Bad Grass Never Dies: The Sequel to Confessions of a Dangerous Mind [Paperback]

Chuck Barris (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 13, 2004

Good killers are hard to find. But the CIA has no trouble finding the legendary TV producer and game show king Chuck Barris. In Bad Grass Never Dies, Barris picks up the fast-paced intrigue in Hollywood, where his emotional life lies in ruins, his career careens out of control, and he can't get a break anyplace he turns. Then one day a high-ranking CIA boss appears unannounced on Barris' doorstep. The CIA needs the cooperation of a Mexican terrorist, and Barris is ordered to recruit the killer as a paid assassin. Complicating matters is the fact that this same assassin is responsible for the death of two of Barris' fellow operatives. What's to prevent him from facing the same fate on arrival in Mexico? Barris' beguiling humor and a crack-shot taxi driver hold the answer. The stakes continue to build in this eagerly awaited sequel from the author who dazzled and amused readers—and later movie audiences—with the publication of his first book of memoirs, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this sequel to Barris's 1984 (re-released in 2003) sleeper, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, the TV producer best known for his role as the wacky host of The Gong Show picks up where he left off. The misanthropic Barris can't seem to catch a break. The literary world won't accept him, the TV world has had enough, the press crucifies him for bringing TV into the gutter—and the CIA won't let him walk away from his side gig. Globetrotting at the behest of a new CIA contact, Barris continues his assassination work, this time with aplomb, quietly eliminating enemies ranging from a Mexican assassin to a Mideastern terrorist, and he finds a new love. Still, unlike Confessions, which offered a hilarious, at times unflinchingly personal examination of Barris's controversial TV career, his second attempt at "memoir" is in fact little more than a spy "novel." Luckily, Barris isn't a bad novelist. In fact, he is an accomplished, entertaining writer. But was Chuck Barris truly a CIA assassin? Part of the charm of Confessions was that Barris was cagey enough about his claim to entice readers to suspend disbelief, if not swallow the story. But with yet another memoir, many readers may find he's gone to the well once too often. Sorry, Chuck, your cover's been blown.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

In Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), flamboyant television producer Barris (The Gong Show) confessed to living a secret life as a hit man for the CIA. Whether his story was fact or fiction, it was a rip-roaring read, and this sequel is every bit as entertaining. It begins with Barris postponing his plans to retire from the assassination business in order to track down a Mexican terrorist, who was behind the murders of two of Barris' colleagues. Later, holed up in France, Barris comes up against a crooked biochemist bent on world domination. And so on. Although marketed as a memoir, the book reads like one of those thrillers that incorporate real events. But sometimes even the real stuff gets garbled, as when Barris claims that in 1978 he envied Oprah Winfrey and Tom Hanks, even though Oprah's talk show didn't go on the air until the mid-1980s, and Hanks was still doing regional theater in 1978. But who cares? So the book isn't believable as autobiography. It's a lot of fun anyway. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (May 13, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786713798
• ISBN-13: 978-0786713790
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #659,083 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't Gong this book!, July 27, 2004

By 

Gary Tallman "avid reader" (Tarzana, Ca USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bad Grass Never Dies: The Sequel to Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (Paperback)

This book and Confessions of A Dangerous Mind are both hybrid books. They run on fiction and non-fiction fuel and frankly you never know what is truth and what is at the very least an active imagination when it comes to Chuck Barris. I really read this book for the parts about Chuck's showbiz and personal life and I was not disappointed at all. I found myself furiously turning the pages to find out more about Chuck's bar-mitzvah ruse to forestall marriage plans to the lovely Becky Ballard. I could feel Chuck's angst as he kept putting Becky off yet knowing deep down he was fooling himself. The entire Hebrew school and bar-mitzvah section and its aftermath was truly riveting. The sections on the CIA serve their purpose in the story. They are brisk and fortunately don't break up the momentum the rest of the book has in store for you. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an entertaining reading experience.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not To Be Gonged!, March 5, 2005

By 

Robert I. Hedges - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bad Grass Never Dies: The Sequel to Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (Paperback)

"Bad Grass Never Dies", a sequel to the wonderful 1984 book "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," is more over the top than its predecessor, but still wildly entertaining. While "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" weaves an almost believable tale of a double life as "Gong Show" host and CIA assassin, this book is somewhat less plausible, yet it is very fast paced and filled with several twists that I didn't see coming. My favorite part of Barris' writing style is his character descriptions. He is one of the best at genuinely painting a picture of the characters so they totally come to life and can be readily visualized. I was particularly amused by the descriptions of Coulter Bean and all of the villains.

This book is foremost a first person spy novel, but also touches on a lot of other things such as aging and relationship traumas that are clearly more autobiographical for Barris. The interplay of the CIA assassin plot versus the aging TV producer are well balanced and poignantly nuanced.

Although I still prefer "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," I think it is worth five stars for sheer entertainment value. Great job, Chuck!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyed every minute of it., April 18, 2006

By 

Robert V. "animetal" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bad Grass Never Dies: The Sequel to Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (Paperback)

Growing up, some of my favorite memories are of my family laughing out loud by Chucks games shows. Now, through Confessions and Bad Grass, Chuck continues to do what he was born to do, which is entertain us.
This book was great. A page turner that made it one of those few "hard to put down" books. What is really great about it though is that Chuck found a way to involve us all in a game called "Did it really happen" In this game the contestant reads the book, and no matter what answer we give, we win. What fun.
Thanks Chuck. I had a great time.