Customer Reviews

I Drink for a Reason

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

First of all, I have to admit I'm a rabid David Cross fan, seeing all his movies (yes, even Alvin and the Chipmunks) and collecting all of this stand-up cd's including bootlegs where I couldn't pay for them otherwise. This book came out on my birthday, and it was at the top of my list for gifts my g/f could give me. She preordered it, and gave it to me on my birthday.

I was stoked to read it in the downtime while we were on vacation, only to be highly disappointed. There are numerous, and I mean numerous, spelling and grammatical errors in the book, to the point of distraction. A professional publishing house should be appalled at the level of errors made.

The book itself starts off funny, but then dissolves into list after pointless list, some taking up 3-5 pages of nonsense. Some sections are written as (unfunny) fictional characters. I found myself skimming over large parts of the book. Example: "Eleven Vitamins You Will Have in Limbo: B12, C, K, C+, D-," etc. This is all in a vertical list, double spaced, meaning the list of letters took up a whole page. On stage, in Cross's voice, hilarious. In a book, it's filler status.

I don't need a tell-all bleeding heart story about Cross's life, but a little more insight into what makes him David, life on the road as a comic, and even mundane Hollywood observations would have been fantastic. All I ended up with was what seems to be a collection of things previously written, numerous pointless lists, and a very few gems (the open letter to Larry the Cable guy is hilarious, but also freely available on Cross's website). Hell, I found more humor and insight from David in the Mr. Show book (a fantastic buy). All in all, it seems pretty lazy. If you must have this, at least purchase it used and save yourself a few dollars. David, what gives?

I've long been a fan of all that is David Cross. If you were to ask me who my favorite comedian is, my immediate and unqualified response would be "David Cross." I own pretty much all of the Mr. Show-related material which has been released, all of David's comedy albums & DVDs, and I've seen David's stand-up act live (which was amazing). So you can imagine that I've been quite excited about the release of this book.

Boy, was I ever disappointed. There are definitely some laugh-out-loud moments in this book (and an unexpected mention of an old friend during the "free list of quirks"), but on the whole it's an uneven work which was very, VERY poorly edited. When I'm paying good money for a professionally-produced book, I expect it to be professionally edited, not filled with the kinds of grammatical mix-ups and misspellings you'd expect from a high-school dropout's job application at McDonald's (page 87: "Mormans," for instance. They apparently didn't even run a spellchecker on this thing before shipping it off to the printer). I'm sure that some people will be quick to point out numerous grammatical errors I've made in my review, but as I'm not producing this in any sort of professional capacity, they can bite my shiny leather grammar Nazi goosesteppers.

I can't say that I hated this book, because I didn't, but overall it proved to be extremely unsatisfying on several levels.

There is a long tradition of comedy being rooted in anger and a long history of comics who do well with sets that play like primal scream therapy. The humor that arises is usually gut-wrenchingly funny, because a good portion of the audience can relate. They're frustrated by the same things as the man or woman on stage.

What happens when the comedian hates every thing and every one and tells you so with anger, contempt, and a sense of superiority? How long can you spend in a atmosphere of rage and condescension? Even if you can see that the person is genuinely intelligent and creative, and happens to generally agree with you on a number of issues, how long before you want to escape?

David Cross is brilliant in many ways, but reading his book was a slog. I like pointed humor, but his dislike of mostly everything he encounters and repetition of his top dislikes made this an almost joyless affair. There were times I chuckled or appreciated a turn of phrase, but mostly I just wondered what he actually liked and if I could make it through to the end.

Instead of taking on a topic or dislike, riffing on it, and moving on, he kept going back to the well with his comments often not even being humorous, but just bitter. The funny thing is that at one or two points he acknowledges that people see him as condescending and superior.

Were there good moments? Yeah. He did a piece on Larry the Cable Guy and showed him for a snake oil salesman. There are lines when he skewers people or institutions that are astute and brilliant, but I found myself having to take breaks from this to read things that where the author likes people, and has the occasional positive.

Cross is a smart guy and funny in shows and skits, but this book doesn't make him seem the least bit likable. Even for someone familiar with Cross and a fan of Mr. Show and Arrested Development, this was not a good read.

Wow, tough crowd. This book doesn't suck so much folks. No, it is not a timeless masterpiece. That would be Cross's performance as Happy Time Harry and Bert Banana. Nothing will top that. EVER. The negative reviews reflect a very, very high standard these thoughtful and devoted fans have for their comic hero. They make good points. I'd agree the audio version is actually a good way to go cause the material just sounds funnier being read aloud by the comic that wrote them and Cross's voice for some reason is funny to me. Lots of funny parts in this book, but I'd say the open letter to Larry the Cable Guy and the pieces like on Mary J. Blige's public statement that "God Wants Me To Bling" are worth the purchase of the book, especially if you're a fan of David Cross.

David Cross is my favorite comedian. I paid $50 to see him tonight in Los Angeles. And as a big fan, I was excited about the book and purchased it right away. To my surprise, the book is full of dull musings that rarely last longer than 3 pages. He obviously phoned this one in. I am irritated I spent the hardcover price on something so lifeless and simply unfunny. David is too smart to not know that what he turned in was bad, and that's what is the most annoying part. Maybe he was screwed by his publisher. Who knows. David, what gives?

I've been following Cross for many, many years. How many? I remember him from his OJ Simpson's [...] assistant character from KCRW's Joe Frank radio program. How is that for obsure? I've listened to (and purchased) his albums and sought out his tv and film work. I've also seen him live twice. He is, I believe, one of the finest comedians working today. So, it was with genuine sadness that I (purchased) and listened to the audio version of I Drink for a Reason. First, why did I choose the audio version? Because Cross is a comedian and his delivery is a key ingredient in his work. Those familiar with David Sedaris' work will understand why you would want to listen to, rather than read, Cross' book. So why was I disappointed? David has decided that audio book listeners are "lazy" and he takes every opportunity in the course of narrating the book to remind those who purchased the audio version that they are pathetic and less deserving (actually, entirely undeserving) of his gratitude than the rest of his fans. Really lame. More lame still is the fact that the UNABRIDGED VERSION OF THE AUDIO VERSION OF THE BOOK IS ACTUALLY ABRIDGED. Yeah - he has chosen to leave a chapter out because he is so annoyed with all the lazy listeners who didn't bother to buy the hardback. Forget about the fact that Cross' stuff is more entertaining to listen to rather than read - what about those who only get to "read" during their commute? Here in NYC, I know many parents who spend a few hours a day driving a car or crammed into a train. When they get home, they have just enough time to make dinner, play with their kids and crash. Who do they think they are opting for the audio version of Cross' magnum opus? What a bunch of knuckle dragging sloths. So, I lost one of my favorite comedians today - [...]! Awesome job!

I am a big fan of David Cross' standup. He consistently makes me laugh out loud and I was looking for similar from this book. I bought it to read on a vacation and was disappointed. It is amusing, but I only laughed out loud once. I think there are two issues: 1. The material is not as good as what I have heard in his standup. 2. His comedy does not translate to the written word. Inflection and delivery are critical and without those this material did not meet my expectations. I would recommend buying one of his cd's over getting this book.

David Cross has moments of verbal brilliance; his rants can hit a stride that is verbose, intellectual, and dead-on. But . . . honestly, his book often feels like it's trapped between comedy (i.e. stuff that makes reader laugh), and political tirade.

Like a lot of comedians I get the feeling David Cross needs to leap deeper into being an essayist and abandon the comic roots, or retreat from the edge and bring some heart back into his observations.

While sort of funny, his pieces attacking Jim Belushi seem sort of WTF to me . . .but that's probably because, uh, I don't know (or much care) about Jim Belushi? So, some of the verbal skills Cross has get washed away into the "who cares" realm because his target is too specific, or maybe too unconnected to readers concerns (or at least mine).

I'm a big David Cross fan, but I feel like he mailed this on in. There's a lot of filler, and only a fraction of the pieces are laugh-out-loud funny. It has its moments, but I only recommend this for die-hard fans.

I have always loved David Cross as a comic. Though he does talk about the same topics as when he is on stage, it comes across differently on paper. It seems like he just thinks everyone is below him if they don't share his opinion on topics. That actually might not be true. He might just really have opinions that I don't like and therefore I think I am above him. Either way, doesn't really matter. He has been one of my favorite comics for a while, but I don't know that I will view him the same way after reading this. Just my true feelings.