Private Parts (Hardcover)

by Howard Stern (Author) "I was driving to work on the Long Island Expressway..." (more)
Key Phrases: booga looga, New York, Pig Virus, Sam Kinison (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
It has been said that you either love or loathe Howard Stern, but it's quite possible to love and loathe him after reading this autobiography. Stern sets out to offend as many people as possible (and he succeeds admirably), but two things prevent this book, and Stern, from becoming unbearable. First, he is as candid about himself as he is about the people he attacks. He describes his tortured adolescence, his physical inadequacies, and his sexual proclivities in such breathtaking detail that it's hard not to like the guy. Stern also avoids the bitterness that characterizes many of the "shock-radio" DJs who have attempted to follow in his footsteps. He can be cruel, but he generally reserves cruelty for people whose fame makes them open targets, and the way he dismantles the whole idea of "celebrity" is hilarious. Howard Stern is like the kid at school who could fart the national anthem--you can't help but laugh at what he does, even though you know you shouldn't. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

From Booklist
And you thought you had trouble with the Madonna book. At least that was mostly the pictures. Here we've got words to worry about, and I'm talking all of them. Concepts, too. All of them. Sexual concepts you might not have even thought about. For those not familiar with the book's author, radio bad-boy Stern makes his living talking on his syndicated show about celebrities, politics, and every sort of bodily function and sexual act that crosses his mind. Stern isn't saying anything here that he hasn't already said on his syndicated show (in fact, much of the book consists of actual bits from the show). On the other hand, the FCC has already fined him a couple of hundred thousand dollars for indecency. If Stern were just playing high-school adolescent, he'd be easy to dismiss. But every once in a while, he's funny, brilliantly funny, and mostly when he's not talking about sex. He's funny, for instance, in his interview with an addled Bob Hope and in his vicious but hysterical send-up of Joan Rivers selling her home-shopping jewelry and milking her husband's suicide for all it's worth: "This is a solid-gold replica of Edgar's thumb. . . . I'm wearing right now a tiny diamond-studded coffin, the same coffin that Edgar put himself in." Okay, I think it's funny. Obviously, Stern's humor is a matter of taste. Photographs and graphics on every page enliven a text that hardly needs perking up. A partially nude Stern draped in a velvet cape graces the cover. This pushes the limits, but then, that's Howard. Ilene Cooper --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Random House Value Publishing (October 3, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517157969
• ISBN-13: 978-0517157961
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (83 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,031,505 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funniest Book I've Ever Read, February 17, 2001

By	movieman (PF, MD, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Private Parts (Mass Market Paperback)

Yes, this is the funniest book I have ever read. I was never really into the Howard Stern Show, only listening sometimes while my dad drives me to school (I'm 14), but this book changed me, and now I love listening to the show in the morning. It gets me ready for school I suppose.

The book goes into the many parts of Howards life. It tells you how he his father used to treat him, and his mother as well. It really makes you wonder how he survived in a house like that. It tells of his college experiences with women and radio. It tells about all his old bosses, such as Pig Virus (read the book). The book was funny through the beginning but once he hits the part where he talks about the celebs he hates, it really gets hilarious, just read what he thinks of Madonna, or Regis, or Kathie-Lee. I could go on and on. The chapter with Stuttering John is hilarious as well. I never knew Baba-Booey was their first interviewer.

All in all, this is a very, very good well written book. It's very light reading, so I can recommend it to pretty much anyone. Be aware that the amount of cursing is borderline extreme though, but it's nothing a person age 12+ hasn't heard before.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I could not put this book down!!, June 21, 1998

By	Steven Y. "Pop Culture Addict" (Marvel Universe 616) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Private Parts (Mass Market Paperback)

I had never seen or listened to any Howard Stern shows before reading this book so I did not know exactly what to expect. What I pleasantly discovered within the pages of this book was the most entertaining autobiography I have read in my life. The length of the book scared me a little when I first saw it but I finished it in no time. Just a great great book! Good work Howard!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Stuff, July 26, 2000

By	greverio "greverio" (Centreville, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Private Parts (Mass Market Paperback)

I am and have been a fan of Howard Stern for years now, but this book brought me closer to the show and the way he thinks. From the exterior the book seems crass, and it is. But what Private PArts(PP) also contains is a touching and funny story of a loser who made it to the top. His often turbulent boyhood to his trials of being a married man. Aside from a biograghy, PP also touches on Howard's opinions on almost everything. Some of the material even offended me, but I know that he is just like almost everyone, except he says it. An in-your-face book that will have you laughing from start to finish.