Love All the People (edition 2004)

I loved Bill Hicks's stand-up routines when I saw them on TV (never got to see him live), so I was looking forward to reading this book. It was good initially, but as it provided a transcript of what seemed like every gig he ever did, it quickly got repetitive and stale.

So much of the power of Hicks's performance was in his delivery that the words on their own don't convey his message that well, even when you can picture him in your head. What's missing from this recitation of Hicks's routines is Bill Hicks and it suffers for it.

Unless you're studying comedy as an academic subject (I bet this book is one of the most well-thumbed volumes on [a:Stuart Lee|52882|Stuart Lee|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg]'s bookshelf!), Hicks is best remembered by his filmed performances. A sad loss to those who like their comedy with a sense of purpose and challenge. ( )

I'm thrilled that this book exists, but it's a lot like one of those jazz box sets that incorporate the complete recording sessions for an album - it's interesting to follow the evolution of a song in the studio, but all of them? In a row? It takes some serious OCD to listen to that, and it does here as well. In addition, this has the issue that trying to transcribe a spoken word performance to paper is like reading sheet music. Lots of subtleties are lost. That said, if one reads the non-transcript portions of this are fascinating and teach you something about just how brilliant Hicks was that even reading his excellent biography didn't even do for me. This was a man who thought long and hard about serious issues and turned them into something to laugh about. No easy feat. Get the book, skip the transcripts and pick up his albums instead. ( )

Bill Hicks is one of my absolute favourite stand up comedians, I just love the way he didn't simply tell jokes but rather channelled his anger about different issues into incredibly funny comedy. Sadly, this book simply doesn't do him justice. There is some biographical stuff, a few interviews, letters, newspaper articles, poems etc. but by far the biggest part of the book is made up of (annotated) transcripts of some of his performances. I have several issues with that: a) all of these are already available as audio or video, so I already know them b) Hicks' material changed pretty slowly, so there is a lot of repetition. A lot of repetition. c) Written down, the material just isn't nearly as funny as when performed live. If the annotations were a bit more extensive they would be useful (Stewart Lee's How I Escaped My Certain Fate does this a lot better), but as they are they only serve to distract. There is some interesting stuff in here and I'm still giving it 2.5 Stars, but if hadn't got it for 99 cents in the Kindle deal of the day I'd probably feel a bit cheated. Better spend your money on "American - The Bill Hicks Story". ( )

Bill Hicks was the greatest stand-up comedian of all time. No one else comes even close. Pryor was terrific but, compared to Hicks, his comedy was narrowcast and lacked the sheer savagery and visceral power of the Texas tornado. While Pryor was unafraid to offend, Hicks went out of his way to attack cultural icons and pillory high office. He detested hypocrisy and lashed out at the righteousness he saw pervading American power structures and religious communities.

This book largely consists of transcriptions from his stage act and fans of Hicks will find it indispensable. We can HEAR his voice in every line. However, those unfamiliar with Hicks' body of work should first seek out the man's CDs and DVDs, watch and listen to him in action. Then, perhaps, you'll understand the scope of the loss we suffered when he died so young (of pancreatic cancer), never getting the chance to loose his savage wit on George Bush II, Clinton and his sexual peccadilloes and even Prez Obama, who promised so much and delivered so little. ( )

This wonderful book is a collection of transcripts of Hicks' stand-up routines as well as interviews, letters, and more. ( )