True Story: A Novel [Hardcover]

Bill Maher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 6, 2000

Bill Maher, the hilarious, irreverent star of the hit ABC talk show Politically Incorrect, is one of America's hottest comics. But like many of today's late-night humor kings, Maher began his career navigating New York City's seedy stand-up comedy circuit. He was there back in the Golden Age of comedy, when everybody wanted to be Eddie Murphy, and even the laundromat had its own open-mike night.

True Story is Maher's debut novel about the wild and crazy life of the stand-up comedian -- a bawdy, rowdy tell-all report from the front line.

Set in New York, circa 1979, in the late-night, neon-lit comedy clubs when the comedy boom was just heating up, True Story features five would-be comics, their shticks, their chicks, their rampant egos. These guys are desperate for celebrity, desperate for money, and -- what else? -- desperate to get laid. Which means they're also required to become "road comics," shacking up in low-rent condos provided by sleazy club owners as the comedy scene spreads to the heartland in the early '80s. The result is a hilariously funny novel about the peculiar world of stand-up, where the ultimate prizes are fame, fortune, and fornication -- and the ultimate aspiration is, quite simply, to be laughed at.

Dick, Shit, Fat, Chink, and Buck -- so stage-named for their specialty jokes -- can't begin to fathom the idea of a day job. Hey, they think, it might actually be possible to make a living from comedy! Their crises -- on stage, on the road, and with the ladies -- provide ideal set pieces for Maher's tongue-in-cheek riffs and observations. With perfect-pitch delivery, in classic sardonic style, Maher gives us a bona fide look at these resilient comedians and the scumbag promoters, hostile audiences, and die-hard groupies who make up their warped and twisted world.

Only Bill Maher could have written True Story. And lucky for us he did. Because True Story is hilarious. It's offensive. At times it's even touching. So sit back as Maher puts you stageside at the very birth of the comedy boom. You'll laugh in all the right places. Hey, it's a True Story.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Few things are less enticing than a comedy novel that's not funny. Maher's misogynist, juvenile fiction debut about five young New York comics in search of laughs and sex (not necessarily in that order) lands with the dull thud of a drum roll after a painfully bad joke. The author, host of the cable comedy show Politically Incorrect , gets his story off to an atrocious start by naming his protagonists Dick, Shit, Fat, Chink and Buck, according to their proclivity for jokes about body parts, body functions, appearance, racial identity and so on. Unfortunately, the maturity level goes downhill from there. While Maher does offer a few good one-liners along with some revealing insights into the vagaries of a life in comedy, most of the shallow prose deals with the boys' attempts to get gigs, get laid, get over on sleazy club owners and come to grips with the fact that they lead an incredibly vacuous life based largely on surface cleverness. It's hard to determine what's most offensive: the emptiness of Maher's characters, the hostility of their material or the way both author and characters treat women. If this book were a cable comedy special, it would be zapped within seconds by remote controls across the land.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Imagine five young, ambitious male comics trying to build careers in 1980, just as the U.S. comedy club circuit starts to develop. Imagine these standups as they chase gigs-and women-up and down the East Coast from their home club in New York City. Imagine their fictional exploits documented by a veteran of that circuit, and you have comic actor Maher's first novel. Much of this material is no doubt autobiographical, but Maher has blended his experience into a surreal narrative that moves at the speed of a brilliant standup routine. Despite the potential for caricature, Maher's cast members are sharply drawn and mostly sympathetic. Although much bawdier, this book has to be one of the funniest first novels since John Kennedy O'Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces (1980). Buy where earthy comedy is appreciated.
A.J. Wright, Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (June 6, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684873605
• ISBN-13: 978-0684873602
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,065,332 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Only for those who like to laugh., April 14, 1998

By 

Robert Hlozek ([e-mail]) (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: True Story: A Comedy Novel (Paperback)

If you like to laugh get this book. Otherwise, just move on, and go back to your copy of Great Irish Love Songs. "True Story: A Comedy Novel," by Bill Maher, is a tale about five young comics who are trying to make it on the stand-up circuit, back in 1979. It is also a total riot.

From stories about playing ping-pong in the nude, to acid induced conversations with God, Maher keeps the reader laughing and waiting for the all important next joke. While it may never considered to be a literary masterpiece, Maher has written a book that just plain and simple fun to read, and an absolute must for those who have dreams of becoming a stand-up comic.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a masterpiece of cynicism., June 2, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: True Story: A Comedy Novel (Paperback)

As far as literature goes, it's not the best. But this book is _the_ most cynical thing I have ever read. Bill Maher makes Machiavelli look like Timothy Leary by comparison. Bill Maher actually manages to think that the world is a bit worse than it actually is -- and I didn't know that was possible. The most cynical thing in this book is of course then ending, where he drops the cynicism for a second in order to give it the kind of ending the reader is dying to see. Bill Maher elevates cynicism to an artform!

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hard to Digest, September 18, 2003

By 

Brent Frederick (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: True Story: A Novel (Paperback)

This book is a difficult read... It has an interesting premise, but the characters are so disinteresting and the plot so convoluted that turning pages becomes a chore.