Denis Leary

Rating: 3* of five

I was never all that big on Leary. I don't like being yelled at the way he used to in those sneaker (?) commercials when he prowled around behind a chain link fence. I'm utterly certain I didn't spend my, or anyone else's, United States dollars procuring this book. But here it is, and here it's been for at least a year.

So where'd it come from? The Little Free Library? No, why would I pick it up? I called my Young Gentleman Caller. "Sweetiedarling," I cooed and then paused show more for the ritual admonition not to call him that it makes his boys try to get back inside, "Sweetiedarling (nose-sigh from YGC) did you give me a Denis Leary book called Why We Don't Suck?" A startled pause. "Dennis Who?" he asked blankly. (My hearing is excellent and I could detect the redundant "n" in Dr. Leary's name.) No joy.

When one of y'all sends me a giftie, I leave the card inside so I won't have to commit to memory who gave me nice stuff. Memory is a slippery bar of soap at the best of times, but at my age when the bar drops there it stays. Bending down in the shower?! Are you NUTS?! Do you know how many people my age break things that they still need doing that?! So I guess the bar of soap with the name of the donor is gone for good.

Don't read this. Browse through it. If one attempted to swallow this guff in a gulp, back up it would come in a fountain of outrage as you damn near strangle while laughing. Is it worth it? For free, yeah...I guess. For money? Under a buck, yes; under two, maybe. Library sales, garage sales, that level of venue. Bookstore or Ammy? Oh HELL no. The Chronicles of St Mary's book ten will be out in a week or so, spend the spondulix on that! Guaranteed laughs and less yelling. show less

I'm a huge fan of his and agreed with 98% of what he had to say in this book. It's really kind of a "rant" more than anything else. You can hear his voice as though he's speaking directly to you - and there are times when he just goes on and on because he's so excited and there are no punctuation indicators and no pauses and he keeps going and going and you have to almost catch your breath while reading . . . whew!! He's pretty much dead on, though, with his views on why/how the rest of the show more world views Americans the way they do. He does veer off in a few chapters on differences between men and women in general, but it's very funny stuff. I found that it was a book that I picked up and put down - had to do it in chapters, really; not a book you plow through in a day or two (at least not for me.) Look forward to chapters such as "Autism Shmautism", "Matt Dillon is a Giant Fag" and "We'd Hate You Even If You Weren't Black." show less

This was a great book. Leary blends memoir and rant quite well. Sure, it has a part or two where the pace slow downs a bit, but when he is hot, he is really cooking. No one is safe from his observations and direct approach. What I like about him, like other comedians I like (Lewis Black, George Carlin), is that he will make you laugh, but then you think and realize he is speaking the truth, a truth that few hear. I am not spoiling the end, but I will say he does leave us with some hope. show more Overall, a very entertaining read. I made some notes in my updates about passages I liked. show less

If you like Denis Leary's ranting comedic style, you'll enjoy this book. I could practically hear his voice in my head as I was reading. Most surprising, perhaps, was the underlying tenderness throughout, especially in the stories about his parents, his brother, his wife & kids. The book isn't exactly a memoir, but certain chapters read like one, and added depth to what otherwise might have been a superficial comedic romp.

Dr. Leary and I hold similar opinions about many things. For show more example:

"This country has the attention span of a gnat on Non-Drowsy Sudafed." (209).

"You know what kids learn when parents insist on making sure that everyone gets a trophy and everyone wins and nobody loses? They learn that losing doesn't suck. Which it does....You fall down you get up. That's how you learn how much falling down hurts and how much you never wanna fall down ever again." (98)

"Personally--seeing Janet Jackson's left nipple on TV wasn't anywhere near as offensive to me as the four million ads for Viagra and Cialis and all the other "how to get a hard-on" pills that rolled out every other minute during the same game..." (69)

In addition, I learned that Denis Leary is a published poet! (Check out the Fall 1977 issue of Ploughshares.)

Leary touches on the idiocy of pop culture, parenting, prescription drugs, Oprah and Dr. Phil, the Catholic Church, and the many differences between men & women. He's honest about all of it, but (oddly) not at all unkind. Our hypocritical, self-centered, and rather self-destructive society has many faults, but Leary points them out not because he hates this country, but because he loves it. He wants to see us pull our heads out of our collective American asses and be groovy again. show less