Like many people in America, I discovered Craig Ferguson when he played Mr. Wick on "The Drew Carey Show." To put it bluntly, I hated him. I only looked as far as the character he played (which, now, says much about his acting ability) and found him weak, conniving, shrill, and patronizing. Once he left the show, I never missed him. Fast forward to 2009; I'd been unemployed for over a year and my ability to remain optimistic about life in general was rapidly disappearing. I was unable to sleep at night because I was sleeping all day. So, as such, I was flipping through the channels late one night and was stopped by a show featuring the "Spanish Word of the Day." I don't remember what the word was, I don't remember exactly what happened next. All I know is that I kept watching long enough for a tall, lanky Scottish man to come on the screen and be censored by an Italian flag and a "Tutti Frutti!"
It was love at first obscenity.
From his poor beginnings in Cumbernauld to his great successes in Los Angeles, Craig Ferguson is the embodiment of the American Dream. It happens much as you would expect - poor kid wants more, poor kid works hard, poor kid falls down a lot, poor kid moves to America, poor kid falls down some more, poor kid eventually becomes rich kid. There is little about Ferguson's story that people can't recognize in their own quests for self-fulfillment. Yet, as he tells his tale, Ferguson is witty, humble, and honest in ways that I think most people aren't when relating similar stories. He comes clean about his drug abuse and alcoholism; he owns it as a part of him. There's no escaping it; it made him who he is today and he knows it. He doesn't sugarcoat anything as he admits that his substance abuse played a large role in destroying both his first marriage and his relationship with his first true love. A later chapter, simply titled "Rehab," is one of the most poignant points of the book as he describes his literal struggle between choosing life or death. Anyone who has ever dealt with addiction or any kind of mental illness can relate to this and I was truly in tears. Keep in mind though that Ferguson's goal isn't to garner sympathy; as he says in the prologue, he tries to "spare [himself] no blushes." He is simply relating truth as he remembers it (or doesn't as the case may be). Most importantly, he wants you, American or not, to understand why he, a Scottish man, had to be American so badly. And, if you're a natural-born American like myself, you're actually kind of proud to be one once he's done. By the time I finished the book, Craig Ferguson had, in me, gained a life-long fan.
This book is funny, it's tragic, it's beautifully written...a Scottish immigrant has written a quintessential American story. It's a triumph in every word.
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Top reviews from other countries
Junaid
Honestly beautiful and beautifully honest
Reviewed in India on June 17, 2017
