Rating: 
Summary: True "Pryor" through and through!
Review: I laughed and cried for my brother. Richard is a genius in every sense of the word. It makes me wonder what funny things are locked inside of him now and unable to get out.
Rating:
Summary: True "Pryor" through and through!
Review: I laughed and cried for my brother. Richard is a genius in every sense of the word. It makes me wonder what funny things are locked inside of him now and unable to get out.
Rating:
Summary: World's Most Profane and Profound Autobiography
Review: In chapter 20 of this book Richard Pryor offhandedly calls his comedy style "profane and profound" and inadvertently sums up his life and this book perfectly. This is at various times the most dirtyminded, hilarious, shocking, or downright disturbing autobiography you may ever read, but always with his great dark humor. With a bizarre and damaging childhood in Peoria, Richard Pryor was raised in his grandmother's place of business - which happened to be a whorehouse with all of its shady and unwholesome characters. A violent and painful childhood full of profanity and prejudice came out in Richard's comedy, which was truly groundbreaking in its shocking honesty. He lived a wild life in the spotlight, with addictions and a constant parade of rough women, including five wives that he divorced six times. The wives are hard to keep track of, but Richard is always brutally honest about his attitudes toward women even if it's rarely pretty. He also has a very refreshing outlook on racial matters, as the prejudice that was so damaging failed to ruin his respect for all people of any color. Most of the tail end of the book concerns his nearly born again soul searching about his infamous addictions and latest losing battle with multiple sclerosis. In addition to Richard's straightforward and unforgiving narratives, there are very frequent asides from one of his stage characters, Mudbone, who here is acting as his even more brutally honest alter ego. This gives the book an often jarring schizophrenic character, and surely reflects the true workings of Pryor's dark genius.
Rating:
Summary: World's Most Profane and Profound Autobiography
Review: In chapter 20 of this book Richard Pryor offhandedly calls his comedy style "profane and profound" and inadvertently sums up his life and this book perfectly. This is at various times the most dirtyminded, hilarious, shocking, or downright disturbing autobiography you may ever read, but always with his great dark humor. With a bizarre and damaging childhood in Peoria, Richard Pryor was raised in his grandmother's place of business - which happened to be a whorehouse with all of its shady and unwholesome characters. A violent and painful childhood full of profanity and prejudice came out in Richard's comedy, which was truly groundbreaking in its shocking honesty. He lived a wild life in the spotlight, with addictions and a constant parade of rough women, including five wives that he divorced six times. The wives are hard to keep track of, but Richard is always brutally honest about his attitudes toward women even if it's rarely pretty. He also has a very refreshing outlook on racial matters, as the prejudice that was so damaging failed to ruin his respect for all people of any color. Most of the tail end of the book concerns his nearly born again soul searching about his infamous addictions and latest losing battle with multiple sclerosis. In addition to Richard's straightforward and unforgiving narratives, there are very frequent asides from one of his stage characters, Mudbone, who here is acting as his even more brutally honest alter ego. This gives the book an often jarring schizophrenic character, and surely reflects the true workings of Pryor's dark genius.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating
Review: In Pryor Convictions and other life sentences, Richard Pryortells all about his bumpy journey through life. The best thing aboutthis memoir of Mr. Pryor's life is he kept it real. After reading the book, I developed a greater respect for this man because through all the rain and pain he survived, admitted to his mistakes, and moved on. Richard Pryor's work shows that he's talented, but his life proves that he's special.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Autobiography
Review: In the age of ham-fisted A. Goldman biographies and non-funny comedians getting publishing deals (that Faust would have refused) to write self-indulgent tripe, this book is a bit of an anomaly. It is funny and profound at the same time.It is also--for the purists--somewhat incomplete, as far as detailed information on various albums' bits, and I've read the galley proofs, which aren't that much more different from the finished product. But it's just as flawed as the man who wrote it, and the real truth is that we should all be grateful he was still around to do so. It has interspersed some of his old bits with Mudbone as the occasional narrator to give it some balance. It's honest and reasonably raw, and it is as they say, a page-turner.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Autobiography
Review: In the age of ham-fisted A. Goldman biographies and non-funny comedians getting publishing deals (that Faust would have refused) to write self-indulgent tripe, this book is a bit of an anomaly. It is funny and profound at the same time. It is also--for the purists--somewhat incomplete, as far as detailed information on various albums' bits, and I've read the galley proofs, which aren't that much more different from the finished product. But it's just as flawed as the man who wrote it, and the real truth is that we should all be grateful he was still around to do so. It has interspersed some of his old bits with Mudbone as the occasional narrator to give it some balance. It's honest and reasonably raw, and it is as they say, a page-turner.
Rating:
Summary: Joy and Pain.
Review: PRYOR CONVICTIONS made have changed the names to protect the innocent, but the story that unfolded made up for it. Richard Pryor's life has been a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs, starting with his childhood, his molestation and rearing in a brothel to his complicated teens and young adulthood, when he felt he needed everyone's approval to live his life. Even as he reached maturity, he still felt he needed to belong to someone and needed to believe in something. It is this pyschological imbalance that drives him to drugs, numerous wives, and even more sexual conquests, but, in the end, he still felt alone and lost. He found out that the only need he couldn't live without was the need to be himself and the power to love who he is. Very candid and explicit, this is the real Richard Pryor, and, for better or worse, this is his story.
Rating:
Summary: Joy and Pain.
Review: PRYOR CONVICTIONS made have changed the names to protect the innocent, but the story that unfolded made up for it. Richard Pryor's life has been a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs, starting with his childhood, his molestation and rearing in a brothel to his complicated teens and young adulthood, when he felt he needed everyone's approval to live his life. Even as he reached maturity, he still felt he needed to belong to someone and needed to believe in something. It is this pyschological imbalance that drives him to drugs, numerous wives, and even more sexual conquests, but, in the end, he still felt alone and lost. He found out that the only need he couldn't live without was the need to be himself and the power to love who he is. Very candid and explicit, this is the real Richard Pryor, and, for better or worse, this is his story.
Rating:
Summary: A look inside a lonely heart
Review: Richard Pryor's troubled life and his willingness to discuss it in print, on stage and in film is a wonderful opportunity for the public to see a man who longs to be loved and accepted. This book shows that Richard Pryor has a vulnerable side, a tender side and even a spiritual side. His humor has been crude and tasteless over the years, but his heart is made of gold. A warm man, a gentle man, a loving man, who truly deserves peace.
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