Rating: 
Summary: Don't Buy When You Can Borrow
Review: I was looking for much more than the light, brief book/pamphlet (you pick) I found. The length is pitiful--it's a two-hour read for the slowest of readers--and the funny bits, which I'm assuming most readers look for when they read S. Martin, are spaced at great intervals. I just don't think that he's well-developed enough as a writer to deliver any honest, thoughtful laughs. There's a lot of "intellectual" elements to a few essays (name-dropping of Kundera, Schrodinger, etc. and the borrowing of Socratic dialogue format), but they often give everything the feel of a writer who's trying to sound smart in the cheeky New Yorker sense of intelligence. I only had one out-loud laugh: the line in "Apollo's Non-Apple Non-Strudel" about wife swapping being frowned upon in many countries. (I can't explain it, but it got to me). Every other laugh was, at best, a throwaway, "Well-isn't-that-cute?" chuckle. I think that there's a good chance that, given a few years of practice, Steve Martin will turn out some funny prose. In the meantime, though, I'd suggest that you borrow this book from a friend and use your monthly book money to bring you one volume closer to a complete P.G. Wodehouse collection.
Rating: 
Summary: was hoping for more ..
Review: i consider myself to be a fan of steve martin's work. not only his comedy but acting and writing as well. being that Pure Drivel was on the NYT Best Selling list for a period of time and that many 'critics' gave it favorable reviews i decided to give it a whirl. it's not that it was terrible per se, just not what i had come to expect from martin. the book has moments where it rewards the reader with a chuckle for their time but overall i thought martin's inane humor did not transfer well to page. it struck me as curious that the funniest 'bit' in the book was actually the review by neil simon, " if memory serves me, Pure Drivel is the funniest book i've ever read. if memory serves me, Pure Drivel is the funniest book i've ever read."in brief i'd say that the book would be a fun book to get at the library to read but more to the point i think that the book was aptly named.
Rating: 
Summary: Hilariouser and hilariouser (apologies to Lewis Carroll)
Review: I cannot say it plainer than this: this book is funny, and Steve Martin is *very* funny. Buy the book, you'll be glad you did.
Rating: 
Summary: Intelligent Laughs
Review: "Pure Drivel" is Pure Fun. Smart, witty, intelligent, intellectual, this is the type of humor so prevalent in his New Yorker Magazine essays. Though some of the essays I just didn't get, the rest of the book is a refreshing brand of humor, one that stands out from the current vulgar common fare. A great read indeed!
Rating:
Summary: To un-act the actor read the author
Review: Reading Steve Martin's stories was a kind of revelation to me. I suddenly felt that it could mean approaching Steve Martin not via his role as an actor but more directly - finding him trapped in his own writing: the form of art that leaves fingerprints, whether you want it or not. Reading the stories gave me a chance of approaching Steve Martin at all. I know, of course, that Hollywood may be seen as the perfection of what literature always wanted to achieve. And I also know that literature almost always means a crucial difference between author and narrator. But the Steve Martin I was looking for is the non-existing person outside the pictoral sprawl of Hollywood. The stories, funny as they are, originate from what Martin ingeniously represents in his films. They tell us about the claustrophobic existence Hollywoods „inmates" have to live, and Martin's skills as an actor of course reemerge in his writing. The difference, however, is that acting on the screen ultimately leads towards dreamland and confronts us with fake-characters (which is, I think, a very complex process in itself and should not be criticized too negatively). Writing, on the other hand, can present us with someone struggling with his or her identity without getting the chance of escaping too far. Such a view may be simplistic, but Steve Martin's texts as they appear to me are tinged with authenticity to a degree I seldom see in his films - although these films are not bad. When the films cover sadness with comedy, comedy prevails. The stories try the same, but the result is just the reverse.
Rating:
Summary: Hit and Miss -- but worth the read.
Review: This book consists of 23 small pieces. Each piece is generally only a few pages long. The book as a whole covers some very diverse and bizarre ideas. Parts of the book are laugh out loud funny while other parts just don't quite hit the mark. But the thing I like about this book is that it seems like Steve Martin wasn't trying to be funny. I almost got the impression that he was just writing down a number of very strange thoughts that were interesting to him, many of which happened to be funny. The result is a good, amusing, and in my opinion absolutely unique read. Overall, some of it is funny and some just isn't. But, with such short pieces, if you don't like one just skip it. There's bound to be something in Pure Drivel that will make you laugh.
Rating:
Summary: It's a riot!
Review: I laughed 'till I cried. The world seems a bit askew as Mensa membership doesn't seem nearly so neato now, and it's possible that the same guy who walked around with an arrow through his head is at least a neophyte physicist, but I'll adjust. It's the kind of book that can be read over and over and bring belly laughs every time.
Rating:
Summary: A few chuckles
Review: Faintly amusing short pieces by Martin, good for picking up and putting down once in awhile, or for an airplane. If you're a big Steve Martin fan, you will find this very funny. If not, some bits are good and others tedious.
Rating:
Summary: Funny Man writes Funny Book
Review: Steve Martin's book proves that he is as funny with the written word as he is on stage and screen. I found his insites to be witty and very funny. Steve Martin's humor reminds me of the humor of Vladimir Kek in Mafia Lesbian. If you like Martin you'll like Kek. If you like Kek you'll like Martin
Rating: 
Summary: not amusing
Review: I heard Cruel Shoes when I was in high school back in the late 70's and I died laughing. I managed to find a used copy of the book 20 years later. I found it hilarious bacause I imagined Steve doing his stand-up routine. I bought Pure Drivel but couldn't get into it. So I bought the CD thinking the stories needed some punch, but was so disappointed to find Steve simply reading his book. Hell, I could read it as well as him. He needs to memorize the stories, stand up in front of a crowd, and perform like he used to (on his albums "Let's Get Small" and "A Wild and Crazy Guy"). Then he should record that and release it on CD. Sorry, Steve.
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