Adam Sandler: An Unauthorized Biography

by Dave Stern

Celebrates the life and work of the actor and comedian, from his childhood years in Brooklyn to his success on "Saturday Night Live".

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 2000

About the author

Dave Stern has written/edited/collaborated on multiple previous works of fiction/non-fiction, including the New York Times-bestselling biography Crosley, the epistolary novel Shadows In The Asylum, and an unauthorized Adam Sandler biography composed with the help of the good people in the Smith College Library. His most recent work is Codename: Blackjack, the second thriller in the Sagas of the Cincinnati series.

His author photo is woefully out of date.

Reviews

[Jamie Dacyczyn]

2016 Reading Challenge: A biography about someone you don't like.

Well, this was a hard category to choose for. Do I pick a biography of someone I REALLY don't like such as Donald Trump, Ann Coulter, Glenn Beck...and risk throwing myself out a window? Or just pick one about a singer/actor/comedian whose style I dislike, but don't necessarily loathe as a person? Yeah, the latter option seemed safer.

Alas....it turns out that if someone's movies annoy you, then you probably won't be able to stomach a biography that gushes about how this person is utterly brilliant and one of the brightest stars of their time. Blech. I made it through 22 pages of this before I quit. Close enough.

[Katy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was given to me as a Christmas gift, and I read it because I LOVE Adam Sandler. But unauthorized biographies sort of feel weird, and this one especially feels almost like a high school research paper with all of its citations of interviews and long-winded parentheticals. Long stretches of the book needlessly covered the plots of Adam Sandler movies (anyone reading this has probably seen them multiple times), and given Adam's private nature, contains little original insight or background. I'd be maybe interested to read a similar story now, as his career and life have changed so much over the years, but realistically I'd rather just watch his latest stand-up on Netflix.

[Stephen Paul Chase, Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best said about Adam Sandler!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Stephen Chase · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best biography about Adam Sandler, who invented Opera Man, and Cajun Man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Alison Lindholm · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Adam Sandler, but this book was not worth the time. I'm by no means an expert on Sandler and his movies, though I've seen them all many times, and I noticed several factual errors throughout this book (listed below). Most are small and of little effect, but the number that I noticed while casually reading the book was ridiculous and made me question whether any fact-checking was done. I'm curious about the author's motivation for writing this book due to the number of basic, incorrect movie facts. The number of mistakes made me feel that I would be more qualified to write a book of this nature.

1) Stern claims that the lunchlady in Billy Madison quotes the song "Lunchlady Land". She speaks of sloppy joes, but there are no direct quotes. (p 100)
2) Billy Madison's third grade teacher is incorrectly listed as Vicki Vaughan. Her name is Veronica Vaughn. (p 101)
3) This book claims that Happy Gilmore is given six months to pay his grandma's debt, but he is actually given 90 days. (This book also contains a terrible synopsis of the movie.) (p 122)
4) The final game in The Waterboy is incorrectly called Whiskey Bowl. It is actually the Bourbon Bowl. (p 166)
5) Henry Winkler's Happy Days character is incorrectly called "Henry Fonzarelli". His character was named Arthur Fonzarelli. (p 168)
6) The two songs sung by Sandler on The Wedding Singer soundtracks are incorrectly listed as "Have You Written Anything Lately?" and "Somebody Kill Me", leaving out "Grow Old With You" at the climax of the movie. "Have You Written Anything Lately?" is a short snippet of dialogue from the movie of Robbie and Julia speaking before Robbie plays "Somebody Kill Me". (p 174)
7) This book incorrectly states that there are three volumes of The Wedding Singer soundtrack, but there are only two. (p 174)
8) This book claims Jimmy Fallon did an impression of Adam Sandler in an SNL Jeopardy parody on October 30, 1998 and was referred to only as "Sandler". This sketch can be seen here. Fallon's character is called "Adam Sandler" and his name plaque says "Adam". This sketch also aired October 24, 1998. (p 192)
9) Throughout the book, Judd Apatow is referenced as being among the NYU alumni that Sandler continues to work with. Apatow did not attend NYU and didn't meet Sandler until after college in California.