The Great American Novel

by Keith Malley

I took the time to write a whole book, and where do you start? The back cover. Are we living in Israel? That's not the way people read. It's okay. We knew you'd do that, and the debate we had on what to put back here was arduous. Reviews? You need a pretentious review? Fine. "Keith Malley stands out as a new, fresh, leading author with honest talk and a smart style. Arduous? Brilliant!"-your favorite newspaper/magazine/television celebrity. We thought about a picture for the back. A nice snowman. Who doesn't like snowmen? Maybe a black snowman. It grabs your attention. Then we heard how much more we'd have to pay the artist for a back cover. I tried to explain that it wasn't a separate cover he was making, but rather an extension of the same front cover we agreed on. No dice. Boo that ess. So, instead, do me a favor and just think of your favorite album cover. Let's pretend I chose that. Now that you see everything you like in a back cover, go buy the book. Seriously, think about the last few things you spent your money on. I have to impress YOU?

Genres: Nonfiction, Humor

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Traci Haley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm usually not a very patient person when it comes to books I don't like. Life's too short to read bad books. But occasionally I'll be stubborn about things...usually I just want to finish it so I can justify writing a bad review. In this case, I really, truly WANTED to like this book. I love the Keith and the Girl podcast and Keith Malley is one of my favorite comedians. I felt like I was betraying the show by not absolutely loving this book.

But a writer, Keith is not. I suppose I should've known, considering Keith's claim that he hates books. He may not see the need for editing/proper grammar, but when a book is written badly, whether it is clever or not, it's very hard to read. I slogged through chapter after chapter, finding myself extremely distracted by the lack of good grammar. And when I wasn't being distracted by that, I was having a hard time finding the thread of Keith's story as he kept jumping around to seemingly random subjects. That works in stand-up... not so much in an autobiography. The parts I DID like were when he actually buckled down and wrote about his childhood and history. I would've loved a more coherent, well-written version of that story.

I think the biggest disappointment in this book is the fact that I know Keith can do better. He's not a stupid person and he's certainly not untalented or unfunny. It saddens me that this wasn't better. But I do not regret buying the book -- at the very least, I hope I helped support Keith and the Girl.

[John Peters · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ll get straight to the point. It’s funny, but in a 90’s/early 2000’s kind of way. His thoughts aren’t always coordinated and he occasionally goes on seemingly unrelated tangents. But at the end of the day the jokes out way the books poor structure.

[Tena · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book, I really did. I've been a Keith and the Girl fan for years, and they even have a guarantee that if you don't laugh in the first minute of this book, you can have your money back. Well.. I laughed at the beginning, but that was about the only time. The thing that made me laugh? Keith singing little ditties between the title and the chapter breaks. The rest of it was a combination of horribly depressing/sad stories about Keith's moderately abusive upbringing, and examples of why he's a terrible, terrible person (or was). I mostly did not find the book funny at all. I also noticed that it just sort of ended. There wasn't the usual reflecting on anything, it was just a request that if anyone found John Petrie they let Malley know. It was very abrupt, and having heard the KATG show recently I have found out how it ends, so it doesn't make a particularly good ending for a book. I don't know if it was that I was listening to the audiobook so it basically was 7 hours of Malley semi-yelling his life story or that I just didn't click with his narrative style, but this book did not do it for me. I'm sure there are some people out there who really love this book; I am not one of them.

[David Roe · Rating 2 out of 5]

As much as I love the Keith and the Girl show and Keith Malley's comedy I found The Great American Novel hard to read. I thought that there was just too much detail and it felt like a forced effort to live up to the title "The Great American Novel". While there are some interesting and hilarious tidbits of the Keith Malley' back story that you'll want to know, there is not much here that hasn't already been covered on the show.

[Isaura · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you don't appreciate Keith and his particular brand of humor and philosophies, this book will fly right past you. This is more akin to listening to Keith tell you a few stories about how he grew up than it is reading an autobiography. If you are a KATG fan or a fan of his stand-up, there is no way you can read this book without having Keith's voice bounce loudly and hilariously through your cerebral cortex. Just not possible. A great read. Sure, why not. :)

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of fun to read. The chapter with his dad's emails made me laugh and feel like I was in trouble all at the same time. I am addicted to keith & the girl's podcast, and this is keith's book. I have listened for a few years now and was pleasantly surprised that there wasn't a huge amount of duplication of stories he's related on the show.

[Ariel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I laughed my ass off. Also, first I didn't believe it at all. Then I realized no one could make up this many stories about their crazy dad and their fucked up life. I'm not sorry for the foul language; it's the only way to describe it. It's amazing. A must read!

[Katie Katieneedsabiggerbookshelf · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you listen to the show, you have probably heard almost all of these stories before. It was kind of a bummer.