Book Report

1

I just finished reading Seth Rogen's "Yearbook." He told Howard Stern he wrote every word of it and I believe it, the organization could be vastly improved, and unfortunately Seth is more of a live thing, the written word is not the best format for his stories. However, if you're a subscriber to Sirius XM, you definitely need to pull up Howard's interview with Seth, the stories are amazing. Unfortunately the same stories are told in the book, but not as well.

Yet there is more.

Seth was a teen phenom who broke through in "Freaks and Geeks" but then he was broke, he had a huge lull in his career, others would have given up, never underestimate persistence.

Also, during this period Seth woke up and realized he wasn't quite good enough at standup and should retire, he saw Sarah Silverman, David Cross, Bob Odenkirk and Zach Galifianakis and realized he could never be that good, he was a middling comic at best. Too often people believe if they just double-down, believe in themselves, everything will work out, but this is patently untrue. Also, please quit when you get that feeling, and you know it, when you're thinking of giving up after all that hard work because it all just doesn't resonate like it used to, you're allowed to change, you're often better off if you change. Funny enough, it's oftentimes the delusional wankers who never have self-doubt, who keep on pushing on. And these self-promoting tools ruin it for the rest of us. You wonder why the famous person won't listen to your music? Blame the delusional wankers, not the overburdened professionals.

Also, Seth does not walk away from his religion. He talks about Jewish summer camp, and he also delineates his war with Jack Dorsey over anti-Semites on Twitter. Not only are they spewing their B.S., they're VERIFIED! Dorsey keeps telling Seth there will be change, but it's never forthcoming, until Trump is banned after the January 6th riot, but all those anti-Semites? They're still on the service.

Unfortunately, this is at the end of the book, and therefore has not been emphasized in the hype, but kudos to Seth for standing up for his truth, which too many celebrities will not do, afraid of pissing off a potential customer.

And the book is littered with Seth's engagements with the rich and famous where he ends up scratching his head and walking away. Seth can say no. He can stand up to studio executives. Maybe it's because he's Canadian. Seth doesn't see himself as being on the same level as the household names, and then he describes experiences with the household names that are so whacked, you'll find yourself questioning them. When you gain a lot of fame, people let you get away with...sometimes even murder, Hollywood is a yes-person's paradise.

But unfortunately, Seth nailed the difference between rock stars and movie stars better on Stern than he does in the book and the end result is most people will never hear his words. Rock stars can't share a dressing room. Rock stars hew to their own schedule... Listen to Stern.

And also read that it takes 6-7 years for one of Seth's projects to come to fruition.

Also, on both Stern and in the book, Seth reveals that his father has Tourette's and he has a mild case too. This explains his delivery, the laugh, and it also explains the self-medication with weed.

Musicians use dope to ease the pain, Seth sees dope as an amusement park. He'll single-handedly influence more people to take mushrooms than anybody in the Spotify Top 50.

So, the more I write about the book, the more it seems I recommend it, but if you listen to Seth verbalize these stories... He's a normal person encountering bizarreness, just like you and me, he's our man in Hollywood. The tone of the book is a bit different, he's not quite as likable as he was on Stern, nor does he truly delineate the reasons for his success, but...

You don't have to go to Harvard to make it, Seth dropped out of high school.

And making it in your teens doesn't mean you've made it for all time.

But reading/listening to Seth you feel like one of the good guys made it. Sure, he ends up bending over backward not to offend people after he's offended them, written negative stuff about them, but he actually lays down the truth, where most people don't.

But if you want to hear the Eddie Griffin anti-Semitism story properly told...

Listen to Howard.

https://amzn.to/35GQwlt

2

Maybe I read Jennifer Weiner's "That Summer" because it was so hard to get. There was a months-long wait at the library for this book. But then I got a chance to skip the line, downloaded it and dug in and...

I was disappointed, it was too formulaic, a beach read.

But just when I was about to give up, suddenly it got good again, it wasn't so clear-cut, the emotions were well-delineated.

So the issue is, can trauma ruin your life?

We're constantly told to get over it, but can we?

It appears that Diana can't.

And the book also raises issues of privilege, education, uniqueness, personal path... Does everybody need to go to college? Can you make it without a college degree? Do people marry for financial security more than love? Do they beat your creativity out of you as you get older, is school just about making you conform?

And at the end of the day is it about the big career or happiness, and are they mutually exclusive?

I don't want to reveal the plot points, but let's just say the book devolves into a revenge fantasy, and you start to wince, but then it veers from typical Hollywood fare.

Ultimately "That Summer" is a more sophisticated beach read. You know if you want to read it, you're a Weiner fan or you're not.

And if you're not and you're male, you probably won't enjoy it, then again it's males who need to read "That Summer" the most. You see too many males have been brought up in a bro culture and are as blind to their behavior and the truth as the ever growing white nationalist population in our country. Furthermore, it's the bros who egg you on, get you to engage in bad behavior. After all, being a member of the group is the most important thing. And you get a better education at a first tier prep school but does it cripple you for life?

Yes, when you finish "That Summer" you'll still be thinking about the issues it raises, which means it is not typical beach fare.

Still, it's not Jonathan Franzen.

Then again, Jonathan Franzen takes himself so seriously that he can't see context, and oftentimes misses the target.

It's hard to write a great book. But the number one criterion is that a book be readable, and "That Summer" is. You'll get to the point where you want to keep on reading it, it will close the blinds on real life, taking you into a whole 'nother world. And that's what great fiction does, create a new world that illuminates the old world. If you're overwhelmed by reality, "That Summer" will take you away. Then again, "That Summer" deals with real issues, but unlike the news, they don't revolve around politics.

https://amzn.to/35GQytB


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