American Scream: The Bill Hicks Story (Paperback)

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Review
Worshipful biography of an acute social satirist who succumbed to cancer at the age of 32. William Melvin Hicks was a middle-class Southern Baptist white guy who got into stand-up fresh out of high school. He worked the brick-wall comedy clubs by night, perfecting his persona as a riffing and ranting comic with an attitude. By day, astrology engaged him; he subsisted for a while on a bean-and-rice diet and a mantra. He did his homework and paid his dues. Once a teetotaler, he soon needed the help of AA. The formerly clean kid, learning the metaphysics of wit and studying the karma of comedy, indulged in drinking, smoking, tripping, sex, and other such debauchery. Moral outrage informed his rants, and conventional notions of good taste were inapplicable. The laughs were disrespectful, the jokes lascivious, and the language raunchy. It was funny as hell, according to biographer True, a journalist and former comedy editor at Time Out New York. Hicks gained the attention of others in the biz and a following in Britain. John Lahr wrote a New Yorker profile. Work was available, and the young performer had several gigs on Letterman until his material proved more than TV could take. All the rock 'n' roll ended with the tortured comic's demise in 1994, in the time-honored tradition of Lenny Bruce and Andy Kaufman before him. True neatly describes, in this peculiarly American tale, the inbred atmosphere of the counter-culture comedy world: the travels and the pitches, the clubs and the competitors, the adoring fans and the interfering suits. She offers samples from the sets too, but of course you had to be there for the honest laughs. Rest in peace, Bill Hicks. Clearly, you deserve it. (30 b&w photos) (Kirkus Reviews)

Product Description
On the eighth anniversary of his death, the first ever biography of the cult anti-hero comedian, Bill Hicks. His popularity - buoyant when alive, with sold-out gigs (inc. 2,000+ at London's Dominion), a famously-axed spot on the Dave Letterman show, and top-selling videos and CDs - has mushroomed in Kurt Cobain-like proportions since. Born to Baptist parents in Little Rock, Hicks cited his formative influences as being down to his prized typewriter on which he'd compose his own scripts, a small b/w tv (or 'Lucifer's Dream Box'), a poster of Woody Allen and a fixation with The Tonight Show. The result was a radical philosopher masquerading as a stand-up comic, plumbing the American psyche with challenging (and side-splitting) conclusions. His brand of American self-analysis struck a particular chord in post-Thatcher Britain, with several national tours, and a widely-seen C4 commentary on the Gulf War. The Letterman show shot Hicks to national prominence in America - not only from his regular slots, but his spectacular sacking following an un-aired tirade of pro-life and Pope digs. Hicks's response was typical: 'Why are people so afraid of jokes?'

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23 Reviews 5 star:  (8) 4 star:  (3) 3 star:  (8) 2 star:  (3) 1 star:  (1)           Average Customer Review 3.6 out of 5 stars (23 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   8 of 8 people found the following review helpful: 2.0 out of 5 stars Great comic; interesting life; poor book, 14 Feb 2005 By  J. E. Davidson (UK) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    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 his all too brief life interspersed with copious extracts from his stage material. It totally fails to capture the spirit of the man. If this is your only exposure to Bill Hicks then you will never understand why he was so fantastic - go straight to the source - don't bother with this book, buy a Bill Hicks DVD (e.g. Totally Bill Hicks which includes a documentary and a performance) or CD. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   11 of 12 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars "Let the party begin...", 15 Feb 2002 By A Customer This review is from: American Scream: The Bill Hicks Story (Paperback) Well finally! Roll out the bunting and put on the party hats Goat Boy fans because after one incredibly long wait something new about the genius that was/is Bill Hicks is now available for us, the extended family of Hicks fanatics, to go out and buy! Really, this book has been such a frustrating and looooooong time coming considering Bill's ever increasing (and fully justified) cult status. It's really quite surprising that no one has put pen to paper before now; but a big pat on the back to True for making the effort and doing a pretty good job. This is actually a pretty straight forward, but extremely interesting biography, and it manages to detail Bill's life as well as it can without any imput from the man himself (obviously). True relys on the stories and accounts from Bill's friends and colleagues, and the anecdotes are delievered with just the kind of affection and admiration you would expect. For those of us who only really caught onto Bill after his death the details about his early years, and how he broke into stand-up will be particularly interesting. Is the definitive account of Bill? I hope not, there is a lot more out there and hopefully one day it will be available to us all, but this is a essential contribution to the, unfortunately, pretty small canon of work. Comment Comment (1) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   5 of 5 people found the following review helpful: 3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed bag, 25 Sep 2003 By A Customer This book is strange, it could have been written 8 years ago, the text relies heavily on the same tapes all Bill Hicks fans have of his live shows and does not touch on 'life after Bill Hicks'. There is nothing on how he became more famous (argueably) following his passing, nothing on who he left behind and how they felt and very little on his influence. The book is well written, very journalistic, and it does give some insights into his upbringing and how he lived and worked. A little too pro-Hicks, but still a relatively enjoyable read. However, its expensive, so I'd buy a tape or a video of the man himself, you'll get much much more out of it. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 23 customer reviews...		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 4.0 out of 5 stars 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 16 months ago by KottonMouth King 5.0 out of 5 stars 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... Read more Published on 2 Jun 2006 by Spider Monkey 5.0 out of 5 stars 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 5.0 out of 5 stars 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 19 Jan 2005 3.0 out of 5 stars 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 M. Fisher 4.0 out of 5 stars 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 2.0 out of 5 stars This book isn't terrible, but it is so very, very dull Bill Hicks put his life into his stand up - but sadly as you read this book you get the feeling that his biographer put a few wet weekends into her research. Read more Published on 19 Jul 2004 4.0 out of 5 stars Good Introduction to Bill's Life The book is a good as a general introduction to Bill's life and the development of his career, though it IS perhaps lacking in its grasp of the issues that Bill raised and was... Read more Published on 4 Feb 2004 by midnight-dreamer 3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed emotions... 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... Read more Published on 11 Nov 2003 by Giordano Bruno 3.0 out of 5 stars Ho Hum 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... Read more Published on 23 Oct 2002 by benjmorgan Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 23 customer reviews...

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