My Life as a Furry Red Monster: What Being Elmo Has Taught Me About Life, Love and Laughing Out Loud [Hardcover]

Kevin Clash (Author), Gary Brozek (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 5, 2006

Meet Kevin Clash, the man behind the Muppet and the unassuming heart and soul of Elmo. At last, the puppeteer who has performed Elmo for nearly twenty years comes out from behind the stage to share his story. Weaving together his memories of growing up with the life lessons gained from his furry red alter ego, Kevin reveals himself to be as caring, and as eager to grow and learn and love, as the very special character he brings to life.

You will discover how young Kevin honed his talent entertaining the kids in his mother’s home day care with puppets he made from slippers and coat liners; how, as a struggling young artist, he realized his dream to meet and then work for his idol, Muppet creator Jim Henson; and how each and every day of performing Elmo reinforces for him what is most important in life.

As Kevin has been inspired by Elmo, now we can all learn from his furry red ways. Kevin’s (and Elmo’s) thoughts on love, creativity, friendship, and optimism remind us of life’s simple truths and ultimately encourage us all to be a little bit more like Elmo–to live with joy, to love more easily, and to laugh more often.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

It's hard to believe, but it's been more than 20 years since beloved preschooler icon Elmo made his debut on Sesame Street—in fact, Clash wasn't even the first puppeteer to try his hand at bringing the "baby monster" to life. It was Clash, though, who gave the character the high-pitched voice and distinctive laugh that quickly endeared him to young viewers and eventually led to his own spinoff series. When he writes about Elmo, in fact, he verges on describing the Muppet as if it possesses its own personality. Clash's working relationship with Elmo is used as a starting point to discuss basic themes like love, tolerance and courage, but it's the story of his life before meeting his furry partner that often holds the most interest. He talks with obvious affection about his childhood growing up in an African-American suburb of Baltimore, encouraged from a early age to follow his talent for designing and performing with puppets. Though generally upbeat, this is no sugar-coated tale; Clash describes his initial struggles to make a name for himself on other children's shows, and speaks frankly about the toll performing on Sesame Street took on his marriage. (Sept. 25)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

Praise for My Life as a Furry Red Monster:

“It should come as no surprise that the man behind America’s most beloved red furball is as wise, warm, witty, and wonderful as Elmo himself. My Life as a Furry Red Monster is an entertaining sneak peak at the life and times of one of the most endearing and enduring characters ever created.”
—Katie Couric

“I love Elmo and I love this book. What a cutie-patootie. Thanks, Kevin!”
—Rosie O’Donnell

“This delightful book illuminates a man’s journey from child to parent, student to teacher, puppeteer to Muppeteer, and reveals to us who our favorite red furry monster really is—a gifted, humane, empathetic entertainer named Kevin Clash. His book is a meditation on the things that really matter—to Elmo and to all of us.”
—Julianne Moore

“In lively and wonderfully written prose, Kevin tells the story of how he came to be the most popular educator and entertainer of children in the country. His riveting tale weaves together the adventures, idealism, love, and optimism that Kevin has experienced both as himself and as a furry red monster.”
—Joan Ganz Cooney, cofounder of Sesame Workshop and creator of Sesame Street

“Kevin has given life and breath to one of the most beloved characters in contemporary pop culture. His heart and soul radiate not only through Elmo, but up and down Sesame Street, through this book, and around the world. Not only is Kevin a brilliant artist, but he’s a fabulous human being as well.”
—Vanessa Williams

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Crown Archetype; First Edition edition (September 5, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767923758
• ISBN-13: 978-0767923750
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #764,329 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Not a childrens book - but very interesting :-) September 6, 2006

By Little Miss Cutey

Format:Hardcover

When you see furry characters like Elmo and all his little buddies, you often wonder about the people behind the characters. I saw Kevin once on Oprah and he's very different to how you'd imagine (6 Foot guy with a deep voice) - you'd almost think Elmo was brought to life by a female. Kevin has writen this book because while everyone is so excited about meeting and knowing Elmo, but he wants the public to know what Elmo has meant to him over the past 20 years or so.

Kevin (as Elmo) has had a whirlwind of fun bringing Elmo to life. He's gotten to travel the world and meet so many amazing people. He watched Seasame Street for the first time when he was 10 years old and he was hooked by the puppetry. Right out of high school he started to get involved. He has his own daughter and he learned from her that he acts out Elmo based on his genuine love not only for his daughter Shannon but also all kids.

He says in the book that if you wonder what it is about this loveable character that makes him so popular and why he's such a phenomenon; the answer is love. Elmo "conects with children and adults on the purest and most fundamental level, and that's the human desire to be loved. It's as simple as that". And I think he's perfectly correct (even I as an adult love Elmo).

If you have kids of your own or even friends and family with little kids or even if you're just like me who's really a big kid at heart, you will love this book. It's well written and interesting and fun and you'll love every minute of reading it. I did. It's great.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Reviewed by Ali Jenkins January 25, 2007

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

Kevin Clash's book, My Life as a Furry Red Monster: What Being Elmo Has Taught Me About Life, Love and Laughing Out Loud kept me smiling from beginning to end. It documents the journey that Kevin had and how is parents encouraged him to keep his passion alive as he entered adulthood. This book is filled with life lessons such as love, joy, tolerance, learning, cooperation, optimism, and courage just to name a few.

This book is reminiscent of Everything I Needed to Know I Learned In Kindergarten by Robert Fulgham, but much more reader friendly. The chapters are divided to be shorter but are quite precise in what they are trying to teach.

Kevin Clash mentions how Jim Henson, a man he idolized since childhood and who he would later work for, treated each and everyone of his employees as friends. This is just one thing that makes making working on Sesame Street such a pleasure.

Elmo was created as an inquisitive three year old who, because of his joy of learning, laughing and loving, has become a phenomenon with children and adults alike.

He has reminded me to look at each individual as I did when I was a child. Children don't judge their peers or adults, they look at them and their environment through their wide-eyed curiosity. They are so eager to learn about everyone and everything.

Elmo may have taught Kevin about life, love and laughing out loud, but Kevin has taught me that it is just his true nature shining through Elmo. Elmo is deservedly one of the most loved characters from Sesame Street, and it's because of Kevin.

Although Kevin mentions that he and others on the Sesame Street set have had thier failures, this does not discourage any of them from trying new things and taking creative risks. This is a lesson I think we should all learn to do in our life. There are so many good lessons in this book but I think the best one is, "..you can't be afraid to fail, because you never know true success unless you have a flop or two." Another note of a very valuable lesson is that his life as a performer has never been a solo act, "No life ever is." This may seem a simple statement, but it is a very deep and meaningful one. Kevin constantly describes how, with the encouragement from his family, friends and teachers, he was able to turn his childhood passion into a lifelong dream.

This book can teach or remind adults about lessons that will allow us to not discriminate, to tolerate and to know that each and everyone of us are full of courage in our own way.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Filled With Tips For A Better Life November 3, 2006

By Cathy A. Pulsifer

Format:Hardcover

The man, the voice, and the personality behind Elmo, the furry red monster on Sesame Street are revealed in this inspiring book. Kevin Clash shares his personal success through his beliefs and values in his book.

The book, My Life as a Furry Red Monster, is journey of a child's love of puppets turned into an adult success story. The book reminds us of how children see the world and how often times in our adult life we forget the simple things in life. To quote from the book, "But unlike me, and like most three-and-a-half years-olds, Elmo has almost no inhibitions about laughing. He never worries about what others think." This quote made me think how often we, as adults, don't laugh as often as we should, and the many times we get caught up in what other people may think. Throughout the book, you will find many statements that may make you question why can't we be more like Elmo.

The book is filled with real life examples of both successes and failures written in a story format. Based on a true-life inspiring story, Kevin's book reinforces that it is possible to turn our dreams into our reality.

The book will encourage you to keep looking ahead and not be stuck in a rut. I couldn't agree more with the author's comment, "When we feel stuck or just down, it's easy to dwell on what was and what could have been, but children remind us that we don't grow and that things don't get better unless we keep looking ahead."

Filled with tips for a better life, I would recommend this book for both teenagers and adults.