Review by Booklist Review
This sparkling memoir by actor/writer/musician Steve Martin features illustrations by New Yorker cartoonist Harry Bliss (the two previously collaborated on 2020's A Wealth of Pigeons). Martin has written movies, plays, and books, but here, for the first time, he examines his own film career in detail. It's a great story, too, full of behind-the-scenes snippets and interesting little tidbits (such as the fact that Mike Nichols was the original director on The Jerk). Martin talks about the mechanics of making the transition from stand-up comedy to film acting, noting along the way his delight when a movie lived up to his expectations. He also devotes a fair amount of time to his relationships in the industry, such as his personal and professional connection with Carl Reiner, who directed Martin in four films. Martin comes across as an immensely likable fellow, a guy who still marvels at the success he's had and who appears to be just as down-to-earth and humble as we've always imagined him to be. Much of the story is told in the form of cartoons depicting Martin talking about his life in film with another person (who looks a lot like Harry Bliss). It's a clever and original way to approach a memoir, and it's delightfully executed. A Hollywood memoir unlike any other.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Martin--comedian, writer, musician, and "one of the few actors to play a sadistic dentist twice"--teams up again with New Yorker cartoonist Bliss in this irresistibly charming ramble through Martin's career in film (following A Wealth of Pigeons). In a series of short comics, Martin reminisces about life on the set of such films as The Jerk; Three Amigos; Planes, Trains and Automobiles; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels; and Bowfinger. In Hollywood, Martin learns how to act natural in front of a camera, discovers that the secret to writing a screenplay adaptation is to follow "the course of a failed marriage," and finds friends in fellow comedians such as John Candy, Diane Keaton, Carl Reiner, and Robin Williams. In Bliss's whimsical drawings, meticulously caricatured celebrities rub shoulders with comic-strip characters and Martin periodically wanders away from the narrative to talk to Bliss's dog. The softly shaded pencil art moves smoothly between photorealistic portraits and loose, gestural cartoons as the material demands. Martin maintains his famous comedic persona of guileless arrogance, the jerk he's played on and off since his early stand-up days. But his memories reveal a thoughtful, regularly starstruck performer who anxiously counts the laughs at a screening of All of Me and drives home from a viewing of Parenthood lamenting that "everyone in this movie is great except me." Film buffs, comedy fans, and legion admirers of both the actor and artist will find themselves smiling from cover to cover. Agents: (for Martin) Esther Newberg, ICM Partners; (for Bliss) Holly McGhee, Pippin. (Nov.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
This breezy, funny, informative illustrated book is a fun second collaboration between actor/novelist Martin (An Object of Beauty) and New Yorker cartoonist Bliss, after 2020's A Wealth of Pigeons: A Cartoon Collection. The volume's first half, where the antic Martin zips through multi-panel, illustrated experiences and on-set acquaintances encountered during his 40 years of movie roles, is a follow-up to his 2008 memoir Born Standing Up. Readers will learn Martin's perceptions of famous coworkers, such as Carl Reiner, John Candy, Robin Williams, Mike Nichols, Diane Keaton, Bernadette Peters, Goldie Hawn, Lily Tomlin, and Martin Short. He also discusses his decision to stop making films. The title echoes an assistant director's comment about the actor's hierarchy in various films. The book's second half consists of largely one-panel observational cartoons that frequently feature anthropomorphic cats and dogs, where Martin provides the punchline and Bliss the illustration. VERDICT Martin is a hilarious physical and multiple-voiced comic whose genius arguably doesn't convey as well in the more subtle print medium. Readers who enjoyed A Wealth of Pigeons should enjoy Martin and Bliss's newest collaboration as well.--Frederick J. Augustyn Jr.
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Martin and Bliss breeze down a yellow brick road of memories. In this lighthearted follow-up to their charming 2020 collaboration, A Wealth of Pigeons, Martin and Bliss offer an illustrated look at the former's career, the latter's musings, and their shared muse, Bliss' dog, Penny. The narrative is both disarming and brief. Through his cartoon persona, Martin recounts his progression from stand-up comedy to a celebrated movie career, reminiscing to anyone who will listen, bystanders as well as Bliss and Penny. Penny, a one-canine Greek chorus, adds asides and clarification (though not always on the films). Martin recalls the hit he made with his first starring vehicle, The Jerk, and his four-film partnership with Carl Reiner that produced a certified gem, All of Me, which, along with Martin's Cyrano de Bergerac adaptation, Roxanne, would be among his most adventurous outings. Martin is amiably self-deprecating throughout, though he sees fit to praise the two critically panned Cheaper by the Dozen films, which found success at the box office. If, because of all of his years performing in front of live audiences, he thought he'd segue easily into film acting, his first movie disabused him of that notion. On his discomfort at watching his own performances, he notes, "If you think I'm being too sensitive, try watching a film of yourself for two hours in close-up and come out unscathed." Martin remembers encounters and/or co-starring gigs with a bevy of famous performers and wryly suggests why his film career ran out of gas: "I lost interest in movies at exactly the same time the movies lost interest in me." For his part, Bliss gets to ad lib in the section "And Other Diversions," a collection of New Yorker--style cartoons that are characteristically witty but don't connect to the rest of the text. A diverting interlude with two exceptionally clever souls. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
