Customer Reviews

American Scream: The Bill Hicks Story

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I fall into the "fanatical" camp when it comes to Bill Hicks. He's still the greatest comedian I've ever heard and his material has made a lasting impact on me ever since I first heard his albums when I was 18. Considering how Bill was so enthralled with the legacy left behind by Hendrix, The Stones etc I think it quite ironic that Bill, to me, is probably MORE 'rock and roll' than any one of them...

But anyway, the fact remains that fans have pretty much been starved of ANY new Bill material for years, and despite his growing cult status there are still just the same albums and videos around on the market.

So for other Hicks fans like myself, whether this biography is good or bad is largely irrelevant - we'll buy it regardless. But for those who haven't yet invested in a copy I would make the following comments...

Overall this book is a detailed and interesting account of Bill's life but it won't blow you away. It maps Bills life in quite good detail from an early age - some periods more interesting than others, and it certainly begins to pick up steam by the time it reaches 1990 (or, roughly, around the time Bill records "Dangerous") a period I think that should have taken up a greater chunk of the book.

Unfortunately I found True's style of writing to be quite matter-of-fact, and the lack of emotional involvement does make the book rather dry and often unengaging. I don't question True's credentials, but the feeling that were someone else given the same information who was perhaps as passionate about Bill as Bill was about, well....everything, then a better more vivid book would have been written.

Ultimately, it's a worthy addition to a far too small canon.

...and I really miss the guy.

I never knew about Bill Hicks during his lifetime, and when I did finally stumble upon one of his albums a few years ago, it floored me that this genius had died of pancreatic cancer in 1994, and wouldn't produce any more material, while hack comics would put out barely-40 minute sets of their reworked material for years to come on Leno and HBO. So I've spent the last few years trying to dig up every shard I could on Hicks, and I was glad when True's book came out.

As far as a third-person biography, this isn't bad. Cynthia True did manage to do some research with friends and family, and put together a decent timeline of Bill's life. The detail on his childhood were especially interesting to someone who had only listed to the Hicks discography: stories of him doing standup at 14, hanging out with his friend Dwight and alternating between meditation workshops, planning their escape to LA, trying to get gigs as amateur comedians at talent shows in Houston, and putting together an infamous high-school band called Stress, which had a lot of mythology, but no real gigs.

The book does a good job of covering the rise of Hicks' comedy career, from the rough times in LA to the national circuit as comedy clubs took off in the 80s, to Bill's alcoholism and almost self-destruction on the road. It's strange to read about all of the ties he had to now-household names, from Seinfeld to Leno to Denis Leary (who ripped off a bunch of Hicks' jokes in his own act).

It's a page-turning read to find out more about the rise of this workaholic, who was trying to get TV shows written and books outlined pretty much to the end. After his rise from the dysfunctional nuclear family to the point where everyone recognized that he wasn't a hack comedian as much as social commentator that could simultaneously make an audience love, hate, fear, and worship him, he starts getting a lot of breaks, including cult audiences in the UK, and the ever-infamous time Letterman edited him out of a Late Night appearance, adding even more fuel to the fire

This book is well-written, even though any third-person biography suffers from a certain "information wall". But I think this will be a very valuable addition to my Hicks collection.

A lot of the people trashing this book are die hard Hicks fans that feel the book isn't up to the same standard that Bill's comedy is, and they are completely correct. The author isn't a great writer, by any means. That doesn't mean the book isn't worth reading, though. Even though the writing is mediocre at best, the material is top notch. The biggest hack in the world could write about Hicks, and it would be worth reading, because he is that interesting. And one compliment I can give this author, is she is obviously a fan. She wrote this book lovingly, and it makes the ending of this book and his life that much sadder. If you're a Hicks fan, it's a must read. It's still very enjoyable. I look forward to a better BIO one day, but I could definitely live with this one.

I have been a Bill Hicks fan ever since my best friend turned me onto a few pieces of his routine. Since then, I've purchased every released CD and collected as much material as possible. I have to admit that I was a bit wary of my purchase of this book once I actually started looking at the reviews.

I'm not sure what was wrong with some of the other reviewers... I found this book absolutely stunning. It is well written and very informative.

There is but one point where I disagree with the author. She claims that identifying the life of Bill Hicks as a tragedy is missing the point. I started out thinking his life was a tragedy, read her book, and now I see it as an even bigger tragedy.

Nevertheless, she's written a very good book, and I can't help but recommend it to anyone with respect for the man.

I only wished that the book could have been three times as long with most every detail of Bill's life revealed, but that's living in dream world. What we have here is a labour of love from writer Cynthia True, who does a very good job research wise and keeps the reader turning pages, falls just a bit short with the subject she had to work with. Because of the book's rather short length (this is no Albert Goldman doorstop) many of the details of Hick's life seemed to be glossed over. This only occured to me after several readings of the book. After the first reading I was satisfied, but alas, Bill Hicks was so interesting I just want more, more, more. There's commentary from nearly all of Bill's friends from childhood to his last years, and many of his comedian friends step up to tell a bit about Bill. American Scream, albeit a fine read about Bill Hicks, ultimately doesn't capture the sheer greatness of the man's body of work and doesn't really try and get into the mind of Hicks, maybe this purposeful (it probobly was), but Hicks, just like Lennon and McCartney, Lenny Bruce, and Elvis, was a mind well worth delving deep into.

"American Scream" has received a number of mixed reviews. Some call Ms. True a talentless hack. Other think this a nice look into Bill's personal life. It's somewhere in between.

I have to address my unhappiness with the work firstly. Some people say that it wasn't well written. It's not bad to the point of using monosyllabic words or run-on sentances. It merely reads like a first draft. A lot of ideas seem to lead nowhere. Some information isn't organized as well as it could be. For instance, early on it is stated that Bill admired Jay Leno. If you've heard "Rant in E-Minor", you'll hear Bill calling him a "corporate shill" and unfunny and wishing for his death. Why, then the change? I expected the insight to come in somewhere around the time "Rant" was recorded, but it was revealed much later on. And if the exchange between Bill and Jay hadn't had a linear-storytelling aspect of it, it might have been lost. That sort of thing was what was really missing: what inspired Bill. We never find out what sparked his goverment paranoia or his hate of corporations. He just "does".

As for the story itself, we get an event-listing of Bill's life. Where he went, what he did, who he was with. That's about it. Not that it's bad, it's lacking. Cynthia failed to get into the mindset of Bill, what was driving him. At most she would say things like "Bill felt he had to get this done". But never WHY.

The real merit of the book is that Ms. True peppers it with media Bill was consuming at the time. Fans all know about his affinity for Hendrix and his love for the works of Terrance McKenna, but how many knew he was a Heinlein or a Dylan fan? True lists specific books, CDs and movies Bill liked which, for someone like me, is helpful for coming to "know" the man.

All-in-all, if you're looking for the ninety-second version of Bill's life, or simply more Bill, pick this up. Completists, you don't need any motivation, pick this up. The only people who should avoid this are: casual comedy fans and casual literay fans; you'll only care about the material if you have a drive.

If you're looking for a funnier and better written (by his closest friend) of another "Comedian" (a song and dance man!), pick up "Andy Kaufman: REVEALED", by Bob Zmuda. It's hilarious, poignant, and deep.

The parts of this book treating of Bill Hicks's childhood are densest and most well-researched; the biography dries out in his adulthood, mostly giving accounts of who Hicks did certain things with, &c., with patches and spans of time (perhaps when Hicks was on his Flying Saucer Tours?) quickly summarised or seeming to be missing. Maybe Hicks as an adult is harder to keep track of, but I was eager to read of those dark patches when he was on the road, not just the times he was in Los Angeles or New York or Chicago!

And I will say with regret that this book is not very funny. One unfortunate effect of transcribing spoken-word humour is the humour's flattening-out in between the quotation marks on the page, and losing inflection. I found myself _not_ laughing at segments of Hicks's act that have always made me laugh in past. There are some laughs here, but they are fewer and farther between than many people might hope, so don't expect a laugh riot.

Eventually I would like to read a biography of Hicks that goes deeper into his intellectual/spiritual development (tracking his reading list was great fun). Maybe his friends are saving their best "material" for such an effort?

However many small quibbles I have, of course I miss the man, and anything that for a few moments helps me forget that he is no longer among us makes me happy. If you are a Bill Hicks fan, absolutely get this book for yourself.

You really get the feeling this started with the phrase "Honey, who can I write about for school? My teacher said I can't do Jewel again."

The research is great and all, and the paragraphs are neatly indented, I guess, but I really can't recommend this book and it pisses me off. There is a GREAT book waiting to be written about Hicks, IF someone who had a passing familiarity with comedy would write it. This woman really gives the impression she has heard of comedy before, maybe at a Christmas party, and plans to get around to checking it out someday...when she finishes her thesis.

Asking Janeane Garafalo to write the foreword is another awesome example of a comic's bio being written by an ambitious student. Garofalo pretty much starts with "I don't know why they asked me to write this since I never met Bill Hicks or really heard any of his stuff, but I like cashing cheques, so...". It just seems like the kind of thing Ms. True thought up for "star power", when anyone who is even mildly familiar with Hicks can name at least a dozen people more qualified.

Anyways, The pictures are great and like I said, really good paragraph indentation. I'm sure she got an A.

I am a HUGE fan of Bill Hicks. I got his first 4 CDs the same week when I discovered him. As a Hicks fan ANYTHING about him is great...

But while I know more about Hicks now than I did before there is a lot wrong with this book. There are some ridiculous errors. I'm not sure that Somy was in the video game business when Bill was going strong, but apparently he liked Nintendo Playstation. So the book was not really proof read. Additionally as someone else pointed out a LOT of the book comprises of quoting Bill's routines verbatim from his first 4 CD's (the one he oversaw).

That is not the biggest crime however. The worst thing this book does is gloss over EVERYTHING. There are hardly any insightful comments from those close to Bill. People recount events, but there is very little of the little things. I think you would be hard pressed to say you know the man much better. It is a whiplash account. For example Bill proposes marriage to a woman and after initiating this topic the author drops it like a hot potato. While the people are involved are entitled to their privacy, to bring up something like that requires it be finished. Bill didn't start a premise on stage without seeing it through. I wish the author showed the same determination and conviction.

Ultimately this is a fluffy, pop read. It is fact at times so shallow as to be the very kind of book Bill would despise. It's a little hard to feel it's more than cashing in on the fact that this is THE book on Bill Hicks. We have no alternative but must we settle for mediocrity? Would Bill let us?

Informative facts provided by Dwight Slade (childhood friend). I had a problem with the foreword...Janeane Garofalo? Wouldn't her work with Denis Leary disqualify her from any association to Bill Hicks? Perhaps the author could've found someone who knew him. By the way, the Groucho Marx joke Garofalo took credit for does not apply to this subject. If she needed to rip off a Marx joke, maybe "Humor is reason gone mad" would've been more appopriate. Or this one, "from the moment I picked your book up until I laid it down, I was convulsed with laughter. Some day I intend to read it." American Scream: The Bill Hicks Story