Rating: 
Summary: Pure drivel is pure fun!
Review: This book contains big laughs. I laughed almost all the way through it and I laugh now thinking about the stuff I read. It's hard to ask more of a book of this nature. At the same time, this is not light reading. There is a sense of the abstract to the humor. "A Word From the Words" and "Times New Roman Reports Shortage of Periods" are the types of pieces that have you simultaneously giggling and scratching your head. The humor is often absurd and even self-depracating. There are rare moments when the humor almost gets lost in the absurdity of the piece, such as "The Y3K Bug", but this is mostly a great read. My personal favorite is "Writing Is Easy."
I recommend this book to anyone who is a Steve Martin fan, but I also recommend it to anyone who wants to see what else is possible when a great comic genius is given free reign to create.
Rating:
Summary: Humor for the Super Literate
Review: Steve Martin has fabricated his own genre of humor which began with Cruel Shoes. Ultra sophisticated short stories which contain all the depth, emotion, insight and revealing introspection of great literature but totally absurd. Steve Martin's "Pure Drivel" is exactly like painting the Mona Lisa under a moustache. Its the same silly joke as painting the moustache on the Mona Lisa. But Martin is showing off his talent by embellishing the ridiculous with greatness rather than the other way around. Not many people could pull it off. Its a very funny book and good bathroom reading when you want to spend ten minutes on the can. The humor is so sophisticated its best taken in one or two short sets than sucked in all at once. "Michael Jackson's Old Face" sounds like a great opportunity to take some cheap shots, but instead Martin turns it into a detailed descriptive stream of consciousness about the volley of facial expresssions between Michael Jackson meeting Walter Mathow from Michaels perspective. You really have to keep your brain in high gear for sustained periods. So its best taken in short sets or listened to with Steve Martin's readings on the CD.
Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly bizarre
Review: Steve Martin is a funny guy. Almost always. Even when he's in a bad movie (and he's made his share), the man himself is usually funny. This book is a fantastic little piece in which he pretty much emptied his mind of all the screwy, random thoughts that had been rattling around and turned them into strange essays about... well... anything. Politics, a day in the garden... my personal favorite was a great piece about a sudden shortage of a certain punctuation mark. The synapses in this man's brain make quantum leaps to connect the oddest things and turn them into something utterly histerical.Drivel? Perhaps. But it's among the best drivel I've ever read.
Rating: 
Summary: An absolutely gorgeous book
Review: Annotation: In this ingeniously funny book of humorous skits, Martin shows he is master of the written word. The book is hilariously funny and intelligent in his skewering of the topic at hand. The book features Martin at his finest. The book is incredibly witty as Martin shows off his superb writing ability. This is the funniest book I have ever read.
Author Bio: Born in Waco, Texas and raised in Southern California, Martin became a television writer in the late 1960s, winning an Emmy Award for his work on the hit series "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour". By the end of the decade he was performing his material in clubs and on television and went on to host several episodes of "Saturday Night Live". Martin continued to use his stand-up skills as host of the 73rd and 75th Annual Academy Awards, for which he was nominated for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program. Martin has stared in many movies which include The Jerk, The Man with Two Brains, and All of Me in which he was nominated for an academy award. His latest film was Cheaper by the Dozen.
Evaluation: This was one of the best books I have ever read. It was so funny I found myself being stared at by my parents. They must have thought "What Is he reading?". Anyway I was inspired by the book to try a hand at writing comedy. I hope I can use and master the English language the way Martin has. He is beyond description.
Rating:
Summary: Proof positive
Review: If, for some (wild and) crazy reason you need more proof of the unadulterated comedic genious that IS Steve Martin, here it is. The essays contained herein are so funny that if you don't laugh out loud call the undertaker because you are dead!
He hit some rough patches with movies but there is not a rough stretch in this book. If you want to think and laugh, buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Very, Very Strange....
Review: Not in a bizzarre way, more like an *interesting* way. This book is completely non-linear, and nothing makes sense if you try too hard to understand it. Usually, you don't laugh because it's funny, you laugh because no other reaction seems appropriate. It might be genius or insanity, i'm not sure. His writing reminds me a lot of Spike Milligan (R.I.P. -- Now THERE was a comic genius), and you will absolutely HATE it if you're the kind of person who likes everything to be straightforward. This book is for the kind of people who like things that are completely unlike most of the other books you'll see in the comedy section of a bookstore.
Rating:
Summary: I just giggled and giggled.
Review: I knew this book would be funny, as Steve Martin never disappoints. Well, it's true. The little 'stories' are nice and short, so it's perfect to read before bed. Recently I came across my copy again, so I started to page through it and ended up reading the entire thing again. Also, this is probably the only book in our entire house that my husband hasn't suggested that we donate or sell. That says it all. :p
Rating:
Summary: Not all drivel
Review: In his book Pure Drivel, Steve Martin has some very humorous moments. While some parts of the book fall a little flat because they lack a little direction, I enjoyed most of the book. Some of the chapters which are about writing in itself are humorous to anybody who can see how badly some people write. These chapters include "Writing is Easy!", "Times Roman Announces Shortage of Periods", and a favorite of mine " A Word from the Words." "Side Effects" and "The Hundred Greatest Books I've Read" are also among my favorites. While the stories are short in length, most of them have some sense of closure. Other stories, such as "The Paparazzi of Plato" and "Mars Probe Finds Kittens" show Martin trying too hard to demonstrate intelligent humor. As a result, the joke is more cute than laugh out loud funny. As a whole, I did enjoy this book. Amazon.com lists Jon Stewart's Naked Pictures ... as a book also enjoyed by readers of this book. However, I think this book is significantly better than Stewart's book.
Rating:
Summary: A witty and inventive collection
Review: "Pure Drivel" is a collection of more than 20 humorous short pieces by the multitalented Steve Martin. A few of the highlights: the hilarious "A Public Apology," in which Martin confesses to some heinous activities. "Dear Amanda": an ironic short tale in the form of letters. "Times Roman Font Announces Shortage of Periods": an absurd, surreal account of a writerly nightmare. "Hissy Fit": the tale of a New York writer's ordeal in Los Angeles. "The Y3K Bug": a whimsical science fiction tale set about 1,000 years in the future. And the delightful "A Word from the Words," in which one of the words in the book directly addresses the reader. Having seen many of Martin's performances and appearances over the years, I could really imagine him delivering some of these pieces as monologues in his dry, witty way. The book as a whole is inventive and brainy; Martin does an imaginative job of mixing high- and pop culture forms. A fun read.
Rating:
Summary: Pure Genius
Review: Steve Martin is one of the most original comics around, and as far as I'm concerned, he just keeps getting better. His early stuff (such as the movie The Jerk) was great, but if you like his newer work even more, you'll probably love this book. Inspired lunacy at its best.
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