Seven Dirty Words
The Life and Crimes of George Carlin

This thorough biography is well written and entertaining. George Carlin became a philosopher and acerbic social critic from the late 1980s until his death. Before that he was a daring comedian who used linguistics for laughs and to challenge what was considered 'obscene.' With perhaps more footage th......more

I was thrilled to find out more of the back story of my favorite comedian. I listened to his albums over and over and stole his jokes to make friends.. well my ONE friend, laugh -- back before I turned eighteen. I found it interesting how much of a 'straight' career George Carlin had, before he becam......more

While I found a lot of Carlin's history in his rise to famous comic interesting I wouldn't call this a compelling read. Like a lot of biographies it was pretty dry and some what boring recitation of times and places occasionally punctuated with some humour. Learning that Carlin appeared on the Mike......more

This is my second book about George Carlin this month. The first was by his daughter and was more subjective and this one is a biography that is more objective. I think the two work nicely together as the second book doesn't get very personal and the book by the daughter deals more with her percepti......more

It seems hard to believe that in the modern day of “anything goes” shock humour, comedians of yesteryear were required to skirt the boundaries of decency or risk imprisonment. Carlin was one to definitely push the envelope and frequently called attention to the hypocrisy of the establishment and org......more