Seth Rogen

I don't know why, but I was really drawn to this book. I'm not a Seth Rogen fan. I don't know much about him other than his stupid laugh, he's known for his drug use, and he's part of the James Franco, Jonah Hill, Judd Apatow group. But for some reason, this book drew me in.

First the negative: The language is pretty rough. I should have known considering the movies Rogen is famous for, but it's a whole lot cursing. Drug use is talked about and endorsed heavily. I will say, I heard some well show more thought-out, intelligent arguments in favor of marijuana and shrooms that I have not heard before, so that was interesting.

The positives: Seth Rogen is a pretty smart guy. This isn't a book going through each movie and getting them made and becoming famous. This is a book about a guy who enjoys his friends, loves movies, loves drugs, and is awed by the fact he gets to meet famous people and make movies. Some of his stories are funny, some are wild, and he tells some interesting stories about meeting George Lucas, Nicolas Cage, and Eddie Griffin.

These stories give insight to who Rogen is and how he thinks. He talks about being Jewish and having to deal with antisemitism, growing up in Canada, Jewish summer camp. He shows understanding for Kanye and his mental illness while at the same time, wishing he would shut up. That part is pretty funny to me. He speaks a lot about his movie The Interview and national problems it caused, issues with the movie studios, and holding to his creative integrity.

It's a fun book I'm glad I read. I definitely appreciate Rogen more as a person and creator. show less

A collection of essays on a variety of topics, from weird celebrity interactions to drug use to Jewish summer camp in Canada by the well-known actor, writer, and funny man. I enjoyed this on audio, read by Rogen himself with lots of cameos from oyher famous people. As with any collection, some pieces were better than others, and I especially enjoyed his stories about his childhood in Vancouver.

3.75 stars

Road trip audiobook!

And nothing makes a long drive zip by like laughing your head off most of the way. And, bonus, the book was exactly as long as the drive!

I'm not a huge Seth Rogen fan or anything, but the few movies of his that I have seen are usually okay. This book is much, much better though, loaded with humorous anecdotes from his life as a preteen stand-up comedian through the international incident created by his film about Kim Jong Un, The Interview. And the audiobook includes 80+ show more supporting voices backing up Rogen's narration -- from family and childhood friends to celebrity pals -- turning some sections into little comic sketches.

Rogen makes for an excellent traveling companion.

FOR REFERENCE:

Contents: Bubby and Zaidy -- Bonanza -- Sons of Commandment -- The Karate Yid -- Pornographic Entertainment -- Yearbook -- The Mohel -- An Evening at the Improv -- Firing Ray -- Amsterdam -- Drinking in L.A. -- 2012 -- Angry Whopper -- Face/Off -- Rhymin' and Stealin' -- Hacks -- Tigers!!!!!! -- Verification -- Xenu -- Acid -- Woz and the Magic Castle -- Jewish Summer Camp -- Acknowledgments

The YEARBOOK audio full cast features Seth Rogen, with Vikas Adam, Jason Alexander, MacLeod Andrews, Eric B. Anthony, James Anthony, Tom Antonellis, Brian Arens, Dan Aykroyd, Ike Barinholtz, Noah Bentley, Buzz Blackburn, Cassandra Campbell, Alan Carlson, Hannah Choi, Tommy Chong, Sacha Baron Cohen, Lise Coyle, Nick Damiani, Lauri Jo Daniels, Inés del Castillo, Sabina Demidovich, Giordan Diaz, James DiGiacomo, Snoop Dogg, Andrew Fetherolf, Dylan Frankel, Jono Freedrix, Elan Garfias, Lee Goettl, Evan Goldberg, Michel Gondry, Christopher Grove, Simon Helberg, Hillary Huber, Kyle Hunter, Billy Idol, Ray James, Lori Ada Jaroslow, Gregory Jones, Jim Kaplan, Vincent Kartheiser, Terrence Kidd, Ami Korn, Nick Kroll, David Krumholtz, Helen Laser, Raymond J. Lee, Darryl Lenox, Teri Linden, Eric Jason Martin, Katharine Lee McEwan, Miles Meili, Todd Menesses, Scott Miller, Raymond Ochoa, Gaye Pardo, Ronald Peet, Jay Pharoah, Mark Pooley, Will Reiser, Andrew Rich, Christopher Paul Richards, Danya Rogen, Lauren Miller Rogen, Mark Rogen, Sandy Rogen, Tara Sands, Paul Scheer, Samba Schutte, James Scofield, Wesley Scott, Jason Segel, Ariel Shaffir, Mike Shapiro, Rob Shapiro, James Sie, Martin Starr, Nick Thurston, Kiff VandenHeuvel, Byron Wagner, Paul-Mikél Williams, and Mirron Willis. show less

Yearbook is a funny biographical book written by Seth Rogen. It goes through his childhood, his religion, his family, and more. I did not expect Seth Rogen to be such a good writer but the stories that he tells are hilarious. It is definitely not for everyone but I enjoyed it quite a lot. There are also some illustrations every few pages that contribute to the reading experience.