George Carlin Reads to You: New Expaned Edition - Brain Droppings, Napalm & Silly Putty, and More Napalm & Silly Putty Review
This collection of unabridged readings of his Napalm & Silly Putty, and his More Napalm & Silly Putty and his BRAIN DROPPINGS originally found blessed release in 2004 as George Carlin Reads to You, but late last year, just a few months ago, precisely upon the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, found happy re-release in this expanded edition, augmented by an interview with Carlin from Terry Gross's Fresh Air.
I wish of course that Gross had told Carlin not to worry about being on the air, Carlin whose recordings had gone all of the way to the Supreme Court after an obscure FM radio station put out his Seven Words You Can't Say On Television on the air. So George with Terry pulled his punches and self edited heavily and consciously and explicitly rather than exploring fully issues Terry raised. She would have done better to let him roll, and then save the parts not ready for broadcast with us here.
Be that as it may, the readings of his three books are great. The structure seems to follow some philology, some reflections, some jokes, some stories, followed by a rapid-fire climax of one-liners. Each disc ends with a little announcement from Carlin specific to the recording, which ends with things like " . . .and always remember:" followed by dead air, waking you up wondering, "hey, what happened to my CD player! George?!!"
We find Mr. Carlin much in the spirit of the opening sections of Cyrano de Bergerac urging precise and creative language, very much in the heritage of The Misanthrope, and precisely Timon of Athens (Oxford World's Classics), raging for sanity among insane society, amongst a sleeping race of sheep.
But don't get me started. Get this recording instead, and enjoy.
I confess I use these audiobooks as bedtime reading, to read me to sleep. I love for this to listen to James Joyce: The Dead And Other Stories (Great Authors) as read by the gentle Mr. Setlock for Commuter's Library, or None of Maigret's Business (Simenon) on Audiobooks. Each morning I awaken to the fountainhead, the Donal Donnelly recording of the immortal and infinite world of Ulysses, and quite frequently this accompanies me to sleep as well. And so I put on George.
I feel it is my duty to inform the potential purchaser that a certain series of blood-curdling and prolonged shrieks at one point in this recording discourages such abuse of these disks like a cat encountering falling water. Certainly caught my comfortably dozing attention.
I found hearing Mr. Carlin read, privately, surpasses reading him to myself, although this also is great. I found his reading privately, intimately, like this to lack the edge of his high energy public performances such as George Carlin - Jammin' in New York, as if confronted by an unmoving mike he cannot gauge his effects and thus just reads, but this is George, and this is good, too.
WIth Terry we discover his early work on radio, and hear that distinctive radio voice. Sometimes we hear traces of others such as that once ubiquitous comic voice from SNL and the Simpsons silenced tragically by his domestic partner but here evoked tantalizingly. We hear several other personae from the Carlin stable, including Jesus with a Mafioso voice in a very interesting interchange. In fact there are several reflections on the life of Jesus, and on how institutionalized religion kills, which require listening. Terry Gross, of course, refers constantly to Carlin's When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops? (6-CD BOX SET).
Truly worth a listening, but avoid the shrieks while sleeping. These six CD's serve as strong language restorative from a guy with a much stronger mastery of language than he ought to have, a product perhaps of Parochial schooling, the fruit of what he calls "white Harlem" and growing up on the edge of Harlem, on the edge of an Irish Catholic enclave, near Puerto Ricans and other Hispanics, and alongside all of the huge churches, synagogues and universities nearby. A potent mix for the transcendence which is his work.
Hear him, at least once. A great bargain here.
George Carlin Reads to You: New Expaned Edition - Brain Droppings, Napalm & Silly Putty, and More Napalm & Silly Putty Overview
Great comedy at a great value! This gift set gathers three timeless Carlin recordings including two Grammy� winners, plus an interview from public radio�s Fresh Air.
d three must be funniest, right? That�s our thinking behind this collection. This laugh-out-loud program includes:
Brain Droppings � 2001 Grammy� winner
Acerbic observations, manic musings, in-your-face questions, witty word play, and more �droppings� from Carlin�s singular brain. �I put a dollar in a change machine. Nothing changed.� �Why are there no recreational drugs taken in suppository form?�
Napalm & Silly Putty � 2002 Grammy� winner
Carlin invents Past-Tense TV (�Got Smart,� �Father Knew Best,� �It Was Left to Beaver�), crusades for the Center for Research into the Heebie Jeebies, and suggests that �if the shoe fits, get another just like it.�
More Napalm & Silly Putty
Everything that wouldn�t fit on the first Napalm recording�like �A Day in the Life of Henry VIII,� �Sports Should Be Fixed,� and candid takes on life�s little moments (�I�m beyond the nice day�), all delivered with wicked glee.
Plus a bonus interview from Fresh Air.
Available at Amazon Check Price Now!
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Customer Reviews
Now in a new expanded edition featuring an interview from "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross - Midwest Book Review - Oregon, WI USA
Now in a new expanded edition featuring an interview from "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross, George Carlin Reads to You is an audiobook selection of comedian George Carlin's hilarious read-aloud musings, jokes, riffs, and (sometimes twisted) narratives from two funny books, including three complete recordings together for the first time: Grammy winners "Brain Droppings", "Napalm & Silly Putty," and "More Napalm & Silly Putty". A real treat for anyone who needs a dose of laughter during car trips, air travel, or anyplace one can go with a portable CD player, highly recommended. 8 hours, 7 CDs.
*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Aug 30, 2010 22:06:06
