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The Amorous Busboy of Decatur Avenue
- Author
- Robert Klein
- Narrator
- Robert Klein
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date
- 1 December 2015
- Run Time
- 14 hours 19 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
A funny and evocative coming-of-age memoir by award-winning comedian and actor Robert Klein, who has entertained audiences for more than four decades
Best known for his unique brand of observational humor—seen on Broadway and in film and television—Klein details his life from ages nine to twenty-five as viewed “through the gauze of time.” Klein’s theme park of memories alternates dark moments with sunlit humor. Teenage frustrations prompted a visit to a Harlem prostitute, which filled Klein with “shame and triumph and guilt.” He encountered individual and institutional antisemitism at Alfred University, yet led the frat-house fun, moving on to the Yale School of Drama, Chicago’s Second City, New York theater, and a variety of romances. Along the way, Klein had successes and failures, both in bed and on stage. Probing not only his own psyche but also the evolution of sexual mores during the 1950s and 60s, he unfurls an array of captivating anecdotes, writing with wry wit and honesty.
Critics Review
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“Robert Klein has always been the funniest, most intelligent, coolest comedian. If he would also like to be known as an amorous busboy, who am I to stand in the way?”
Jerry Seinfeld
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“A warm and delightful Portrait of the Artist as a Young Comedian from the Bronx. Robert Klein writes with his signature intelligence, wit, and irreverence. This is a hilarious book, and surely Robert Klein is the Don Juan of Decatur Avenue.”
Wendy Wasserstein, Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright and New York Times bestselling author
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“Klein’s provocative sense of irony gives his story a crazy-funny twist like his best stand-up work, but nostalgia underlies its laughs.”
New York Times Book Review
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“The book is moving and funny…Klein is a born storyteller.”
New York Post
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“Uproarious opening chapters about his 1950s Bronx childhood and his overly cautious parents…Probing not only his own psyche but also the evolution of sexual mores during the 1950s and ’60s, he unfurls an array of captivating anecdotes, writing with wry wit and honesty.”
Publishers Weekly
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“A fine and very funny writer…Klein’s humor is biting, sometimes scatological, but never bitter, and he reveals an interesting life with this thoroughly enjoyable chronicle.”
Booklist
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Details
- Author
- Robert Klein
- Narrator
- Robert Klein
- Duration
- 14 hours 19 minutes
- Release Date
- 1 December 2015
- ISBN
- 9781504675802
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Genre
- Biography: arts and entertainment, Biography: general, Memoirs
Synopsis
A funny and evocative coming-of-age memoir by award-winning comedian and actor Robert Klein, who has entertained audiences for more than four decadesBest known for his unique brand of observational humor—seen on Broadway and in film and television—Klein details his life from ages nine to twenty-five as viewed “through the gauze of time.” Klein’s theme park of memories alternates dark moments with sunlit humor. Teenage frustrations prompted a visit to a Harlem prostitute, which filled Klein with “shame and triumph and guilt.” He encountered individual and institutional antisemitism at Alfred University, yet led the frat-house fun, moving on to the Yale School of Drama, Chicago’s Second City, New York theater, and a variety of romances. Along the way, Klein had successes and failures, both in bed and on stage. Probing not only his own psyche but also the evolution of sexual mores during the 1950s and 60s, he unfurls an array of captivating anecdotes, writing with wry wit and honesty.
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