A Carlin Home Companion, Kelly Carlin
A Carlin Home Companion, Kelly Carlin
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A Carlin Home Companion
Growing Up with George

Author: Kelly Carlin

Narrator: Kelly Carlin

Unabridged: 11 hr 52 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/15/2015


Synopsis

From the daughter of the iconoclastic comedic performer, Kelly Carlin’s memoir A Carlin Home Companion: Growing Up with George “is written in the DNA of a Carlin, honest, biting, savage, funny, sad, dark, and profound…Hold on; like George Carlin, this book gives you a hell of a ride” (New York Times bestselling author and multi-award-winning comedian Lewis Black).

Truly the voice of a generation, George Carlin gave the world some of the most hysterical and iconic comedy routines of the last fifty years. From the “Seven Dirty Words” and “A Place for My Stuff”, to “Religion is Bullshit” and “The American Dream”, he perfected the art of making audiences double over with laughter while simultaneously making people wake up to the realities (and insanities) of life in the twentieth century.

Few people glimpsed the inner life of this beloved comedian, but his only child, Kelly, was there to see it all. Born at the very beginning of his decades-long career in comedy, she slid around the “old Dodge Dart,” as he and wife Brenda drove around the country to “hell gigs.” She witnessed his transformation in the ’70s, as he fought back against—and talked back to—the establishment; she even talked him down from a really bad acid trip a time or two (“Kelly, the sun has exploded and we have eight, no-seven and a half minutes to live!”).

Kelly not only watched her father constantly reinvent himself and his comedy, but also had a front row seat to the roller coaster turmoil of her family’s inner life—alcoholism, cocaine addiction, life-threatening health scares, and a crushing debt to the IRS. But having been the only “adult” in her family prepared her little for the task of her own adulthood. All the while, Kelly sought to define her own voice as she separated from the shadow of her father’s genius.

With rich humor and deep insight, Kelly Carlin pulls back the curtain on what it was like to grow up as the daughter of one of the most recognizable comedians of our time, and become a woman in her own right. This vivid, hilarious, heartbreaking story is at once singular and universal—it is a contemplation of what it takes to move beyond the legacy of childhood, and forge a life of your own.

About Kelly Carlin

Kelly Carlin was born in Ohio in 1963. She received her Master's Degree from Pacifica Graduate Institute. She presently tours her critically acclaimed solo show, "A Carlin Home Companion," hosts two radio shows—The Kelly Carlin Show on SiriusXM and Waking from the American Dream on SModcast Network, and blogs for the Huffington Post. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Bob McCall and their Jack Russell Terrier, Stella.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Dachokie on August 23, 2015

Sometimes, Things are Better Left Unsaid … This book was reviewed as part of Amazon's Vine program which included a free copy of the book. Yeah, I was a George Carlin fan. I became a hit in my dorm as a freshman when I brought a cassette recording of “Carlin at Carnegie” and peppering “Carlinisms” int......more

Goodreads review by Kelly on December 17, 2015

I listened to the audiobook version. I did really like the book. However, I was not crazy about how Kelly Carlin read for the audiobook. I do really enjoy how she writes. I could see how some people might not like her since she does seem very entitled. But that surprisingly didn't bother me. I thoug......more

Goodreads review by Lee Anne on February 16, 2016

If you pick up this book expecting the life of George Carlin, put it back down. What it is, instead, is an unintentionally revealing look at "difficult" life of the child of a celebrity. Having heard Kelly Carlin on Gilbert Gottfried's podcast, where she was funny and sharp, I was expecting this book......more

Goodreads review by Jo on October 28, 2015

Having watched George barking at his own shadows for decades, nothing in this memoir came as any surprise as it relates to his behavior. I did, however, enjoy the account of his supposed startled reaction upon his death - I like to believe he barreled into a sudden realization totally contradictory......more

Goodreads review by Dennis on October 03, 2015

I received a copy of this book as part of the Goodreads' 'First Reader' program. This was a very depressing book to read. I really had a hard time trying to enjoy it...it was difficult resisting the temptation to simply set it aside. I do now have a greater appreciation of George Carlin, his career a......more


Awards

  • Barnes and Noble Best New Books of the Year