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The Trials of Lenny Bruce: The Fall and Rise of An American Icon

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Lenny Bruce lived to shock people. His nightclub routines, full of the worst of the four letter words, made fun of stuff which people, especially his contemporaries, were supposed to take seriously: religion, marriage, intimacy. However, _The Trials of Lenny Bruce: The Fall and Rise of an American Icon_ (Sourcebooks) by Ronald K. L. Collins and David M. Skover, makes plain that the iconoclastic Bruce had enormous respect for the law. His rooms were cluttered with tapes, court transcripts, and legal research efforts, and he wrote letters to judges trying to explain how his comedy was legally protected speech. He even showed civic respect for the policemen who were so often out to get him. Bruce saw that it was his job to change the law, and while he never really managed that, he made historic changes by fighting battles that those after him would not have to fight. The authors of this engrossing book have found that his story is virtually absent from the history of the First Amendment; this is a corrective.

Bruce was arrested many times for obscenity, but particularly interesting in this book is the demonstration that what often drove the arrests was irritation about his blasphemy. Bruce had routines that could bother any denomination. After mockingly accepting Jewish responsibility for killing Jesus, he roared, "We Jews killed Christ, and if he comes back, we'll kill him again!" He had a hilarious routine in which Christ and Moses come into the back of St. Patrick's Cathedral, to the embarrassment of Cardinal Spellman and Archbishop Sheen, who have to telephone the pope to explain ("_Of course they're white!_"). We have no blasphemy laws in this country (to the dismay, still, of some), but he was literally brought up on blasphemy charges. Blasphemy could not stick, but obscenity might. The problem Bruce had was that according to the Supreme Court decision in _Roth_, a work had to be taken as a whole, but the cops and prosecutors always concentrated on the specific words. The vice squad informers could, during a performance, tally every naughty synonym Bruce used for genitalia or coitus, and then present the list for consideration by the grand jury. Consideration to the sweep of Bruce's satire was seldom given.

As demonstrated in this comprehensive and well referenced volume, by two lawyers who obviously love their subject and enjoy explaining First Amendment issues, Bruce has had a resurrection. There have been plays and movies, but more importantly, as George Carlin (who was once arrested for attending a Bruce performance) said, "Lenny opened all the doors, or kicked them down." The nightclubs and comedy clubs are now open for anyone, with the sensible idea that if you might be offended by what you hear, don't pay to go in. A stand-up comic might fear bombing on stage, or getting heckled, but because Bruce has already taken the heat, no comic has to fear getting arrested. Within this book is a CD of Bruce giving some of his most famous routines, and commentary by admirers and detractors. On it, Margaret Cho, who continues in the tradition of offering outrageous satirical commentary, says that she knows part of her job, as Bruce's descendant, is to disrupt polite society, but she knows what has gone before: "I don't want to end up like him, but I want to be like him."

Not many people know of Lenny Bruce. But most people do know about Sam Kinison, George Carlin, Denis Leary, Andrew "Dice" Clay, and other caustic comedians. Without Lenny Bruce to pave the way (and in the process become a martyr to the First Amendment), it's possible that none of these performers would be around today. Lenny Bruce pioneered the world of the caustic, vulgar, frank and (often too-) honest comedian, and paid the price of his life for it. Here, in Collins and Skover's detailed account of the comedian's life, trials, incarceration, and eventual death, the spirit of Lenny Bruce is brought back to glorious life and used as an example of the dangers inherent in allowing government to decide what we should see, hear, or say. Anyone interested in this dark chapter of our First Amendment should grab this book immediately!

This is really an excellent book. The first 200 pages focus on the embattled comedian, his bits and his scrapes with the law. As someone who was never a Lenny Bruce fan I found this section a provocative read. However, I found the book becoming progressively more compelling as the authors get into the details of the First Amendment trials. They do a masterful job of intergrating theory with the mechanics of placing the factual "matter" (the testimony) before the finder of fact.
In its discussion of the post-death and resurrected Lenny Bruce the book ascends to its highest level. The irony of Lenny Bruce as a First Amendment icon, whose free speech is beyond challange and the political destruction of William Kuh provide brilliant insights on the vicissitudes of American popular culture since the 1960s

Ronald K.L. Collins and David M. Skover, the authors of "The Trials of Lenny Bruce", had a clear reason on writing a book based upon the life of Lenny Bruce and the period of time when he was prosecuted for his comedy routines. The purpose of the authors was to show how far America has come along since the 1950's. It shows that America used to take offense to almost anything that was thrown at it. The thesis shows that America was not as intimidated by the use of foul language by Lenny, but the fact that Lenny had touched base with both religion and the society in his routines. The authors have shown their intent based upon the clear fact that they stated many times in the book that they were pro-Lenny and by telling the reader that Lenny was prosecuted because of "foul-language" but in all honesty, it was because he was questioning authority. There is definitely a need for this book, because this book explains that Lenny was a true advocate of free-speech and it lets everyone know about how his trials were unfair and not legitimately based.
The authors went about their task by looking into the legal aspects of the trials. They said that the trials were not fairly judged and that the jury was not a completely fair jury. The author's evidence was reliant upon the past cases that were put forward by the Supreme Court. They also heavily relied upon what happened in Lenny's life to show
how Lenny progressed as the trials went on and how his routines changed from fairly comedic routines, to serious routines. The routines were more about society in general to begin with at first, but as Lenny's addiction to heroine increased, the comedian became more and more fazed by the trials. The author's sources were the legal documents that the Supreme Court had on Lenny Bruce, as well as other books on Lenny, movies, recordings, both published and unpublished interviews with people that were involved in either the trials that Lenny was in, or lived during the time that Lenny was alive, radio programs on Bruce, newspaper articles or reviews on Lenny, and court documents that involved the cases that Lenny had. The author's use pictures as a graphic way of seeing Lenny and getting to take a look at the guy instead of just assuming a picture into the mind. The pictures add very little to the text, though, as they are partly used for filler for the book. The authors also included an audio tape to the front of the book. The audio tape really did add to the meaning of the book, because instead of just reading about his routines, it allowed for the reader to actually listen to his routines and see what Lenny was clearly trying to state during his routines. It proved a point that in order to really know what was going on at the time, you had to listen to what Lenny was saying, and not just writing that was placed in a book. No book really can exclaim the same meaning as an audio tape can.
The author's were both successful in writing this book. They did not have to go about and write this book, but like Lenny, they wanted to change the opinions and feelings of others for Lenny. They were both graduates of law school, and are not only successful in the legal area, but they are also talented and diligent in the writing area. The
authors persuaded me to continue reading through the book, because they were able to use colorful language and the fact that they knew what they were clearly talking about. These writers were not just completely opinion based during this book, but they were also legally based in the sense that they were able to show what was legally going on during the trials, and Lenny's life. As stated before, this book had a need to be written. It had to show that Lenny was not just there to make "naughty swears" in his routines, but it showed that Lenny questioned authority, and that was what really got him into trouble. I would highly advise for people that want to read about Lenny's life to get this book. It really does show that Lenny was not just a figment of history, but that his comedy is still widely accepted today. Go pick a copy up for yourself, and see what the 1950's were really like in America.

Most of us know Bruce's routines and the fact that he fought hard for first amendment rights that eventually brought him down.

This book takes those routines and then goes behind the scenes on the commotion the routines brought about and how he shaped the law by his constant definding of the first amendment. This book shows how passionate Bruce was about the law and as you read it, you can see the influence and how that influence was passed to Carlin, Pryor, Hicks, and Kenison as well as how Bruce still influences performers on stage today like Lewis Black.

Bruce made all of those performers possible and is still making cutting edge performers possible today.

This is a great book If You wnat to endulge in a "Head-y" overview of The trials of Mr. Bruce. It may make You angry more than make You laugh at all. Recomended for those interested in a study of artist rights

Let me start by saying that I'm a fan of the First Amendment, and of the idea of and ideas of courageous people like Lenny Bruce who stand up for it in the face of considerable and outrageous persecution. Before getting this book, I knew very little about Lenny Bruce apart from the standard accolades to his artistic integrity and courage; after getting this book, the only additional information I have is that Ronald K. L. Collins and David M. Skover have spent a considerable number of pages in creating a shrine to someone whom they clearly admire greatly.

There's no problem with admiring someone, even in a biography, but the way this book is packaged makes it sound as if it's a penetrating legal analysis offering some enlightening picture of Lenny's life. Maybe I didn't read this deeply enough, but what I saw was page after page of `Good ol' Lenny, and the things he did. Then the cops came in.' Yes, as I say, what Lenny was doing (onstage, if not in his private life) was basically right, and certainly impressive; yes, the legal harrassment he received was absurd, and hounded him to his death -- but surely that's not all there is to the picture. I wanted to find out about the life of an important, if largely indirect, fight for the First Amendment; I found only a testament that Free Speech Good, coupled with a few timid caveats that the subject was not a saint.

That said, how about the writing? Well, again, I picked up the book for some sort of insight into the legal twists and tangles of the matter, something to make me really begin to understand the cases; what I found was the work of someone who I think has great insight, but who was more concerned with showing that he was as cool as Lenny than with sharing that insight with his readers.

By the way, the CD is great, although it takes a few listens to see how it hangs together.