Shane

I love Sarah Silverman, but this book fell short for me. The early life and start in comedy sections were interesting. The second half just felt like promotion for her show, which I would assume most readers would have seen. The episodic rundown of her show was laborious.

I am always interested in how people work their way up through the ladder to become the faces we see on tv. Cohen's story is interesting and a testament to his persistance and hard work. However, if your looking for great dish on behind the scenes activities behind the housewive's series, you are out of luck. Just remember his main goal is to promote the show and protect Bravo. Nothing about all of the freebie's and positioning that goes on.

I found this book entertaining. I also respect the fact that the author was open about the pitfalls and negative effects of what they were attempting to create. I wish he would have illustrated the success ratio more. There was kind of an implication that he was always successful. I would have been interested to know how many "sets" these guys did to have success.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this audiobook, but I hate to break it to Sammy, but people are listening to hear about Van Halen. It definitely delivered, but Sammy as the genius behind every single thing got old after awhile. From fire sprinklers, to stage production, tequila, mountain bikes, cars, Sammy knows all and never fails! Wait, I left out band management writing, promotions, he really does it all!

the first 2 parts that dealt with the origin and establishment of ESPN were excellent. The insider view of the various complex negotiations regarding; venture capital, broadcasting rights, production, talent, etc, were fascinating. Part 3 was basically a pointless run down of every show idea ESPN put on the air. Part 4 seemed to be ESPN's chance to address (unchallenged) any negative situations that had arisen over the years and put thier spin on it. The female voice on this audiobook was terrible and made the women sound juvenile and naive.

Author definitely put a lot of effort and research into this book. Probably a little too much research. The detailed descriptions of the lives and histories of those involved was laborious. The main players sure, but even bit players were given quite long biographies. I would have been fine with just modern day crime coverage and Vigoa's background.

I found the behind the scenes operations of strip clubs to be fascinating. Listened to this on one long flight. Very enjoyable.

I Felt the author lost objectivity and seemed to be presenting all of these theories as fact and the best way to evaluate players. Interesting how Beane and Podesta were all about the numbers, but yet so emotional when they felt the players weren't playing to them.