Penn Jillette

Penn could have titled this "Sexual Adventurism as a Touring Magician" or even "I'm Libertarian and so can You!" That is, atheism is a continuous (invisible?) thread on really whatever Penn feels like recalling and opining on--which is great! He narrates it himself with gust and lets on a lot about his personal life. This was very entertaining.

This book isn't about the mechanics of cheating. It's instead about the process, the outlook, the lifestyle. It's a step by step walk in the life of a man with no ethics, no scruples, and no shame. The passing reference to how the first few times the guilt will make you want to retch, but with practice you'll get over it, is a crystalline summary of the entire book.

I felt dirty afterwards, and wanted to wash out my brain.

I recommend it, but be warned.

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