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Ladies and Gentlemen, Lenny Bruce!!
Stored in a poly bag.
700 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
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December 8, 2017
Great look at Lenny Bruce and the "sick" comics of the early Sixties. Goldman's research is exhaustive and he's not as hostile towards Bruce as he would later be towards Elvis and John Lennon. Three stars just because the story gets bogged down in details and Goldman, even when he is more or less writing sympathetically, is not a compelling storyteller.
It's really shocking and disturbing to read this book now, half a century later, and to see how our society and culture have changed. Lenny Bruce was effectively destroyed by the establishment for talking about sexual desires and angry impulses that were deemed threatening and dangerous. Where Lenny was brutalized, humiliated, and ultimately snuffed out for sharing his fantasies in public, Harvey Weinstein got away with acting out his sickest and most degrading fantasies in private for decades. The obvious Lenny Bruce joke would be that Jews have come a long way, baby!
But there's more to the story than that. Harvey Weinstein might look more powerful and successful than Lenny Bruce. After all, Harvey Weinstein got away with actually being the leering predator and unrepentant pervert Lenny Bruce could only fantasize about being in his sickest gags. But the deeper irony is that while Lenny respected himself enough to tell the truth, Harvey's whole trip was based on self-loathing and hypocrisy.
Dig.
In order to build Miramax into a powerhouse Harvey had to make all those putrid, lifeless, imitation Merchant Ivory movies about the glory of the English upper classes and the beauty of aristocratic living and the sweet smelling sanctity of upper class Anglo Saxon female genitalia. Worshiping in public what you hate and fear and seek to degrade in private is the hallmark of sexual hypocrisy. So Harvey could take a Jewish girl like Gwyneth Paltrow, and make her a star in movies like SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE that glorify the ethereal beauty and superior class of the golden-haired gentile girl, the shiksa. But in private he'd seek to demean and degrade her because that's the only way he can rebel against his own public self-abasement. Those cheap, empty period-piece movies about dukes and duchesses were actually a form of self-flagellation for Harvey Weinstein. But they were also part of the hustle. Lenny Bruce wouldn't have been deceived by them for a minute.
But the people who persecuted Lenny were happy to be deceived. Magazines like VANITY FAIR (the whining voice of the dying gentile elite) wrote flattering profiles of Harvey Weinstein for years because he told them what they wanted to hear. "I'm a rough, ugly Jew, but I know my place! You really are better than me, and your daughter is so pure I wouldn't even stand next to her on the street! She reminds me of the queen of England! She should play Juliet! Your daughter is a prize, I'm telling you!" Harvey was a big, mean, bully, but in his own way he could kiss ass with the best of them.
Lenny was different from Harvey. He was a pervert with a pure heart, a little shrimp with the heart of a lion. Lenny never told the gentiles what they wanted to hear. Lenny told them what they didn't want to hear. "You're as sick as me, even if you aren't a Jew. Do I want to give it to your daughter? Sure I do! I want it because I know it's sick and wrong and against nature, and all those bad things. AND SHE WANTS IT TOO!"
It's really shocking and disturbing to read this book now, half a century later, and to see how our society and culture have changed. Lenny Bruce was effectively destroyed by the establishment for talking about sexual desires and angry impulses that were deemed threatening and dangerous. Where Lenny was brutalized, humiliated, and ultimately snuffed out for sharing his fantasies in public, Harvey Weinstein got away with acting out his sickest and most degrading fantasies in private for decades. The obvious Lenny Bruce joke would be that Jews have come a long way, baby!
But there's more to the story than that. Harvey Weinstein might look more powerful and successful than Lenny Bruce. After all, Harvey Weinstein got away with actually being the leering predator and unrepentant pervert Lenny Bruce could only fantasize about being in his sickest gags. But the deeper irony is that while Lenny respected himself enough to tell the truth, Harvey's whole trip was based on self-loathing and hypocrisy.
Dig.
In order to build Miramax into a powerhouse Harvey had to make all those putrid, lifeless, imitation Merchant Ivory movies about the glory of the English upper classes and the beauty of aristocratic living and the sweet smelling sanctity of upper class Anglo Saxon female genitalia. Worshiping in public what you hate and fear and seek to degrade in private is the hallmark of sexual hypocrisy. So Harvey could take a Jewish girl like Gwyneth Paltrow, and make her a star in movies like SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE that glorify the ethereal beauty and superior class of the golden-haired gentile girl, the shiksa. But in private he'd seek to demean and degrade her because that's the only way he can rebel against his own public self-abasement. Those cheap, empty period-piece movies about dukes and duchesses were actually a form of self-flagellation for Harvey Weinstein. But they were also part of the hustle. Lenny Bruce wouldn't have been deceived by them for a minute.
But the people who persecuted Lenny were happy to be deceived. Magazines like VANITY FAIR (the whining voice of the dying gentile elite) wrote flattering profiles of Harvey Weinstein for years because he told them what they wanted to hear. "I'm a rough, ugly Jew, but I know my place! You really are better than me, and your daughter is so pure I wouldn't even stand next to her on the street! She reminds me of the queen of England! She should play Juliet! Your daughter is a prize, I'm telling you!" Harvey was a big, mean, bully, but in his own way he could kiss ass with the best of them.
Lenny was different from Harvey. He was a pervert with a pure heart, a little shrimp with the heart of a lion. Lenny never told the gentiles what they wanted to hear. Lenny told them what they didn't want to hear. "You're as sick as me, even if you aren't a Jew. Do I want to give it to your daughter? Sure I do! I want it because I know it's sick and wrong and against nature, and all those bad things. AND SHE WANTS IT TOO!"
Read
August 17, 2014How can I dig this cat knowing that he narked on his wife? Later the authorities persecuted him for all the wrong reasons, but there's a certain justice in that.
It's weird how the hippest adults of that era remind me of my own classmates in junior high school. The drug humor, the in-crowd slang, the superficial and ruthless division of people into categories, the entrenched misogyny, the bullying, the callow obliviousness to how stacked the deck was - it all brings me back to ninth grade, and then I remember I'm reading about people in their thirties. I had the same feeling when I read Lou Reed's biography (by Victor Bockris, who quotes this book, and whose style is also rather breezy and informal, perhaps in imitation of this author). I have to keep reminding myself that everything's relative, that the hipsters in those days really were more enlightened than the squares: that cops harrassed interracial couples on the street, unwed mothers were treated like monsters, gay men were arrested for dancing together, etc. Even so I can't help wondering, where would someone like me have fit in, in those days? As a chick who wasn't hot-looking, I'd have been stuck in some typing pool for life, too intelligent to relate to the unthinking conformists, yet excluded from the hip crowd by my appearance and unglamorous job. Come to think of it...oh, never mind.
Anyway, this book is interesting (to me) in ways the author never intended. He's alternately clueless and insightful. One minute he's all, "Wife-beating, har har!" and the next he's offering some great little nugget like this:
"(Somehow, hipsters and Beats were always getting mixed up by those who knew very little about either. The difference was drastic: the hipster was your typical lower-class urban dandy, dressed up like a pimp, affecting a very cool, cerebral tone--to distinguish him from the gross impulsive types that surrounded him in the ghetto--and aspiring to the finer things in life, like very good 'tea,' the finest of sounds--jazz or Afro-Cuban--and maybe, once in a while, a crazy sex scene, laying up in bed for a weekend with two steaming foxes. The Beat was originally some earnest middle-class college boy, like Kerouac, who was stifled by the cities and the culture he had inherited, and who wanted to cut out for distant and exotic places, where he could live like 'the people,' write, smoke and meditate for weeks in virtual isolation while rhapsodizing about this great land of ours.)"
Ha!
I keep changing my mind about how many stars to give.
It's weird how the hippest adults of that era remind me of my own classmates in junior high school. The drug humor, the in-crowd slang, the superficial and ruthless division of people into categories, the entrenched misogyny, the bullying, the callow obliviousness to how stacked the deck was - it all brings me back to ninth grade, and then I remember I'm reading about people in their thirties. I had the same feeling when I read Lou Reed's biography (by Victor Bockris, who quotes this book, and whose style is also rather breezy and informal, perhaps in imitation of this author). I have to keep reminding myself that everything's relative, that the hipsters in those days really were more enlightened than the squares: that cops harrassed interracial couples on the street, unwed mothers were treated like monsters, gay men were arrested for dancing together, etc. Even so I can't help wondering, where would someone like me have fit in, in those days? As a chick who wasn't hot-looking, I'd have been stuck in some typing pool for life, too intelligent to relate to the unthinking conformists, yet excluded from the hip crowd by my appearance and unglamorous job. Come to think of it...oh, never mind.
Anyway, this book is interesting (to me) in ways the author never intended. He's alternately clueless and insightful. One minute he's all, "Wife-beating, har har!" and the next he's offering some great little nugget like this:
"(Somehow, hipsters and Beats were always getting mixed up by those who knew very little about either. The difference was drastic: the hipster was your typical lower-class urban dandy, dressed up like a pimp, affecting a very cool, cerebral tone--to distinguish him from the gross impulsive types that surrounded him in the ghetto--and aspiring to the finer things in life, like very good 'tea,' the finest of sounds--jazz or Afro-Cuban--and maybe, once in a while, a crazy sex scene, laying up in bed for a weekend with two steaming foxes. The Beat was originally some earnest middle-class college boy, like Kerouac, who was stifled by the cities and the culture he had inherited, and who wanted to cut out for distant and exotic places, where he could live like 'the people,' write, smoke and meditate for weeks in virtual isolation while rhapsodizing about this great land of ours.)"
Ha!
I keep changing my mind about how many stars to give.
July 9, 2010
Two things about Lenny Bruce's life really stuck out for me in this book. The first was how unfair his arrests for obscenity were, and how little civil liberties were protected by the law as late as the early 1960s. The second was how sad and self destructive were Bruce's drug addictions.
September 15, 2021
No words would be comprehensive enough to describe this book. I have never felt more connected to a book, let alone the subject of the book, Lenny Bruce. He was a pioneer of liberal arts and he forever changed the world of comedy. Lenny was a ebullient, yet rather sordid character, but his story is one of the most riveting and capricious of our time. Thank you for strengthening my belief in my comedic dreams.
April 2, 2016
I seriously doubt many people under the age of 40 will recognize the people or places mentioned in this book or have an interest in reading it. But they should. It's more than a story about Lenny Bruce. It's about sex, drugs, show business, and the first amendment. Although it is long, and the tediousness of it cost it a star, the book gives a front row seat to an era the likes of which we will never see again. It may not make you a fan but it will give you an understanding of why Bruce was, and is still, influential to so many.
May 31, 2008
Pleasantly discursive, encyclopedic in scope, and written as if by some 50's hipster all growed up. Though perhaps a smidge over-long (it's 650 pages or so), Goldman doesn't waste the reader's time. The first section, a 60 page day-in-the-life composite of Lenny in his 1959-1961 prime reads a like a shot and could stand alone as a book worth copping.
July 20, 2020
For the love of God, was this book ever long and tedious. In the end, it's simply 805 pages of drug use, legal wrangling, and one man's delusions. I picked this up out of simple curiosity, as I really didn't know much about Lenny Bruce going in. There were times throughout the course of reading the book that I simply cringed at his lifestyle and behavior. I can sum it up by simply stating that he was a wildly disturbed individual that I found to have very few redeeming qualities.
July 2, 2025
A magnifying glass look at a world-changing entertainer that reads like fiction but rings with a truth that shakes the foundations of a time many these days like to refer to as 'the good old days.' These good old days contained attitudes intolerant of social criticism, with rampant sexism and racism all basted in a stew of reactionary police enforcement. Albert Goldman did extensive research, involving most of the main characters in the drama, and created a compelling portrait of man who, at the time of publication, had been dead for eight years. In fact, Lenny Bruce had not been widely known during his lifetime, performing as he did in small nightclubs on either coast. His life became a cause celebre toward the end, with legal troubles to do with obscenity laws, and the book and subsequent film made Bruce a worldwide representative of fight-the-power social rebellion.
Overall, an impressive document that enlightens and entertains.
Overall, an impressive document that enlightens and entertains.
August 9, 2025
There's a reason it took me 2.5 years to finish this book. I wanted to learn more about Lenny Bruce but I mostly just found out that the author doesn't like him very much.
January 12, 2013
Overly long and tedious in parts, but the only in-depth bio of Lenny Bruce out there. Maybe someone will write a thinner, but comprehensive bio of Lenny Bruce, but until then, this is it. If one should decide to re-read it, which I've done, they'd be best advised to skip over most of this to get to the gist of the story.
April 18, 2023
"America's Leading Vomic".---Walter Winchell on Lenny Bruce
Few show biz figures have had a more profound impact on how America views itself than Lenny Bruce, a tragic prefigurement of revolutionary change who, by the time he died in 1966 at the age of forty, of a heroin overdose, had been nearly forgotten. Lenny not only directly inspired future comedians, from George Carlin to Freddie Prinze (who so adored Lenny he nearly married his daughter Kitty) but also Stanley Kubrick and Joseph Heller, who borrowed from his black humor to tackle taboo subjects ranging from sex to nuclear war. There is nothing Lenny wasn't willing to perform, on stage or in his personal life, that did not violate the code of conduct of the Eisenhower Reaction: Venereal disease, homosexuality, racism in America (casually dropping words like kike, nigga and spic during his live shows was a Lenny trademark), the phoniness of politicians and miseducation of American youth, and most of all sexual relations. Typical Lenny joke: "A night club manager turns to one of his strippers and yells at her 'You're finished in this business. Turn in your c--t!".Lenny sought to slap America out of the novocaine the government and big business were feeding the people. (It worked for me. I read this book during yet another boring Thanksgiving dinner with the relatives.) To do this Lenny could and would be cruel. One of his routines, meant to satirize the total absence of violence in the American media, as opposed to real life, was to ask a couple in his audience if they had left their children with a babysitter, and beg for their telephone number. Lenny would proceed to call the babysitter and tell her the parents had been killed in a car crash, then play the scream in her voice for his audience. Stunts like these landed Lenny many future gigs and just as many arrests and trials for obscenity, though the sentences he received were surprisingly lenient. Albert Goldman, the infamous later biographer of Elvis and John Lennon made his bones with this no-holds barred account of America's Swift. The first chapter is a long description of a day-in-the-life of Lenny, from working on new material in Los Angeles to breaking into UCLA Medical Center to steal medical morphine---which he rammed up his arse! Why did Lenny fade away when the calendar turned to the 1960s? In part John F. Kennedy, whom Lenny savagely spoofed but secretly admired, stole his thunder, and then the triple whammy of JFK's death, the British invasion in rock and a growing dependency on "H" killed off his career. By 1966 he was lucky to land a gig opening for the Jefferson Airplane in San Francisco. Now for the real kick, which Lenny probably appreciated from Purgatory (assuming there is one for Jews): When this biography was published in 1974 the country was caught up in Bruce fever. The book became a best seller, a hit Broadway show on his life followed and finally Dustin Hoffman, in his best performance, played him in the film LENNY, based in part on this volume. Ten years after his death Lenny had become Jesus Christ Superstar! If Lenny was insane, a claim made even by some of his admirers, America could use more insanity today.
Few show biz figures have had a more profound impact on how America views itself than Lenny Bruce, a tragic prefigurement of revolutionary change who, by the time he died in 1966 at the age of forty, of a heroin overdose, had been nearly forgotten. Lenny not only directly inspired future comedians, from George Carlin to Freddie Prinze (who so adored Lenny he nearly married his daughter Kitty) but also Stanley Kubrick and Joseph Heller, who borrowed from his black humor to tackle taboo subjects ranging from sex to nuclear war. There is nothing Lenny wasn't willing to perform, on stage or in his personal life, that did not violate the code of conduct of the Eisenhower Reaction: Venereal disease, homosexuality, racism in America (casually dropping words like kike, nigga and spic during his live shows was a Lenny trademark), the phoniness of politicians and miseducation of American youth, and most of all sexual relations. Typical Lenny joke: "A night club manager turns to one of his strippers and yells at her 'You're finished in this business. Turn in your c--t!".Lenny sought to slap America out of the novocaine the government and big business were feeding the people. (It worked for me. I read this book during yet another boring Thanksgiving dinner with the relatives.) To do this Lenny could and would be cruel. One of his routines, meant to satirize the total absence of violence in the American media, as opposed to real life, was to ask a couple in his audience if they had left their children with a babysitter, and beg for their telephone number. Lenny would proceed to call the babysitter and tell her the parents had been killed in a car crash, then play the scream in her voice for his audience. Stunts like these landed Lenny many future gigs and just as many arrests and trials for obscenity, though the sentences he received were surprisingly lenient. Albert Goldman, the infamous later biographer of Elvis and John Lennon made his bones with this no-holds barred account of America's Swift. The first chapter is a long description of a day-in-the-life of Lenny, from working on new material in Los Angeles to breaking into UCLA Medical Center to steal medical morphine---which he rammed up his arse! Why did Lenny fade away when the calendar turned to the 1960s? In part John F. Kennedy, whom Lenny savagely spoofed but secretly admired, stole his thunder, and then the triple whammy of JFK's death, the British invasion in rock and a growing dependency on "H" killed off his career. By 1966 he was lucky to land a gig opening for the Jefferson Airplane in San Francisco. Now for the real kick, which Lenny probably appreciated from Purgatory (assuming there is one for Jews): When this biography was published in 1974 the country was caught up in Bruce fever. The book became a best seller, a hit Broadway show on his life followed and finally Dustin Hoffman, in his best performance, played him in the film LENNY, based in part on this volume. Ten years after his death Lenny had become Jesus Christ Superstar! If Lenny was insane, a claim made even by some of his admirers, America could use more insanity today.
November 26, 2019
Lenny Bruce in his day stood for more than simply "telling dirty kokes" which may (or may not) be judged "funny" by the societal norms of the 21st Century. Lenny Bruce stood for the proposition that offensive speech is free speech, and free speech permits offensive speech. He mocked the WASP nuclear family; priests; law enforcement; the justice system. His role wasn't "comedian," it was "provocateur." He exposed middle class hypocrisy, systemic racism, religious excess, a repressed post-war society. He held a mirror up and the rising WASP Blue Blood middle class did not like what it saw. It saw itself. Lenny simply used vulgarity to get their attention -- to take a look in the goddamm mirror. His job is not to "wear well with time" and to "be funny now" in our day and age. His job was to skewer the societal bullsh*t that tried to shut him up, lock him up, bankrupt him with legal bills in the so-called "justice system," and harshly punish him for speaking truth to power.
November 27, 2019
I read this book over 40 yrs ago when I was a young
teenager. The book belonged to my older brother and I just picked it up and started reading. I can still remember the first words of the first chapter. "Spit in my face!" Greatest hook ever. I couldn't put the book down after that. I saw Lenny as something of a tragic figure. But his life was fascinating. Guy definately had a death wish. The thing I most marvelled at was his complete lack of fear. I just wanted to really get inside his head to try and find out why he seemed to have so little regard for his own existance. The author does a damn good job of doing just that. And just like Francis Farmer before him, their belief systems just didn't seem to fit with the societal norms of the time. And it destroyed them. This, along with Catch 22 has always been one of my favourite books. Hoping to get another copy for Xmas this year in fact. Can't wait to read it again.
teenager. The book belonged to my older brother and I just picked it up and started reading. I can still remember the first words of the first chapter. "Spit in my face!" Greatest hook ever. I couldn't put the book down after that. I saw Lenny as something of a tragic figure. But his life was fascinating. Guy definately had a death wish. The thing I most marvelled at was his complete lack of fear. I just wanted to really get inside his head to try and find out why he seemed to have so little regard for his own existance. The author does a damn good job of doing just that. And just like Francis Farmer before him, their belief systems just didn't seem to fit with the societal norms of the time. And it destroyed them. This, along with Catch 22 has always been one of my favourite books. Hoping to get another copy for Xmas this year in fact. Can't wait to read it again.
June 19, 2022
I read /Ladies and Gentlemen, Lenny Bruce!!/, by Dr. Albert Goldman:
https://www.nytimes.com/1974/05/26/ar...
The author tells Lenny Bruce stories in stream-of-consciousness mode.
Lenny was an outrageous character (Tim Webb would approve), a womanizer, a great performer but also a great tipper, a generous soul who gave to people in need, and OCD about taping everything including his sexual escapades.
Lenny Bruce is crazier and more of a drug addict than I knew. His doctor, Dr. Norman Rotenberg of Beverly Hills, prescribed that Lenny shoot up methedrine (methampetamine hydrochloride), for depression and lethargy, noting that shooting it up rendered "a satisfactory response" to Lenny's lethargy.
Bruce's daily drugs were mescaline and meth; it's good he didn't make it in the alphabet much further than the range of MES to MET, dying on a toilet seat as he did at age 41.
https://www.nytimes.com/1974/05/26/ar...
The author tells Lenny Bruce stories in stream-of-consciousness mode.
Lenny was an outrageous character (Tim Webb would approve), a womanizer, a great performer but also a great tipper, a generous soul who gave to people in need, and OCD about taping everything including his sexual escapades.
Lenny Bruce is crazier and more of a drug addict than I knew. His doctor, Dr. Norman Rotenberg of Beverly Hills, prescribed that Lenny shoot up methedrine (methampetamine hydrochloride), for depression and lethargy, noting that shooting it up rendered "a satisfactory response" to Lenny's lethargy.
Bruce's daily drugs were mescaline and meth; it's good he didn't make it in the alphabet much further than the range of MES to MET, dying on a toilet seat as he did at age 41.
September 1, 2021
Ladies, Gentlemen, and everyone else....WOW...Honestly I have no words for this book. The amount of detail that this goes into the outrageously ridiculous life of the most iconic comedian of our time, Lenny Bruce, is just unreal. I truly felt like I got to know him, for who he was as a comedian and a human being. Yes he had a lot of ups and downs and issues and struggles, which only makes him that much more human. Comedy and Tragedy are so closely coupled, and his life was a shining example of just that. As an aspiring comedian, this book is the (anti)bible for stand-up, because it taught me that I just need to be myself. I need to tell my story. Speak the truth. Because like Lenny, I'm no comedian, I'm just Joe Leone. Lenny told his story. And people listened. And not everyone is going to like what you hear. Lenny Bruce, thank you for the laughs.
January 13, 2023
I, too, felt like I was on drugs after reading this book. Pretty messed up that they put a photo of the guy dead on his bathroom floor on the cover.
Things I have learned: James Baldwin, Bob Dylan, Allen Ginsberg, Elizabeth Hardwick, James Jones, Robert Lowell, Norman Mailer, Henry Miller, Frank O’Hara, Susan Sontag, John Updike, and lots of other famous folks all signed a petition against Lenny Bruce’s 1964 obscenity trial, which was a landmark case in protecting our right of free speech under the first amendment. Reading about so much drug use made me remember reading Naked Lunch in high school and being absolutely horrified- I think I purposefully forgot how wild people were getting on hard drugs in the 1950s/60s. And the last season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel may be very sad.
Things I have learned: James Baldwin, Bob Dylan, Allen Ginsberg, Elizabeth Hardwick, James Jones, Robert Lowell, Norman Mailer, Henry Miller, Frank O’Hara, Susan Sontag, John Updike, and lots of other famous folks all signed a petition against Lenny Bruce’s 1964 obscenity trial, which was a landmark case in protecting our right of free speech under the first amendment. Reading about so much drug use made me remember reading Naked Lunch in high school and being absolutely horrified- I think I purposefully forgot how wild people were getting on hard drugs in the 1950s/60s. And the last season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel may be very sad.
November 26, 2020
Lenny Bruce's comic act today, amazingly, would be considered mainstream today. He paved the way for comedians to talk about sex, politics, prohibited life styles, racism, and drugs. His comic bits still resonate, even today. And remarkably still funny to listen to. Albert Goldman captures Bruce's unconventional upbringing and lifestyle through nightclubs, the prostitutes, the freaks, the druggies and his fellow comics who some thought was way out of line and unfunny. The writing is infused with the hip, beatnik, and jazz aspect of Bruce's comedy act. A must read for Bruce fans.
November 29, 2021
Going to put this one back on the shelf for awhile.
The first chapter of the book is titled "A Day in the Life: A Reconstruction"
While I enjoyed my day with Lenny Bruce, I don't feel like I want to spend more than a single day with the guy (at least, for now.) I will probably circle back to this biography in the new year-- but right now, I find the guy's lifestyle too exhausting to read about any further.
Still though, the first 63 pages are four-star journalism, with a potential five-star rating down the road, depending on how things shake out on the page for Mr. Bruce.
The first chapter of the book is titled "A Day in the Life: A Reconstruction"
While I enjoyed my day with Lenny Bruce, I don't feel like I want to spend more than a single day with the guy (at least, for now.) I will probably circle back to this biography in the new year-- but right now, I find the guy's lifestyle too exhausting to read about any further.
Still though, the first 63 pages are four-star journalism, with a potential five-star rating down the road, depending on how things shake out on the page for Mr. Bruce.
November 27, 2022
I read this back in the 70's and, at the time, I was thoroughly gripped by it. Poor Lenny suffered a lot for his art and being into heroin couldn't have helped, though it seems to have been a drug of choice for many jazz musicians and Lenny seemed quite close to that world. It seemed inevitable that he crossed the line once too often and met a rather questionable and pathetic death. Was it an accidental overdose or was he murdered? I still have the book but to be honest I don't think I'd read it again.
June 4, 2023
An interesting book on Bruce which I first read in high school about 37 years ago. The book is marred by Albert Goldman's attempt to use "hip" language which was already outdated when the book was first published in 1974. In 2023, and I'm not even criticizing the language from a PC perspective, Goldman's stylistic attempts seem absurd, veering at points into the racist and misogynist and not ringing linguistically true in the manner of Lenny Bruce. Then again, Goldman was a professor at Columbia who was trying to make himself hip so far from that culture.
January 5, 2025
The be all and end all when it comes to books on Lenny Bruce.
Although it does get a few things wrong about his Australian tour, but they have since been corrected by Damian Kringas' "Lenny Bruce: 13 Days In Sydney."
Unlike some of his later subjects, namely his seemingly cruel, heavy roast on John Lennon, Goldman knew Lenny and spent a lot of time with him, and knew the scenes and people he hung with.
The portrait is vivid, and written in the hip style of the time and the subject. Well worth a read, if you can track a copy down.
Although it does get a few things wrong about his Australian tour, but they have since been corrected by Damian Kringas' "Lenny Bruce: 13 Days In Sydney."
Unlike some of his later subjects, namely his seemingly cruel, heavy roast on John Lennon, Goldman knew Lenny and spent a lot of time with him, and knew the scenes and people he hung with.
The portrait is vivid, and written in the hip style of the time and the subject. Well worth a read, if you can track a copy down.
August 31, 2023
I learned a lot about Lenny Bruce, who I admire, but the book is way, way too long.
Way too detailed.
It also has a very confusing perspective, which is borne of how it was written but like... that problem could have been solved.
IDK man. This is a weird book.
Also, this book will wildly, wildly offend almost everyone in the current reading public, which is, I suspect, why it's no longer in print.
Way too detailed.
It also has a very confusing perspective, which is borne of how it was written but like... that problem could have been solved.
IDK man. This is a weird book.
Also, this book will wildly, wildly offend almost everyone in the current reading public, which is, I suspect, why it's no longer in print.
August 20, 2018
Brilliant in both writing and research. Makes you feel what it was like inside Lenny's mind. Makes the era and the changes come alive in a shocking, often unflattering way. Remember, a society that turns away from it's own ugly truths is doomed.
July 20, 2018
A longwinded and exhausting story of Lenny Bruce but still worth every minute of it.
September 21, 2023
Albert Goldman has done his work in this exhausting brilliantly researched study on comedian Lenny Bruce
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 21, 2024
This was a good read but it took me a long time. Much like his John Lennon book it was extremely well researched but I definitely get the feeling that the author didn't like the subject of the book.
Want to read
December 7, 2024Joey diaz hard rec (to theo)
July 15, 2025
I was listening to a podcast and The great comedian Joey Diaz recommend this book and I am so glad ! It does not disappoint.
January 14, 2023
Strong Three.
I ordered this book because I heard that it was supposedly required reading for anyone who wants to do stand-up comedy (which I was still doing when I bought it) . When it arrived in the mail and I saw that it was 800 pages, I laughed and said that it was likely that I would never *ever* end up reading it. I bought it used for 4 bucks. Oh well.
Now I'm at a point where I wanted to read it for research as I looked into a couple of topics. I think it was surprising in a lot of ways and everything I thought would be bad and annoying was also confirmed.
This is a really good look at the life of an entertainer and this industry despite the focus on what it was like then as opposed to now. More things have stayed the same than you might want to think. You need strong bones to do this shit. Lenny Bruce was so sheltered he made bubble boys blush and yet he molded himself through pure talent and perseverance into one of the most influential entertainers of the last century.
The writing at times, especially right off the top-- is occasionally excellent. Reads like great prose. I never would have thought the book would be this clever, this smart.
But it wears out its welcome long before you reach even the midpoint.
I don't know if any human in recorded history could justify an 800 page biography. Comedians are naturally self-indulgent, so it's no surprise that the story of one of the worlds most important comedians would be painstakingly, relentlessly thorough. By the time you're done skimming (and skimming is what you will do-- I defy anyone to actually read every word of this) you will know every thought Lenny Bruce ever had, every childhood friend, every gig, and every vein he shot heroin into in one order. It is a gauntlet.
The court battles weren't as interesting as I'd hoped they'd be. By then the book had broken me down and I just couldn't go on any longer.
Those interested in a life of showbuisnes will find a lot to like here. They'll also find a lot gross, offputting or even boring. Either way, you're going to find a lot. There is so much raw book here. Too much. Way too much.
Still, I know exactly what the comedian who said this is required reading was talking about when they said that. You gotta be realistic about what it takes and what this industry can do to you. A worthwhile read.
I ordered this book because I heard that it was supposedly required reading for anyone who wants to do stand-up comedy (which I was still doing when I bought it) . When it arrived in the mail and I saw that it was 800 pages, I laughed and said that it was likely that I would never *ever* end up reading it. I bought it used for 4 bucks. Oh well.
Now I'm at a point where I wanted to read it for research as I looked into a couple of topics. I think it was surprising in a lot of ways and everything I thought would be bad and annoying was also confirmed.
This is a really good look at the life of an entertainer and this industry despite the focus on what it was like then as opposed to now. More things have stayed the same than you might want to think. You need strong bones to do this shit. Lenny Bruce was so sheltered he made bubble boys blush and yet he molded himself through pure talent and perseverance into one of the most influential entertainers of the last century.
The writing at times, especially right off the top-- is occasionally excellent. Reads like great prose. I never would have thought the book would be this clever, this smart.
But it wears out its welcome long before you reach even the midpoint.
I don't know if any human in recorded history could justify an 800 page biography. Comedians are naturally self-indulgent, so it's no surprise that the story of one of the worlds most important comedians would be painstakingly, relentlessly thorough. By the time you're done skimming (and skimming is what you will do-- I defy anyone to actually read every word of this) you will know every thought Lenny Bruce ever had, every childhood friend, every gig, and every vein he shot heroin into in one order. It is a gauntlet.
The court battles weren't as interesting as I'd hoped they'd be. By then the book had broken me down and I just couldn't go on any longer.
Those interested in a life of showbuisnes will find a lot to like here. They'll also find a lot gross, offputting or even boring. Either way, you're going to find a lot. There is so much raw book here. Too much. Way too much.
Still, I know exactly what the comedian who said this is required reading was talking about when they said that. You gotta be realistic about what it takes and what this industry can do to you. A worthwhile read.
July 27, 2021
I can't believe something so boring could be written about someone so interesting. Albert Goldman's tedious tome about Lenny Bruce's life and tumultuous career is an 800+ page chronicle about the world's most popular "vomic." Taking deep dives into his habits and those who featured most prominently in his life and downfalls. And therein lies the problem: taking deep dives such as ones Goldman does, one tends to land face-first into the deep end. Goldman falls into overly detailed descriptions of heroin use that never really change over the course of the narrative. He takes so many detours and gets sidetracked so often it is incredibly tough to follow and becomes downright dull and uninteresting. Right from the opening chapter, a 50+ page romp through a few hours of Lenny and his assistant skin popping in a seedy New York hotel room, I knew this was going to be a chore to read, as it jumps around so frantically, is not well told, and attempts to channel a certain hepcat style prose that falls flat very quickly... Kerouac he ain't.
I am also not sure if it was just my edition, but this book also contains so many grammatical and spelling errors it is actually embarrassing that this book was even published. It seemed like it was never properly finished. And that it felt like: Reading an unedited proof copy of something that needed at least 300 pages shaved off its overall page count. It needs a lot of work, as the first 300 pages are such a slog that jumps around timeframes, it fails hard to hook the reader in. For those interested in better-documented chronicles of Lenny Bruce's career, read the original journalism by Lawrence Schiller (of which this book was based on), or The Trials of Lenny Bruce by Collins & Skover. Also take a look into the 1974 Bob Fosse biopic "Lenny" (released the same year) before cracking open this tripe.
I am also not sure if it was just my edition, but this book also contains so many grammatical and spelling errors it is actually embarrassing that this book was even published. It seemed like it was never properly finished. And that it felt like: Reading an unedited proof copy of something that needed at least 300 pages shaved off its overall page count. It needs a lot of work, as the first 300 pages are such a slog that jumps around timeframes, it fails hard to hook the reader in. For those interested in better-documented chronicles of Lenny Bruce's career, read the original journalism by Lawrence Schiller (of which this book was based on), or The Trials of Lenny Bruce by Collins & Skover. Also take a look into the 1974 Bob Fosse biopic "Lenny" (released the same year) before cracking open this tripe.
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