A Place For His Stuff

One of my best friends turned me onto George Carlin when I was about 15 years old and I will be eternally grateful. Carlin appealed to teenage me in part because his humor was unlike anything else I had ever heard. When my friend played Class Clown for me I not only laughed at the shock of all the wonderful (to a 15 year old boy) swearing but because the Carlin was so different from any other comedian I had ever listened to.

This posthumous autobiography Last Words, tells in 294 glorious pages of the life of the constantly-in-motion comedian. Carlin, with help from writer/comedian Tony Hendra, tells of his childhood on the fertile grounds of New York City, his love-hate relationship with the Catholic Church (a recurring subject onstage), and his crazy family life. Saddled with the ubiquitous alcoholic father, a precursor to his own later addiction problems, Carlin became an actual class clown and a comedy seeds were planted.

Carlin's mother, Mary, was quite the woman. Clearly, Carlin loved his mother, but theirs was a complicated relationship. The story of how, despite her strong Catholic roots, she (and the local nuns) justified Carlin's later language and opinions about the Church are interesting to say the least.

For the longest time I was only aware of the profane, outrageous Carlin. It was some years later before I saw video of the short-haired, suit-wearing George Carlin performing comparatively conservative routines. I always wondered how he got from point A to point B. Thanks to this deeply personal and brutally honest book, I now know.

If you are a Carlin fan, you really need to read this book. In wonderful detail ( and plenty of Carlin insight along the way), we watch Carlin go from smart-ass kid to the envelope-pushing comedy giant on his always entertaining HBO specials.

Sadly, Carlin left us too early, still with dreams of his own unfulfilled. The book is a treat for anyone wanting to know more about the genius behind the man who brought us Al Sleet, the Trippy Drippy Weatherman. Get this book for someone for Christmas.

But with no more HBO specials, no more books and no more CD's to be forthcoming from the mind of Carlin, I feel sad. After finishing this book I feel I have literally "closed the book" on one of my heroes. Makes me want to (expletive deleted) cry.

Advantage: Agassi

I thought I was a fan of Andre Agassi.

But I just completed his recent autobiography Open, and I have to say: I've never admired a tennis player more.

Inside the pages, Agassi tells , with brutal honesty, of his childhood with an overbearing father who makes no secret of his dream of his son being the best tennis player in the world. Agassi is 7 years old at the time. It is no surprise that Agassi spends his life collecting father figures to surround himself with.

Familiar names are peppered throughout: Connors, McEnroe, Courier, Sampras, Federer. If you are a tennis fan, you will learn even more about these greats with the behind-the-scenes tales. (Although I'm not sure I can forgive AA for giving me the image in my head of a naked Ivan Lendl.)

Tennis players are not the only familiar names. Agassi's courtship of and marrige to his first wife Brooke Shields gets fully covered. Some of the story is a little heartbreaking at times, so I'm impressed that she is listed as someone who read the manuscript ahead of time and yet allowed the scars to show.

The book covers Agassi's time at the Bollettieri Academy in Florida as well as his early days on the professional tour. There are many mentions of Pete Sampras and their rivalry. I can't imagine Pete will be too happy with the "valet" story, but this is a very honest book.

And that is what I enjoyed most about it. It is clear that AA has cleared his desk, his mind and his conscience with the airing of the dirty laundry contained inside the nearly 400 pages. We have all heard the sordid headlines lately about the crystal meth use and the hairpiece. It is clear that coming clean about these secrets are a catharsis for a man who clearly has evolved.

Agassi dropped out in 9th grade. He now has a college preparatory school he founded and mostly funded. The dropout is now a proponent of education. Some would say this is ironic. But, if you read this book you will see that Agassi was always smarter than he appeared.

The sweet side of Agassi emerges as he attempts to get Steffi Graf to go out with him. It is clear that these two belong together and the calm she provides has been the influence a now-retired Agassi has needed.

However, as the book makes clear, things were not always so calm. Early in his career, Agassi was defined in the public's mind with an advertising slogan for one of his endorsement deals. Posters and television ads with his face and the words "Image Is Everything" were ubiquitous back in the day. However, Agassi was always bothered by the advertising campaign -- he was being cast as a rebel and a punk. The truth is he didn't evern know what image he wanted to have. In truth he was nothing like his public image -- what almost no one knew is that Agassi was secretly a pretty sensitive guy who actually listened to soft rock. And the long flowing hair wasn't even his. The image being sold to tennis fans meant nothing.


Reading this book, I felt like I was hanging out with Agassi. It's that personal. I always liked Agassi the tennis player. After reading Open, I like and admire the man.

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In the acknowledgments Agassi lists J.R. Moehringer as the person who helped "tackle my memoir and give it shape." Moehringer refused to let his name be on the cover despite Agassi's request because, while proud of the work, he "couldn't see signing his name to another man's life." Moehringer wrote one of my favorite books of all time, his own memoir, The Tender Bar.