The I Chong: Meditations from the Joint (Hardcover)

~ Tommy Chong (Author)
Key Phrases: boccie ball, Tattoo Steve, San Quentin, Los Angeles (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Beloved stoner comedian TOMMY CHONG is now older, wiser, and officially an EX-CON.

On the morning of February 24, 2003, agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration launched a sting called Operation Pipe Dreams and forced themselves through the door of Tommy's California home, with automatic weapons drawn. As a result of the raid on his home; the simultaneous ransacking of his son's company, Chong Glass; and the Bush administration's determination to make an example out of the "Pope of Pot;" he was sentenced to nine months in prison because his company shipped bongs to a head shop in Pennsylvania that was a front for the DEA.

Well . . . now it's Tommy Chong's turn to fight back and tell his side of the story.

Beginning with Tommy's experiences growing up in Canada in the forties and fifties as a mixed-race kid and going on to become a comedy legend, The I Chong is at once a memoir, a spiritual exploration of his time in prison, and a political indictment of the eroding civil liberties in post-9/11 American society. He tells the unbelievable story of his trip down the rabbit hole of America's war on drugs and of his experiences in the federal prison system, and he offers up timely observations on combating the conservative political forces at work in this country. Introspective, inspiring, and incendiary, The I Chong is a unique chronicle of one man's life and how his humorous and spiritual point of view saved him during his wrongful incarceration at the hands of an administration without boundaries. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Tommy Chong is a sixty-eight-year-old writer and director, best known as half of the legendary comedy duo Cheech and Chong. The pair found a wide audience through their stand-up routines, comedy albums, and popular films about the hippie, free-love, and (especially) drug culture movement. A father of five, Chong lives with his wife, Shelby, in California and performs with her at comedy clubs across the country. This is his first book.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Simon Spotlight Entertainment (August 8, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416915540
• ISBN-13: 978-1416915546
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #124,771 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Comic's life at 60..., August 9, 2006

By	Mehri Kaufman "Mimish" (Kirkland, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The audience for this book is any "thinking" adult. I'm sure the Feds that busted him, as well as the people he portrayed in the movies will enjoy this book. You don't have to be of one camp or another...

This was a very enjoyable biography. Tommy shared is youth in Canada with candor. He doesn't place blame or make excuses, but points out the way it was. His marriage is a wonderful love story that was heart warming. There are many LOL pages and some that tugged at your spirit. His love of tango dancing was a great vignette that carried through the whole story. He brings some very real issues to the table and discusses them. He thinks clearly about the war on dope, and he brings up some other topics that should also be discussed. The content gracefully touched on politics, religion, family, racism and a wide variety of subjects we should all be talking about.

His incarceration is truly an embarrassment for our country, but his blame on the Republican Party shows how recently he got in this bind. This is a two party system, and they're both guilty. This has been going on for a long time. Reason Magazine (and their libertarian website) did a lot of good reporting on Tommy Chong. They discuss the stripping of our rights that have been progressing through the recent decades, and accelerated since the Patriot Act.

After reading this, I would certainly love to see him do an investigative reporting type movie. Tommy could answer Michael Moore's question about why Americans shoot each other more than other well armed countries. The answer is hidden in this book.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reflections, anecdotes, and wisdom from an amazing man, January 17, 2007

By	Jessica Lux (Rosamond, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I'll declare this upfront: I have never been a fan of the Cheech & Chong movies, nor have I followed either of their careers in detail. I enjoy memoirs, especially those by larger-than-life characters, and I picked up The I Chong hoping for some tales of vice and an indictment of the War on Drugs. I was swept away by this deceptively short and simple book of spiritual reflections, introspection, and cultural observations about the War on Drugs and life in federal prison. It's a shame that people might avoid this book out of a distaste for pot-smoking jokes--this memoir is serious, intelligent, and witty, and Chong has been on a year-plus fast from pot-smoking.

"The Joint" refers to Chong's incarceration for selling glass bongs. That's right. He was imprisoned for nine months for selling glass when the Bush Administration wanted to make an example out of a cultural pro-marijuana symbol. His straightforward, well-worded perspective on the Operation Pipe Dreams sting will make even the most straight-laced reader question the use of our government resources to pursue people like Tommy Chong.

This is a book to read and share with friends and family. You don't have to be a Cheech & Chong fan, nor a pro-marijuana crusader, to glean life lessons and wisdom from this short memoir.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Charming and Rambling - Just Like Cheech and Chong , August 9, 2006

By	A. Sardella (Sunnyvale, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Nice memoir by a very likeable character. He talks about the imbecilic raid on his house in the sting Operation called Operation Pipe Dream ("our doors were unlocked man -- they could have just walked right in") and his experience as a jailhouse celebrity (second only to Michael Milken for mail received).

The tale of his childhood in Vancouver is also very endearing, along with the inception of Cheech and Chong, which kind of fell out of an Improv Group.

It's a story of someone who's done a lot of drugs (though not as much as legend would have it) and is told with total appreciation of his life and no bitterness even towards the FBI agents who stung in. Indeed he's amused at how they solicited autographs from him while working undercover.

Only Tommy Chong could call a 9 month stint in prison a ride to enjoy.