"Born Standing Up" by Steve Martin.
I've always loved Steve Martin's humor, and also enjoyed his later works (sampled with trepidation - I was going to be sooo disappointed if his not-arrow-head-work was bad!). So I eagerly picked up "Born Standing up", his book about his stand-up comic work.
And again, I was not disappointed. I wasn't blown away, mind you, but I wasn't disappointed. It was an astonishingly fast read. Very interesting - insights into why he did what he did, why he quit, how his act changed, grew, matured and ended.
I think what makes it not blow-away stuff is that it's all the facts, and personal insights, but not a lot of external information. I would have loved to have read more about his hosting SNL. Or how he came up with the King Tut act. More fleshing of the things that really hit home with me in his stand-up.
Perhaps it is unfair, though, as I read his book right after the Belushi book, which was crammed full of incredible wonderful anecdotes, stories, passions - a surge tide of emotions. And then Steve's book is such a quiet, gentle retelling of his own life and a decision he came to over years of work - the two should not be compared, really. Very different kinds of books looking to do very different things, about two very different people.
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