Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

"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!

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.

First of all, Mr. Barris needs to stop drinking or doing drugs. He is blending famous people from later decades into the story line. Charles Barkley was probably in high school in 1978 but Chuck drops his name as though he was a famous pro basketball player in 78. Oprah Winfrey, had no idea who she was prior to 1986, yet she is also referenced as a famous person in 78. I know I am nitpicking here, however, reading a work of fiction requires a certain suspension of disbelief and Mr Barris ruins any hope through bad time distortion.

One-time game show producer/host Chuck Barris becomes CIA hired assassin "Sunny Sixkiller" who sells his TV Empire for gazillions. Gazillionaire Barris moves to the French Riveria while keeping his moonlighting job as CIA hit man. I admit I believed Barris' tale in the first outing "Dangerous Minds" could be legitimate, but I saw the light this time. What was his #1 downfall? Professionals know their tools and there are two flaws in his firearms facts a real pro would never make. He writes of a "Walther PBK" but probably meant the Walther PPK. Yes that could be a typo. Then he names a "Stechkin revolver" with silencer as his favored weapon for "close work." Only one revolver is silencable and it isn't a Stechkin. Only the Belgian "Nagant" revolver can be effectively silenced, it's been out of production for about 50 years & is hardly concealable. Downfall #2, Barris' CIA control agent is ex-NY Yankee pitcher Colter Bean who would be at least 55 years old now. In reality Colter Bean was called up from the minors to pitch for the Yankees during the 2004 season. Yes it could be Colter Bean, Jr., but that would just be too big a coincidence. Barris has a gift for suspense and adventure writing and this might be his most enjoyable and zippy read yet. However, I'm convinced he invented the entire CIA angle which makes me wonder about the rest. Too bad Barris wasted so much time writing autobiographies. He obviously has a gift for fiction and could have been a top fiction writer instead of issuing serial autobiographical hoaxes

I enjoyed the book, realizing full well that the CIA part is fictional. Some examples that shoot out as fiction. He mentions the Mexican assassin as being involved with the "Sandies" and Contras in the mid- 1970's, before the existence of the Contras, and before the Sandinistas had achieved power in Nicaragua, a time when they clearly were not a high priority for CIA activity. Also, he mentions a conversation with his alleged target in 1994, the Eygptian bio-terrorist, in which he refers to the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995. He speaks of the Brader Meinhof gang, (could be typo) instead of the Baader Meinhof gang, and mentions one of them being from East Germany. To my knowledge all of them were from West Germany. Also, he mentions a mythical Baader Meinhof take over of the US consulate in Munich, which never happened. Also, he talks about a Haitian agent for the Soviets and Cubans in the mid-1990's, when the Soviet Union no longer existed. Clearly, Barris doesn't know a whole lot about politics, and this constantly blows his cover. Still, the book is a fun read, as long as you take it with a huge grain of salt, and realize that it is at least part-novel. The part about the Madison avenue synagogue Rabbi is so over the top one wonders about that as well, but again, fact or fiction, it makes for a good read.

Good book. I just want to comment on David L. Vasser's review where Barris names a "Stechkin revolver" with silencer as his favored weapon for "close work." Only one revolver is silencable and it isn't a Stechkin.
I did some research and found that in the 1980's a modification of APS, known as APSB (silenced APS) was adopted to use with external silencer and a special butt-stock (not a heavy wooden holster, but a metal butt-stock much like one used with many modern SMG's).