It's Not Easy Bein' Me: A Lifetime of No Respect but Plenty of Sex and Drugs [Hardcover]

Rodney Dangerfield (Author), Jim Carrey (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 25, 2004

I tell ya, nothin' goes right.Last week I found a guy's wallet ... Inside was a picture of my two kids.

Anybody can repeat a Rodney Dangerfield joke, but nobody can tell one like the man himself. That's because his humor, built on the premise that he "don't get no respect," is drawn from a life so hard that the only way to survive was to laugh at it -- though all the drugs and hookers certainly didn't hurt.

In IT'S NOT EASY BEING ME, Dangerfield comes clean (even if he still works blue) about his brutal life and the unlikely triumph he made out of it. His father was in vaudeville, and his mother was from hell, which is why a young Jack Roy grabbed a mike and got up on a stage straight out of high school. He was looking for laughs, some approval ... and a few easy women. He struggled for years, getting by but never getting over, playing dives and opening for strippers, hypnotists, and snake charmers.

Then at thirty, Dangerfield walked away from all that glamour. He quit show business, got a "real" job -- as an aluminum-siding salesman -- and started raising a family in Englewood, New Jersey. He was out of comedy for twelve unhappy years, but all the while he was writing jokes, scheming, and dreaming of his comeback.

Eventually, he changed his act, changed his name, and changed American comedy forever. He developed one of the most popular characters in all of show business -- the poor schnook who gets no respect. Not from his parents, his wife, his kids, not even from his physician, Dr. Vinnie Boombatz.

But his millions of fans not only respected him, they loved him, reciting dozens of his jokes from memory and quoting chapter and verse from CADDYSHACK, the movie that made Dangerfield into a comedic superstar. Today, Dangerfield stands as a true pillar of American comedy (though at eighty-two, he says, he's crumbling a little) and after the life he's led, it's amazing he's standing at all.

Wild, hip, and hilarious, IT'S NOT EASY BEING ME is like having a front-row seat to the ultimate Rodney Dangerfield performance, where the jokes come at a hundred miles an hour and the outrageous stories go on forever.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A Vegas headliner for 20-plus years, Dangerfield became a huge comedic success while maintaining his image as a hassled everyman. He is, says Carrey, "as funny as a carbon-based life form can be." After writing I Couldn't Stand My Wife's Cooking, So I Opened a Restaurant; I Don't Get No Respect; and No Respect, he now presents this anecdotal autobiography, effectively blending honesty and humor. He was born Jacob Cohen in 1921 to a vaudevillian father constantly on the road and a "coldhearted," "selfish" mother: "I guess that's why I went into show business—to get some love." As Jack Roy, he began performing in his teens, struggled in clubs across the country but quit in 1949 to spend 12 years as an aluminum-siding salesman. At 40, he changed his name and his act: "I was older and wiser, yeah, but I was funnier too." In a major comeback, he made 70 Tonight Show appearances and opened his own nightclub in 1969, followed by TV specials and commercials, albums and hit movies. Writing with hip, showbiz savvy and a backstage bawdiness, he regales with tales of Lenny Bruce, Andy Kaufman and many more, and devotes full chapters to sex and drugs. Sidebar jokes, relevant to the text, appear throughout, along with cartoons and b&w photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Rodney has found a way to appeal to every generation."
-- Jim Carrey --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: HarperEntertainment; 1st edition (May 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0066211077
• ISBN-13: 978-0066211077
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #504,024 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars TONS OF JOKES MIXED INTO AN INTERESTING LIFE STORY!, July 8, 2004

By 

Steve Nakamoto "The Friendly Voice of the... (Huntington Beach, California USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: It's Not Easy Bein' Me: A Lifetime of No Respect but Plenty of Sex and Drugs (Hardcover)

I saw Rodney a couple of years ago in the Salt Lake City airport sitting in a chair waiting for his flight to LAX with his wife. He looked old and frail, but I gave him a wave and he gave me back a wink with his trademark okay sign. That was very cool.

So when I bought this book I was really looking forward to an interesting read....and I found it.

This book has a tons of jokes that are used to separate his stories (and he's got a lot of them) within the chapters. I now realize how hard he worked and really how little he received back in terms of material riches. (He only received $35,000 for Caddyshack with no residuals!)

There are so many funny stories about show business, struggling as a comedian, sex, women, drugs, his youth, his health, friends, marriage, and of course, not getting any respect.

I know that Rodney may not be with us very long as he is in his 80's and dealing with health issues, but I feel lucky to have seen him since the Ed Sullivan days, through the Johnny Carson years, the Miller Lite Beer commercials, the hilarious movies, and up to my incident at the Salt Lake City airport.

Here's a real success story in disguise from a kind man who has made us all laugh for decades.

This book adds so much to my appreciation of this humble and very human man. I'm going to watch "Back To School" and "Caddyshack" again soon.

Thanks Rodney. You have my respect.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rodney Reflects On His Life, August 1, 2004

By 

Mike King "Mike Vegas King" (Taunton, MA United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: It's Not Easy Bein' Me: A Lifetime of No Respect but Plenty of Sex and Drugs (Hardcover)

In typical Dangerfield fashion, the depressing parts of Rodney's life are interspersed with jokes. His father was rarely at home, his mother never showed him any affection, and he turned to show business for love and acceptance. "What a childhood I had. Once on my birthday, my old man gave me a bat. The first day I played with it, it flew away." Rodney survived life on the road as a struggling comic with the help of loose women, smoking pot and drinking booze. "I solved my drinking problem. I joined Alcoholics Anonymous. I still drink, but I use a different name."

When Rodney tweaked his act from nothing goes right to I don't get no respect, his career took off. He bought the nightclub Dangerfield's in New York City, then went from playing nightclubs to appearing on TV to starring in movies. Unfortunately, with his advancing age, Rodney has endured many health problems. He faces his mortality with his sense of humor intact, going so far as to write his own eulogy. "We are here today to bid farewell to Rodney Dangerfield. A man who cared about the homeless. He was always looking for a girl who needs a room. A man who always loved his neighbor, if she was easy. Farewell, Rodney. We know you'll be in good hands - your own!" Rodney achieves just the right balance of facts and jokes in this humorous look at his less than humorous life.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Huge Fan, May 27, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: It's Not Easy Bein' Me: A Lifetime of No Respect but Plenty of Sex and Drugs (Hardcover)

Bobbie Anne Jones,learning to be a writer

Not only am I an avid memoir reader, but I also am a fan of Rodney Dangerfield. When I found out his book was coming out, I had to buy it. What I found was nothing like I expected. this man that for years has made me laugh is showing sides of him that are brutal and sad. The humanistic reality of him. I think because of this book and his willingness to come clean about his life, I find that I am even more of a fan of someone that is willing to tell it like it is. There is no glory story. This is honesty. I would recommend this book highly. Read and get to know Mr. Dangerfield.

Also recommending other memoirs: Nightmares Echo,I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings,Name All The Animals, The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter