Scan barcode
monkreads's review against another edition
challenging
funny
slow-paced
2.0
Gosh this gets repetitive! I don't know why they felt the need to transcribe so many sets verbatim, meaning some jokes were included way too many times.
tonyhightower's review
4.0
Bill Hicks needs a compendium of his words, writings and thoughts, similar to Kafka's "Parables and Paradoxes," or the collections of the great rock critics of the 1970's (specifically Lester Bangs, Richard Meltzer & Nick Tosches). This is not that collection. Sure, it has the texts of all his commercially available recordings, as well as numerous interview transcripts, noteboook entries and correspondence from various parts of his life, and his jarring insight and furious zeal for enlightenment cuts through almost as well as it does on stage. But there are more typos, continuity errors, excess repetition of various bits and thoughts, and unfinished concepts that leave off without explanation than I've seen in any book in a long time.
If someone was to hand this book to a real editor, someone who was a fan of Hicks' work, and have them clean it up, copyedit it, write an introductory paragraph or even a sentence or two to give some of the pieces a little context, and maybe rearrange them so the pieces flowed together a bit better, then this could become the only Bill Hicks volume you would ever need. Hell, I'll do it.
If you're familiar with his work and are looking for a reference volume, this will do the job, but hopefully they'll clean this up by the next printing. Hicks was too great, too influential, and too important a standup philosopher to deserve anything less.
If someone was to hand this book to a real editor, someone who was a fan of Hicks' work, and have them clean it up, copyedit it, write an introductory paragraph or even a sentence or two to give some of the pieces a little context, and maybe rearrange them so the pieces flowed together a bit better, then this could become the only Bill Hicks volume you would ever need. Hell, I'll do it.
If you're familiar with his work and are looking for a reference volume, this will do the job, but hopefully they'll clean this up by the next printing. Hicks was too great, too influential, and too important a standup philosopher to deserve anything less.
bookwomble's review
3.0
I loved Bill Hicks's stand-up routines when I saw them on TV (never got to see him live), so I was looking forward to reading this book. It was good initially, but as it provided a transcript of what seemed like every gig he ever did, it quickly got repetitive and stale.
So much of the power of Hicks's performance was in his delivery that the words on their own don't convey his message that well, even when you can picture him in your head. What's missing from this recitation of Hicks's routines is Bill Hicks and it suffers for it.
Unless you're studying comedy as an academic subject (I bet this book is one of the most well-thumbed volumes on [a:Stuart Lee|52882|Stuart Lee|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg]'s bookshelf!), Hicks is best remembered by his filmed performances. A sad loss to those who like their comedy with a sense of purpose and challenge.
So much of the power of Hicks's performance was in his delivery that the words on their own don't convey his message that well, even when you can picture him in your head. What's missing from this recitation of Hicks's routines is Bill Hicks and it suffers for it.
Unless you're studying comedy as an academic subject (I bet this book is one of the most well-thumbed volumes on [a:Stuart Lee|52882|Stuart Lee|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg]'s bookshelf!), Hicks is best remembered by his filmed performances. A sad loss to those who like their comedy with a sense of purpose and challenge.
pivic's review
5.0
What's there to say?
Bill Hicks is a fallen, dark poet. Maybe the dark poet, who didn't like labels on anything. And he certainly didn't like governments sticking their fingers in things, as well as christians, non-smokers, homophobes, rednecks... Endless list.
And he did love the search for truth and the debunking of lies, which - as he states in the book - was once Noam Chomsky's definition of what lays the base for being an intellectual. I think Bill hit the nail straight on its head when he described himself as "Noam Chomsky with dick jokes".
And he was. More than a rambler, always with an open heart - except for that bit in his life when he was a completely out-of-touch alcoholic drug-abuser - and a very open mind...but don't let me label him any more.
The man was a genius, and it's too bad he didn't live for longer.
This collection of routines, letters, lyrics, poems and short-stories is brilliant, should be edited once more and expanded, especially seeing how David Letterman has, during 2010, publicly apologised to Bill's mother.
I bought this for £3 and it's one of the most wisely spent sums of money I've ever shared with the world; I just wish I'd bought ten copies more and given it to friends.
Bill Hicks is a fallen, dark poet. Maybe the dark poet, who didn't like labels on anything. And he certainly didn't like governments sticking their fingers in things, as well as christians, non-smokers, homophobes, rednecks... Endless list.
And he did love the search for truth and the debunking of lies, which - as he states in the book - was once Noam Chomsky's definition of what lays the base for being an intellectual. I think Bill hit the nail straight on its head when he described himself as "Noam Chomsky with dick jokes".
And he was. More than a rambler, always with an open heart - except for that bit in his life when he was a completely out-of-touch alcoholic drug-abuser - and a very open mind...but don't let me label him any more.
The man was a genius, and it's too bad he didn't live for longer.
This collection of routines, letters, lyrics, poems and short-stories is brilliant, should be edited once more and expanded, especially seeing how David Letterman has, during 2010, publicly apologised to Bill's mother.
I bought this for £3 and it's one of the most wisely spent sums of money I've ever shared with the world; I just wish I'd bought ten copies more and given it to friends.
mormacmcmarthy's review
5.0
A very interesting book about one of my heroes (and for this reason I cannot be 100% objective). Go out and buy it. And watch some of his routines - check youtube or grab yourself a dvd of his. A genius.
will_sargent's review
4.0
There's only so much new content here that can be added: if you own all the CDs, then the book is half transcriptions of his routines. The other half is letters from Hicks, a lengthy and touching foreword, and interviews (which can be facepalming in their inanity).
But goddamn, the man was a prophet.
But goddamn, the man was a prophet.
More...