Howard Stern Comes Again
Book by Howard Stern
DETAILS
Publisher : Simon & Schuster (May 14, 2019) Language : English Hardcover : 560 pages ISBN-10 : 1501194291 ISBN-13 : 978-1501194290 Item Weight : 2.4 pounds Dimensions : 7.38 x 1.4 x 9.13 inches Best Sellers Rank: #29,224 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #5 in General Broadcasting (Books) #161 in Rich & Famous Biographies #323 in Actor & Entertainer Biographies , Rock stars and rap gods. Comedy legends and A-list actors. Supermodels and centerfolds. Moguls and mobsters. A president. Over his unrivaled four-decade career in radio, Howard Stern has interviewed thousands of personalities—discussing sex, relationships, money, fame, spirituality, and success with the boldest of bold-faced names. But which interviews are his favorites? It’s one of the questions he gets asked most frequently. Howard Stern Comes Again delivers his answer. This book is a feast of conversation and more, as between the lines Stern offers his definitive autobiography—a magnum opus of confession and personal exploration. Tracy Morgan opens up about his near-fatal car crash. Lady Gaga divulges her history with cocaine. Madonna reminisces on her relationship with Tupac Shakur. Bill Murray waxes philosophical on the purpose of life. Jerry Seinfeld offers a master class on comedy. Harvey Weinstein denies the existence of the so-called casting couch. An impressive array of creative visionaries weigh in on what Stern calls “the climb”—the stories of how they struggled and eventually prevailed. As he writes in the introduction, “If you’re having trouble finding motivation in life and you’re looking for that extra kick in the ass, you will find it in these pages.” Interspersed throughout are rare selections from the Howard Stern Show archives with Donald Trump that depict his own climb: transforming from Manhattan tabloid fixture to reality TV star to president of the United States. Stern also tells of his Moby Dick -like quest to land an interview with Hillary Clinton in the run-up to the 2016 election—one of many newly written revelations from the author. He speaks with extraordinary candor about a variety of subjects, including his overwhelming insecurity early in his career, his revolutionary move from terrestrial radio to SiriusXM, and his belief in the power of psychotherapy. As Stern insightfully notes in the introduction: “The interviews collected here represent my best work and show my personal evolution. But they don’t just show my evolution. Gathered together like this, they show the evolution of popular culture over the past quarter century.” Read more
REVIEW
I'm a fan of the show, where I listened to it from 2001 to 2006 (before the Sirius move) and again from 2013 to 2019. I've generally seen the 'evolution of the show' as it's been referred to and I personally like the change. What can you say about Howard that hasn't been said? He has always had an ear for what makes great radio and he knows how to get the most out of his staff to put on a quality product (that often included fart gags and lesbians). His humor was always based on a disdain for hypocrisy, and while at times in the earlier years it was mean, you could almost always expect it to be honest. However, coinciding with his therapy, right around the 2012-2013 timeframe, he made changes in management to the show that changed the tone...many of the one star reviews here complain about it. That change happened and some fans were livid, but what was uncovered during this change was behind the acerbic wit was a man who made keen on-the-fly observations about his guests, he had a staff that could inform him with deep research and he had a full uninterrupted hour where he could flex his newfound talent of using research, applying insight, misdirection, and self referencing to get guests to reveal things about themselves that they never had before. He became among the best interviewers in the English language (I see him among a triumvirate, one of whom is no longer working). This book summarizes the highlights of this change. The book is structured to highlight certain personalities, and with some of the interviews, he focuses on topics and brings in small clips of what certain individuals said (money, fame, drugs, etc.). The Kindle version is good in that it references other interviews when there is supplemental material. Fans of the show will remember almost all the interviews, there were only a couple I haven't heard in one form or another. I enjoyed reading them again, but they do miss a few of the key moments because they were edited, and you can't hear the emotion in the subjects voice (to this day the Mike Tyson interview blows me away, Mike really got emotionally involved in it). You also can't hear how Howard uses interruptions and side conversations to get to a point...his interviewing style is fantastic, but part of it is based on the sound of it. I have two quibbles: -Too many Trump interludes, they seem opportunistic. Every news story has Trump in the headline, I'm sorry, but I'm fatigued. Howard has been fairly open about what he thinks of the presidency and I keep my opinions to myself. For the most part, he doesn't bash him, but he prints some of the transcripts over the many years Trump called in that are modestly embarrassing. I could see one interview, or one summary, but I really don't care about Trump getting AJ Benza's girlfriend. -I don't see the need to disown who he was for who he is today. I was a fan of earlier Howard show, and I'm a fan now. People change over time and it's okay. There are passages where he says he didn't like the old him. I don't know, Sinatra had a few regrets, but then again too few to mention. Howard is now because of what he was back then, and it's okay to enjoy the ride as it was. So I bought the book, I read it quickly, and I enjoyed it for remembering the material I was familiar with it. Folks who have never heard the show will see the text of some of the more insightful interviews and recognize why he is so well-regarded. That being said, it's not a perfect book, but a good enough book for those who want to see the results of in-depth discussions with usually interesting people.
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