Did anyone read this book? What did you think of it? I loved most of it but think George Carlin really pushes certain things too far… typical Carlin though. Just wanted to get some opinions!
I loved Brain Droppings and I had high hopes for Napalm and Silly Putty. They might have been too high-I didn’t think it was as good as Brain Droppings. I own both books. I can always pick up Brain Droppings and laugh. I haven’t picked up NSP a tenth as much.
Too much of the material is recycled from his stand-up acts. As a fan, I’m already familiar with his prison farms for the various kinds of criminals, his interview with Jesus, the way he puts fruit in his cereal. Good stuff, but I want something new, dammit!
I liked his short takes and the news updates. The sig I set up but never use is from one of the news sections.
Both da spouse and I used to really like George Carlin, but we’ve both agreed that the older he gets, the more bitter and the less funny he gets.
We read Napalm and Silly Putty recently (I read it to him while he drove during our commute to work) and both thought it was terrible. It had its funny moments, but they were few and far between, overshadowed by rants, bitterness and outright nastiness. I don’t know who peed in George’s Cheerios, but somebody ought to tell him to go back to the stuff he did when he was funny.
Your mileage may vary, but I don’t recommend the book.
I, on the other hand, thought Napalm & Silly Putty was better than Brain Droppings. IMO, both books were rehashes of his stand-up material, but N&SP is more obscure/older stuff.
Jellen,
I agree with you. I just read the book recently and was suprised at how much I was disappointed with the tone of some of George’s rants. I took issues with his anti-Christian spewing. Granted, he has the right to say whatever he wishes but to me, it was plain ugly and mean spirited…not funny at all. What IS his problem? I am one that can laugh at just about anything but his obvious hatred that he committed to print really bothered me.
Also, I was upset by some of his other comments regarding terrorism. Talk about bad timing. In the book he stated that he wished terrorists would finally hit this country. I believe he also stated something about wishing terrorists would bring down a building in a large city and what fun that would be. I understand he had no idea what was about to take place on 9/11 but in light of what happened I began to think…why would ANYONE write something like that to begin with?
My interest in George Carlin has diminished to say the least. Yes, he’s funny doing his standup work regarding his typical material such as baseball/football, seven dirty words, dogs/cats and his standard humor but I am no longer interested his opinions. He seems far darker and hateful than I had realized.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels that he has gone over the edge with his cynicism… the fact that he could even ATTEMPT to make jokes about rape really bothered me. I think his old age and smoking too much resin has made him a very bitter old man.
I just got this book out of the library.
I was shocked at his comments about terrorism. He mentions how “cool” it would be for terrorists to attack Times Square.
Not funny at in light of recent events.
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Me, too. All of his religious “jokes” were just mean-spirited. And the rape jokes. They were in really bad taste.