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How to Talk Dirty and Influence People: An Autobiography

by Lenny Bruce

4.02 of 5 stars 4.02 · rating details · 1,254 ratings · 104 reviews

In 1963, before the law and his drug habit brought the curtain down on the comedian, Hugh Hefner asked then-superstar Lenny Bruce to write his autobiography. Lenny hired writer Paul Krassner to help him edit the book, which appeared in Playboy over the next two years. Though it's uneven, and somewhat dated, How to Talk Dirty and Influence People deserves a look, if only to In 1963, before the law and his drug habit brought the curtain down on the comedian, Hugh Hefner asked then-superstar Lenny Bruce to write his autobiography. Lenny hired writer Paul Krassner to help him edit the book, which appeared in Playboy over the next two years. Though it's uneven, and somewhat dated, How to Talk Dirty and Influence People deserves a look, if only to balance the movie Lenny , which many of the comedian's friends say missed the man entirely. The book is, simply, Lenny Bruce riffing on his life--from a drab childhood in Brooklyn, to stints in the navy and merchant marine, and finally to the nightclub circuit and eventual stardom. Of course, the veracity of any single anecdote is highly questionable, but How to Talk Dirty and Influence People rises above that, revealed as a fascinating expression of how this comedy icon wanted to be seen. Namely, as a rough-and-tumble kid from the streets, as a hustler and ladies' man, and, finally, as a fearless detonator of society's hypocrisy. (Notice that addict and dissolute don't make the list.)

In the movies ... Everett Sloane was a tycoon. He would get his gun off disillusioning Joel McCrea, who wanted to publish a newspaper that would make a statement, and telling him: "M'boy, you'll see when you get old that it's all a game." And I used to think, "No, it's not that way, this cynical old bastard is bullshitting, there are the Good Guys and the Bad Guys, the liars and the truth-tellers."
But Everett Sloane was right. There is only what is. The what-should-be never did exist, but people keep trying to live up to it. There is only what is.

How to Talk Dirty and Influence People doesn't catch Bruce's charisma and vaguely sinister electricity--no book could--but it is an interesting, lively read. Bruce was one of the first performers to usher in the new, more honest, more permissive, and more indulgent brand of American art. For anyone who wants to understand our comedy and culture, How to Talk Dirty and Influence People is well worth reading. --Michael Gerber

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Hardcover , First Edition , 188 pages

Published 1965 by HMH Publishing

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May 28, 2012 Crystal rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a rare book left behind by the overweight and greasy lead singer of a band I booked once when I used to do that. I read it immediately and furiously like a masturbating teenager adopting Bruce's jargon as my own and made many decisions based on what I thought Lenny Bruce would do. When those decisions went up in flames I thought to myself; "well, fuck, it could be worse, I coulda been Lenny Bruce". Reading this book at times made feel overwhelmingly dirty, disgusted and guilty (like por ...more

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May 18, 2012 Gabriel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommends it for: EVERYONE who wants to know why comedians care about Bruce

There is an ebb and flow to the tale of classic comics. People are brought up on a basis similar to comets passing through the atmosphere. Someone dies and the comet appears a little quicker ("X lived in the shadow of Y who had paved the way for X to do their most famous bits ...").

Lenny Bruce's comet comes every 5 or ten years, it seems. He's been labeled a martyr and a genius and one of the most important comedians to ever come across a stage. Just a couple of weeks ago, another website was lo There is an ebb and flow to the tale of classic comics. People are brought up on a basis similar to comets passing through the atmosphere. Someone dies and the comet appears a little quicker ("X lived in the shadow of Y who had paved the way for X to do their most famous bits ...").

Lenny Bruce's comet comes every 5 or ten years, it seems. He's been labeled a martyr and a genius and one of the most important comedians to ever come across a stage. Just a couple of weeks ago, another website was looking at Comedians who had forced society to move forward and started their discussion with Bruce and Mort Sahl (a contemporary whose humor was a bit more political). This reminded me, "Man, it's been a while since I heard those Bruce bits. Gotta hear them again." And then, "You know, there's his autobiography. I wonder what that's like."

The answer: It's the ESSENTIAL Lenny Bruce. More essential than the book falsely labeled as The Essential Lenny Bruce if only because this one ties his jokes together. He took his time with this book and crafted something that tells [a great deal of] his story. From early life to beginnings of his comedy career to his obscenity cases to his overwhelming paranoia (stuff that comes out in Let The Buyer Beware 's CD's ... but that's over 7 hours of listening to poorly recorded material), it's almost all here. And integrated throughout are some of his more classic bits. Yeah, "Christ and Moses" is not complete. Sure, "Are There Any Niggers Here Tonight" (while quoted on the back) is not here. But instead, we get him running off on jerking off. We get Lenny discussing the mysterious object in his Aunt Mema's cupboard (a douche) and we also get his criticisms of the police and "The Man". We even get him criticizing himself from time to time.

It rambles on, like his performances, but because it's written, we don't lose any word. The reader understands the power of the words that Lenny uses in his comedy and, with the book spelling out some of his performances word for word, we can actually laugh at it. This book is what needs to be discussed every time Lenny's comet rolls on through the comedy ether. They talk about seeing him and listening to his records, but frankly, they didn't translate very well. This book, though, allows us living 50 years after his death to get in touch with his work and understand what makes it funny and what makes it poignant and why it was important in the first place.

Now, how much of this autobiography is true ... that's up for debate. I don't know, I don't want to know (my guess is around 75%). This book isn't about learning about who Lenny Bruce is. This book is about why Lenny Bruce was important in the 1950's and 1960's and why we should still care about him now. Some of his bits (like one I named a couple of paragraphs up) still can't be performed today. As South Park gets censored over and over again (via death threats of all things!), as words are still thought of as dirty, as Political Correctness has swamped the nation and our thoughts with what should be allowed ... sometimes we need a Lenny Bruce to stick a finger in our assholes and tell us it smells like shit down there.

The only drawback to reading this book (or listening to a lot of Bruce) is that you begin to talk like him. Give me a week and I'll stop. ...more

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Dec 13, 2012 Ned Rifle rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An entertaining book for anyone already kindly disposed towards Lenny though the only moment that it really teeters into (his usual) greatness is when he, disguised as a priest in order to collect money for a fake charity (fun guy), passes a Rabbi, who nods at him and he is forced to wonder whether they are always doing this, like bus drivers.

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Jan 27, 2014 Procyon Lotor rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 02-romanzi-racconti-teatro

Autobiografia di Lenny Bruce Autobiografia di Lenny Bruce, noto oggi per soli due motivi, la celebrazione che ne fece Bob Fosse nel secco film Lenny (lo interpreta D. Hoffman, IMHO una delle sue migliori interpretazioni) e l'essere stato l'ispiratore riconosciuto di Daniele Luttazzi in Italia. Il resistibile successo di Lenny fra gli anni 50 e 60 si bas sullo scandalizzare a oltranza. Tecnica infantile che ha sempre (contro i muri solidi) un discreto successo. Se poi teniamo conto dell'America p ...more

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Mar 07, 2009 Ginevra rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommends it for: yes

Recommended to Ginevra by: Dan

Lenny Bruce is a cultural icon, and like most cultural icons, I knew nothing about him before picking up this book. As it turns out, he was arrested multiple times for his comedy act, in which he pokes fun at Catholics, WWII, and himself. The books meanders through stories about his life and larger cultural issues, which makes it an interesting read. It also demonstrates what the limits of free speech in the 50's-60's which, as the bookcover points out, is still relevant today.

I gave it 4 stars, ...more

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Dec 25, 2008 matt rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: america-f-k-yeah , biography , satire , social-crit

I love Lenny Bruce and I respect what he was able to accomplish, regarding free speech and the position of the satirist in the modern world. Every comic- every. single. one.- who has come after is in some sense trailing in his wake.

I got really into reading this in high school. I relished noticing that other people got into it, too, and saw what happened when the American legal structure decided to try and take him down. A landmark case for defenders of free speech and dissent.

Only trouble is: a ...more

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Apr 28, 2014 Riley Vermilya rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club

Ok. So this guy is a cultural icon. I consider myself well read and in touch with comedy and the entertainment world past and present, yet I had no clue who LB was. When I asked my mother if she knew who he was she said matter of fact, "He was a comedian/entertainer in the 50's and 60's and was a druggy." Ok...sounds like a fun read...NOT.

I did not race through this and love every minute of it. But, I did appreciate how Lenny broke the June and Ward pristine barriers of the 50's and spoke his t ...more

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Jan 14, 2014 Victoria rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Kinda meh. Celebrities writing books is kind of hit or miss, I think.

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Jan 06, 2009 Phil rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book strongly influenced me. Lenny Bruce is an American icon who died for free speech. Read his own (hysterically funny) words and know his story in this age of political correctness.

"When you take away the right to say "fuck," you take away the right to say "fuck the government."

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Sep 26, 2014 Lorraine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've heard so many things about Lenny Bruce. I saw the movie some months ago and liked Dustin Hoffman's portrayal, but I really loved the book. It game me insight on who Lenny Bruce was. There was a lot of intelligence in there. I think If I were around the same age as Lenny Bruce, I'd have dismissed him as vulgar and not funny, but reading about him, I get a deeper perspective. I love reading autobiographies on people to get more dimension from them and this helped me flesh him out. It was also ...more

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Dec 26, 2013 Douglas Florian rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Page for page, line for line, semi-colon for semi-colon, the funniest book I've ever read.

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Apr 03, 2014 Chris Thompson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

Well it has been years since I have read it (I was fourteen) but I still vividly recall many fascinating antidotes from this autobiography...particularly when Lenny gets arrested for impersinating a priest and going door to door collecting donations for a leper colony...what a priceless mugshot...and of course he actually sent a percentage of the money to an actual leper colony to make it somehow legitimate...hilarious...he sent off for some kind of mail order document and all...brilliant stuff, ...more

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Feb 25, 2014 Kevin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography , humor

what can i say? it’s Lenny Bruce. iconoclast and boogeyman of censorship. most of his material seems tame by today’s standards in comedy but there are still a lot of things he said that i have to think would shock people. back in the day, i can only speculate about how he was taken. holy crap.

his autobiography was enlightening to me, someone who had only ever seen some of his routines but didn’t know much about the man apart from his pushing the boundaries of obscenity. i had no idea how critica ...more

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Aug 08, 2013 Aggy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: me-likey , random-reads

So I never got a chance to know who's Lenny Bruce before I read this book. My best friend recommends me this book since he thought I'm an aspiring comic--or comedian--which I'm not.
But Lenny Bruce is an iconic person. He's brave and crazy for his era, he dared to do everything the other way around. From the first time I read this book, I felt him. Part of me realizing this is not only an autobiography, it's also his deepest thought. He then proceeds to tell the reader his life in a comical way; ...more

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Feb 24, 2013 Stephanie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

**Spoiler Alert!!**

It isn't hard to understand why Lenny Bruce was once the greatest comic in America. He was just beginning his career when he wrote this book.

It not only chronicles his early life as a comic but also shows the evolution of his nightclub routines. One piece at a time, you can see how Bruce's upbeat approach to life as a young man.

Even after his first wife was run over in a horrible accident he managed to rebound and find some solace that became a strength. Even after he went thr **Spoiler Alert!!**

It isn't hard to understand why Lenny Bruce was once the greatest comic in America. He was just beginning his career when he wrote this book.

It not only chronicles his early life as a comic but also shows the evolution of his nightclub routines. One piece at a time, you can see how Bruce's upbeat approach to life as a young man.

Even after his first wife was run over in a horrible accident he managed to rebound and find some solace that became a strength. Even after he went through a divorce he nonchalantly shrugged it off as best for both of them.

It becomes apparent, however, that even early on in his fame that police began targeting him for what then was known as "blue" comedy when a gig in San Francisco landed him in jail and while he tried to treat the transcript with some degree of hilarity, his frustration was just beginning to surface and this almost perverse fascination with reading from trial transcripts that led to his eventual ruination in showbiz and then his suicide.

Anyway you interpret this climb into the mind of a comic genius, despite the dated references and points of humor, any person who is a fan of comics like Eddie Murphy, Robin Williams and the geniuses of the late Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx and George Carlin. If you check all of their interviews, each and every one of them list Lenny Bruce as one of the biggest influences.

Any way you look at it, Lenny Bruce is a one-of-a-kind American original and this book is a must read for anyone who loves comedy and wants to read about the man who blazed the trails for so many comics who would come later on.

The problem is that like all shooting-stars, this one burned brightly and then his flame was extinguished before it's time. ...more

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Dec 22, 2007 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When you think about comedians, especially stand up comedians, a few come immediately to mind which seem to push the limits of comedy and humor by challenging social constructs. Eddie Murphy was one such comedian who in the hay day of his stand up pushed the boundaries of racial humor, suddenly making it acceptable to have a laugh at our own prejudices, and the real tragedy of the civil rights movement that emerged in the late 60's and early 70's. Lenny Bruce is the "godfather" of this type of h ...more

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Nov 04, 2011 Eric Jay Sonnenschein rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I received a copy of "How to Talk Dirty..." from, of all people, my English professor and thesis advisor at Amherst, Professor Bill Pritchard. It was an enlightened gift, and since I was going into the Peace Corps, I would have a lot of time and solitude in which to absorb it. I had ambivalent feelings about Lenny Bruce. I related to the pain of his personal life, his broken home, and poverty, his outsider status and hatred of authority, which ultimately led to his dishonorable discharge from th I received a copy of "How to Talk Dirty..." from, of all people, my English professor and thesis advisor at Amherst, Professor Bill Pritchard. It was an enlightened gift, and since I was going into the Peace Corps, I would have a lot of time and solitude in which to absorb it. I had ambivalent feelings about Lenny Bruce. I related to the pain of his personal life, his broken home, and poverty, his outsider status and hatred of authority, which ultimately led to his dishonorable discharge from the Navy. But when I read this book I was seeking a role model, and Lenny Bruce was not the one. He was like one of the characters in "Crash", the David Cronenberg movie, except that Bruce used himself rather than a car. He was a drug addict, had abysmal relationships with women, and was burdened by a death wish. He also did not seem to have much insight into his situation. He seemed to enjoy being the enfant terrible, martyr and first amendment darling of the elite liberals, but was caught up in the turbulence. He was no Houdini, no trickster, but rather like one of those daredevils who rolls over Niagara Falls. You can admire his temerity, but not his intelligence. In the end, Bruce had very little wisdom to impart to an impressionable young man seeking a path to make a difference in the world. If anything, Lenny Bruce influenced me NOT to become a comedian. Whatever desire I had was snuffed by the details and sordid undertones of his book. Bruce was adept at suggesting the brutality and depravity of the nightclub scene he worked, the lack of community and social connection. But his book influenced me also on another level. His lack of reflection and the bluntness of his prose suggested to me that I was not of the same ilk. Finally, I saw some footage of Lenny Bruce doing his act, and it wasn't funny. I think Mort Sahl was better at the kind of social and political satire Bruce tried to do...but Sahl had none of the notoriety of Bruce. Yes, Bruce died prematurely, and that is a shame, but he did not die for the first amendment. He has become a first amendment saint, but so have Larry Flynt, Hugh Hefner, flag burners, and the American Nazi Party. Is that a point of pride? ...more

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Oct 27, 2012 Dave Keays rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This morning I showed someone this old book from the back of my closet. She said "he had brains and didn't need to be vulgar". Well, maybe. But maybe he was pushing an envelope that needed to be pushed. Our complacency and willingness to accept the authorities without question was even more vulgar than his chosen topics and play on words.

Some of the reviews here questioned the truthfulness of many stories in this book. But I don't question the ideas. Did one of my heroes of past, Hedy Lamar, rea ...more

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Mar 27, 2010 Mornblade Keltoislave rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. It was interesting to read about the events that shaped the iconic comedian's life. And the entire first half of the book read very much like listening to his earlier comedy bits.

Unfortunately, much like what happened to his act, the second half of the book becomes bogged down in court documents. While there is still humorous insight, the fine details of what went on in the courtroom pertaining to his various arrests for obscenity and drug possession do tend to drag on a bit. And are only made t ...more

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Mar 07, 2013 Paul Riches rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

How To Talk About Lenny Bruce And Influence People

Lenny Bruce was one of the most controversial comedians of all time. But not a lot of people nowadays seems to remember him.

Is that because so much that is censored today is freely talked about tomorrow?

This is part of my takeaway from this autobiography, originally a series of articles in Playboy magazine, which starts one way and ends in another.

How To Talk Dirty And Influence People is a very R rated book written by Lenny Bruce and begins with How To Talk About Lenny Bruce And Influence People

Lenny Bruce was one of the most controversial comedians of all time. But not a lot of people nowadays seems to remember him.

Is that because so much that is censored today is freely talked about tomorrow?

This is part of my takeaway from this autobiography, originally a series of articles in Playboy magazine, which starts one way and ends in another.

How To Talk Dirty And Influence People is a very R rated book written by Lenny Bruce and begins with some of his earliest memories growing up and living with his mother, an existence filled with poverty in the 1920’s. Very quickly he sets the tone by veering into lewd territory, but telling us these recollections through a child’s eyes. As time marches on, and Lenny gets older, his understanding grows of love, lust, loss, and larceny. By the late 1930’s, he has fled the city and seeks tranquility on a farm, but that serenity only keeps until World War II starts, and has Lenny signing onto the Navy. After various schemes, which foretell future shenanigans, he leaves the Navy under a cloud, and lets his restlessness pull him hither and yither.

But when a chance nerve-wracking gig opens up at a show thanks to his mother, something happens. Lenny Bruce finds that special skill that was always present, always causing him mischief, always bubbling up inner turmoil. He found the ability to make people laugh. Thus begins his slow meteoric rise in clubs throughout the land. So slow that he leaves in the middle of it all to travel, see the world, then return to wed his beloved Honey. A kinda detour into the Priesthood, but only slightly, keeps him and his wife going for abit, but eventually he returns to his calling. Answering this change brings his career back, with more honesty and filthy language and screaming at hypocrisy then ever before.

Which entails the final leg of the book, chronicling legal problem after legal problem that Lenny endures. The repeated drug charges he does an excellent job disproving and mocking, but the true craziness is the obscenity trials. All this huff and puff and public money cornering a citizen for bad words and mocking of religion. This continues at this point with the meandering narrative, as Lenny almost seems to sum up his philosophy and defense of what should not have to be defended.

The ending just ends, no absolution, no acquittal, no closure on so many issues. And that is because Lenny dies in 1966 at age 40 from prescription drug abuse. He leaves behind an ex-wife, a daughter – whom he rarely mentions, and a trail of disgruntled establishment types.

These types come across as hypocritical, judgmental, and completely missing the point of what Lenny was preaching about. Viewpoints which to this day might raise hackles are prominently on display here. Lenny would rather his child not see an action film filled with killing and death. Religion is labeled for selling out, and often he would talk about what if Jesus came to earth today. When he publishes a transcript of his often improvised stand-up act, it is an offensive hard to follow rant that meanders everywhere and never quite finishes. And this is something he readily admits to.

This style transmits to the rest of the book, making Lenny’s magnum opus an incredibly rambling stream of consciousness that makes following along often very difficult. When he admits later on to mental issues, it comes as no surprise. Even his own more lucid moments about his court proceedings come across as more somber second thoughts, since it seems highly unlikely Lenny was this put together at those times. Once or twice you wonder if his vivid imagination is more at play on these pages than not. The end of the Florida part in particular has this vibe.

But whatever the faults of the man, whether mental or otherwise, does not equate to the ludicrous treatment for what he says on stage. What should be a no-brainer First Amendment case becomes a farce of stupidity. So many of the topics that Lenny explores is now common fodder for so many stands ups, often proliferating on television specials and YouTube bits. Lenny speaks so much of the truth, a fact even a Catholic Priest attests to, that the hassle they subject him to seems like trying to silence the voice of change in society. That this happens before the Hippie movement reaches full force is interesting from a historical perspective. Was Lenny, The Beatles, and the acceleration of Vietnam helping signal the destruction of the falsehoods called the Eisenhower era?

Lenny did not cause all this by himself, but he was a certain component, now seemingly forgotten by the masses, who pushed boundaries of thought and ideas and what we stupidly collectively considered acceptable behavior.

Times change. It is to bad Lenny never lived to see so many of the shifts he helped foster. He would probably say we still haven’t gone far enough. ...more

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Oct 18, 2014 Cameron rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book starts off well but toward the end slips into a mess of legal rhetoric that became dull so I'm giving it a 3 star rating. But there are valuable lessons to be derived here; such as what it is to be a jew vs. a gentile, the power of words both written and spoken under those people in power who are in charge of censorship, how sticking your neck out in society does not always go over well, and why it is important to remain stoic and objective in a climate of religion vs. politics.

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Aug 06, 2011 Mark rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy , memoir

Well! This book is where I happened to pick up a good deal of my own philosophy of life, beginning at age twelve. Precociously, as I happened to have parents who most fortunately were very lassiez-faire as to my own reading habits. I doubt I'd have changed my own personal opinions on war and the values of society if not for encountering Lenny. Sure, the title obviously drew me (and several of my adolescent pals) to this book originally, but once inside...
Bruce was a major critic of society's hy ...more

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Mar 07, 2013 Carrie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: autobiographies-memoirs , favorites

I personally loved this book. I recognized that there were some mixed reviews about it because of the politics-oriented last third of the book, but having read such play-by-play court hearings as the PMRC ordeal, I have become accustomed to this sort of reading. Lenny Bruce is an incredibly articulate, satirical, and often outright hilarious writer. Of course that was his job, but it is one thing to make that stuff sound good on stage and a complete other thing to make hilarity apparent in a boo ...more

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Apr 04, 2015 Mark Speed rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A college friend lent me this to read. He was an English Literature major and said it had been a huge influence on him. It was a pretty interesting read, but I can't say that it had the huge influence on me that other people say it's had on them. However, I can see that he was a real pioneer and a man of great stature for his time. Those are qualities I have a huge respect for.

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Feb 04, 2014 Carissa rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography

This book wasn't what I usually read, but it was on my real life bookshelf so I figured I ought to read it. I had purchased this book for a college course (some ten years ago) on obscenity.
The book is excellent if you are:
studying obscenity,
want to learn comedic history,
are a fan of Lenny Bruce,
or just really love biographies.

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Jul 03, 2008 Robert rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Read this a long time ago and with very little exposure to the author's work. What little I had heard was impressive. It is a permanent blot on our society that the bluenoses where allowed to effectively hound him to death. It is interesting that this has not occurred again despite onslaught of many more and truly filthier comics whose work shocks briefly but seldom has any of the redeeming intellectual quality or actual wit found in Lenny Bruce. (The late Sam Kinison comes to mind, not much to ...more

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Aug 16, 2015 Brenda Schenck rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is not what I'd call a beach book. I'm sure it's written very much as he would deliver his routine on stage. And it fills my square "Published the year you were born" on my SPL Summer Book Bingo card.

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Mar 20, 2015 Thierry Sagnier rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Well hell.... How can you not like, love and respect Lenny? Seminal comic, revolutionary, pretty good writer and so far ahead of his time. I just wish he hadn't been a junkie who died waaaay too early.

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Aug 09, 2013 Christopher Riley rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Second time of reading. It's a really good book. Quite hard going about halfway through because Lenny was going through a really tough period at the time of writing, and I mean tough to the point of death.

Labelled 'sick' by society, he was just speaking his mind on the world around him and having some success with finding an audience before the authorities put at stop to it all. He actually appears to me to be something of an innocent.

There are some good laughs, but not a whole lot of comedy in ...more

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Aug 05, 2014 Terragyrl3 rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Interesting, but dated values. I want to think of Lenny Bruce as a cool rebel, but he just comes across as plain old sleazy...

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About Lenny Bruce

Lenny Bruce, born Leonard Alfred Schneider, was a controversial American stand-up comedian, writer, social critic and satirist of the 1950s and 1960s. His 1964 conviction in an obscenity trial was also controversial, eventually leading to the first posthumous pardon in New York history.

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9551173-how-to-talk-dirty-and-influence-people?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/111x148-bcc042a9c91a29c1d680899eff700a03.png[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9551173-how-to-talk-dirty-and-influence-people?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]How to Talk Dirty and Influence People: An Autobiography by Lenny Bruce[/url]