American Scream: The Bill Hicks Story
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"True neatly describes, in this peculiarly American tale, the inbred atmosphere of the counter-culture comedy world." -- Kirkus Reviews
Product Description
The first and best biography of the cult anti-hero comedian, Bill Hicks.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The author ..has made a stab here at profiling a comic genius who frankly deserved better. The choice of Janine Garofalo to write a foreward is quite bizarre, given that she didn't know Hicks and devotes a scant one and a half pages to tell us that he was a big influence on her - I don't see it myself. So, what True delivers is a life told through the eyes of a series of friends and managers - those who chose to cooperate with an unauthorised biography - there are no surprises here, no great insights and one is left with the nagging sensation that things have been left out. Some of the narratives presented by 'friends' do not ring entirely true; the impression that they have embellished or edited events in their own favour is hard to shake. The style is dry, the vocabulary oddly limited and the volume itself inexplicably slim when one considers how much living Hicks packed into his short life. That said, I salute any attempt to shed some light on the man's background and experiences and no doubt, if you're a fan of his work, you'll buy this book anyway just as I did. I can only hope that this doesn't become the definitive work on Bill Hicks' life and talent and that a better biographer comes along eventually to put some colour and motion into True's black and white still.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I've actually just finished reading 'American Scream' and im still unsure of what i felt about it. In one way it was great to read about the stuff you didnt know about Hicks, the personal stuff and his friends, yet you feel as if the person is writing a journalistic piece on one of the greatest people to have ever lived and clearly didnt know Hicks herself. Every antidote she included from his live shows you will have heard if you have his albums, or have seen the video's. Alot of the commments from Mr and Mrs Hicks, aswell as his friends can be seen on the 'Totally Bill Hicks' video, which seems to show she hasnt went that in-depth on her subject, much to the dismay of all his fans around the world. I guess if you really like Bill Hicks, you should buy it no matter what just to read about his depression and other issues which you really wouldnt imagine from just listening to him.
So i advise you to read it, but dont expect much from it. I would rather have had the writer to be Hicks himself (sadly impossible) or even someone close to him, or with similar feelings about the downfall of the world. This woman seems to have no geographical knowledge of the world outside America, often referring to Glasgow and Edinburgh as being in England. Her ignorance for these facts im sure Hicks would have been very annoyed with if he were alive today. But then again, if Hicks were alive today, he would probably be ruling the world and we wouldnt need some anonymous writer writing about him, the world would KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT HIM.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Excuse me while I refrain from singing Ms. True's praises for this book. "American Scream" is a biography of one of the most interesting entertainers of the 80s and 90s, whom died a relatively unknown, only to have his star explode upon his death. Bill Hicks' ideas obviously struck a chord with True (as it did with so many others) and compelled her to write a book about him, some 8 years after his death having never met the man in person.
To me, the book is a disappointment because it relies on the word of casual friends and "co-workers" and (seemingly) bootlegged recordings transcribed in part to form a narrative journey through Hick's life. There is not a great deal of information contained within this book that the average fan doesnt already know via the wealth of articles available online or from John Lahr's profile prior to Bill's death.
The book is undoubtably a fanboy(girl)'s unashamed gushing about someone she admires. Theres nothing really wrong with that but it still feels a tad empty for me as a Hicks' fan that finally something related to Hicks is released and its less than satisfactory way to celebrate the life of one of the greatest entertainers of the past 50 years (who sounds like the fanboy now?). While you do get a somewhat limited insight into certain aspects of Bill's persona that you wouldnt normally get, at the end of the day only the die hard fans will rush out and buy it and... they'd know most of the story anyway.
I, for one, hope Kevin Booth will eventually come through with THE definitive epitath to the life of Bill Hicks - And Im sure he will. Someday.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Stay True
A brilliant look into the life of the greatest comedian of all time. Gets two thumbs up and more if I had them.
Published 6 months ago by Triddith
Like the B-side of 'American: The Bill Hicks Story'
The story of Bill Hicks, like his idols JFK & Martin Luther King, is familiar to most people who've heard of him - a brilliant talent, on the verge of success, cut tragically short... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Magic Lemur
good
Also check out Understanding Power by Noam Chomsky and The Sane Society by Erich Fromm to understand where Hicks got alot of his political/societal opinion from and hope for a... Read more
Published on 15 Mar 2010 by Swampy
Bill Hicks is a Genius! This book is just dull!
Being a huge Bill Hicks fan and thinking he is the best stand up comedian ive ever come across, i thought that buying a biographic book about him, could tell me the other side of... Read more
Published on 25 Feb 2008 by KottonMouth King
An Insightful Read
Having loved Bill Hicks for some time I decided to read this book and was not disappointed. There is a depth to Bill's life that you see from the topics of his comedy but that gets... Read more
Published on 1 Jun 2006 by Spider Monkey
Meet my wife and sister...
If you were lucky enough to see Bill Hicks on one of the few occassions he visited Britain, or if like me, you discovered his comedy on CD after he died, this book will illustrate... Read more
Published on 23 Feb 2005 by "daveswansea"
Great comic; interesting life; poor book
I am a big fan of Bill Hicks and I was interested to learn more about him. This book did not help. This is a rather dull biography providing a largely chronological account of... Read more
Published on 14 Feb 2005 by John E. Davidson
The Man, The Legend, The Truth.
This is an insight into the world of the master of comedy that'll set your head free from the mind numbing anti-comedic efforts from todays so-called kings of comedy. Read more
Published on 18 Jan 2005
Great man, wild life, dull biography...
I remember the first time I saw Bill Hicks on Channel 4 (late 80's, Jools Holland's Happening, I think...). One of the funniest comedians I had ever seen. Read more
Published on 14 Dec 2004 by Matt Fisher
Great For Making You Understand Were He's Been.
By the end this book made me feel like i knew almost evey footstep Bill took. As a devoted fan of his stand-up and understanding of projections. Read more
Published on 30 Nov 2004 by Terrez J. Price
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