I Drink for a Reason (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cross, a comedian best known for his role on TV's Arrested Development, is one of the few comedians working today with an easily identifiable comic voice, and his authorial debut ensures that his voice is heard on every page. Mixing bitterness and absurdity, the result is often piercing sarcasm, beginning with the preface (in which Cross imagines life as a famous author) and opener "Don't Abandon Your Baby"; though he may send up easy targets, Cross consistently hits his mark without sounding like a hack. Though largely irreverent, he often seems genuinely angry (even hurt) when responding to negative reviews or misquotes. Much of the book is devoted to getting even with his detractors, but they aren't all as good as the Pitchfork.com-skewering "Top Ten CDs to Listen to While Listening to Other CDs"; his response to a blogger who accused him of bigotry is strangely joke-free. Cross reserves his greatest vitriol for fellow entertainers Larry the Cable Guy and Jim Belushi, whom he accuses of, respectively, exploiting and outright disdaining their audiences. Though he admits inviting the charge of elitism with some of his material, Cross avoids condescending to his demographic while knocking out a steady stream of laugh-out-loud quips.
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Review

"...me again. I'm sorry, but there's something about David's wit and hilarious self-revelation that makes me want to jacket-blurb all over this thing. David's writing in this 'audio-book for the eyes' is every bit as funny, honest, and observant as the man himself-and, oddly, twice as smart. It's surprising and funny dot dot dot a triumph! Oh, and David that 'dot dot dot' shouldn't be spelled out as words. It's just meant to imply I said a lot of other stuff too. Oh and obviously what I'm saying right now also isn't part of the blurb."
--Mitchell "Arrested Development" Hurwitz, co-creator, The Ellen Show

"A few more books like this one, and we may have to get David to pull a Sen. Al Franken."
--Markos Moulitsas, founder of Daily Kos

"A relentlessly funny insight into what makes David Cross honest and brutal, but above all, hilarious...pant-wettingly brilliant."
--Simon Pegg

"Absurdist naysaying deepened by occasional blurts of actual emotion."
--Sarah Vowell, New York Times bestselling author of Assassination Vacation and The Wordy Shipmates

"David Cross is the Bruce Banner of our time, and this book is his big green monster. His energy is so intoxicating and uplifting that in some cultures his discarded bodily fluids are sold on the black market as an Irish coffee substitute. This is a great book."
--Maynard Keenan, lead singer of Tool and A Perfect Circle

"David has composed a fascinating list of the most obscure names in Atlanta baseball history, and filled the spaces between with some stuff. I don't always agree with him, but he always makes me think and smile and, unlike our conversations, in this book I actually can get a word in edgewise."
--Keith Olbermann

"It is inappropriate for me to write a 'blurb' for Mr. David Cross, as he is rightly a legend--utterly fearless, absolutely brilliant, and a longtime inspiration to me. My endorsement would be like the weed endorsing the sun, which is to say: I live in the dirt and require David Cross (plus water) to live. But I can grow right through sidewalks, so that's something."
--John Hodgman, Daily Show "Resident Expert" and New York Times bestselling author of The Areas Of My Expertise

"One of the funniest books I've ever skimmed!"
--Paul Rudd

"This book is a literary 'Development' from David that I found truly 'Arresting'. I 'dev'oured every word and had to take 'a rest' after reading as I realized this book was 'ment' [sic] to be a comedy classic. This 'Arresting' comedian has 'Developed' into an amazing and insightful writer."
--Mitchell Hurwitz, producer, Golden Girls --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1 edition (August 31, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446579483
• ISBN-13: 978-0446579483
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #10,763 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A David Cross Fan Says: Don't Even Bother..., September 3, 2009

By	Eli Bishop "Wiretap Studios dot com" (virginia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

First of all, I have to admit I'm a rabid David Cross fan, seeing all his movies (yes, even Alvin and the Chipmunks) and collecting all of this stand-up cd's including bootlegs where I couldn't pay for them otherwise. This book came out on my birthday, and it was at the top of my list for gifts my g/f could give me. She preordered it, and gave it to me on my birthday.

I was stoked to read it in the downtime while we were on vacation, only to be highly disappointed. There are numerous, and I mean numerous, spelling and grammatical errors in the book, to the point of distraction. A professional publishing house should be appalled at the level of errors made.

The book itself starts off funny, but then dissolves into list after pointless list, some taking up 3-5 pages of nonsense. Some sections are written as (unfunny) fictional characters. I found myself skimming over large parts of the book. Example: "Eleven Vitamins You Will Have in Limbo: B12, C, K, C+, D-," etc. This is all in a vertical list, double spaced, meaning the list of letters took up a whole page. On stage, in Cross's voice, hilarious. In a book, it's filler status.

I don't need a tell-all bleeding heart story about Cross's life, but a little more insight into what makes him David, life on the road as a comic, and even mundane Hollywood observations would have been fantastic. All I ended up with was what seems to be a collection of things previously written, numerous pointless lists, and a very few gems (the open letter to Larry the Cable guy is hilarious, but also freely available on Cross's website). Hell, I found more humor and insight from David in the Mr. Show book (a fantastic buy). All in all, it seems pretty lazy. If you must have this, at least purchase it used and save yourself a few dollars. David, what gives?

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars What a disappointment., August 31, 2009

By	snacktime - See all my reviews

I've long been a fan of all that is David Cross. If you were to ask me who my favorite comedian is, my immediate and unqualified response would be "David Cross." I own pretty much all of the Mr. Show-related material which has been released, all of David's comedy albums & DVDs, and I've seen David's stand-up act live (which was amazing). So you can imagine that I've been quite excited about the release of this book.

Boy, was I ever disappointed. There are definitely some laugh-out-loud moments in this book (and an unexpected mention of an old friend during the "free list of quirks"), but on the whole it's an uneven work which was very, VERY poorly edited. When I'm paying good money for a professionally-produced book, I expect it to be professionally edited, not filled with the kinds of grammatical mix-ups and misspellings you'd expect from a high-school dropout's job application at McDonald's (page 87: "Mormans," for instance. They apparently didn't even run a spellchecker on this thing before shipping it off to the printer). I'm sure that some people will be quick to point out numerous grammatical errors I've made in my review, but as I'm not producing this in any sort of professional capacity, they can bite my shiny leather grammar Nazi goosesteppers.

I can't say that I hated this book, because I didn't, but overall it proved to be extremely unsatisfying on several levels.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant mind, tough read., September 15, 2009

By	Michelle R (Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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There is a long tradition of comedy being rooted in anger and a long history of comics who do well with sets that play like primal scream therapy. The humor that arises is usually gut-wrenchingly funny, because a good portion of the audience can relate. They're frustrated by the same things as the man or woman on stage.

What happens when the comedian hates every thing and every one and tells you so with anger, contempt, and a sense of superiority? How long can you spend in a atmosphere of rage and condescension? Even if you can see that the person is genuinely intelligent and creative, and happens to generally agree with you on a number of issues, how long before you want to escape?

David Cross is brilliant in many ways, but reading his book was a slog. I like pointed humor, but his dislike of mostly everything he encounters and repetition of his top dislikes made this an almost joyless affair. There were times I chuckled or appreciated a turn of phrase, but mostly I just wondered what he actually liked and if I could make it through to the end.

Instead of taking on a topic or dislike, riffing on it, and moving on, he kept going back to the well with his comments often not even being humorous, but just bitter. The funny thing is that at one or two points he acknowledges that people see him as condescending and superior.

Were there good moments? Yeah. He did a piece on Larry the Cable Guy and showed him for a snake oil salesman. There are lines when he skewers people or institutions that are astute and brilliant, but I found myself having to take breaks from this to read things that where the author likes people, and has the occasional positive.

Cross is a smart guy and funny in shows and skits, but this book doesn't make him seem the least bit likable. Even for someone familiar with Cross and a fan of Mr. Show and Arrested Development, this was not a good read.