Digging Up Mother: A Love Story by Doug Stanhope
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Stanhope is one of my all-time favorite comedians, and his (auto-)biography is exactly what you’d expect. It’s dark and compelling. The first half is sad in a way that’s nihilistic and depressing, but the second is sad in that life-must-be-painful-in-order-to-magnify-ones-capacity-for-feeling-joy way. (There is no happiness. But lots of fun.)
It’s structurally similar to his act, in that way.
Plus, it’s written so distinctly in Stanhope’s voice that it often felt like I was listening to him narrate an audiobook rather than reading words on a page.
In short: “brilliant” and “not for everyone.” Just like the man himself.