Last Words by George Carlin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Words - the thing he loved the most."
(From Tony Hendra's Introduction to George Carlin's Last Words)

Another difficult review to write. A reviewer of a biography needs to be careful not to let their opinions of the biography subject bias their opinion of the biography itself. I have to be very careful not to let my admiration for Mr. Carlin's worldview influence my perception of this biography as a literary "product." So let me say upfront: My worldview matches Mr. Carlin's almost perfectly. Like him I love words (a right word is worth a thousand pictures!) Like him my heart is on the left side of the political spectrum but I can't stand most leftists. And like him I am disappointed with the human species (including myself, of course). Anyway, I hope that my liking Mr. Carlin is not the main reason for me liking his autobiography - Last Words (2009).

This is a very solid, detailed, insightful, and - I believe - as objective an autobiography as humanly possible. It is also a captivating read that cost me one three-hours-of-sleep night. The book begins with colorful descriptions of Mr. Carlin's childhood in New York. The portrait of his parents is multifaceted and realistic. He berates his alcoholic father's fondness of beatings:

"And off they go to the bathroom, father and son, to continue the grand American tradition of beating the shit out of someone weaker than you."

He also makes it clear that most of the time he was not able to stand his mother with her higher-class pretensions, yet the author's love for his parents clearly shows.

Similarly to many other performers, Mr. Carlin's career as a comedian began at school, where he was a class clown. Military career spent as a deejay led to employment in radio stations. We read about his partnership with Jack Burns, performances in comedy clubs, acquaintance with Lenny Bruce, and his appearances on the popular Merv Griffin Show on TV.

One of the most interesting fragments of the autobiography deals with the "transformational period" of Mr. Carlin's career, roughly the years 1968 - 1969. From a "nice" stand-up comedian whose routines were suitable for all audiences he morphed into an angry anti-establishment performer, an outspoken social critic. From "old-fashioned, square culture" to counterculture. The sources of his radicalization may be found in the turbulent political events of the time, including the assassination of Robert Kennedy and Chicago Democratic Convention riots. Mr. Carlin's most famous routine, Seven Words You Can Never Say on TV (unspeakably dirty words like 'tits', words "that'll infect your soul, curve your spine, and keep the country from winning the war.") Unfortunately Mr. Carlin's career stagnates in the 1970s, likely due to drug abuse. The period of his "financial and creative swamp" lasts until the turnaround which begins in 1982 with the famous Carnegie Hall performance.

The later portions of the autobiography resonate with me particularly strongly. Mr. Carlin, essentially a political left-winger, writes how the "liberal orthodoxy was as repugnant [to him] as conservative orthodoxy":

The habits of liberals, their automatic language, their knee-jerk responses to certain issues, deserved the epithets the right wing stuck them with."

( I have a simple-minded and naive explanation to that: any orthodoxy is repugnant!) I also love Mr. Carlin's passages about "old American double standard" (why only American, I ask; double standard and hypocrisy in general are the trademarks of human species.)

I love the closing pages of the autobiography where Mr. Carlin bares his scathing views on a very basic human characteristic - the instinct to form groups. He demonstrates the superficiality of groups of various types and writes how he has found "all the group stuff: rules, uniforms, rituals, bonding [...] a distraction."

Finally, throughout the autobiography, but particularly towards its end, Mr. Carlin writes about his performance techniques. I have found these passages extremely interesting and instructive. When I teach mathematics at the university I also try to do a bit of stand-up comedy to enliven the occasionally intimidating material; I have learned a few technical tricks from Mr. Carlin. Highly recommended autobiography!

Four stars.


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