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The Amorous Busboy of Decatur Avenue: A Child of the Fifties Looks Back
by
Robert Klein
For more than forty years Robert Klein has entertained audiences -- on television, on Broadway, and in film. Now, in The Amorous Busboy of Decatur Avenue, his first book, Klein uses his trademark off-the-charts humor to bring us to the heart of his creative coming-of-age.
Paperback, 384 pages
Published
May 2nd 2006
by Touchstone
(first published 2005)
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A recent graduate of Alfred University, I must say that I may have been more entertained than most with his several chapters set in the snowy upstate New York town.
This is a genuine tale of a time just prior (and into) that decade that recieves so much attention, the sixties. Klein is more than candid, which is really the only prerequisite for me to read an autobiography. His emotion and recollections are vivid and choke full of what was going on societally, physically and emotional...more
This is a genuine tale of a time just prior (and into) that decade that recieves so much attention, the sixties. Klein is more than candid, which is really the only prerequisite for me to read an autobiography. His emotion and recollections are vivid and choke full of what was going on societally, physically and emotional...more
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Klein strayed from the usual star autobiography here in that he didn't really concentrate on the part of his life where he was a star. This is his youth, his coming of age, right up until the point where he was starting to become successful. So instead of a lot of name-dropping, you get a tale of real life experience, and a good one, even inspiring at times. For fans of comedy and good memoirs.
I was not at all prepared to like this book as much as I did.
Klein is funny, charming, and self-deprecating, but most of all, smart.
Nostalgic about the 50's/60's/70's in a truthful way, never digressing into maudlin descriptions. Rarely has this time period been presented in this manner in a memoir. Completely enjoyable. I had a little crush on him by the end...
Klein is funny, charming, and self-deprecating, but most of all, smart.
Nostalgic about the 50's/60's/70's in a truthful way, never digressing into maudlin descriptions. Rarely has this time period been presented in this manner in a memoir. Completely enjoyable. I had a little crush on him by the end...
Astonishingly bad writing for such an accomplished comedian. Participles and bad adjectives and "while" and dangling prepositional phrases all over the place. I *never* notice this kind of thing, but I noticed here. Very disappointed.
What if you lived your life as a cliche?
No problem, I suppose. Unless you wrote an autobiography and relished in those cliches.
Robert Klein tells his story of how as a bright ambitious Jewish kid from the Bronx, he braves the ignorance of various gentile bigots all while becoming an artist.
The italian bully. The WASPy frat guy. Even an actual german girlfriend at the end to show that he really doesn't hold a grudge. They're all in this incredibly cliched auto...more
No problem, I suppose. Unless you wrote an autobiography and relished in those cliches.
Robert Klein tells his story of how as a bright ambitious Jewish kid from the Bronx, he braves the ignorance of various gentile bigots all while becoming an artist.
The italian bully. The WASPy frat guy. Even an actual german girlfriend at the end to show that he really doesn't hold a grudge. They're all in this incredibly cliched auto...more
Fran
rated it
Recommends it for:
people 50+ or who like coming of age stories
Recommended to Fran by:
$3.99 price tag at Border's
Shelves:
non-fiction-biography,
non-fiction-boot-camp
Cute book, fun for anyone who lived in the 50's, 60's or likes comedians or coming of age stories. Memorable quote:
"I have always been grateful that I lived during the sexual revolution, which, as revolutions go, was much more fun than the French or Bolshevik revolutions."
"I have always been grateful that I lived during the sexual revolution, which, as revolutions go, was much more fun than the French or Bolshevik revolutions."
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