comedic masterpiece. Perhaps a thousand page biog of Artie wold have been better, maybe giving us the inside story of Rip Torn's filmed fight with Notman Mailer, a YouTube classic.

[Edmole · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short, knocked off, intermittently hilarious mock biog of a mock man mocking biogs. I have given it five stars, because this book commemorates The Larry Sanders Show, and as such is little short of a religious artifact. You can't give an artifact anything other than five stars, really. "This shroud has an imprint of the face of our Lord!" "Oh yeah... ah, it's not all that."

Love you Garry.

[Richard Luck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good rather than great. Now a Larry Sanders oral history - stop that! - well, then we'd really be talking.

[Suzanne Fournier · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this because it was the only book I found in connection with Garry Shandling, and my library copy is mis-shelved as non-fiction.

I understand it could be funny to fans of the Larry Sanders show but I am amazed this was published. It's mostly not very funny sex jokes about celebrities. The only reason I kept reading is that I kept imagining it was the opposite of Garry Shandling.

Do not recommend.

[Shelby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exactly what it says on the tin. There's enough Garry in the meta humor to make it a worthy afternoon read.

[David Parke]

I got a few chuckles. I don’t keep up with the Late Show but this feels like a good stocking stuffer for people that do.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really quick read. It was pretty funny, although I don't remember the Larry Sanders character being so totally clueless. He was self-absorbed, insecure and paranoid, but more human than the guy who supposedly wrote the book. Still, I got a few laughs out of it.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're a fan of the show, you'll probably be a fan of the book too.

[Jdetrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very slight book, but well written and funny.

[Jeff Dalton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Big fan of the show so I decided to give it a read. A little thin on content, but several laugh out load moments.

[Kevinjwoods · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny but loses stars due to the Photo section consisting mainly of the person who photo is about being placed in the fold.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining, if fluffy. Doesn't have the same concentrated bite as the show did.