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Crash and Burn  By  cover art

Crash and Burn

By: Artie Lange,Anthony Bozza
Narrated by: Sean Runnette
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Publisher's summary

At a high point in his career, Artie Lange performed a sold-out show in Carnegie Hall-and he did it with a pocketful of heroin. In the midst of a deep, self-destructive depression, addicted to heroin, cocaine, and prescription drugs, he lashed out at everyone around him - from his cohosts on The Howard Stern Show to celebrity guests and even his longtime friends.

Then came his legendary meltdown on-air, with 6 million people listening, after which Lange pulled himself together enough to go to a buddy's bachelor party in Amsterdam. He never made the party, but instead used the trip as an opportunity to hole up in his hotel room with a prostitute and do drugs.

By turns dark and harrowing, hilarious and poignant, and always drop-dead honest, Crash and Burn is a blow-by-blow account of Lange's years of addiction, a suicide attempt (which he relates in terrifying detail), hitting rock bottom, stints in rehab, and painful relapses. With the help and support of friends and family, Lange manages to recover and get his life and career back on track. And despite his slip-ups, backslides, and permanent losses, Artie Lange forges on.

From drugs to sports to falling in love, Lange tells all in Crash and Burn, the story of his life that is as shocking as it is funny, ever tempered by his characteristic humor, self-awareness, and inimitable way with words.

©2013 Arthur Lange, Jr. (P)2013 Tantor

What listeners say about Crash and Burn

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

[Narrator Fail] Comic Genius+Depression+Drugs=Mess

About the narrator: For me, Too Fat to Fish in audio format was epic until Artie quit and allowed others to finish narrating his book. With Crash and Burn, Artie didn't even bother and contracted a hired gun. His choice of a narrator is puzzling - Artie's foul mouth, talk of prostitutes and drugs of epic proportions sound completely unnatural coming from Sean Runnette's mouth. A large percentage of Artie's charm is his delivery. NO ONE can tell an Artie story like Artie! So, the listener definitely loses here. Artie, for the love of GOD - read your own books - you are FANTASTIC at it!

Hard to be critical of a phoenix attempting to rise from the ashes, but this book stumbled and fell on its face (however, not nearly as many times as Artie has).

With or without drugs, Artie is a selfish guy. He is admittedly greedy, self-absorbed and was until recently (I think he is sober?) on a path of destruction that should have taken his life. The people that stood by him for the 5+ years he discusses in this book should be up for sainthood. I'm not making light of drug addiction or the gravity of clinical depression. Both are serious, combined are deadly, but this book goes into tremendous repetitive detail. About halfway through the book, it became annoyingly predictable: noncommittal attempts at sobriety, fists full of lies and plunges back into the abyss. It gets impossible to root for Artie when you hear the wake of chaos he lays down for everyone who ever loved him and the gigantic pity parties he attended in his own honor.

I feel like this book was prematurely written and with the passage of time, more years of sobriety and more perspective, Artie could have edited this into something more meaningful. It is his story, so at the end of the day, he gets to tell it when and how he wants. I just expected more from this brilliantly gifted, whip-smart man. I do hope he is on the road to recovery he says he is on.

Some reviewer was critical of Howard firing Artie... and I find that insulting and ridiculous. First, I adored Artie on the Stern Show and was heart-broken when he left. Howard built his show from the ground up and has been successful for 35+ years. He is fiercely loyal to his employees (he kept Jackie for all those years!). I can't imagine what it was like for Howard to watch Artie black-out during shows, fall asleep, speak incoherently, snore on air and treat his precious job so cavalierly. Artie says in his book many times Howard gave him a million chances - Artie screwed himself out of the show and he owns it. Howard runs a business and delivers a great product; his first priority are his fans. Artie disrespected the show, the fans and Howard. He deserved to lose his job.





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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Life of an addict

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, if the friend follows the Howard Stern show or is fan of Artie.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Sean Runnette?

No, this was a hard assignment for Sean Runnette. The Author is a radio personality with an outstanding voice for Radio.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

How functioning addicts live and the great lengths they take to feed their addiction.

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4 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Raw and Honest...

What made the experience of listening to Crash and Burn the most enjoyable?

As a long time fan of Artie and the Howard Stern show, I felt there was so much that was going on with Artie that I wish I knew. This book exposed so much of what was going on "off the air" that I had it hard to stop listening. This book made so much make sense for me.

What did you like best about this story?

The brutal honesty and "nothing held back" attitude that Artie has. Fans of Artie already know how great he tells a story. When it comes to a serious topic that this book covers, Artie did an excellent job of keeping it as lighthearted as possible in a way that only he can.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Artie recounted his relationship with Adrienne and when he got 100% honest about the suicide attempt.

Any additional comments?

I'm always pulling for Artie.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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Not Narrated by Artie--boring and unpleasant

It was a horrible decision to have another narrator read in a monotone instead of having Artie read his own book. I find Artie very funny, mostly because of his tone of voice and comic timing. Both these things are rendered irrelevant of course. This sordid story is not entertaining or well-written, and not at all pleasant to listen to. I'm not interested in listening to a "scared straight" episode. His first book was funny. Get "Too Fat to Fish" instead and skip this one.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A Fascinating Look into a Brilliant Comic

This is a pretty stellar followup to "Too Fat to Fish." Artie Lange and Anthony Bozza are able to wonderfully tell us a compelling story that is simultaneously humorous and heartwrenching as well. Artie's story is very bleak and depressing for the first three-quarters of the book but it ends on an upbeat and inspirational note, which is actually very bittersweet if you consider that he's fallen off the heroin wagon since he wrote the book (as recent as May of this year) and has since lost his fiance Adrienne as well (she is now seeing someone else). You really want to root for Artie when he finds something that works for him (AA) but then you are left wondering if this cycle that Artie puts himself through of conquering his demons and then relapsing again is something that he's going to keep struggling with for the rest of his life (and you hope that he doesn't have a similar fate to Carrie Fisher who also went through everything Artie is going through).
As for the prose itself, Artie and Bozza are, as I said above, able to tell a story that is simultaneously humorous and painfully depressing with the best instance of that being his Playboy Mansion story that begins with Artie ripping his pants before he has to go on stage and ends with him vomiting up pills in a porta potty.
As for the narration, well, it's unusual, and it's unusual for a couple of reasons. It's unusual that they didn't just get Artie to do it since these are his stories and we know he's capable of recounting them in a humorous way, but it's also unusual in the way that Sean Runnette sounds a LOT like Howard Stern, which makes you wonder if the intent was always to get Howard but he turned them down. As hard as Runnette is to listen to initially (hard in the sense that you'd rather listen to Artie himself), I will say he does a pretty good impression of Artie and if you actually consider how much he sounds like Stern and you consider the intent was to probably get Stern all along, he's able to suck you in and get you to listen to the compelling story, plus he is very good at conveying the gravity of Artie's depressing situations, especially in the chapters where Artie is living with his mother and is at his lowest point in terms of his confidence eroding.
All in all I'd recommend this to anyone who is a big Artie Lange fan and I'm looking forward to the third collaboration with Lange and Bozza, set to come out anytime now!

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  • T
  • 07-27-15

Funny, sad, raw & authentic!

Where does Crash and Burn rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This book is at the top of my list because of the authenticity.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Crash and Burn?

Meeting Adrienne, Playboy mansion event, Private Jet bathroom episode

What about Sean Runnette’s performance did you like?

Loved it. I felt that he had the real emotion of the story.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

n/a

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If you ever wondered what became of Artie Lange...

This book fills in the blank. For those of us that saw him slowly fall into addiction, and denied it because we didn't want to lose the guy that made us laugh every morning, it really backs up the truck and makes you understand how bad things were leading up to his suicide attempt, and what happened to him in the aftermath.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Incredible story, almost unbelievable, poor narr.

What did you love best about Crash and Burn?

Great story, as always. Very sad though, horrible to hear someone in such pain. Unfortunately I find that I can relate to the feelings all too well.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Artie of course

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Not at all, very bad narration for this book. Artie narrating it himself would have put it over the top.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When he got really serious about Adrienne and you could tell he wasn't joking or trying to craft a story, he was telling it from the heart.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Entertaining and candid, but depressing

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I never knew that Artie struggled with such hardcore drug addiction. Therefore, most of the book is focused on his addiction struggles, and there are many dark moments to the book, such as when he tried killing himself, or drinking Bleach (to get high). Props to Artie for being so forthright, and candid, however, I almost stopped listening to the book, due to how depressing it became. As someone who never used drugs, besides finding it difficult to relate, it became overwhelming.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Crash and Burn?

When Artie first met his girlfriend (now fiance).

Which scene was your favorite?

The Playboy Mansion Story

Do you think Crash and Burn needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

CRASH & BURN & SAVED

What made the experience of listening to Crash and Burn the most enjoyable?

Artie's honesty intertwined with his signature humor

Who was your favorite character and why?

His Mom, sister, and Adrienne. Amazing women.

Which scene was your favorite?

When he and the young guy were pulled over by cops and left to spend the night in the car. The way Artie tells that scene, I could almost see it as if I were there. Hysterical.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, it was hard to put down because I could hardly wait to hear what happened next. I was rooting for him at every chapter.

Any additional comments?

These celebrity "train wreck to sobriety" stories never cease to amaze me. The depths of what people do for drugs is beyond my comprehension. I have two glasses of wine and I worry about dumb things I may have done. I cannot imagine what they live through, by their own admission, by their own choices. It's always great to learn they've beat the demons.

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