A fun and thought-provoking romp through politics and popular culture.
The loudly outspoken comedian and actor’s latest book is sure to offend some readers, but many more will find plenty of food for thought while also getting in a good laugh.
Leary (Denis Leary's Merry F#%$in' Christmas, 2012, etc.) opens with a disclaimer for those “Sensitive Readers,” whose sensibilities may be offended by the strong language and sharp wit. Readers willing to wade into the author’s truthful, occasionally raunchy account of the current state of affairs in America will not be disappointed. Few escape Leary’s penetrating gaze. In this lively antidote to the more serious tomes tackling the current state of affairs, the author takes nearly everyone to task for their particular stance or prejudice in this. His take on the Electoral College is spot-on, as are his many rants about Democrats and Republicans alike. “Trump promised to drain the swamp. He didn’t. He just filled it up to overflowing with his rich friends and family members,” writes Leary. “Just like Hillary would have done. And each tribe still drenches our electronic devices on a weekly basis, continuing the political turmoil with ridiculous partisan bullshit.” The proliferation of guns, our TV-and-celebrity–soaked culture, the pharmaceutical industry, religion, white supremacy: all come under the author’s scrutiny, with often hilarious, albeit sometimes-scattered results. Leary’s ribbing of social media, complete with fake tweets from famous individuals, is particularly amusing. He also devotes space to praise those individuals who have made a difference in his life and the wider world. While Leary offers up strong quips aimed straight at millennials, the author concedes that although it may be difficult to pass the torch to the next generation, it should be a time for hope. “From every angle one can ogle,” he writes, “you guys seem to have an enormous grasp on science, math, business, and the arts. A constant flow of ingenious ideas and outstanding execution. Not to mention talent.”
A fun and thought-provoking romp through politics and popular culture.Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5247-6273-5
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Crown Archetype
Review Posted Online: Aug. 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2017
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.
The legendary booze-addled metal rocker turned reality-TV star comes clean in his tell-all autobiography.
Although brought up in the bleak British factory town of Aston, John “Ozzy” Osbourne’s tragicomic rags-to-riches tale is somehow quintessentially American. It’s an epic dream/nightmare that takes him from Winson Green prison in 1966 to a presidential dinner with George W. Bush in 2004. Tracing his adult life from petty thief and slaughterhouse worker to rock star, Osbourne’s first-person slang-and-expletive-driven style comes off like he’s casually relating his story while knocking back pints at the pub. “What you read here,” he writes, “is what dribbled out of the jelly I call my brain when I asked it for my life story.” During the late 1960s his transformation from inept shoplifter to notorious Black Sabbath frontman was unlikely enough. In fact, the band got its first paying gigs by waiting outside concert venues hoping the regularly scheduled act wouldn’t show. After a few years, Osbourne and his bandmates were touring America and becoming millionaires from their riff-heavy doom music. As expected, with success came personal excess and inevitable alienation from the other members of the group. But as a solo performer, Osbourne’s predilection for guns, drink, drugs, near-death experiences, cruelty to animals and relieving himself in public soon became the stuff of legend. His most infamous exploits—biting the head off a bat and accidentally urinating on the Alamo—are addressed, but they seem tame compared to other dark moments of his checkered past: nearly killing his wife Sharon during an alcohol-induced blackout, waking up after a bender in the middle of a busy highway, burning down his backyard, etc. Osbourne is confessional to a fault, jeopardizing his demonic-rocker reputation with glib remarks about his love for Paul McCartney and Robin Williams. The most distinguishing feature of the book is the staggering chapter-by-chapter accumulation of drunken mishaps, bodily dysfunctions and drug-induced mayhem over a 40-plus-year career—a résumé of anti-social atrocities comparable to any of rock ’n’ roll’s most reckless outlaws.
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-446-56989-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009
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