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Publisher's Summary

Only Bill Maher, the star of Comedy Central's Politically Incorrect and a regular guest on The Tonight Show, could have written True Story...so he did. The place: New York. The time: the early 1980s. The scene: the red-hot comedy clubs, very late at night. The cast: five would-be stand-up comics, their egos, and their girls. The result: a downright hilarious novel about trying to be funny for fame, fortune, and fornication. This is Bill Maher's report from the front, a stageside table at the birth of the comedy boom. You'll laugh in all the right places.
©1994 by Bill Maher (P)2005 Phoenix Audio

What the critics say

"This is the novel I would have written about stand-up comedy if I was a sick egghead like Bill Maher." (Roseanne)
"Anyone considering a career in stand-up comedy should read this book, then consider something else, because all this great stuff is over." (Jerry Seinfeld)

What listeners say about True Story

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Tony
  • 2008-09-02

True story - lying description

Despite what it says this is not unabridged. It just leaves out a lot of the storylines that are in the book, here they are just mentioned and then dropped unresolved

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Adam
  • 2007-03-21

Sadly not that funny

I don't know what I was expecting but the end result certainly was not it. The stories of up-and-coming comedians working the lower rungs of the circuit was just slow and boring. About the most interesting thing about the book is the realization that all boring jobs are... boring.

2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • michael randall
  • 2020-05-09

The Esoteric and the Axiomatic

simple I like Bill Maher I did not know he had written a novel until a month ago. I like his voice his attitude and his observation place. I really enjoyed and liked this opportunity to Gumby and Pokey with him within the "covers" of this unfolding, well constructed personal journey narrated by Bill himself. At the end i found myself deeply moved and found my own place in the univ.....and then realized my fly was open with no underwear! Have at it, you will enjoy it and you will understand. If the world is a stage,where and who is the audience? Thank You Bill. Another one?

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  • Brett Ritchison
  • 2017-02-01

Original and Thought Provoking

I'm a big fan of Bill Maher and never really got around to reading this book until today. This is an awesome novel set in Omniscient view point about Buck (I believe is Bill) and a few other comedians he encountered in his early career.
If you have ever thought about being a comedian or just up for an interesting success story accompanied with a laugh, then buy this book!