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Drivel or otherwise, I can't get enough.
Yes, Drivel
Steve the Great!
Pure Steve Martin... the New Yorker version
Saywhuathebuuh? Wack!

Pure Drivel
Steve Martin
Manufacturer: Hyperion
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Similar Items:

The Pleasure of My Company: A Novel
Shopgirl
Picasso at the Lapin Agile and Other Plays
The Underpants: A Play by Carl Sternheim
Cruel Shoes

ASIN: 0786864672
Release Date: 1998-09-16

Amazon.com

Steve Martin has always been one of the most intelligent of comedians (you won't find Adam Sandler writing a play about Einstein and Picasso anytime soon), but this intelligence is manifested in gymnastically absurdist flights of fancy, rather than the politically informed riffs typical of performers like Lenny Bruce. Pure Drivel is a collection of pieces, most of them written for the New Yorker, that demonstrate Martin's playful way with words and his unerring ability to create a feeling of serendipitous improvisation even on the printed page. Here's a passage from a piece that announces a shortage of periods in the Times Roman font:

"Most vulnerable are writers who work in short, choppy sentences," said a spokesperson for Times Roman, who continued, "We are trying to remedy the situation and have suggested alternatives, like umlauts, since we have plenty of umlauts--and, in fact, have more umlauts than we could possibly use in a lifetime! Don't forget, umlauts can really spice up a page with their delicate symmetry--resting often midway in a word, letters spilling on either side--and not only indicate the pronunciation of a word but also contribute to a writer's greater glory because they're fancy, not to mention that they even look like periods, indeed, are indistinguishable from periods, and will lead casual readers to believe that the article actually contains periods!"

Although some of these pieces flirted with topicality when they first appeared, Martin is most successful when he leaves the real world behind and gives his wit free rein. This collection preserves the best (so far) of his glorious improvisations. --Simon Leake

Amazon.com Audiobook Review

Don't listen to Steve Martin read this hysterical compilation of his most absurdly funny writings if you're recovering from abdominal surgery or have taken a vow of silence. Martin's brilliant, juxtaposed wordplay, sly commentary, and hilarious observations are delivered with such a droll wit that only a dead person will avoid unabashed laughter. Genius is in the ear of the beholder and Martin's metronomic timing allows each sentence to unravel perfectly. His deadpan delivery is often clever enough to make you laugh twice at the same line and makes it clear why he has enjoyed such remarkable success as an actor, screenwriter, playwright, and author. (Running time: two hours, two cassettes) --George Laney

Book Description

Steve Martin's talent has always defied definition: an actor who's kept us riveted for over 25 years, a razor-sharp screenwriter, an acclaimed playwright. In this ingeniously funny collection of humorous riffs, those who thought Martin's gifts were confined to the screen will discover what readers of The New Yorker magazine already know: that Martin is a master of the written word.

Hilariously funny and intelligent in their skewering of the topic at hand, the audiobook's pieces, some of which first appeared in The New Yorker, feature Martin at his finest.

With a playwright's ear for dialogue, a sense of irony only Steve Martin could muster, and a first-class comic ability to perfectly time the punch line, Pure Drivel will have listeners crying with laughter, and marveling at the fact that in addition to all of his many talents, Steve Martin is also a superb writer.

Customer Reviews:

Drivel or otherwise, I can't get enough........2007-03-09

This is truly one of the most delightful books I have ever read. In a very uncharacteristic move, I have made a mental note to hang on to this book so I can go back to it periodically. Martin's writing is just plain funny. I am a tough customer when it comes to humor, but this book had me laughing out loud. Not that it was ever in question, but in this book you begin to see just how intelligent Steve Martin is. Some of the comedy I am sure was over my head, but there was plenty that was not. (Sometimes such intelligent writing may be a pitfall when it might make the book funny to a smaller number of people.)

Steve Martin writes with witty prose in a manner that is comfortable to read and easy to understand. Like many avid readers, I too have that hope in the back of my mind that one day I will be a published author so that I may tease the emotions of readers similar to how I like mine teased. I have read books before which I have visualized myself emulating in my own writing, but before this book I had never felt so strongly an appreciation for the author. This, for the most part, is how I wish I could write.

Pure Drivel is a series of short stories, which I normally avoid because I have had a few bad experiences. I had no problems and I have nothing bad to say about this book. I loved it and have had multiple conversations about it with a friend to whom I lent it. She loved it, too. The book is very light reading when you are in the mood for something quick and minimally involved. The writing is complex and the ideas are abstract, but that should not contradict the previous sentence. I am not ashamed to admit how embarrassingly out loud I laughed at this book.

Yes, Drivel.......2007-03-08

I chuckled a few times, but it wasn't nearly as good as his other stuff. It was, aptly, Pure Drivel.

Steve the Great!.......2006-11-07

the is one of my favourite books of all time. I love you Steve!

Pure Steve Martin... the New Yorker version.......2006-10-24

Unfortunately for Steve Martin, memories of him making "animal" balloons, lusting after Roxanne, playing the banjo, and being a "wild and crazy guy" abound. If it looks, sounds, and walks like a comic, it must be a comic!

This book is a collection of short stories. Pure Drivel is funny, usually. My favorite is "Side Effects." It is not rib-splitting, "Did you hear the one about the..." funny. Much of the humor is subtle. The story "Mensa" is a good example of this. Many stories have a decidedly non-humorous focus, telling more about the human condition (Martin's book, Shopgirl, is an example of this, as is the short story, "Cruel Shoes," in the book of the same name).

I haven't "read" this "book". Instead, I "listened" to it on "CD" (with apologies to the story "Pure Drivel," "The Apology," Amazon dot com, my computer, and the Hans Furniture Company who made the desk my computer sits on).

Steve Martin is the right person to narrate this book. I actually can't imagine how I would rate the book if I had read it (since I didn't). His voice is well matched with his writing style (but who would you expect... PeeWee Herman's voice?). All in all, a nicely engineered book on CD.

Saywhuathebuuh? Wack!.......2006-07-29

While I'm late to this title, I remember when it first came on sale while I worked at Borders. I had enjoyed Steve Martin's movies, although I often suspected that his sense of humor flew in orbits I could barely sense.

I finally got to read Shopgirl a few months ago and was floored by Martin's sensitivity and insight--not to mention writing skills. I knew I needed to read more.

Pure Drivel proves my earlier theory, but it isn't just Martin's sense of humor that soars outside my expectations. In these essays Martin seems to have defined the original intention of the now-hackneyed cliche, "outside the box." From the advice to writers to move to California so they can be happy to the response he got at the Pantheon after asking Raphael if he made a birdbath, to the 'words from one of the words in this book,' everything in this book is a surprise.

I would not recommend this to anyone for whom irony is difficult to grasp. If that isn't you, give yourself a treat for an afternoon. Or keep a copy in the bathroom.

Pure Drivel.(Review)(Brief Article): An article from: The Antioch Review

Average customer rating:

Pure Drivel.(Review)(Brief Article): An article from: The Antioch Review
Jon Saari
Manufacturer: Antioch Review, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Antioch Review, published by Antioch Review, Inc. on March 22, 2000. The length of the article is 335 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Pure Drivel.(Review)(Brief Article)
Author: Jon Saari
Publication: The Antioch Review (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 2000
Publisher: Antioch Review, Inc.
Volume: 58 Issue: 2 Page: 243

Article Type: Book Review, Brief Article

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Average customer rating:

Pure Drivel
Steve Martin
Manufacturer: Hyperion
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000J6YNBC

Average customer rating:

Pure Drivel
Steve Martin
Manufacturer: Hyperion
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OITS6A

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