Review by Booklist Review
Comedian Andy Kaufman is suddenly big news, which is surprising considering he's been dead since 1983. First there was the book by his friend and collaborator, Bob Zmuda, Andy Kaufman Revealed! [BKL S 15 99]. Soon there will be a movie about Kaufman starring Jim Carrey. Zehme, who last wrote about Frank Sinatra in The Way You Wear Your Hat (1997), tries to capture the zaniness (or was it insanity?) that was Kaufman, but stylistically the book doesn't succeed. He uses an odd point of view, a cross between first and third person, and he tries to get inside Kaufman's head by calling the comedian's parents Mommy and Daddy and by injecting asides that may or may not have come from Kaufman or his writings. Instead of making readers feel what it was like to be the inventive, misunderstood, otherworldly star, the result is to call attention to how difficult it is to capture such a quixotic spirit. Zmuda's biography, written more traditionally, seems closer to Kaufman, perhaps because the writer knew him so well. With all the current media attention being lavished on Andy, however, there's reason to buy this one, too. Informative and obliviously well researched, the book will be waiting for patrons who come away from the movie wanting to know more. --Ilene Cooper
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Already the subject of Bob Zmuda's recent memoir, Andy Kaufman Revealed, the avant-garde comedian receives more straightforward treatment at the hands of journalist Zehme (The Way You Wear Your Hat). Yet while Kaufman's life may be open to scrutiny, cracking the weird intricacies of his personality and motives is another matter. Growing up in Great Neck, N.Y., the young Andy honed his performance skills by hosting children's birthday parties before striking gold on the New York comedy scene with his creation of Foreign Man, a sweet, bumbling immigrant who would bomb with a series of unfunny jokes ("Tenk you veddy much"), only to veer into an uncanny impersonation of Elvis Presley. The character landed Kaufman a recurring guest spot on Saturday Night Live and a benchmark role as Latka Gravas on the sitcom Taxi. Eventually, his obnoxious alter ego, lounge singer Tony Clifton, and Kaufman's obsession with taunting and wrestling women audience members spurred Saturday Night Live viewers to vote by a wide margin to kick Kaufman off the show in 1982. A year and a half later, he was dead at the age of 35, the victim of lung cancer. Through the entertaining recollections of numerous friends, colleagues and family members, Kaufman comes across as either a genius or a lunatic, most likely a bit of both. Unfortunately, Zehme's mannered writing style (on Kaufman's part-time busboy job: "Plus, he could do funny things in the course of a shift not to be funny no really") detracts considerably from what is otherwise a balanced portrayal of his tumultuous career. 36 b&w photos not seen by PW. Agent, Chris Calhoun, Sterling Lord Literistic. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Timed to coincide with the release of Milos Foreman's film about Kaufman, Man on the Moon, this biography of the elusive comedian seems definitive. It covers Kaufman's initial Saturday Night Live appearances and portrayal of Latka Gravas on the sitcom Taxi, as well as subsequent shenanigans on Late Night with David Letterman and elsewhere. Journalist Zehme (author of a Sinatra biography, The Way You Wear Your Hat) writes from interviews with Kaufman's family and associates and uses the comedian's letters to good effect. He relates Kaufman's childhood on Long Island, his junior-college years in Boston, and other lesser-known moments. His work is perfectly serviceable, and libraries might want to purchase so as to capitalize on the interest surrounding Man on the Moon.--Neal Baker, Earlham Coll., Richmond, IN (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A cartoonish biography of the eccentric comedian (currently the subject of a Milo-- Forman biopic starring Jim Carrey) whose edgy, humorless, often hostile performances were considered avant-garde when he died of cancer at age 35 in 1984. Following Andy Kaufman Revealed!, a memoir by Kaufman sidekick Bob Zmuda (1999), journalist and Sinatra biographer Zehme (The Way You Wear Your Hat, not reviewed) asks whether the comedian's bizarre characterizations, wrestling matches with women, and peculiar obsessions (transcendental meditation, Elvis Presley, chocolate ice cream, conga drums, sexual marathons with prostitutes) were the work of a rare, iconoclastic genius or the result of an undiagnosed mental illness. The answer, it would seem, is a little of both. In early childhood, Kaufman grew sullen when his Long Island mother gave some of her attention to his two younger siblings. Identifying with his showboating grandfathers and the heroes of children's TV programs, young Andy began to entertain at neighborhood birthday parties. His success, along with his enthusiasm for all things Elvis, brought him to Manhattan, where he emerged from the city's comedy clubs to practice his trademark annoying stunts. His reading of The Great Gatsby in an effete British accent, his inept "foreign man" (who later became Latka Grava on the TV sitcom Taxi), and his repugnant Las Vegas lounge-singer character shocked audiences who weren't sure whether what they were seeing was a bad act or subversively clever performance art. Zehme shows how Kaufman, not content with the fame his TV appearances brought him, alienated many who wanted to help him before he died--a nonsmoking victim of lung cancer--as his fame and fortune were ebbing. Funny and tragic, as any comedian's story must be--even if Zehme holds his subject at arm's length, implying that a closer look might be too unsettling for Kaufman's fans. (First serial excerpt rights to Rolling Stone) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
