The Chris Farley Show

I will admit to approaching this book with some trepidation. After picking it up and glancing at it in the bookstore, I was worried it would be another “Live From New York.”

For those of you who don’t keep up on the “Saturday Night Live” books, “Live From New York” was basically a 656-page set of interviews with the cast and crew. While informative, it didn’t contain much of a narrative and frankly was a slog to work through.

Luckily, my fears were unfounded. “The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts” is an absolute must-have for any Farley fan. Released in May in paperback, it’s absolutely worth the price of admission.
For those of who grew up sharing Matt Foley’s fate of living in a van down by the river, show more the book is an eye-opener. Not only do we hear from the man the character was based on, Matt Foley, on Farley’s life, but we’re entreated to what amounts to a backstage pass into the life of our own comedian struck down too early by addiction.

Farley’s past is well-documented, from his time as a class clown through making his break onto “SNL.” It’s not difficult to see how Farley became the lovable oaf we all knew. His attitude in school is described as someone who will do anything to make sure people laugh – from grade school right on through Marquette University.

His acting chops and talent are revealed far more than they ever were on-screen. A truly genuine man, Farley is described as having the ability to act “honestly” – he didn’t need to rely on pratfalls and fat jokes, he was merely playing the part given to him.

The book is primarily constructed of interviews, and the insights revealed by David Spade, Alex Baldwin and his brothers are invaluable to understanding who he was and what he did. The book obviously cannot provide a complete picture of Farley, but it at least allows to place him in context.

Farley is a far more intricate and complicated man than most of us probably give him credit for. Even some of his best friends didn’t know how much humanitarian work he was involved in, though it was usually done one-on-one rather than just handing out money to random charities.

Fans probably remember the “Chris Farley Show” sketches, where Farley would pretend to be interviewing celebrities such as Jeff Daniels and Paul McCartney. The gag was that Farley would frequently become overcome with excitement and ask these celebrities to remember famous moments from their careers, following up with a question along the lines of “wasn’t that awesome?” Several “SNL” cast members said the Chris Farley depicted in those sketches was the most accurate Farley ever presented, on the small screen or in the movies: Innocent, eager and always trying to please.

It’s well known that Farley battled addiction most of his life, but what’s not as well known is how he dealt with it. For periods at a time he was completely sober, living clean and doing well. Then he would crash, and the cycle would start again. Toward the end of his life, he faked sobriety a number of times, but seemed to give up.

Books and stories are always supposed to end with a moral, something the reader can take away to apply in their everyday lives. While there are any number of life lessons and warnings one can glean from this book, there’s really only one you should pay attention to. In everything that he did, nearly every day of his life, Chris Farley always tried his best to make others laugh and brighten their day. And really, what more could you ask? show less

Chris Farley's career emerged and ended during my childhood, so I was never aware of his struggles. He was well loved and well paid, and neither aspect was enough to conquer his addictions. I do wish 'oral history' books like this would acknowledge the voices that are missing - I know not everyone will want to participate, but sometimes an unacknowledged absence can make you wonder (his mom and sister were missing, despite all the brothers participating). It highlighted the dominance of male voices in this book.

I found this book while browsing the bookstore one evening, and a single quote from Chris Rock grabbed me and would not let me go. (It pertained to the infamous "Chippendales" SNL sketch with Patrick Swayze, and the full quote inside the book is even more arresting than the blurb on the back jacket.) I knew that book was coming home with me.

I'd never considered myself a fan of Chris Farley, but I'd certainly thought him to be funny, often enough. What put me off about him was what my sister described as "his desperation to get a laugh...and that kind of desperation isn't funny, but sad." Too true. But Chris Farley seemed to have an abiding sweetness to his personality that was incredibly endearing, and this book that was co-authored by show more Chris' brother Tom is a thoroughly dimensional and lovingly-crafted portrait of a troubled, precious young man.

The book is structured almost exclusively from quotes from the people who knew and loved Chris, from all stages of his life. What I most appreciated was the wide range of people quoted throughout its pages - it served to make the reader feel that we had come to truly know someone that we'd previously 'known' in only the faultiest, most unreliable way possible: celebrity. This sense of coming to know Chris, for better and for worse, makes the reader feel his loss in new and deeper ways. I also appreciated the honesty from so many of those interviewed. The descriptions of how addicts wear down the people who love them was very helpful in seeking to understand how tragedies like this happen.

The rather unique structure of the book was eminently readable and, I felt, well put together. If this book lacks anything, I would say it is simply "more". There seems to be much more to Chris Farley's brief, sad life than even a generous book like this can cover. Delving deeper into the nature of addiction could have elevated this book to greater heights. My heart breaks for the people who loved him and lost him, and it is a sincere compliment when I say that a book like this makes the rest of us wish we'd known him, too.

ETA: Learning that Chris was to be the voice of "Shrek" and had recorded all or most of the first movie before his tragic death continues to choke me up. I wonder why the producer/directors of the Shrek movies did not extend the obvious honor to Chris Farley by naming one of the triplet "Shrek" babies after him. Instead, the names Felicia, Fergus and Farkle were used. Come ON! How perfect would it have been to name one of those baby ogres "Farley", instead? show less

This was a shocking book to read. I was looking forward to finding out more about Chris Farley before his untimely demise in 1997. Instead I found this book, published by Penguin, to be so-called family and former friends criticizing Farley from their own self-aggrandizing point of view. I’m in disbelief that Penguin actually published this grotesque biography. I would not recommend this book to anyone, out of respect to Chris Farley’s memory. Nevertheless I came away from this read with a greater respect for Farley’s spiritual issues, struggles, and energies.
Reading between the lines I actually gleaned a little bit about Farley’s career. The personal recollections of the contributors add little to understanding Farley and show more actually cancel each other out they are so bizarre and biased. The most shocking thing was the remarks by some Catholic clergy who spoke about personal matters in general which I consider to be a breach of confidential trust. All the people who contribute make the same errors in judgement. This is one quote from Fr. Tom Gannon, S.J.,”Chris didn’t feel that he was worthy of God’s love. He felt he had to prove himself. Well, you’re never going to get very far in any relationship with that kind of belief. Imagine if you had to prove yourself to your spouse every single day; that’s not the way love works. In all of our talks, that was the one thing I really tried to work with him on, adjusting to this different idea of faith, but he never really moved from one to the other. It’s hard. It takes a long time to come around to that way of thinking, and Christ just ran out of time. ”
It was very frustrating to read these friends of Chris talk about like they are medical/mental health care professionals because they knew other random people in treatment. These are not professionals and they don't speak from authority of experience. This is their own pious opinion.
This was another reason I couldn’t believe Penguin published this. Don’t read The Chris Farley Show if you actually work in the medical or recovery fields.
Just so everyone knows the facts, no one is perfect. Everyone has issues they need to work on. Some people have issues that are perilous and immediately need an intervention or psychiatric treatment. This carries a societal stigma to it but it shouldn’t it. Help to survive and to continue living is always the optimum goal regardless of the means by which it is accomplished. This book makes seeking help and treatment which Farley did himself many times seem to be irrelevant and a waste of time. This is not the case. Some treatment centers and facilities may not be the best occasion for every person but these professionals do try to help live a better life not held by addictions or dangerous behaviors. Recovery and treatment facilities are a necessary means for very dire situations where people corner themselves. In my opinion, hard work is conducted to benefit people willing to accept help. The Farley book tries to justify its tone by making a final reference to the newly founded Chris Farley Foundation. Legally that works but it doesn’t suffice from an ethical point of view. Working in ministry, I've learned that everyone is working on trying to understand themselves and their past experiences which may have caused emotional trauma.
The book begins with a referencing Bob Woodward’s book about John Belushi ‘Wired’. I’ve read this book and it was horrible in every way. Woodard was raked over the coals for this piece of biographical trash which Farley read and then saw some of himself in the first SNL’s star portrayal. This Chris Farley book then takes on the same bizarre and hateful form regarding Farley’s own life.
As a Catholic, Farley was religious and often went to church and to Mass. He came to church in Santa Monica before my assignment. I had heard he came to Mass in Santa Monica when I was working in Venice. Fr Rocha was most likely the priest who is mentioned in the book from Santa Monica although he was surely also acquainted with St Monica’s pastor.
Unique about the book were the photos of Chris which were good.
Fr. Matt Foley was the model for his Matt Foley Motivational Speaker character and is one of the few people who doesn’t badmouth Chris Farley nonstop. show less

I loved this book because it brings Chris back for me and will do that for anyone who reads it. I was fortunate enough to watch him when I was in high school when he was in his prime. I miss him and wish he knew how much he was loved. I'm very thankful this book was written...

Surprisingly good. Made me sad for him as he seemed to seek a genuine faith and was always looking for someone to really love him, but he couldn't escape the need to perform and please, to be a character that he knew people liked/expected. Very good.

I admit to loving Tommy Boy, I even loved Black Sheep, and I was horrified when Chris Farley died. I was not the pop culture follower then as I am now, so I didn't hear of his issues before his death. I always thought that his young death was such a shame, after reading this book, I know it was.

Told from the perspectives of those who knew him best, this is not your average biography. Fascinating and horrifying. The story of watching someone you love achieve their dreams and self destruct. Really a quick and good read.

Chris Farley, you are missed!