Rating: 
Summary: This is probably the greatest book I have ever read.
Review: At first Andy Kaufman was just an odd little man to me. I had been some what interested in him. But then I was in a book store and I look over my shoulder to a book. A book about Andy Kaufman. I though it might be good so I bought it. I read this with great interest. Ever page learning more and more about this genious. It was the first book to make me hold back tears as I read the final chapters. It is a very funny book as well. Bob Zmuda does a wonderful job of telling his stories. He also tells the truth of what was really happening between Jerry Lawler and Andy. As well as the truth about Tony Clifton. It also gives us an inside look at the real Andy. And the friendship between Andy and his best friend Bob Zmuda. What he was really like. I was actually a little bit sad when I finished it. I just wanted more. I wanted to know more about Andy. After reading this I became extremly interested in Andy Kaufman. I want to know everything now. This is I think the best book I have ever read. A great book about a great preformer. I don't want to call him a comedian because he didn't like being called that. We will never have anyone like Andy Kaufman again. But his legacy will live on. Any of you who have the smallest interest in Andy Kaufman read this book. Learn more about the man, the the misunderstanding, the legend, that is Andy Kaufman.
Rating:
Summary: Most insightful work on Andy Kaufman
Review: Bob Zmuda portrays his late friend with great insight. While the film "Man on the Moon" merely displayed Andy Kaufman's offbeat brand of humor and unusual behavior, Bob Zmuda goes further and deeper by telling us why Andy felt motivated to entertain and/or baffle his audience. The big money film production gave us a one-dimensional view of Andy Kaufman. I highly recommend you shell out your money for this book instead; the biography is much more fascinating than the film. The story of Kaufman and Zmuda's friendship is moving, and very well told. Zmuda avoids putting his pal on a pedestal; he describes Kaufman's creative strengths, but also explores his susceptibility in believing many "new age" theories. This book is a great biography, even if you're not a fan of Andy Kaufman.
Rating:
Summary: Most insightful work on Andy Kaufman
Review: Bob Zmuda portrays his late friend with great insight. While the film "Man on the Moon" merely displayed Andy Kaufman's offbeat brand of humor and unusual behavior, Bob Zmuda goes further and deeper by telling us why Andy felt motivated to entertain and/or baffle his audience. The big money film production gave us a one-dimensional view of Andy Kaufman. I highly recommend you shell out your money for this book instead; the biography is much more fascinating than the film. The story of Kaufman and Zmuda's friendship is moving, and very well told. Zmuda avoids putting his pal on a pedestal; he describes Kaufman's creative strengths, but also explores his susceptibility in believing many "new age" theories. This book is a great biography, even if you're not a fan of Andy Kaufman.
Rating: 
Summary: a plodding read
Review: Don't let the title fool you...this book is as much about Bob Zmuda as Andy Kaufman, if not more so. For someone who's supposedly written for Kaufman, Dangerfield, and others, you'd think his story telling ability would be more compelling...more exciting.But it's not, and I find myself more scanning the book for Andy parts than actually reading it. Zmuda is, dare I say, just feeding off his best friend's success, trying to make us feel that he was truly an integral part of Andy's genius. I woulda believed that before reading the book...but now, well, now I'm completely indifferent. Zmuda's writing is like listening to a long-winded bore at some party you don't really want to be at. In true Kaufman fashion, however, Zmuda has the last laugh. For, no matter how good or bad this book might be, regardless, Bob's got my money. Andy would be proud.
Rating:
Summary: Unsung Hero
Review: I first learned of Andy Kaufman after seeing Man on the Moon, featuring Jim Carrey starring as the late "song and dance man." I use the term song and dance man, because Kaufman never thought of himself as a comedian, he was only a song and dance man - an entertainer. This book provides an in-depth look into the mind of Andy Kaufman through his best friend and producer, Bob Zmuda. I never thought I would be so inspired by this book. The way that Andy saw the world was so different that he influenced many comics that perform today. He thought of audience entertaining him, and himself being their audience. It is really hard to explain how amazing this book is without actually reading it. If you saw Man on the Moon and liked it, you will no doubt love this book, because it takes the movie to a whole new level. I only wish Andy were around today to keep influencing others and changing comedy as we know it. Then again, maybe he is still alive. I guess we'll never know...
Rating: 
Summary: Revealing but not in the way intended.
Review: I read over the most negative customer reviews of this book because even if I don't agree with them they generally tend to be more thought provoking than the positive reviews. So far I haven't found anything in them to disagree strongly with. I wanted to give Zmuda the benefit of the doubt though. His own life is somewhat interesting and I don't care much if he claims too much credit for Andy's work. And I'm willing to accept that this is a book about Zmuda's experiences with Kaufman rather than a Kaufman bio. But the guy really grates on you after a while. By around page 90 I'd decided Zmuda was an amoral slug, a boor and a bore. I finally lost all patience with his implied revelation that he was as good in bed (with women) as Andy. Was he trying to convince himself? To hear him tell it, Zmuda is not only a comic genius and a rockin'stud but also a "guerrilla comedy" trailblazer, stickin' it to The Man while expanding everyone else's mind. But he seems more like a 60's hedonist minor jerk who never grew up. The most revealing thing this book has to say about Andy was that he hung out with someone like Zmuda. Three stars because it does have great Andy stories.
Rating: 
Summary: Great insight and Humor. Mr. X alone is worth the read.
Review: I read this book in three quick reads and found it very entertaining. The chapter about Mr. X is incredibly funny and almost unbelievable. If anyone knows who he is, I'm dying to know, please email me. Andy was clearly a strange guy marching to a different drummer. It's a fascinating life and worth the read. Zmuda and Kaufman were clearly funnier off screen than on. Previous interviewers were negative on Zmuda talking about himself and this created some trepidation on my part. That was not warranted as he didn't overly talk about himself and frankly, his life is also interesting. The final chapters dealing with death show Zmuda's personal growth and maybe his final maturity to a real adult. I encourage this book for entertainment, particularly if you enjoy Satuday Night Live, Rodney Dangerfield, Jim Carrey or Robin Williams. These men were peers and influences in Andy's life or he in their's. If you get the chance to see the two Andy Kaufman specials which run on Comedy Central, Comedy and Wrestling, make a point to watch. They serve as a great visual background to this book.
Rating:
Summary: A rebuttal to the review by Mike McGonigal
Review: I read this book twice so far, and it is one of the most inspiring and informative pieces of work on Andy Kaufman. He is an idol of mine for reasons beyond his "comedic" ways. But instead of me raving about Kaufman, I would like to comment on some things written by Mike McGonigal in his review. He states that Bob Zmuda made a bad decision to inform readers of his friendship with Kaufman; and also personal happenings and whatnot. Basically, he's saying Zmuda shouldn't have included stories of his own history. Mike McGonignal also states that the reader "is ostensibly reading a tell-all about Kaufman, not his best friend". Perhaps true for some, but I don't appreciate being told why I read a book. And perhaps I'm overreacting, but my point is, I prefer to hear Zmuda's history and any other personal bits of information he decides to tell about. This is also a good writing tactic because it's a way of showing credentials for their history and friendship. McGonignal also stated that "Simple points are made again and again, as if the two(!) authors were attempting to fuse a poorly-written college essay with a USA Today article". I may not be a so-called professional writer as of yet, but I've been writing for a while and study closely to styles of writing and comedic ways. With that, Zmuda's biography about his best friend was meant to be more of an informative and personal piece of literature; opposed to a masterfully written piece that McGonignal was maybe making an excursion for. The way it was written, I felt like Zmuda and I were just chilling out in a room and he was telling me stories of what went on, and how they planned and organized certain "bits", if at all. Zmuda took a personal journey into his past, his mind, and into his best friends unexpected short life. He uncovered secrets that were kept for many years by Kaufman and Zmuda's most trusted family and friends; only to be told when the time was right. Unfortunately the right time followed Kaufman's death. If readers only wanted facts and stories about Kaufman and his many antics, or only had a "casual interest", then they could simply tune in to the television and catch an Andy Kaufman special which document those such things and tend to dwell on the Foreign Man character or his dead-on Elvis "empression". Readers that want to find out the roots of these characters, hijinks, pranks, bordello-outings, inter-gender wrestling, and so on should read this book; and will appreciate it.
Rating:
Summary: The pages almost turned themselves -- WHAT A GREAT READ!!
Review: I was absolutely captivated by this book! The pages almost literally turned themselves. Thank the entertainment gods that someone as erudite and articulate as Bob Zmuda crossed Andy Kaufman's path so that he could document the course of the Kaufman tornado and all of the "carnage" left in its wake. Zmuda does an excellent job of documenting Andy's rise to reluctant sit-com star and the subsequent metamorphasis to Tony Clifton and beyond. It's impossible to even scratch the surface on the anecdotes Zmuda presents as evidence of Kaufman's genius, his lunacy and his ultimate (or seeming) demise. While the book does appear to be somewhat self-serving at times for Zmuda, who cares? Zmuda obviously paid his dues. He spent almost his entire career in the shadow of the great Andy Kaufman and he is the only person on the planet who can tell this story. Not even Andy's parents would have been able to approximate the depth and breadth of this story. Zmuda can be forgiven for taking the credit for much of Kaufman's genius. But, the book is truly not about that. It's more about how they grew together as comic and writer, not how Bob Zmuda made Andy Kaufman a star. Either one without the other probably would not have been half of what they were together. They FED off of each other and that is what makes this book so interesting. Zmuda pulls no punches. He filled his book with page-turning story after story about Kaufman's (and, yes, HIS) antics as they honed their comedic talents. It's impossible to tell one person's story without telling the other. They were becoming the same person -- and, in fact DID become the same person for a brief period of time (read the book and you'll know what I mean). Buy this book and sit down and read it from cover-to-cover. You won't have a problem with that even if you've never read a book in one sitting.
Rating:
Summary: Watch the movie. Skip the book.
Review: Love Andy! Hate the book. The used bookstore won't even buy it back. I think someone is trying to cash in on Andy one last time.
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