Customer Reviews

Wake Up and Smell the Coffee - Acting Edition

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I've read some of Bogosian's other pieces, including one of his plays, subUrbia, and it seems to me that he's deceptively simple. On the one hand his material seems like one more dirty comedy routine, but then when you put the pieces together the whole world view is pretty complex. It feels like he's dissatisfied with a status quo situation and he's trying to find a way to comment. I have not seen him perform, but I've heard that he's beyond incredible live, so maybe you have to see the monologues live. I've also read his novel, Mall, and it completely spun me out. In some ways, he's probably the most interesting person out there writing today.

I've read almost all of Bogosian's work and really, this one smells the most personal of all. I've never seen him do his works(except movies...), but when you read it, you can almost see him ranting on. And this time, he's at is clearest. The magic lives on !!!
Really, Bogosian gives meaning to the saying that tells us artists are the Guardians of Humanity.
You can't escape it, the words he gives us speak of truth as you wouldn't want to know. He puts us in front of all you know but don't want to care about.
If you hesitate, don't !!! Get it !!!

Bogosian proves with Wake Up and Smell the Coffee that he is one of the funniest, smartest, and angriest writers around. Wake Up is a collection of monologues designed to be performed as a one-man (or one-woman) show, but the monologues could stand on their own as comedic vignettes good enough to work as audition pieces or stand-up routines. Most of the monologues are piercing in their accuracy. Bogosian takes on pop culture, religion, families, and he does so with sarcasm that never lets up and almost never misses the mark. His take on the carnival at airports is just one example: Standing in ticket lines, sitting in the departure lounge, crowded around the baggage carousel watching the luggage coming out as if awaiting the birth of your first child.

The book is separated into three parts. The main portion of this book is the collection of monologues that form the one-man show. The second part of the book contains what Bogosian calls Orphans  monologues that dont really fit in with the rest of the work. The final piece of the book is an essay on how Bogosian develops his monologues (or solos, as he refers to them). He explains how he locks himself in a room with a tape recorder and lets his inner characters loose. The essay is interesting, but you get the feeling that it was added to give some more bulk to the book, and not because it was intended to accompany the monologues.

Bogosian admits in the introduction that after 9/11 he told his agent to shelve the book altogether. Some of the material in Wake Up takes on terrorism, plane crashes, the Oklahoma City bombing, and Arabic immigrants, and Bogosian was worried that this book would come across as offensive. In truth, some of pieces do ring with a clarity that might not have existed in the pre-war on terror world. That insight makes the jokes funnier and the truth more bitter. The fact that some of his monologues dealt with subjects that would be forced into the public consciousness after 9/11 just shows how insightful Bogosian has become. Its not just jokes anymore.

This guy just keeps getting better and sharper. The book, like the performance, is fast, furious, angry, and doesn't care what you think, just as long as you think. I'd have to say that half of it could be perceived as more of the same, but it would be shortsighted to dismiss it as such. This is intensely focused on the mentality of the public at large like a magnifying glass in the sun torching an ant. It's more than a dissection of the follies of materialism and fame. He spoons out the heartless soul of it and puts on display for all to witness like an audience holding court for a lynching. It's the out and out truth. And through his 10 or so monologues, he hurls that brick through the glass houses of smoke and mirror. Knock yourself out. You decide. Love him. Hate him. He'll kick your [butt] either way.

Absolutely brilliant stuff! Bogosian just bettered himself... one more time. The monologues are truly intelligent, witty, eye-opening etc, but even more important, is the way Bogosian has put them together to create a great PLAY.

I'm with the only dissenting reviewer on this site...this guy's sentiments are immature, his writing sophmoric, and his facts just damn hazy! "Displaced Costa Rican farmers"?! Is he kidding?! Just read the essays on coffee and democracy in "Costa Rica: The Last Country the Gods Made" to get the FACTS!

I read this at an airport: the only reason I finished it is I had nothing else to read. The author tries to come off as angry and satirical, but just comes off as immature. Maybe if you're 16 and taking drama in school this would be an insightful read.