Rating: 
Summary: The Best Book of the Year
Review: First I heard Mr. Zehme with Noah Adams on "All Things Considered" and then I saw him interviewed by Diane Sawyer on "Good Morning America." I was never convinced Andy Kaufman was very funny until the articulte and passionate Mr. Zehme convinced me to give Kaufman more consideration. I picked up the book last Friday night and finished it by Sunday afternoon. Genius. Absolute Genius. Not just Kaufman who now blows my mind and makes me angry for not having been into him all those years ago - I have to believe he'd appreciate that - but Zehme too is a genius. For the great risks he takes with his frenetic narrative. His sentences resonate with the spirit and madness of Kaufman. Believe me. I've read all the buzzed about books this year and this one is the best. I can't believe it didn't win the National Book Award - those dying old fartbags. Anyway, I know what I'm giving for Christmas this year.
Rating: 
Summary: Andy Deserves a better Biography!
Review: And so this is definately the most obnoxious, stupid, insulting-to-the-reader's-intelligence, arrogant style of writing ever encountered and this Zehme person is obviously, um, like, much more concerned with some pseudo-avant garde style of writing than he is with Andy Kaufman and he conveys a contemptuous, condescending attitude towards Andy and never provides any kind of indpeth or intelligent analysis or interpretation. Andy Kaufman's brilliance and genius DEMANDS a brilliant writer, and this just is not it. Sorry to say.
Rating:
Summary: The Autobiography that Andy never wrote
Review: I heard Bill Zehme interviewed on public radio about Lost in the Funhouse. Zehme was thoughtful and articulate on the program, so I bought the book. Zehme's writing style was not what I had expected. Characters shifting without warning, sentences lasting entire paragraphs, occasional lapses into stream of consciousness, and times when Zehme seemed to make no sense at all. There are passages in the book that that seemed to be written to be outright annoying. I could not believe that this was the same Zehme that I heard on public radio. It was not until I was halfway though the book (duh) that I became convinced that Zehme was writing the autobiography of Kaufman that Andy will never be able to write. It's genius! I recommend this book enthusiastically to anyone interested in learning more about this unique performance artist.
Rating:
Summary: First God, then he sent Jesus, and along came Andy.
Review: Where to begin, where to begin...This book is so well written that you forget your reading a biography. Instead, your living the life of someone trapped insdide Andy Kaufman's brain. And what a bizarre, beutiful world he created for himself through the eyes of a child. Words can not explain what a brilliant mind he possesed, without ever knowing or acting the part of a genius. There will never be another completely original and honest performance artist to exist in our lifetime-unless God says so.
Rating: 
Summary: Are We Being Conned?
Review: I really looked forward to this book, but after about six chapters, I got tired of it and had to return it. Trying to explain what is going on in Kaufman's mind is not a task easily taken, but there are no footnotes, bibliography or even an index. There is no mention of where any of the quotes attributed to Andy are from. Because of that I couldn't trust it. Sure Zmuda's book was as much about himself as it was about Andy, but at least you had the knowledge he knew what he was talking about, and it was a heckuva lot easier to read. I felt this book was more about the author showing off than about a good bio of Andy.
Rating:
Summary: Just bought it!
Review: I heard the author on a Chicago radio show (WLS) and had to get the book as soon as it came out. After reading the first few chapters, I'll probably enjoy the film a lot less. It can't be as good as what's written here. Thanks for the hard work, Bill.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: I grew up watching Andy Kaufman on Taxi and had seen him on Saturday Night Live a couple of times, but this book introduced me to a whole other world in which Andy lived. You become so attached to Andy while you are reading this book, that you don't want it to end, which makes his death an such an early age that much more tragic. Zehme does an excellent job of providing us with insights into a mind unique in it's own time and beyond. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: A Stylish and Magical Gem
Review: Bill Zehme's book somehow captures the uncapture-able, lending uncanny insight into a very strange, highly talented man who has not allowed death to stop him from continuing to play with our heads. I have rarely read a biography as beguiling and revealing as is "Lost in the Funhouse." You don't have to know Kaufman to appreciate Zehme's mesmerizing style in telling the tale of a performer who may have been crazier than we even thought. Compared to Bob Zmuda's self-serving and tabloidy "Andy Kaufman Revealed!", this book is masterfully crafted--as original as the subject it profiles. Kaufman fans and amateurs alike will be held spellbound, as was I. Bravo, Bill Zehme; you are a true craftsman.
Rating:
Summary: Now We Know
Review: The common theme most recently heard by most is that there was "no real Andy Kaufman." Many think he was crazy and a man without substance. Bill Zehme's ambitious and sometimes risky biography clarifies once and for all what motivated Kaufman to do the things he did. Many know Andy Kaufman as the comedian who played the squeaky-voiced auto mechanic Latka Gravas on TV's 'Taxi.' Some believe he redefined comedy with his eccentric, often joke-free performances. His countless media stunts and hoaxes often engendered more confusion than appreciation, and countless many dismissed Kaufman and his intrepid approach to entertainment as simply insane. Some even regarded his bizarre death of lung cancer in 1984 as merely the latest of his many escapades. Fifteen years after the fact, there are still people convinced that Andy Kaufman faked his death to consummate the ultimate deception. Although considered a genius by many contemporaries, Kaufman's brand of comedy was offbeat, extremely confrontational, and always misunderstood. He was not an easy man to know or even to like on a personal level. Despite the contradictions, the popular fascination with the 'Dada of Ha-Ha' persists today. It will peak on December 22nd with the opening of 'Man on the Moon,' directed by Academy Award-winning director Milos Forman and starring Jim Carrey (as Andy), Danny DeVito and Courtney Love. Bill Zehme, a senior writer at Esquire who has also written for Rolling Stone and Playboy, is renowned for his exceptional flair in authoring stylish celebrity profiles. Zehme's most successful book to date, The Way You Wear Your Hat: Frank Sinatra and the Lost Art of Livin' and two others he coauthored, one with Jay Leno (Leading With My Chin) and the other with Regis Philbin (I'm Only One Man!), may have served as practice for the challenge ahead, because his biography of Kaufman, Lost in the Funhouse, is distinguished in every respect. In writing this superb biography, Zehme effortlessly overcomes what many biographers would consider a major obstacle: sorting out the fact and fiction in Andy's life, much of which was cloaked in illusion, misdirection and lunacy. It was hard to really know what actually occurred behind the scenes as Andy cooked up his most provocative and controversial performances. But as Zehme amply documents in Lost in the Funhouse, Andy manipulated the media constantly, whether raising high-octane hatred from the city of Memphis as a bad guy 'rassler,' or calling in phony tips to the National Enquirer ('I'm fighting with Bernadette Peters while we film Heartbeeps'). His televised brawl on 'Fridays' was as orchestrated as the slap to his face from Jerry Lawler on Letterman's 'Late Night.' Sometimes (many would argue most of the time) his hoaxes backfired to his detriment. The last two chapters of Zehme's book sadly portray the extent of that damage. Zehme succeeds in shedding new light on Kaufman's short and peculiar life to produce a dynamic portrait of a misunderstood artist. After several years of exhaustive research, Zehme has crafted a book that succeeds on its own terms. It's not a conventional narrator-driven biography, but one that cleverly paints images and events in ways that are entertaining unto themselves. The book's roller-coaster narrative has all the thrill of an amusement-park ride. Not only does Zehme use Kaufman's own words and those of others, but he seemingly goes into the head of Kaufman to expose the unique way he viewed the world. Despite the adventurous method, Zehme provides the reader with great historical clarity and unmasks many of the myths and legends that have become associated with Kaufman's time in the spotlight. Zehme uses parcels of Kaufman's voluminous writings and candid interviews with Kaufman's family and closest friends to frame key episodes in his life. The book avoids much of the speculation and romanticism of others who have penned articles, websites, and books on Kaufman. In Lost in the Funhouse, Zehme reveals that Kaufman's bag of tricks and illusions was fully developed in his teenage years -- so much for claims by others who have been taking credit for many of Kaufman's signature achievements. Andy's nightclub performances, his Carnegie Hall show, and both TV specials (for ABC and PBS) were adult variations of the birthday-party shows he gave for small neighborhood children when he was in his early teens, in which he showed movies on the wall, lip-synched to records, performed magic tricks and led sing-alongs of 'The Cow Goes Moo' and other favorites. (Even his milk-and-cookies idea was something Kaufman thought of in college.) This is fine writing unfettered by sentiment. Zehme has channeled Kaufman in a way Jim Carrey could only dream of attaining. He illuminates the mysteries behind a recognized genius and performer extraordinaire who was also proud, difficult, arrogant, highly intellectual and consumed by self-obsession. Bill Zehme has accomplished what no one else could. He has found an uncanny ability to enter Kaufman's mind and leave us with a compelling impression of the complexities and frailties of a Boy Wonder mincing in a world of disbelieving adults. This epic biography takes us on an unforgettable journey through the funhouse inside of Andyland.
Rating:
Summary: Bill Zehme: America's Worst Living Writer
Review: Wow. I read a lot of books, from a lot of different sources. So I don't feel as though anything has gone over my head here. But I can say in ALL HONESTY that I have never been so enraged trying to get through a book. The sad fact of the matter is, is that this is the only Kaufman biography around (Zmuda's now being out of print apparently) and it is a terrible read for the following reason: Consumers be warned, the author thinks HE is more important than his subject. and to make matters worse he is a pedantic, pretentious, tiresome writer. He may have done lots o' research, but it's all burried by an extremely poorly written stream of bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, I wish I was Faulkner rhetoric. I won't spend any more time on this review, but it's a shame that most people seem to know Jim Carrey's Andy Kaufman more than Andy Kaufman's. And believe me, they are very different animals. This book's author should realise that a biography is like a documentary. You get out of the way and let the subject speak for itself. This is a TERRIBLE book. and an embarrassment of a biography.
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