Customer Reviews

Seinfeld: The Making of an American Icon

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Oppenheimer takes a very cynical and negative view on Jerry and his lifestyle but through all of it Jerry just seems to shine through and show how much of a driven and goal-oriented and aloof person Jerry really is. Overall this book gives you insight into who Seinfeld really was. It tries not to talk too much about the show, which is good. You get to know Jerry's childhood, college, and stand-up friends. The author gets many insights from people close to Jerry, but one thing that he never gets is any insight from Larry David or anybody else involved with the show. Not talking about the show is one thing, but those people saw him everyday for nine years, yet they're not included. A very insightful read, if not too specific (A whole chapter is devoted to Jessica Sklar and her growing up and moving and her childhood friends).

This book had good, reliable sources, and Oppenheimer really did his homework in finding out about Mr. Seinfeld. If you need some info about Jerry, you'll find it here if you find it anywhere...Especially since this book is written from the interesting slant of somebody who may not be so fond of Seinfeld...

The only reason this book really gets a passing grade from me is that it's about Seinfeld's life...Seinfeld is a really interesting and quirky guy, so unless you try pretty hard to mess up whatever your writing about him, you'll end up with something interesting.

I don't really like Oppenheimer's style--was this book rushed into stores, or what? I counted about 15 typos, and some paragraphs were pointless and fluffy, while others condensed too much into such a small space.

The only reason I gave this book 2 stars is that it is about Jerry. I took it from the library because I'm a huge fan and was interested in learning more about how he came to where he is now - what I found instead were tedious details (not in a good way) from acquaintances and not much soul to the book. The book also doesn't seem to give credit to the amazingly hilarious Larry David, who is responsible for so much writing on the show. How can someone write an entire book about Seinfeld without once even speaking directly to the person you're writing about? This missing link was definitely a huge gap in the book, leaving only mundane details and a want for something authentic from Seinfeld himself.

I bought this book for one reason and one reason only. I wanted to get the lowdown on the "lightbulb" story...

Jerry Seinfeld once sold lightbulbs over the phone. I wanted to know what this was all about. I knew he apologized for it years later. The book tells all. Jerry and his friend came up with a crazy con posing as injured war veterans. It was disgusting and offensive. According to the book, they would drop lightbulbs on the floor when on the phone and then cry about how hard it was getting used to their hooks. You see, they lost their hands in combat. See? I told you it was offensive.

This book is a little offensive. I'm not sure whether the author likes Seinfeld or not. He sure goes out of his way to serve us the dirt.

But I liked the book. Not a whole lot, but enough to reccomend it. Put it this way- I liked it more than I didn't like it.

Seinfeld is an immensely private man, which makes him a prime target for books like this. But this is more than tabloid fodder. It is focused. It told me things I din't know before and it's pretty well researched. That Jerry didn't cooperate, and asked others to do likewise, shows. But for what the author had to work with, he did a fair job.

Simply one of the best biographies I've ever read. You'll get the full story of Jerry Seinfeld and see a side to him you never thought possible. How this book has just a few mixed reviews puzzles me. I can't recommend this book enough - a hidden gem in the depths of Amazon's warehouse.

What a boring read. For a story about a man who made his name largely from the show Seinfeld there were only 82 pages(out of 362)and 8 chapters(out of 41)related to the show. The rest was a boring soap opera about his relationships and lack of commitment in those relationships. All the information was gathered through anecdotes, largely from people Jerry had crossed in some way so they were generally not complimentary. I found the last few chapters particularly tedious telling the stories of the leaked Vanity Fair article and the "theft" of his future wife. I realise a biography needs to tell about the person outside of what has made them famous but this was over the top in that area and gave me almost no behind the scenes information about the show that most of the world loved.

The most important thing about this book is that the author conveys to us the hard work and tedious endless preparation and joke revisions Jerry Seinfeld has done over the years to develop a clean act for grownups. It is nice to know that he stuck to it even when college kids and disco dancers ignored him as he performed. He was not an over-night star. I am enjoying the book. I feel a little uneasy with all the innuendo of gayness (not that there's anything wrong with that) the author interjects. But other than that, I find his detailed accounts and multiple quotes fascinating.

Read SEINFELD: THE MAKING OF AN AMERICAN ICON,
an unauthorized biography by Jerry Oppenheimer . . . I really
enjoyed it, though methinks that Seinfeld would not be as
pleased with the portrait in that it is not an overly flattering
one.

The beginning of the book was of particular attention to me,
in that I grew up in Freeport, Long Island--no too far from
where he did (Massapequa) . . . he, like me, was also
the son of a salesman . . . but that's about the end of
our similarities.

Seinfeld went on to become an enormously successful
stand-up comedian, long before he cocreated in the late
80s what is considered to be most brilliant and successful
must-see TV sitcom in the history of the medium . . . during
that time, he developed a series of relationship with both
men and women that made for reading that was quite
captivating.

I also learned about a comedy strike that helped
its participants get paid for the first time . . . previously,
they had only paid a performer if he or she was the
headliner . . . Jay Leno, a key participant in the work stoppage, helped get a settlement as a result of having posed as being near death (when hit by a thug) . . . in reality, he was fine--but did not want anybody else to know that fact.

There were several memorable passages; among them:
[Mike Costanza, a college friend, describing a scam they both ran]
" 'Hi, Mr. Cohen, this is Mike Davis from Ambet Lighting,
you remember us--w're the handicapped Vietnam veterans with
the lighting company.' Then one of us would drop the phone
on the floor, step on it like ten times, pick it up and bang it
against the desk, and then pick up the phone again and say,
'Mr. Cohen, are you still there? You know it's hard to get
used to these hooks, but I have these two cases of light
bulbs for you.' "

[from his first performance on the TONIGHT SHOW]
He did a bit about TV weather reports. "This is really
helpful," he said. "A photograph of Earth comes from
ten thousand miles away. Can you tell if you should
take a picture from that shot? He did a bit about a
perplexed driver looking under the hood of his broken-down
car. "What are you looking for?" Jerry asked. "Whatever's
wrong, you can't fix it. You stand there looking for something
incredibly, obviously wrong--something so simple even you
can handle it--a giant on-off switch." Off-camera, Johnny
was laughing, especially when Jerry did his riff about

GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS heaviest man,
Bob Hughes. What would happen, Jerry wondered, if he lost
a few hundred pounds? "What would his friends say? You're
a rail, baby, look at you!"

[Jerry asserted that he lost money on every investment]
"People always tell me, 'You should have your money
working for you.' Well, from now on, I've decided I'll
do the work, I'm going to let my money relax."

I read this to my wife and both of us enjoyed it very much. This tells about Jerry S. from his beginnings to the present day. He has great personal focus on what he wants to accomplish and lets nothing interfere including women and social engagements. It does appear many of the TV shows are most autobiographical and you learn about his friends in real life. To give this book a 1 or 2 star rating is terrible, yet....that is why they make chocolate and vanilla ice cream; all people like different things.

Boy, does Oppenheimer ever hate Jerry Seinfeld. When I read a biography of a famous person, I certainly expect to be shown stuff that is beyond the media mirage. Their foibles, their screw-ups, their unsavory personality traits, etc. I want a well-rounded bio, showing the person's downs as well as their ups. But Oppenheimer writes like a columnist for The Globe. He includes the most asinine stuff in this bio, stuff that really has little bearing on who Jerry is. His tone is tabloid all the way - he makes unsupported, gossipy conjectures about Jerry's personal life that are shallow and unwarranted. He also only devotes 1 chapter, out of 41, to the show "Seinfeld". Nine seasons and a firmly entrenched part of American popular culture, the vehicle that catapulted Jerry to international stardom, gets one lousy chapter? Bleah.