Brother Sam The Short, Spectacular Life Of Sam Kinison 3/5 stars
I will never forget the first time I saw Kinison on HBO. It was late and I was probably 11 or 12 at the time, and it was about midnight which meant whatever I watched, I had to be quiet. Then I saw Sam, and I could not stop laughing. At the end of his set my stomach hurt, I had tears pouring out of my eyes, but I knew I saw something ground breaking. Sam was the voice of the people. He said what most guys thought, and even wished they had the balls to say. When he passed it stunned me, and I remember listening to Have You Seen Me Lately and tried to imagine a world without Sam. I heard about the book many years later, but it took me a while to track it down. Hell, I don't even think it's in print anymore. I own the hardback and when I did a search for it, that's all I could find.
So, reading the book there was a lot that stood out. Sam was truly a genius, and he was out of control which really didn't surprise me. This was a guy who connected with his audience, but I didn't realize how long it had taken him to achieve success, and I didn't realize just how many demons Sam had. I think the one thing I learned from the book was that Sam just wasn't emotionally mature enough to handle success, and it shows in all of the choices he made. This was a guy who lived fast, and partied hard. The way he died was truly tragic, and came at a time when he was finally cleaning himself up, and trying desperately to change his image. Reading the book there's the usual amount of heartbreak and sadness, but Bill Kinison rarely strays from the bad Sam. The guy that was out of control, the guy that couldn't keep his shit together very long.
What I didn't know was that Sam had a two year affair with his girlfriend's sister, or he didn't even want to marry Malika at all, and felt pressured into it. Bill Kinison doesn't hold back on his dislike of Malika at all and after this book came out, she promptly sued him. Sabrina was really the only woman he really loved, and it seemed that of all the women he was with, she was the one that maybe could have pulled him from the brink of disaster. Also here is the brief affair with Jessica Hahn. Not much is here of course, and what we learn is that Sam actually fell asleep while still inside her. What didn't surprise me was the drinking, and the overall insanity of what it was like to be Sam Kinison. Warts and all is the correct way to describe this bio, but while it's not perfect it's an okay book that seems to quiet down the need for a book about Kinison's life. Hopefully a better one will come along that fills in the gaps that this one left behind.
I will never forget the first time I saw Kinison on HBO. It was late and I was probably 11 or 12 at the time, and it was about midnight which meant whatever I watched, I had to be quiet. Then I saw Sam, and I could not stop laughing. At the end of his set my stomach hurt, I had tears pouring out of my eyes, but I knew I saw something ground breaking. Sam was the voice of the people. He said what most guys thought, and even wished they had the balls to say. When he passed it stunned me, and I remember listening to Have You Seen Me Lately and tried to imagine a world without Sam. I heard about the book many years later, but it took me a while to track it down. Hell, I don't even think it's in print anymore. I own the hardback and when I did a search for it, that's all I could find.
So, reading the book there was a lot that stood out. Sam was truly a genius, and he was out of control which really didn't surprise me. This was a guy who connected with his audience, but I didn't realize how long it had taken him to achieve success, and I didn't realize just how many demons Sam had. I think the one thing I learned from the book was that Sam just wasn't emotionally mature enough to handle success, and it shows in all of the choices he made. This was a guy who lived fast, and partied hard. The way he died was truly tragic, and came at a time when he was finally cleaning himself up, and trying desperately to change his image. Reading the book there's the usual amount of heartbreak and sadness, but Bill Kinison rarely strays from the bad Sam. The guy that was out of control, the guy that couldn't keep his shit together very long.
What I didn't know was that Sam had a two year affair with his girlfriend's sister, or he didn't even want to marry Malika at all, and felt pressured into it. Bill Kinison doesn't hold back on his dislike of Malika at all and after this book came out, she promptly sued him. Sabrina was really the only woman he really loved, and it seemed that of all the women he was with, she was the one that maybe could have pulled him from the brink of disaster. Also here is the brief affair with Jessica Hahn. Not much is here of course, and what we learn is that Sam actually fell asleep while still inside her. What didn't surprise me was the drinking, and the overall insanity of what it was like to be Sam Kinison. Warts and all is the correct way to describe this bio, but while it's not perfect it's an okay book that seems to quiet down the need for a book about Kinison's life. Hopefully a better one will come along that fills in the gaps that this one left behind.
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