Talking Dirty and Influencing People: My Journey to Becoming a Master Communicator

Bernie Gourley: This is the autobiography of the comedic legend, Lenny Bruce. The first half (or so) of the book discusses Bruce's life before standup comedy. This includes time as a sailor (US Navy) during the Second World War, as a sailor in the merchant marine, as a farmhand, and brief stint as a grifter. The second half takes place while Bruce is a working comedian but focuses heavily on his legal troubles including multiple Obscenity trials and one for Narcotics.

Being the work of a comedian, it's no surprise that this book is funny -- frequently of the laugh-out-loud variety. However, it may come as more of a surprise how interesting it is as the account of a man's life. Besides some interesting stories, such as: how Bruce got discharged from the Navy, how he acquired priest's uniforms to conduct a con, his experiences getting high with a Turkish sailor as a merchant marine, and the ins and outs of his marriage to a stripper, one gains some insight into Bruce's philosophy and why he insisted on being maximally edgy, even at the cost of blackballed by clubs. The book holds up surprisingly well, considering it was first published in the early / mid-1960's.

If you're interested...

India on Nov 09, 2023

Just me. 😁: I really look forward to reading this it was delivered surprisingly quickly.

Australia on Oct 23, 2023

barbie moreland: Buy it

United Kingdom on Aug 08, 2023

RAD: Good book, in poor to fair condition

United States on Aug 01, 2023

Tadd Sholtis: Some comedians write funny autobiographies; others write their stories as the sad clown. Lenny Bruce’s story is neither and both, paralleling his pathbreaking but tragic career. What starts as a slanted look at life in childhood, war, and love devolves into long excerpts from the transcripts of his obscenity and drug trials intended to vindicate himself by exposing hypocrisy. With the exceptions of a few justifications of his mental state strewn around, Bruce’s perspectives turn outward at the moment when we (and maybe he) need to know what social backlash and his chemical coping strategies were doing to his art and life. An important document of an American comic genus in a era that both created and destroyed him.

United States on Jan 03, 2022

Haley C: I have come to Lenny Bruce through other comedians I listen to, and I am a fan already! This book is a great starting place for me. Easy read and very interesting!

United States on Jul 17, 2021

Andy T: This is a very enjoyable listen. The narrator does a decent job of recreating the cadence and rhythm of Lenny himself. As a fan of comedy and appreciating the role it plays in culture and change this is a must. He is sometime forgotten as his standup appearances don't hold up as well to modern audiences, but his memoir will hang for many years to come as relevant and entertaining. Sits right alongside Steve Martin's Born Standing Up for an understanding of the art and it's importance to us all

United States on Aug 17, 2019

Avinash Ajjarapu: I have heard about Lenny Bruce from present day comedians and their interviews on how he influenced them. I wanted to know who is he

I decided to pick up this book.
I am glad that I did, because it was hilarious and introspective at the same time. You could see the humour that Bruce mined from the random incidents that happened in his life. He commented on religion, societal hypocrisy, show business, legalization of marijuana, and the saddest part is that the same problems are still relevant today. There certain chapters that you would burst out laughing when he talks about sex and masturbation. A part of this book also provides look into Bruce's court cases and how absurd and archaic obscenity laws were enforced. Trigger warning for people who believe in faith as there are certain chapters bruce spoke about the hypocrisy in organized religion.
There are certain elements in the book that would be considered offensive to the new PC controlled world. I came to the conclusion that it was that time period.

I would recommend everybody to read this book as people would understand the importance of free speech.

India on Nov 19, 2018

Fat lady: As society's mores change over time so does the law and Lenny Bruce was ahead of his time. Today his act would be considered tame when compared to some.

This book gives some valuable insight into his style and reminds the reader that their own judgement of morality may not be shared by lawmakers for the time being, but may be shared by them in the future as they generraly work in arrears.

Lenny was ahead of the curve and carved the way forward for a new breed of stand-up which is still testing the barriers of taste.

He is also very funny and his death was a great loss of a talented and seemingly troubled man.

United Kingdom on Nov 16, 2018

Delilah Allyn: I was born in 1964 so I have heard about Lenny Bruce all my life, but never had any direct experience of him. He was a metaphor for lewdness and crude humor, and became morethan a man, but an idea. But i also heard of him as a fighter for freedom of speech and ideas, freedom to mock the naked emperor.
Well I finally got introduced to the man behind the mythology through his own words and found that he was slightly more self absorbed than your idolized martyr but still going to jail repeatedly for and being the target of scorn and abuse for....saying words.
The history lesson alone was worth reading this book, meeting the man behind the name was fantastic.

United States on Sep 10, 2018