Melanie B. (tamajinn) reviewed The Amorous Busboy of Decatur Avenue: A Child of the Fifties Looks Back on + 64 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Robert Klein's reflections on life between the ages of nine and twenty-five. Only three stars because I got tired of hearing about his sexual escapades, and the last 1/4 started to get boring. It's funny-- Robert Klein is my favorite comedian, but this book made me like him less, which I never expected. I try to remind myself that he grew up in the sixties when drugs and sex were rampant, but I feel a bit put-off about him regardless. Also disappointing was that some of the jokes were taken word-for-word from past comedy routines. He must have known that the majority of his readers would be fans of his work... when he started to tell jokes I was familiar with, I would groan to myself that in books you can't "stop me if you've heard this one." Despite that, the book was a mainly interesting read about growing up in the Bronx. My father was born and grew up in Jersey City around the same time, and it amused me to think of his teenage years being similar to the people described in the book. Just don't expect a hilarious read a la Dave Barry, and you should enjoy it if you are a fan of this time-tested comedian.
Sandra Phillips (rolfeswife) -
Helpful Score: 2
This book was very readable, but, coarse and explicitly dirty.Instead of giving in to the curiousity and the desire to read it, I made a point to toss it into the trash can , AFTER I tore several pages out to prevent anyone from reading it. This is what I choose to do, listen to my conscience. It is really a sexually graphic book.
