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American Scream: The Bill Hicks Story

American Scream: The Bill Hicks Story

List Price: $14.95
Your Price: $10.17
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Lacks some substance, adds a few little nuggets
Review: "American Scream" has received a number of mixed reviews. Some call Ms. True a talentless hack. Other think this a nice look into Bill's personal life. It's somewhere in between.

I have to address my unhappiness with the work firstly. Some people say that it wasn't well written. It's not bad to the point of using monosyllabic words or run-on sentances. It merely reads like a first draft. A lot of ideas seem to lead nowhere. Some information isn't organized as well as it could be. For instance, early on it is stated that Bill admired Jay Leno. If you've heard "Rant in E-Minor", you'll hear Bill calling him a "corporate shill" and unfunny and wishing for his death. Why, then the change? I expected the insight to come in somewhere around the time "Rant" was recorded, but it was revealed much later on. And if the exchange between Bill and Jay hadn't had a linear-storytelling aspect of it, it might have been lost. That sort of thing was what was really missing: what inspired Bill. We never find out what sparked his goverment paranoia or his hate of corporations. He just "does".

As for the story itself, we get an event-listing of Bill's life. Where he went, what he did, who he was with. That's about it. Not that it's bad, it's lacking. Cynthia failed to get into the mindset of Bill, what was driving him. At most she would say things like "Bill felt he had to get this done". But never WHY.

The real merit of the book is that Ms. True peppers it with media Bill was consuming at the time. Fans all know about his affinity for Hendrix and his love for the works of Terrance McKenna, but how many knew he was a Heinlein or a Dylan fan? True lists specific books, CDs and movies Bill liked which, for someone like me, is helpful for coming to "know" the man.

All-in-all, if you're looking for the ninety-second version of Bill's life, or simply more Bill, pick this up. Completists, you don't need any motivation, pick this up. The only people who should avoid this are: casual comedy fans and casual literay fans; you'll only care about the material if you have a drive.

If you're looking for a funnier and better written (by his closest friend) of another "Comedian" (a song and dance man!), pick up "Andy Kaufman: REVEALED", by Bob Zmuda. It's hilarious, poignant, and deep.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Straight-forward Biography of a Great Comedian
Review: "American Scream" by Cynthia True is a fairly straight-forward biography of Bill Hicks, telling the story of his short life, until the untimely death of age 32, describing his childhood, influences, passion and intellect. The book is well-researched and well-written. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in Bill Hick's comic genius.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Just buy his albums
Review: 50 percent tour intinterary, 30 percent transcriptions of Bill's albums, 20 percent actual writing, this book makes enormous promises and delivers on none of them. Where fans of Hicks will be looking for insight into the spirit of the man whose words could be so affecting, instead they will find a dry, nearly day-by-day account of Hicks' touring. It seems as though the author has done extensive interviews with those close to Hicks, yet left out the portions of his life which would be interesting to those who loved his work.

On top of that, the author occasionally uses Hicks' story to put forth her own political ideals, calling one policy "asinine," for example. Whether or not you agree with the author's views, this should be a book about Hicks, not Cynthia True.

Rather than waste your time with this book, go out and buy any and all available recordings of Hicks' work. If you have them already, give them one more listen. If there's one thing that American Scream makes clear, it's that no one knows Bill Hicks as well as Bill Hicks. Listen to his stories, not hers.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Read it
Review: Another reviewer here states: "The book was written not for anyone who wants deeper insight into Hicks or more importantly his ideas, but for anyone who wants an introduction." Huh? A biography never replaces an artist's material, my friend. An introduction to Da Vinci is a painting he did; an introduction to Miles Davis would be a song or an album he recorded. To say that this book is an introduction rather than a biography is missing the point. So you didn't feel, from reading this book, like you'd just shook hands with Bill Hicks? That's too bad, but isn't what a biography is for.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Almost what I wanted.
Review: As a fan of Bill Hicks' recorded work I was really looking forward to reading more about his life, experiences and influences. I did find the book very informative as a time-line reference to his career, but I hoped for more input and/or quotes from people directly influenced by his work. Either way, it was well worth my money.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Nice overview of a brilliant mind
Review: Best look so far at one of the late 20 centuries great minds, Bill Hicks. As focused and sharp as Lenny Bruce, and he didn't live long enough to defuse his message with rantings against the justice system as Bruce did.

You don't want to read the last chapters of the book, because you don't want Hicks to pass away. But die he did (wonder if he found lighters in heaven?) and left us with an absorbing body of work that is related to other comedians only in its manner and location of presentation. He was a social observer who made you laugh, not a comedian.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Insights I was always curious about.
Review: Bill Hicks should have been the biggest comic ever. His genius was incredible, and his insights in the early 90's still haunt you today.

This was a good book, recounting stories I'd always been curious to know. Two complaints: too much of his comedy routine is included in the book, and there is no mention of his legacy.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Pure Irony
Review: Bill Hicks was and the most educated comedian I have ever had the joy of listening to. I became a huge fan of his when I first saw his one-night stand on HBO (something that should be out on DVD) when I was 13 and immediately loved him. I have been a huge fan for close to a decade. All I have to say about his life and this book is that both were and are plagued with irony. He was a Texan with the surname of Hicks and he was one of the most educated people I have ever listened to while his book was probably the most poorly written piece of literature I have ever read. The book is plagued with typos poor spelling, grammer, and incomprehensible sentences. Many times the typos were so horrible that I had absolutely no clue what the sentence was trying to say. Shame on you Cynthia True for defiling a great man's memory with such a sad display of writing. Poor Bill. Nothing seems to go his way...even in death.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Great Read
Review: Cynthia True's "American Scream" is a well written and thoroughly entertaining biography of the life of the great Bill Hicks. I felt as if I was in the room with Bill and his friends as he travels the lonely journey of a stand-up comic. Ms. True's book will help keep Bill in the collective conscience for years to come. Thank you.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Informative, but something seems to be missing
Review: Cynthia True's biography of Bill Hicks really helped fill in the blanks for me as to who this standup comic might have really been. Being only familiar with him upon the Rykodisc reissue of his two previous comedy albums ("Dangerous" and "Relentless") and his two posthumous releases ("Arizona Bay" and "Rant in E-Minor") in 1997, I became an instant convert to Hicks' amazing comedic, narrative and philosophical capabilities. True's work is strongest when writing about the young William Melvin Hicks, the self-hating "hick" whose alienation from his schoolmates and his parents fueled him to write Woody Allen-inspired jokes. As Hicks grows from the spiritually eager, ascetic and prodigously talented teenager to the dispirited young man driven to drink by the disillusioning experience of living in Hollywood, True's narrative starts to lose some of its tightness. This might be due to Hicks' belligerent behavior during his drinking years--his unlikability and the lack of useful information such episodes can provide to a biographer. But, once Hicks goes sober and his stand-up becomes increasingly brilliant and revolutionary, the narrative once again picks up. By the poignant, untimely end of "American Scream," you feel like America is so much worse off because Hicks is no longer here to ridicule it at a time when it just might need it most. But, I still don't know why he was such a gloomy person in his private life, often prone to depression and self-inflicted loneliness. Perhaps True cannot paint this portrait exactly (and maybe my expectations are too high) because he was such an inaccessible person--the only way for others to know him was through what was to become the greatest stand-up comedy/social commentary of the post-Richard Pryor era.


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