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.