First, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Grand Central Publishing.

The highs are high and the lows are low in this memoir by the comedy mind that worked closely on Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiam, Borat, plus many other productions. I hope Larry (Charles) is alright. He comes across as dark and brooding. I feel like too much time is spent on less successful and unhappy projects, including venting A LOT about Sacha Baron Cohen and somewhat about Larry David.

The best parts are the good times, like the making of Borat or when Charles pulls back the curtain on his interactions with Bob Dylan during the making of Masked & Anonymous. Far less enjoyable are the lengthy discussions of Bruno and The Dictator.

I'd honestly toss a good portion of the last third of this book to make it a more pleasurable read. Peace.

My thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for an advance copy of this new memoir about a man who had to fail in a lot of different ways to find the humor that is all around us, and present it to the world.

Hollywood is not a fun place. Especially for a comedy writer. One can get the job of one's dreams, and spend the next ten years trying to pretend it never happened. All while trying to find any job at all. Friends will steal jokes, steal ideas, steal drugs and girls. Studios will promise they want to be in the you business, and never answer the phone. Agents can give up on clients, or forget they even have one as a client. A producer can share a great idea, an idea that turns out to be someone else's. One can be the next big thing, than the next to nothing. Larry Charles has seen all this and more. Charles started selling jokes, to working on comedy specials, crafting insults for roasts, working on talk shows and more. However it was a little show about nothing that brought him fame, fortune, and a whole new set of problems. Comedy Samurai: Forty Years of Blood, Guts, and Laughter by Larry Charles is a rags to riches, warts and all, A star is born story of comedy, television, movies, ill health, big hits, and a life making others laugh.

The book begins with a health crisis, and an encounter with an EMT who was also a fan of the French New Wave Director Jean-Luc Godard. From there we return to the past, the late 70s and a show that was going to change television, until it was given a title that reminded the world that is was just an imitation. The show was Fridays, and Larry Charles had been chosen to be one of the writers on this sketch comedy show that ABC had a lot of hope for. Here Charles met people who would become famous tater in his life, Michael Richards, a young Jerry Seinfeld, and Larry David, a fellow writer with a bitter streak that Charles enjoyed. The show was canceled, and Charles found himself scrambling for work. Writing jokes for the amazing Richard Belzer, writing insults for comedy roasts on cable channels. A big break was writing for Arsenio Hall, but his material was too edgy for a host who had too many problems being the first African-American talk show host. Just when things were looking dark, Charles was approached with a job that wouldn't last long he was told, but would keep him in Hollywood. A show called Seinfeld.

Larry Charles was born in Brooklyn, but grew up in Trump Village near Coney Island, so one can understand where his topical and bitter humor came from. Charles is also a pretty sociable guy, a minor Zelig who seemed to cross paths with many famous people in the comedy game. The book is full of lots of stories, and profiles, from Johnny Carson, Richard Belzer, Aresenio Hall, Larry David, and much more. The book mixes tales of writing for television, and writing and directing feature films, and the differences between the two. Amidst the humor are a lot of stories about the dark side of Hollywood and or the world of comedy and writing. The drugs of course, the pressure to writer and produce needing a little or a lot of chemical stimulants. Also the vitriolic attacks on Arsenio Hall, for being black on television, holding hands with white actresses or making political jokes. Charles chapter on working on Hall's show is revealing, and shows that people really haven't changed in almost 75 years of television.

The book is very funny, with lots of asides, and stories about a diverse group of people. Charles does not spare himself either. For fans of comedy, television, Seinfled, Borat and much

I enjoyed the honesty and behind the scenes telling of both Charles’ personal and professional life. Although I thought the book was a tad too long, I love the things Charles has been involved with(Seinfeld, Curb, Borat) and loved reading about the making of those shows/movies. Also gives a different perspective on Larry David and Sasha Baron Cohen——-and not a very flattering one at that. Recommended.