The Tenacity of the Cockroach: Conversations with Entertainment's Most Enduring Outsiders
by Stephen Thompson, The Onion
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Book Summary Information
Author: Stephen Thompson, The OnionEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2002-12-10
ISBN: 0609809911
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Book Reviews of The Tenacity of the Cockroach: Conversations with Entertainment's Most Enduring Outsiders
Book Review: Interviews beat any others out there
Summary: 4 Stars
I've long thought that the Onion AV Club's "interviews" section was a premier example of smart, funny, revealing interviews from all sorts of showbiz folks, from the really famous to the relatively obscure. I have seen this book around for ever, I'd read the Conan and Andy Richter interviews in book stores, but I finally picked it up a week ago. Let me tell you, it's worth whatever you pay for it.
The book contains glimpses into the lives of various types of entertainers, from the well-know to the washed-up. I could go on about various aspects of each interview, but I think I'll just cut to the chase and list the ones that really stuck with me:
Rick James talking about his hardships
Conan O'Brien describing the pitfalls of a studio audience
Robert Forster explaining his philosophy of life
Merle Haggard regretting "Okie From Muskogee" being used by the far-right
Elvira discussing Coors' decision to drop her in favor of Pamela Lee
Mr. T going on and on (I could just hear him saying all this from reading it)
The commentaries range from the bitter (Harlan Ellison is a trip) to the resigned (The Unknown Comic), but the real bonus is the nuggets of truth to be gleaned from each interview. The fact that all the performers included stuck to their artistic guns, even in the face of changing cultural trends, is a good lesson for any aspiring entertainers. The messge is "be true to yourself, and you will achieve your goals sooner or later."
I think the ratio of good interviews outweighs the bad ones, and the four or five seperate interviews with Bob Odenkirk and David Cross certainly caught my eye after just recently picking up the "Mr. Show Complete First and Second Season" DVD.
The Onion AV Club, for my money, publishes the best interviews in the field of entertainment, and this is a gold-standard collection of some of the best.
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