Napalm & Silly Putty
by George Carlin (Author & Narrator)
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He's the inventor of Past-Tense TV (featuring 'Got Smart,' 'Father Knew Best,' and 'It Was Left to Beaver'); the tireless crusader for such charities as the Center for Research into the Heebie Jeebies, Children of Parents with Bad Teeth, and the State Hospital for Those Who Felt All Right About a Year Ago; founder of the George Carlin Book Club (top titles: 'How to Act Laid-Back During a Grease Fire,' 'Fill Your Life with Croutons,' and 'The Meaning of Corn'); and the only social commentator show more with the guts to point out that 'the day after tomorrow is the third day of the rest of your life.'Yes, George Carlin is back with more of what he does better than any other comic today: uproarious observations, laser-targeted crankiness, linguistic legerdemain, and inspired weirdness. ('If the shoe fits, get another just like it.' 'When you sneeze, all the numbers in your head go up by one.') Napalm another generous helping of notions, nonsense, assertions, assumptions, mockery, merriment, silliness, sarcasm, and, to be sure, plenty of disturbing references and toxic alienation. George wouldn't have it any other way. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
So, tell me, what did you expect from a book in which George Carlin just riffs? You were expecting, maybe, Dostoyevsky? You thought there would be a calm, tranquil, cognizant discussion of life as we live it? You imagined a hint of civility and sanity?
Wrong.
This is Carlin being Carlin. That means often it is hilarious, often it is brash, and often it is a bit too much. So, that meant that I laughed often (even out loud). But it also meant that, often, I knew what he was trying to do, but it just wasn’t hitting. And a little too often there were times I heard my inner critic saying “Next!”
There will be people who read this that will be insulted, affronted, disgusted, not real happy. So, understand your tolerance before diving in. show more Understand that you will be assaulted. Understand that George Carlin will always be George Carlin (never accepting a role of doing the Hippy Dippy Weatherman over and over.)
If you can’t take it, don’t try it.
But, for those of us who know what we are getting into, and enjoy that same thing, then this is an entertaining (if occasionally uneven), voyage. That’s what happens when you throw George Carlin against the wall to see what sticks. show less
Wrong.
This is Carlin being Carlin. That means often it is hilarious, often it is brash, and often it is a bit too much. So, that meant that I laughed often (even out loud). But it also meant that, often, I knew what he was trying to do, but it just wasn’t hitting. And a little too often there were times I heard my inner critic saying “Next!”
There will be people who read this that will be insulted, affronted, disgusted, not real happy. So, understand your tolerance before diving in. show more Understand that you will be assaulted. Understand that George Carlin will always be George Carlin (never accepting a role of doing the Hippy Dippy Weatherman over and over.)
If you can’t take it, don’t try it.
But, for those of us who know what we are getting into, and enjoy that same thing, then this is an entertaining (if occasionally uneven), voyage. That’s what happens when you throw George Carlin against the wall to see what sticks. show less
Hilarious musings, much after my own heart. He's like a dirty (make that filthy) Jerry Seinfeld. I'll now go get my hands on the rest of his books. He only wrote four, so I'll be done with those lickety-split.
The cover promises "quips, probes, thrusts, screeds, japes, taunts, insults, musings, harangues, verbal ordeals, joy, anger, wonder, confusion, wisdom, hostility, innocence, impudence, reflection, and semantic distortion." That about sums it up. If you've heard Carlin's stage material, you don't need this book, because that's all that's in it.
Pretty much just what you'd expect out of Carlin. Hilarious, rude, irreverent, occasionally obscene. Some parts make you think, others just make you laugh. A very entertaining read.
The exact same as "Brain Droppings" - his stand up routine as an audio book. This has one big advantage to listening to his live show, no one else laughing, just me, when I think it's funny. No laughter drowning out the first part of the next joke, either. It's fun to listen to & made my commute so much nicer.There was some over lap in material from "Brain Droppings", but not much. Mostly there were similar forms; top ten lists, what really bothers him & poking fun at sayings, people & things. It's worth getting out of the library, but I don't think I'll want to listen to it again for a decade or so.
I listened to the audio of this as well... And even though it rehashed a lot of the same topics as 'When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?', I liked this one better. It was more like a stand-up routine and less like a really bad Mad TV episode. Plus this was actually funny. Good enough for me. :)
I had this sitting on my shelf for quite a while and never picked it up. While I was sorting through my books recently I decided it was time to read it. As usual Mr. Carlin's sense of humour is amazing. He has some profound thoughts on many subjects and expresses them with typical George Carlin sense of humour. His death was definitely a loss to contemporary comedy.
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Author Information
Comedian George Carlin was born on May 12, 1937 in Bronx, New York. He began his career at age 19 at the KJOE radio station in Louisiana. After making numerous appearances on TV, Carlin moved to radio and produced two albums, Take-Offs and Put-Ons, and FM & AM, which won a Grammy Award and was the first of four albums in a row to go gold. One of show more his best known routines was Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television. After performing this routine in Milwaukee in 1972, he was arrested for disturbing the peace and it also led to an indecency case after WBAI-FM radio aired it in 1973. Carlin also wrote three books and appeared on television and in movies. Besides his four Grammy Awards for best spoken comedy album, he was nominated for five Emmys. In 2002, Carlin was awarded the Freedom of Speech Award by the First Amendment Center in cooperation with the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado, and he was the named 11th recipient of The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in June of 2008. George Carlin passed away at age 71 on June 22, 2008 in Santa Monica, California. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2001
- Epigraph
- Many native traditions held clowns and tricksters as essential to any contact with the sacred. People could not pray until they had laughed, because laughter opens and frees from rigid preconception. Humans had to have tric... (show all)ksters within the most sacred ceremonies lest they forget the sacred comes through upset, reversal, surprise. The trickster in most native traditions is essential to creation, to birth.
--Professor Byrd Gibbons, Professor of English, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, From a letter to the author
Those who dance are considered insane by those who can't hear the music.
--Anon.
If you can't dance you fuck a lot of waitresses.
--Voltaire
Sometimes gum looks like a penny.
--Sally Wade - Dedication
- To sweet Sarah Jane, the keeper of my magic.
- First words
- Hi, reader.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"That's the second time I got that one."
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- 1,669
- Popularity
- 13,312
- Reviews
- 20
- Rating
- (3.79)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 14
- UPCs
- 2
- ASINs
- 9