The Amorous Busboy of Decatur Avenue, Robert Klein
The Amorous Busboy of Decatur Avenue, Robert Klein
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The Amorous Busboy of Decatur Avenue
A Child of the Fifties Looks Back

Author: Robert Klein

Narrator: Robert Klein

Unabridged: 14 hr 19 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 12/01/2015

Synopsis

A funny and evocative coming-of-age memoir by award-winning comedian and actor Robert Klein, who has entertained audiences for more than four decadesBest known for his unique brand of observational humor—seen on Broadway and in film and television—Klein details his life from ages nine to twenty-five as viewed “through the gauze of time.” Klein’s theme park of memories alternates dark moments with sunlit humor. Teenage frustrations prompted a visit to a Harlem prostitute, which filled Klein with “shame and triumph and guilt.” He encountered individual and institutional antisemitism at Alfred University, yet led the frat-house fun, moving on to the Yale School of Drama, Chicago’s Second City, New York theater, and a variety of romances. Along the way, Klein had successes and failures, both in bed and on stage. Probing not only his own psyche but also the evolution of sexual mores during the 1950s and 60s, he unfurls an array of captivating anecdotes, writing with wry wit and honesty.

About Robert Klein

Robert Klein is an American stand-up comedian, singer, and actor whose career has spanned over forty years. He has had an acclaimed career in comedy, on Broadway, on television, and in film. Born in the Bronx, he was a member of the famed Second City theatrical troupe in Chicago in the 1960s. Twice he was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album of the Year: Child of the Fifties (1973) and Mind Over Matter (1974). He received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor and won a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for his performance in the hit Neil Simon musical They’re Playing Our Song in 1979. In 1993, he won an Obie and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in Wendy Wasserstein’s The Sisters Rosensweig. He was a star of the hit NBC series Sisters and has made more than a hundred appearances on the Tonight show and the Late Show with David Letterman. Notable films include Hooper, The Owl and the Pussycat, Two Weeks Notice, and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Russell on November 24, 2007

What if you lived your life as a cliche? No problem, I suppose. Unless you wrote an autobiography and relished in those cliches. Robert Klein tells his story of how as a bright ambitious Jewish kid from the Bronx, he braves the ignorance of various gentile bigots all while becoming an artist. The ital......more

Goodreads review by Orion on April 21, 2012

The Amorous Busboy of Decatur Avenue is Robert Klein's memoirs of growing up in the Bronx in the 1950s. Born in 1942, Klein writes affectionately of the basic influences of his youth during the years 1951 to 1966. Each chapter begins with a picture of Klein during the period discussed. His parents we......more

Goodreads review by Jim on July 06, 2009

This is an odd memoir...not what I expected at all. Klein, who is a comic genius and will always stand in the forefront of great stand-up comics of the 70's and 80', has penned an uneven band of memories centered primarily on his sexual escapades from pre-pubescence to his mid-twenties. Apart from a......more

Goodreads review by Carolyn on January 19, 2020

As someone who grew up in and is now living again in her old Bronx neighborhood, I was fascinated by the title of Klein's book. And of course I remembered seeing Klein's hilarious performances on television. What most surprised me was the emotional depth of his storytelling. I know comedic talent of......more

Goodreads review by Steve on March 01, 2023

With George Carlin, Albert Brooks and a few others in the 1970s, Robert Klein heralded a new breed of standup comic who rejected suits and ties and mother-in-law jokes, turning their fire instead on everyday things that all Americans experience: politics, religion, television commercials, uptight es......more

Quotes

“Robert Klein has always been the funniest, most intelligent, coolest comedian. If he would also like to be known as an amorous busboy, who am I to stand in the way?” Jerry Seinfeld

“A warm and delightful Portrait of the Artist as a Young Comedian from the Bronx. Robert Klein writes with his signature intelligence, wit, and irreverence. This is a hilarious book, and surely Robert Klein is the Don Juan of Decatur Avenue.” Wendy Wasserstein, Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright and New York Times bestselling author

“Klein’s provocative sense of irony gives his story a crazy-funny twist like his best stand-up work, but nostalgia underlies its laughs.” New York Times Book Review

“The book is moving and funny…Klein is a born storyteller.” New York Post

“Uproarious opening chapters about his 1950s Bronx childhood and his overly cautious parents…Probing not only his own psyche but also the evolution of sexual mores during the 1950s and ’60s, he unfurls an array of captivating anecdotes, writing with wry wit and honesty.” Publishers Weekly

“A fine and very funny writer…Klein’s humor is biting, sometimes scatological, but never bitter, and he reveals an interesting life with this thoroughly enjoyable chronicle.” Booklist

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