Penn Jillette

Penn Jillette's "Felony Murder" offers a delightfully peculiar blend of autobiography and fiction, creating a narrative that constantly keeps readers guessing where reality ends and imagination begins. The story follows a professional juggler whose carefully constructed new life begins to unravel when his mysterious past catches up with him.

Jillette brings his trademark irreverent humor to the page, infusing the narrative with the same wit and intelligence that fans of his magic and show more commentary work will recognize immediately. The protagonist's voice feels authentically Penn-like in its cadence and perspective, making the blurring between author and character all the more intriguing.

The novel shines brightest in its more absurdist moments and when exploring the protagonist's internal world. Jillette creates genuinely tense situations while maintaining his humorous perspective, a difficult balancing act that he pulls off with surprising dexterity.

Where the book stumbles slightly is in its conclusion. The ending, while certainly unexpected, leaves several threads hanging in a way that feels more confusing than artfully ambiguous. I found myself re-reading the final chapters, wondering if I'd missed something crucial or if the intentional disorientation was part of Jillette's magic trick on the page.

Despite this minor frustration, "Felony Murder" remains a thoroughly enjoyable read that showcases Jillette's talents beyond the stage. It's a perfect choice for readers who appreciate unconventional storytelling and irreverent humor and don't mind being left with a few unanswered questions. It was one that I just had to keep reading. show less

Ten years ago, a coworker said to me, “Jim, you’re so random!” I took it as a compliment and have worn it since. I requested and received a review copy of this from the publisher through LibraryThing, as the premise intrigued me and I’ve been a fan of Mr. Jillette for a long time. (Met, talked to, shook hands, and got the pictures together in Vegas the night the nut job shot a bunch of people at that concert. Nice gentlemen, he and Teller. Not so the shooter.) It took a little for me show more to adjust to the style, but when I did…

Wild book. A bit Dashiell Hammett, a bit Spillane, a bit of Henry Miller, Elmore Leonard (that’s self claimed from the jacket), and a lot, of course, of Penn Jillette. He jabs at the stereotypes, the tropes, the cranks. And The Former Guy and his Magats get their Penn treatment: “Of course. Skiff lived in the same stupid building [Trump International] with the same stupid name on it as the other stupid bad guy. Skiff was that kind of Trump/Ruphart guy, except smarter than both of them put together, which is the same as saying smarter than Ruphart.” - priceless! He hits Vegas itself, hell, even Dallas (“Dallas is nothing. It’s just a city with fewer Mormons than SLC.”) Jillette also swings his no bullshit hammer at more than a few crazies. This is hard-boiled, vulgar, and of course, Random. The pace fits the venue - fast, no resting, always something going on. And the Random twist makes it all surreal. There are a ton of staccato phrases that just grabbed me, like on driving through the desert: “High-lonesome fugue-state driving.”

If you are offended or sensitive to some where-did-that-come-from-? vulgarities, take this as a wave off. If not, you’re in for a ride. show less

I was expecting a book-long tract about atheism, but Jillette focuses on the "Other Magical Tales" section of the subtitle to mostly deliver a fine if fairly standard celebrity memoir stuffed with chatty anecdotes and ranty essays about libertarianism, terrorism, and Richard Nixon in addition to some bits about atheism. I agreed with some stuff, disagreed with some stuff, and was entertained throughout by the generous heaping of foul language and the wonderfully obscene way he has of show more expressing his thoughts and sharing parts of his life.

He admits to being an ass, and I probably wouldn't want to hang out with him in real life, but Jillette certainly is a person worth reading about. show less

I like Penn Jillette. Possibly more than I really should. The guy's an opinionated loudmouth, and I'm not generally a fan of opinionated loudmouths, even when I agree with what they're saying (and I do agree with Penn on a lot of things, though by no means all of them). Heck, it may be especially true when I agree with them, since I think being an opinionated loudmouth is more often than not counterproductive if you want to bring people around to your way of thinking.

But, somehow, Penn makes show more it work for him. It helps a lot that he's funny. It also helps that he's self-deprecating about his own obnoxiousness in a way that feels surprisingly genuine, cheerfully admitting that he's just some nut with a big mouth and there's no reason you should listen to him over anyone else and managing to give the impression that, far from wanting to browbeat people into submission or silence like most opinionated loudmouths, he'd be honestly delighted if you leapt into the argument and showed him that he was wrong about something. Even more than that, though, it's that he's just so full of exuberance. He comes across as a guy who is completely in love with life and thinks people are great even while he's in the middle of a full-bore, no-holds-barred, profanity-filled rant, which is honestly pretty impressive. Even when he ought to be annoying, I just find him weirdly lovable.

So, yes, I enjoyed this book. As the title suggests, there's a lot about religion (or, rather, against it) in this loose collection of essays, but he also talks about politics and showbiz and various other subjects, and shares a lot of personal stories. It is, at various points, hilarious, touching, goofy, dirty, and provocative, although whether it's provocative in a good way or a bad way probably depends a lot on the reader. I wouldn't recommend it to just anybody -- religious people will no doubt find it as offensive to their beliefs as it's meant to be -- but if you like Penn Jillette, there's a lot of him here to like. show less