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Furious Cool
- Richard Pryor and The World That Made Him
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
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Publisher's summary
Audie Award, Non-Fiction, 2015
Richard Pryor was arguably the single most influential performer of the second half of the twentieth century, and certainly he was the most successful black actor/comedian ever. Controversial and somewhat enigmatic in his lifetime, Pryor's performances opened up a new world of possibilities, merging fantasy with angry reality in a way that wasn't just new - it was heretofore unthinkable.
His childhood in Peoria, Illinois, was spent just trying to survive. Yet the culture into which Richard Pryor was born - his mother was a prostitute; his grandmother ran the whorehouse - helped him evolve into one of the most innovative and outspoken performers ever, a man who attracted admiration and anger in equal parts. Both a brilliant comedian and a very astute judge of what he could get away with, Pryor was always pushing the envelope, combining anger and pathos, outrage and humor, into an art form, laying the groundwork for the generations of comedians who followed, including such outstanding performers as Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, and Louis C.K.
Now, in this groundbreaking and revelatory work, David and Joe Henry bring him to life both as a man and as an artist, providing an in-depth appreciation of his talent and his lasting influence, as well as an insightful examination of the world he lived in and the influences that shaped both his persona and his art.
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- Unabridged
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Both joyous tribute and serious biography, Mike Thomas' You Might Remember Me is a celebration of Phil Hartman's multi-faceted career and an exhaustively reported, warts-and-all examination of his often intriguing and sometimes complicated life - a powerful, humor-filled and disquieting portrait of a man who was loved by many, admired by millions and taken from them far too early.
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I Will Remember You Phil Hartman
- By Roxanna on 12-19-14
By: Mike Thomas
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The Comedians
- Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels and the History of American Comedy
- By: Kliph Nesteroff
- Narrated by: Kliph Nesteroff
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Comedians, comedy historian Kliph Nesteroff brings to life a century of American comedy with real-life characters, forgotten stars, mainstream heroes and counterculture iconoclasts. Based on over 200 original interviews and extensive archival research, Nesteroff's groundbreaking work is a narrative exploration of the way comedians have reflected, shaped, and changed American culture over the past 100 years.
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Performance issues
- By E. A. Smith on 09-02-19
By: Kliph Nesteroff
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Starmaker
- Life as a Hollywood Publicist with Farrah, The Rat Pack, & 600 More Stars Who Fired Me
- By: Jay Bernstein
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Revealingly candid, this Hollywood memoir is the story of Jay Bernstein, an entertainment industry fixture who helped launch and sustain the careers of many celebrities including Farrah Fawcett and Suzanne Somers. From his childhood in Oklahoma City and his first job in a Hollywood mail room to the ownership of his own public relations firm and his work as a television producer, Bernstein’s life is chronicled in his own words.
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Very Entertaining
- By patrick on 09-27-15
By: Jay Bernstein
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Seven Dirty Words
- The Life and Crimes of George Carlin
- By: James Sullivan
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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In Seven Dirty Words, journalist and cultural critic James Sullivan tells the story of Alternative America from the 1950s to the present, from the singular vantage point of George Carlin, the Catholic boy for whom nothing was sacred.
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Carlin's CV with no Depth or Insight
- By Dubi on 01-23-14
By: James Sullivan
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Caddyshack
- The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story
- By: Chris Nashawaty
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Caddyshack is one of the most beloved comedies of all time, a classic snobs vs. slobs story of working-class kids and the white-collar buffoons that make them haul their golf bags in the hot summer sun. It has sex, drugs, and one very memorable candy bar, but the movie we all know and love didn't start out that way, and everyone who made it certainly didn't have the word classic in mind as the cameras were rolling.
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Not Really About Caddyshack Until Hour 5
- By William M. on 07-01-18
By: Chris Nashawaty
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Shine Bright
- A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop
- By: Danyel Smith
- Narrated by: Danyel Smith
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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A weave of biography, criticism, and memoir, Shine Bright is Danyel Smith’s intimate history of Black women’s music as the foundational story of American pop. Smith has been writing this history for more than five years. But as a music fan, and then as an essayist, editor (Vibe, Billboard), and podcast host (Black Girl Songbook), she has been living this history since she was a latchkey kid listening to “Midnight Train to Georgia” on the family stereo.
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Ok might have been better reading the hard copy
- By cde on 06-18-22
By: Danyel Smith
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Liner Notes
- On Parents & Children, Exes & Excess, Death & Decay, & a Few of My Other Favorite Things
- By: Loudon Wainwright III
- Narrated by: Loudon Wainwright III
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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A memoir by the influential Grammy Award-winning singer and actor - son of journalist Loudon Wainwright, former husband of Kate McGarrigle and Suzzy Roche, and father of Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright, Lucy Wainwright Roche, and Lexie Kelly Wainwright - a captivating meditation on relationships and creativity from the patriarch of one of America's great musical families. With a career spanning more than four decades, Loudon Wainwright III has established himself as one of the most enduring singer-songwriters who emerged from the late '60s.
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Best ever book for listening
- By Jeff Bernhardt on 10-29-17
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Tammy Wynette
- Tragic Country Queen
- By: Jimmy McDonough
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 15 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Best-selling biographer Jimmy McDonough tells the story of the small-town girl who grew up to be the woman behind the microphone, whose meteoric rise led to a decades-long career full of tragedy and triumph. Through a high-profile marriage and divorce, her dreadful battle with addiction and illness, and the struggle to compete in a rapidly evolving Nashville, Tammy Wynette turned a brave smile toward the world and churned out masterful hit songs though her life resembled the most heartbreaking among them.
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Loved It!
- By Eileen on 03-19-10
By: Jimmy McDonough
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Everybody Thought We Were Crazy
- Dennis Hopper, Brooke Hayward, and 1960s Los Angeles
- By: Mark Rozzo
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Los Angeles in the 1960s: riots in Watts and on the Sunset Strip, wild weekends in Malibu, late nights at The Daisy discotheque, openings at the Ferus Gallery, and the convergence of pop art, rock and roll, and the New Hollywood. At the center of it all, one inspired, improbable, and highly combustible couple—Dennis Hopper and Brooke Hayward—lived out the emblematic love story of ’60s L.A.
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Wonderful!
- By Rob on 06-07-22
By: Mark Rozzo
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All About Me!
- My Remarkable Life in Show Business
- By: Mel Brooks
- Narrated by: Mel Brooks
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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At 95, the legendary Mel Brooks continues to set the standard for comedy across television, film, and the stage. Now, for the first time, this EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) winner shares his story in his own words.
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Wonderful and nostalgic
- By GAT on 12-07-21
By: Mel Brooks
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Nevertheless
- A Memoir
- By: Alec Baldwin
- Narrated by: Alec Baldwin
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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One of the most accomplished and outspoken actors today chronicles the highs and lows of his life in this beautifully written, candid memoir.
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Embarrassingly petty
- By Stacey Robinson on 09-20-18
By: Alec Baldwin
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Stories I Only Tell My Friends
- An Autobiography
- By: Rob Lowe
- Narrated by: Rob Lowe
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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A teen idol at 15, an international icon and founder of the Brat Pack at 20, and one of Hollywood's top stars to this day, Rob Lowe chronicles his experiences. Never mean-spirited or salacious, Lowe delivers unexpected glimpses into his successes, disappointments, relationships, and one-of-a-kind encounters with people who shaped our world over the last 25 years. These stories are as entertaining as they are unforgettable.
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Great Book and Great Story
- By Natalie J. Belle MD on 04-30-11
By: Rob Lowe
What listeners say about Furious Cool
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Amahra
- 06-24-18
Bravo!
I really enjoyed this biography of Richard Pryor. The authors did a great job of capturing the very essence of Pryor's character. Sometimes, though, the authors' way of presenting this story seemed too over-the-top poetic for the very simple and down-to-earth Stand-up comedian. I thought all of the flowery sentences were unnecessary.
The Narrator performed excellently, at times sounding like you were setting in the audience listening to Pryor doing one of his routines. I could listen to this book over and over. I recommend it, especially to those, like myself, who adored this genius.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 09-30-16
wow
Mind blowing account of the Late Great Richard Pryor life. Wow the movie Joe Joe Dancer your Life's calling was never like this.
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1 person found this helpful
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- John
- 03-28-14
Some insight but thin
Interesting story with some insight into Pryor's life and times but thin in many places. Lots of repetition of Pryor's classic routines. I agree that he was a special talent but the genius term was thrown around ad nauseam throughout the book.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Author, Copper Smith
- 12-06-21
Richard at his rawest
This is a brutally insightful look at a troubled man and the stunning art he created.
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- Kristopher KR
- 03-08-23
A Bit Off
Kind of a difficult book to review. On one hand, it’s written by two people (David and Joe Henry) who are obviously huge fans of Richard Pryor and his entire line of work.
The narrator, Dion Graham does a hell of a job with the narration. Doing his absolute best to get Pryor’s delivery and timing and cadence correct without fully going hog wild with an impression. His version of Richard Pryor.
The problem with the book, while it’s well researched and gives an objective narrative with quotes and passages from friends and family….it seemed too much like a book report for The Henry Brother’s favorite stand-up.
I really probably should listen to a book about Pryor by Pryor himself. Perhaps if long time friends and family had written it? Maybe. A good listen nonetheless.
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- Nancela
- 11-18-15
A Waste of Genius
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
This story covers an era of great change; change in comedy, relations between races, and U.S. political upheaval. In the midst of it all is the story of one brilliant and tortured soul.
Who was your favorite character and why?
No favorite characters here. Pryor's drug abuse and erratic personality made everyone miserable at some point.
Did Dion Graham do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?
At first I found it annoying to hear the narrator imitate Richard Pryor, but he did a good job of it and eventually I became accustomed to it and felt that there was no other way to convey Pryor's voice than through "Pryor's voice". However, I felt the imitation of the other character's voices were unnecessary and distracting.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
I could have listened to it in one sitting, but didn't.
Any additional comments?
I think this is an important book for many reasons, not the least of which is Richard Pryor's ground breaking approach to 'dramady'. He was more than a comedian and a chronicler of a very important era. It wasn't easy to listen to re-live the period of time that Pryor was living in but he and the authors captured his style and his troubled life and put it in the context of the times in which he lived.
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- Matthew Pluck
- 04-12-16
It's ok.
Ok, not great. Seemed a little too full of itself. Not every joke or story Richard Prior told changed the world. Little too long, never really funny for more than a laugh or two.
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- kimmy
- 02-14-16
Unabridged Richard
I have seen a few documentaries oh Richard Pryor and read other books, but this one gets under the skin of it a little more than most. As someone who grew up with Pryor as an idol and having seen a majority of the entertainment discussed, I thoroughly enjoyed the book.
There were some things left out- like some of the stuff that Mel brooks said about Pryor writing all of Mongo's lines in Blazing Saddles or how he once was late and called in from Illinois.
Still... A very good book
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7 people found this helpful
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- Jennifer Y.
- 12-08-16
Good book
It was interesting to read about the amazing Richard Pryor. The book was a bit dry, but ok.
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1 person found this helpful
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- LC
- 03-16-16
Good Book
I loved the in depth approach they took but the dude reading it trying to sound like everyone they took a quote from sucked
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