Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Review of The Trials of Lenny Bruce: Unnecessary Use of Colons, 7 Aug 2006
A book that, I am guessing, didn't sell too well on it's release in the UK. What gives me that idea? Perhaps that I found it for £1.97 in Music Zone. There were stacks of them. And the book comes with a free CD containing some of Bruce's most famous (and controversial) "bits".
You could read that one of two ways. 1. The book is bad (like a book on Guns N' Roses I also found in MZ once: The Band That Time Forgot), 2. No one in the UK knows who Lenny Bruce is, therefore: overwhelming lack of interest.
In this case, I am opting for option 2 as this book is actually pretty good. It's an in-depth and fairly exhaustive account of the trials themselves, but doesn't skimp on anecdotes and the smaller details of Lenny's life. It also has it's points to make and conclusions to draw on the all-important First Amendment to the US Constitution (free speech).
So in all, it's informative, exhaustively researched, well written and structured... and good value (if you can still get it in Music Zone!) The only drawback (for some) probably is it's depth and detail in it's discussions of the American legal system, and it's use of legal terms. No drawback really, but it does mean that you have to be prepared to concentrate.
The CD is nothing special, however, having attempted to listen to this before reading the book and not found Lenny's "bits" all that amusing, I find this to be another strength of the book in that the reader does not have to be a fan on Bruce to get anything out of the book. I had heard of Bruce, and read the book to find out more about him and his comedy. After having read this book, I believe that mission has been accomplished.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Courtroom of the Absurd, 17 Mar 2007
At first, I approached this book with a bit of caution. The authors are both lawyers, and I feared it might be heavy going and full of legalese - and American legalese at that! However, I was pleasantly surprised as it is well written and straightforward, in fact I found it an easier read than Albert Goldman's biography `Ladies and Gentlemen - Lenny Bruce!!'.
Although it touches on Bruce's drug busts, it is mainly concerned with his arrests and trials for obscenity in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. The authors go into these cases in some detail, particularly the New York trial. Bruce became increasingly obsessed with the law and the letter of the law, firing defence lawyers who did not want to do things his way, and sometimes attempting to carry out his own defence, although this was seldom to his advantage. It looks like the cards were often stacked against him anyway. The powers that be seemed determined to silence him, and virtually succeeded, as he could find almost no work towards the end of his life, with most nightclub owners afraid to book him in case he got busted and they were closed down in the process.
The authors also highlight some obscenity cases that preceded Bruce, and the influence or otherwise that they had on his trials. A point of interest in this book is its analysis of how Bruce was transformed after his death from being seen as a bad-boy `sick' comedian into a free-speech hero/martyr, becoming the subject of films, books, plays and documentaries. Also fascinating is the story of how Richard Kuh's relentless handling of the New York prosecution came back to haunt him ten years later when he was standing for election as district attorney of Manhattan. The CD that accompanies the book adds an extra dimension to the text, providing parts of Bruce's routines and commentary from various parties involved. This is a book I would recommend to anyone interested in Lenny Bruce, or freedom of speech issues generally. As George Carlin is quoted on the dust jacket, "I thought I knew his story pretty well, but I learned a great deal from this book."
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by Lenny Bruce
![Lenny Bruce - Ladies And Gentlemen [DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41NE4R2BMPL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
DVD ~ Lenny Bruce
~ Lenny Bruce
![Lenny [DVD] [1974]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51AHN8P60ZL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
DVD ~ Dustin Hoffman
