My Seinfeld Year (Kindle Single) [Kindle Edition]

Fred Stoller (Author)

Book Description

You'd know Fred Stoller if you saw him. He has appeared on practically every great sitcom you've ever seen - Everybody Loves Raymond, Friends, and Murphy Brown just to name a few. But he has never been a regular on a series, always the guest star. He longs to find a showbiz home. Instead, he is a television foster child, shuttling from show to show in the vain hope that one will finally agree to keep him. "My Seinfeld Year" tells the hysterical and bittersweet story of what happened when Stoller finally got a shot at the showbiz stability he'd always dreamed of -- as a staff writer on one of the biggest television shows in history.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Fred Stoller has been a working actor for decades, a character actor who has landed choice roles in television and movies alike. He's been punched out in Dumb and Dumber, and he's acted in dozens of sitcoms through the years, mastering the role of "jerky annoying shnook." In 1994, he had a sense that his career as an actor was moving in the right direction when an almost unimaginable opportunity came his way: he was asked to write for the hit show Seinfeld. How it came about is almost Seinfeldian in its own right--a surprise party led to a chance encounter with Larry David (whom he kind of knew from New York stand-up), which led to an invitation to do a spec script, which, quite suddenly, led to a giant office and a staff writer position on Seinfeld. Thus we are given entrée into one of the most popular shows in the history of television. We meet the real-life cast and creators, including Larry and Jerry (they do not disappoint). We watch Stoller rise and fall and climb back up again (returning to act in a Seinfeld episode). And we get a true insider's look into what it takes to survive, and last, in Hollywood--even if you're just good at playing an annoying shnook. --Chris Schluep

From AudioFile

Product Details

• File Size: 127 KB
• Print Length: 60 pages
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B006Z499M0
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,476 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle Singles > Arts & Entertainment
  • #4 in Kindle Store > Kindle Singles > Humor
  • #7 in Kindle Store > Kindle Singles > Memoirs

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

74 of 79 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Look Inside "Seinfeld" January 19, 2012

By Pensky

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

As a huge "Seinfeld" fan, I thought this short read was a great inside look at the show. The history and actual goings-on of the show are usually dressed up and presented in the best light. The DVDs, commentaries, interviews, etc all portray the show as a wildly happy place, where everyone got along and made TV history. The only slight hiccup that sometimes pops up will be when someone, usually a cast member, will off handedly refer to Michael Richards as being "quirky" or "different", which by now I take to mean that he was a real a-hole.

Stollers essay is funny, sad and perfectly introspective. It helps if you recognize him from the episode he guest starred, it makes understanding his personality a little easier. But, needless to say, Stoller didn't have the easiest time as a staff writer. He didn't mesh well with the other writers, Seinfeld and Larry David were too busy running the show to help guide him, and one jealous and insecure writer, referred to as "Perry", actively tried to sabotage his experience.

In short, this is a great read for any Seinfeld fan. The inside look into the show is seemingly unbiased, reflective and realistic. It's totally different from the way the DVDs portrayed the show and the interpersonal relationships, but it isn't tabloid-y or seems like it was made for a quick buck. It certainly feels real and raw, and I think that is a rarity for any of the products that came out of the show. I ended up feeling bad for Fred, and I hope things stay productive for him. This essay was really quite touching.

As a last question, I really want to know who "Perry" is. Stoller wrote for Season 6, and he names a lot of people, eliminating them. Berg, Schaffer, Robin and Kavet would have been the "college kid" writers, so that leaves Bruce Kirschbaum, Bill Masters and Bob Shaw as potential candidates. Personally, I'd probably lean towards Kirschbaum. Unless "Perry" never finished the script he was working on all year...

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Now, THAT counts as a meal. January 25, 2012

By Scott C

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Super lean and all-funny prose makes Mr. Stoller's account of life as an actor/writer a total kick in the pants and a real pleasure to read. There is literally no "filler" in this book, no sections that lag. It seems to be constructed of 'only the good parts' -in a good way. The Sienfeld stuff really satisfies and is bookmarked by some of his experiences as a working actor told in a funny and very human way. Highly recommended.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing, Touching and Real January 21, 2012

By Mr. Stephen B. Lang

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Fred's account of his time as a writer on Seinfeld not only covers the emotions, struggles and triumphs of that writing position but shows glimpses of his family, his childhood and his personality. I wish this were, not just a Kindle Single, but an entire autobiography from birth to the present because it is refreshingly honest and impossible to stop reading. I can sense that there are countless stories and characters from Fred's life that are lurking just out or reach, beyond this downloadable snippet, that I'd gladly follow to embrace the honest laughs and the empathetic sighs. Some of the details and moments that Fred decribe are wonderfully woven with complicated emotions in one short narrative, one instance and sometimes even one sentence. That's the definition of great writing.