Customer Reviews

Openly Bob

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

No matter what, no matter when, no matter how often I read this book, I laugh every time. I've read each book from Bob Smith at least 5 times, and I am enlightened, humored and tickled every time I (re)read them. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes reading autobiographical humor, especially if you've ever thought your life was funny enough to publish.

The clean-cut all-American boy Bob Smith was probably an altar boy (as well as being an alter-boy). The son of a heavy-drinking New York State trooper and a devoutly Catholic mother, he grew up in Buffalo. The book begins and ends with visits to his hometown, accompanied by his life-partner Tom. They also visit Tom's parents in their Florida retirement home, survive a hurricane that strikes Provincetown and two bouts of couples counseling. Being a professional comedian, Smith finds plenty that is funny about these events and nonevents. Some of the quips fall flat, and he sometimes drives metaphors into the ground, but his enjoyment at playing with language is infectious, and even the outright jokes are usually based on keen perception of the absurdities of his own life and the society around him.

Smith's humor is genial, even when aimed at attitudes and behavior that deeply annoy him. Whereas David Sedaris sometimes strikes me as vicious (though I'm sure he'd label his extremes "Swiftian" and dismiss Smith as a gay Thurber), Smith's bile drains somewhere other than in his writing.My favorite chapter is the one that verges on talking about sex (something many other gay comics focus upon, but Smith all but ignores), "A Few Notes on Sex Education."

It seems that he comes by his optimism naturally, since his mother tells his sister "Just because you're coming home for your father's funeral, doesn't mean that we can't have fun."

The book is _not_ a string of one-liners. It is a collection of keenly observed essays on a number of facets of American life (in a range of places I've already enumerated). They are connected primarily by how Bob Smith sees and describes the world, but most of the book coheres around one monogamous gay couple and their extended families ("The terms 'immediate' and 'extended' are apt because my immediate family can cause instant mood swings and my extended family is better kept at a distance"). Although relentlessly breezy in style, the book is framed by a moving tribute to his parents.

When this collection of essays won the Lambda Award several years ago, beating out David Sedaris' wonderful "Naked," I was incredulous. "With whom, pray tell," I pondered bitchily, "did Bob Smith sleep to win that award?" Fast forward to 2000: I actually read "Openly Bob." NOW I KNOW WHY BOB WON: Because he wrote the funniest, the most insightful book of a gay man's life and times that I have read, including -- and I never thought I would write this -- Sedaris' "Naked" or "Barrel Fever." And, kids, I read everything. So, I heartily recommend Bob Smith's "Openly Bob" to all.

While Bob Smith's unique claim to fame is that he is a gay comedian who uses his sexual orientation as part of his act, this collection of essays demonstrates that it all begins with his intelligent, incisive writing. Some of his tales will make you laugh aloud. Others are more gentle (but never sentimental) and go to the heart of what it means to be an adult, partnered gay man in the '90s.

I hate to make broad generalizations about people, but as a gay man, I've noticed that we are a very competitive breed. I like to imagine that, throughout the ages, gay (or alledgedly gay) male artists have always maintained an "I could have done that better" attitude with their peers. For example: Michaelangelo to daVinci: You know, Leo, Mona's hair is just WRONG! I would have put her in an up-do! Liberace about Van Cliburn: Oh sure, she can play well, but where's the presentation? Edward Albee to Tennesee Williams: Sexually oppresed Southern women......yawn. Spousal verbal abuse during a dinner party makes for a much more interesting plot. With this in mind, you have to understand my eagerness in reading Bob Smith's new book, OPENLY BOB. As a fellow gay comic and friend, Bob and I have shared many venues together and have laughed at each other's jokes. On more than one occassion, Bob has blurted out one of those lines that makes me think, "I wish I'd written that!" We both find humor and material in our own childhoods and idiosyncractic families. I, too, have a desire to pen my own book someday, perhaps about growing up in the Southern Baptist Church in Texas. Nonetheless, I felt certain that, while I would enjoy Bob's book, I would be finding ways that I could have written a better tome. I was wrong. Whether you know him as a part of the groundbreaking Funny Gay Males; as the first and only openly gay male comic to appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno; from his very own HBO special; or as co-author of the book, GROWING UP GAY, Bob Smith is no stranger to gay and lesbian audiences. Say what you will about Bob's dry, monotone delivery onstage, but the man's got a gift with words that is virtually unparalleled among authors, gay OR straight. OPENLY BOB is a collection of essays on a variety of life experiences which flow from Bob's mind like paint to a canvas. He's not so much of an author as he is a "word painter". My favorite line in the whole book is in Bob's essay on auditioning for roles in L.A. After one of these many auditions, Bob recounts trying to figure out if the casting director liked what he had done. "Her smile was like a Samuel Beckett play--easy to read but difficult to interpret." His mere description of the woman and her office is a perfect example of Bob's ability to create a mental image that's both vivid and clever. "(She) was a woman.......who wore a pair of thick black eyeglasses that were so stylish they affected my vision more than hers. Her desk groaned under the piles of headshots and resumes, which was understandable---I'd complain too if I had to support that many lies." Interestingly enough, the essays (chapters) in the book are so diverse, that each reader will identify with different parts of the book. As I have been single for many years, and Bob and his partner, Tom, have been together for many years now, I didn't get as much out of the essay on couples counseling as some of my "married" friends have. By the same token, as I have spent several summers performing in Provincetown, Bob's musings on that subject had me roaring with laughter at things which may not be as identifiable to someone who's never been to the "pink tip of Cape Cod." And while Bob has changed the names of several "characters" in the story, anyone who's spent any time in P-Town will quickly know about exactly to whom Bob is referring. Change the names and you can say whatever you want about somebody! Which leads me to my only real criticism of the book. While many characters throughout the essays are compilations of different people rolled into one, there are a few places where Bob's pen turns a bit vicious towards "pseudo-named" performers who, although they may not be everyone's "cup of tea", they are beloved by a great number of people, and are actually wonderful people themselves. Nonetheless, this is a minor flaw on an incredibly brilliant literary jewel. While I don't want to give away every chapter topic in the book, Bob's final essay on going home for his father's funeral exemplifies Bob's ability to take a seemingly grim occasion and turn it into not only a celebration of family ties and quirks, but also a poignant tale of love and acceptance in the midst of life's continuing dynamics. Like Maxwell House coffee, OPENLY BOB is "good to the last drop".

I'd Give it six Stars if I could, but five stars is the highest rating. At any rate, this is the funniest and most touching book written by and about a gay man. At the risk of sounding trite, it IS a must read and it's enjoyable for anyone, not just gay men. Whenever I need a really good laugh, I turn to the chapter entitled, "Hurricane Bob". If you are looking for a really good book and can't make a decision, then get this one. You just can't miss.

This is one of the funniest and most deeply moving books I have ever read by a gay male author. The writing is superbly droll, but never at the expense of the emotion or the story. The last essay, concerning the death of Bob's alcoholic father is very touching. I called my dad immediately after reading it and thanked him for his sobriety.

When you feel like your small life is full of bland and redundant routines and your relationship has become stale, read this book! Bob Smith takes you through the life of an ordinary gay man, his career, his lovelife, his family and his therapists. If you're missing the laughter in your life, and you think that only your life or family qualifies as dysfunctional, Openly Bob can change all that. My boyfriend read this bood and suggested I read it to better understand gay couples and the humor that can be found in all situations.

How refreshing to read something written about sharing a life with another man and all the funny situations this brings up. Not just because they are both men, but because living together can be "funny" in any situation. *One of my top 10 for 98"!!!*

Bob Smith had written a quick witted book about everyday life. He can find humor in the most mundane or painfully ackward situations. While his writing style suggests that he is well educated and very well versed, he still maintains a down-home appeal. He seems to be the type you would really like to take out to eat, although you would go hungry because you would never stop laughing. I would suggest that everyone not only read it but re-read it!