Wednesday, December 15, 2010

A-Z Wednesday: The Letter "S"


It's A-Z Wednesday! Hosted by Reading at the Beach. To join in, here's all you have to do.
*Go to your stack of books and find an author whose first or last name starts with the letter of the week.

*Post:
1~ a photo of the book
2~ title & synopsis
3~ a link (amazon, barnes & noble, etc)
4~ go back to Reading at the Beach and link up your post

My choice this week is Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life by Steve Martin (click title for review).

Info from Amazon:


  • Hardcover: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Scribner; 1st edition (November 20, 2007)
  • ISBN-10: 1416553649
  • ISBN-13: 978-1416553649
  • Genre: Autobiography

Synopsis: At age 10, Steve Martin got a job selling guidebooks at the newly opened Disneyland. In the decade that followed, he worked in Disney's magic shop, print shop, and theater, and developed his own magic/comedy act. By age 20, studying poetry and philosophy on the side, he was performing a dozen times a week, most often at the Disney rival, Knott's Berry Farm. Obsession is a substitute for talent, he has said, and Steve Martin's focus and daring--his sheer tenacity--are truly stunning. He writes about making the very tough decision to sacrifice everything not original in his act, and about lucking into a job writing for The Smothers Brothers Show. He writes about mentors, girlfriends, his complex relationship with his parents and sister, and about some of his great peers in comedy--Dan Ackroyd, Lorne Michaels, Carl Reiner, Johnny Carson. He writes about fear, anxiety and loneliness. And he writes about how he figured out what worked on stage.

3 comments:

Melissa Wiebe said...

sounds interesting. I have heard its an excellent book.

Laurel-Rain Snow said...

I haven't read any of Steve Martin's books, but this one sounds like one I'd enjoy...I love reading about the "journey."

Thanks for visiting my blog and commenting on the "blurb." The publishers wrote that one for the back cover.

fredamans said...

I bet this is a hoot!