Monday, December 31, 2007

Thirteen down, thirty-nine to go.

Thirteen down, thirty-nine to go.

Born Standing Up
by Steve Martin


Well, I snuck one last book in under the wire, pretty much reading the entire thing this morning. I'm hoping to do a little better next year as far as reaching my goal, especially since I really don't have any resolutions for the next year. I'm pretty pleased where my life is right now, so don't feel the need to make any sort of self-imposed goals for self-improvement, but more on that tomorrow. Right now let's discuss Steve Martin's memoir on the stand-up comedy phase of his career.

If you're a fan of Martin, read the book. If you're now, don't. That's all I can really say. I've always enjoyed Martin's writing style, even way back in the Cruel Shoes days, so this mini-biography has that going for it. And it has Martin's dry wit all throughout. But, for the most part, it's a fans-only type of read. I dunno, ask Photogal what she thought of it. She's a fan of his writing but I'm pretty sure she's completely unfamiliar with his stand-up, so maybe she has a different take than me, and can dispute my theory.

So, capsule review: I enjoyed it but ain't sure if i should recommend it to anyone who has never seen Steve Martin with an arrow through his head. I would recommend it to anyone looking for an impeccably clean writing style, and some razor sharp humor based in some borderline tragic situations.

But isn't that sort of the definition of comedy, to some?

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