Cheech & Chong: The Unauthorized Autobiography [Hardcover]

Tommy Chong (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 12, 2008

In The I Chong, Tommy Chong chronicled his experience of being made into an example by the Bush administration. Now he's ready to take a nostalgic look at the comedy duo of Cheech and Chong, the unlikely pair that found huge success in the 1970s and '80s with a renowned stand-up routine, a series of popular comedy albums, and a string of hit movies that includes the classic Up in Smoke, which remains one of Warner Brothers' highest-grossing films. In Cheech and Chong, Chong takes readers on a revealing and hilarious journey through Cheech and Chong's smoke-hazed world, from their first meeting at a Vancouver comedy club to their massively successful comedy tours, covering the making of Up in Smoke, the duo's less than amicable separation, their highly-publicized reunion in 2005, and beyond. It will also feature Chong's musings on marijuana, and the "power of the pot." The I Chong was a spiritual exploration of Chong's time in prison, while Cheech and Chong is a nostalgic look at the entire career of the original stoner comedians who became countercultural heroes. The I Chong was a political indictment of eroding civil liberties in American society, and Cheech and Chong is an authentication of what it was like creating their cult classics, including Up in Smoke, the 12th highest-grossing film of 1978. The I Chong included timely observations on combating the conservative political powers at work in this country, whereas Cheech and Chong is an evocative examination of a time when rebellion reigned supreme and "the power of the pot" had a major social impact. Keenly insightful and utterly candid, Chong provides a fascinating glimpse into the pair's unique working and personal relationship and astonishing career--and into the free love and drug culture movements that they reflected and ultimately, helped to define.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Tommy Chong is a sixty-eight-year-old writer and director, best known as half of the legendary comedy duo Cheech and Chong. The pair found a wide audience through their stand-up routines, comedy albums, and popular films about the hippie, free-love, and (especially) drug culture movement. A father of five, Chong lives with his wife, Shelby, in California and performs with her at comedy clubs across the country. This is his first book.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Gallery Books; 1st Simon Spotlight Entertainment Hardcover Ed edition (August 12, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416953450
• ISBN-13: 978-1416953456
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,069,859 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good reading for C&C fans, September 23, 2008

By 

John C. Card "J Card" (Visalia CA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cheech & Chong: The Unauthorized Autobiography (Hardcover)

Chong provides a very interesting walk through his life and career and tells some good "behind the scenes" stories, but I would have liked more detail in certain areas. More info on how they made the movies and albums would have been nice. It would also have been interested to hear Cheech's side of some of the stories, but it is understandable why that isn't in there. Still, it is a very entertaining read overall.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Smoking is Back, January 7, 2009

By 

Benjamin Castanier "Bsegalz" (Ann Arbor, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cheech & Chong: The Unauthorized Autobiography (Hardcover)

With the re-emergence of pot-smoking based humor in mainstream America as seen in such box office and T.V. hits as Pineapple Express, Harold & Kumar go to Guantanomo Bay and The70s Show, one can only help to remember when Cheech & Chong literally blazed the way with their weed-smoking antics on-stage and on film. In the past few years a recent trend has appeared all over the best-seller list; recovering drug addicts baring their souls in tell all memoirs that talk of regret, pain, and death (One Million Little Pieces by James Frey, The Night of the Gun by David Carr, Broken by William Cope Meyers).

Tommy Chong's recent release of The Unauthorized Biography of Cheech & Chong definitely doesn't fit into the recent mold of drug memoirs but is more of an entertaining flashback that takes the reader on a journey from the roots of the entertainers to the triumphant days of Cheech & Chong and finally to the separate individuals Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong as most of the younger generation of America knows them by currently.

Tommy Chong delivers ½ (Cheech Marin doesn't provide any input) of an autobiographical story of the two comedians passage from weed pioneers to wealthy and famous celebrities complete with the inevitable scandals and conflicts. Chong relives the improbable fairy tales where the two were without a dime in their pockets and relegated to performing in dingy clubs for payments in cheap bar food to their eventual explosion onto the Hollywood scene in which marijuana humor became their staple.

Although for the majority of the book, the reader is regaled with the fun-loving, pain free pot-toking memories of the past; this autobiography of the happy go lucky potheads isn't without intimate moments. Cheech decides that the one-sided marijuana comedy act that brought them into national stardom wasn't his thing anymore and mainstream acting would be exactly where his career should lead (Nash Bridges). This attitude coupled with other disagreements between the two begins the rift that eventually leads to their split. Tommy Chong continues to concentrate on stoner humor and eventually gets sent to prison for the exact thing he became famous for, pot.

In Cheech & Chong:The Unauthorized Autobiography, Tommy Chong explores the best and worst of times of the already unforgettable pothead duo of Cheech and Chong. This memoir has been released just in time for...wait for it...the REUNION of Cheech and Chong. The two are on a nation wide reunion comedy tour that will stop by in Detroit on September 20 at the Fillmore

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but no laughs, October 17, 2009

By 

M. Mayer (Shelby Twp, MI) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cheech & Chong: The Unauthorized Autobiography (Paperback)

Being a fan from my younger days I found Tommy Chongs bio an interesting read. However, I really was a little let down because there were no good laughs. I was hoping for more humor and more detailed stories of partying with celebrities. Some photos would have been nice too.