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| Author: Richard Lewis
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $4.96
You Save: $9.99 (67%)
New (32) Used (22) from $3.71
Avg. Customer Rating:  23 reviews
Sales Rank: 283012
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st Public Affairs Pbk. Ed
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.6 x 0.9
ISBN: 1586486047
Dewey Decimal Number: 790
EAN: 9781586486044
ASIN: 1586486047
Publication Date: March 24, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Aptly Titled Book April 6, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I really like Richard Lewis. He is a very funny man. But the title of this book is so apt. Reading it was...kind of...depressing. But the book I'm sure has much in it that would be very helpful to those caught up in addiction. What makes it worthwhile to the rest of us is the painful glimpse it gives you into the mind and psyche of someone dealing with Depression. And the descriptions Richard gives you of his relationships with his mother and father are heartbreaking. But the description of the redemptive scene between him and his dying mother in the nursing home is worth wading through some of the other weightier areas of the book to get to. This book is very painfully honest. It would have been easier for him to gloss over some of the rough stuff and would probably have certainly made him look better, but to battle addiction I think brutal honesty is probably called for and Richard certainly comes through in this regard.
 Must read for Richard Lewis fans February 25, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A must read for Richard Lewis fans, fans of comedy, or anyone interested in addiction. He is an amazing man.
 depressing May 24, 2004
0 out of 6 found this review helpful
I love Richard Lewis, but this book was actually ... depressing. I had to stop reading and just skim the rest. It was repetitious. I never really understood what pain of his childhood he was trying to escape by drinking. I think some editor should have fixed the tone to make it either funnier or more-serious-and-readable. It was too shticky to be meaningful, but too serious to be funny.
Painful, shocking......a soul stripped bare. May 6, 2004
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
I would personally like to hit Mr. Lewis on the head for his three year romance with one of the greatest fantasy figures of the seventies, Baronss Nina van Pallandt. If you were a teenage or adult male at that time, you were reduced to jelly by her picture. You knew she was not for mere mortals but for billionaire mega studs in Cannes, or on the Riviera.
So who gets her? A shleppy Jewish standup comic from NY, whose father was, and this is so perfect, and so very Jewish, a caterer.
As a barmitzvah bandleader, I have spent many years fighting, working with, and plotting the forceful overthrow of many Jewish caterers. Not one of whose children ever dated anyone faintly resembling Nina van Pallandt.
Let me say this. Being a standup comedien is one of the most difficult jobs there is. Mr. Lewis succeeded admirably, and yet his personal demons, or many would say his progammed genes, and the chemical constuct of his body resulted in a breakdown fueled by drugs and alchohol. The scenario is familiar and Mr. Lewis tells it well. My vocabulary contains many of the profanities used by Mr. Lewis, but I think it was a wrong decision to use them this liberally. Mr. Lewis describes his father as the Lee J. Cobb waterfront union leader in "On the Waterfront". You know how the longshoremen speak. The only profanity in the movie was when Brando said to Karl Malden, the priest, "You go to hell". That's it. Not bad for one of the greatest movies ever made.
My life has paralleld Mr. Lewis. It's a war with no armistace, and he seems to be doing well, and I wish him well. Those who like the book may want to see "Drunks", a pretty good movie starring Mr. Lewis, and the late Howard Rollins.
 Applause for Lewis! November 4, 2002
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Lewis does a great job describing the insanity of his addiction and the depths in which it can take a person. I give him a lot of credit to be as bold as he was. Lewis writes of issues, episodes, and obsessions that might be harshly criticized by anyone, but to another alcoholic/addict, these events are all too real. Lewis doesn't hold anything back -- his humor and neurotic personality give this book layers of dynamic energy. Addicted or not, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants or needs to know about the perverse, insidious nature of addiction. Lewis has the strength to discover himself, the courage to face his addiction, and the candor to give it a voice. We can all learn from this intriguing and provocative story. To Lewis I say -- keep working it baby 'cause you're worth it! One day at a time.
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