Book 35: Make Love! The Bruce Campbell Way, by Bruce Campbell
It's pretty difficult for me to objectively review this book. After all, I've loved Campbell going all the way back to the days when I was watching The Evil Dead over and over again on video when I was a high school student in the '80s. I drooled over him when The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. was on the air (and was probably one of ten people watching the show), loved him as Autolycus in Hercules and Xena, and even watched and loved Jack of All Trades. I was reduced to a mumbling fool when I met him a couple of years ago during his book tour for his first book, If Chins Could Kill, and was thrilled when he acknowledged a column I did about his minor roles (I believe the phrase he used was "Stalky indeed"). And so it was that I kind of kept watch for the release of this book, a novel about a B-actor named Bruce Campbell who somehow finds himself cast in a Mike Nichols film alongside Richard Gere and Renee Zellweger.
Suffice it to say the book had me laughing at loud from practically its very first page. Campbell's willingness to poke fun at himself is always great for numerous gags, and the freaky morphed pictures that appear throughout the book are a marvelous touch. One visual aid that had me laughing a lot was Campbell's laundry list of all the roles he claims Christopher McDonald has stolen from him, including that of The Iron Giant's Kent Mansley (a particular favorite movie of mine).
As for the story, let's just say that the seemingly upscale, $35 million production goes terribly awry. Read the book. You'll laugh a lot. (It's a quick read, too, so there are no excuses.)
It's pretty difficult for me to objectively review this book. After all, I've loved Campbell going all the way back to the days when I was watching The Evil Dead over and over again on video when I was a high school student in the '80s. I drooled over him when The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. was on the air (and was probably one of ten people watching the show), loved him as Autolycus in Hercules and Xena, and even watched and loved Jack of All Trades. I was reduced to a mumbling fool when I met him a couple of years ago during his book tour for his first book, If Chins Could Kill, and was thrilled when he acknowledged a column I did about his minor roles (I believe the phrase he used was "Stalky indeed"). And so it was that I kind of kept watch for the release of this book, a novel about a B-actor named Bruce Campbell who somehow finds himself cast in a Mike Nichols film alongside Richard Gere and Renee Zellweger.
Suffice it to say the book had me laughing at loud from practically its very first page. Campbell's willingness to poke fun at himself is always great for numerous gags, and the freaky morphed pictures that appear throughout the book are a marvelous touch. One visual aid that had me laughing a lot was Campbell's laundry list of all the roles he claims Christopher McDonald has stolen from him, including that of The Iron Giant's Kent Mansley (a particular favorite movie of mine).
As for the story, let's just say that the seemingly upscale, $35 million production goes terribly awry. Read the book. You'll laugh a lot. (It's a quick read, too, so there are no excuses.)
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