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    I Drink for a Reason
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    I Drink for a Reason
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    I Drink for a Reason
    Audiobook6 hours

    I Drink for a Reason

    Published by Hachette Audio

    3/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    After a decade spent in isolation in the Ugandan jungles thinking about stuff, David Cross has written his first book. Known for roles on the small screen such as "never-nude" Tobias Funke on Arrested Development and the role of "David" in Mr. Show With Bob And David, as well as a hugely successful stand-up routine full of sharp-tongued rants and rages, Cross has carved out his place in American comedy. Whether deflating the pomposity of religious figures, calling out the pathetic symbiosis of pseudo-celebrity and its leaching fandom, or merely pushing the buttons of the way-too-easily offended P.C. left or the caustic, double-standard of the callous (but funnier) right, Cross has something to say about everyone, including his own ridiculous self.

    Now, for the first time, Cross is weaving his media mockery, celebrity denunciation, religious commentary and sheer madness into book form, revealing the true story behind his almost existential distaste of Jim Belushi ("The Belush"), disclosing the up-to-now unpublished minutes to a meeting of Fox television network executives, and offering up a brutally grotesque run-in with Bill O'Reilly. And as if this wasn't enough for your laughing pleasure in these troubled times, some of the pieces splinter off with additional material being created online in exclusive video and animated web content created solely for the book-a historical first (presumably)!

    With a mix of personal essays, satirical fiction posing as truth, advice for rich people, information from America's least favorite Rabbi and a top-ten list of top-ten lists, I DRINK FOR A REASON is as unique as the comedian himself, and cannot be missed.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateSep 8, 2009
    ISBN9781600246494
    Unavailable
    I Drink for a Reason

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    Reviews for I Drink for a Reason

    3/5

    136 ratings10 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Fairly good. I like David Cross's comedy. To really enjoy this book, you need to read it in David's voice.
    • 4/5
      I could see how this would come across as lazy or vitriolic if you were just reading it. While Cross on occasion reminds the audience that we're lazy for letting him read this to us, there is a huge benefit for having his voice there. Not that I think these pieces are knock offs of his stand-up material but it bears repeating, sarcasm does not read well on the page.
      With that in mind there was an effort to elevate this beyond a regular audio book. H. Jon Benjamin, always a delight, helps David out with the Foreword, he invites some of his hipster band friends to sing an exceptionally long list and adds other asides. It's fun, but probably if your already a fan. Or don't take things too seriously.
    • 3/5
      Shockingly hilarious -- sometimes I didn't know if something was genuinely hilarious or if I was just so shocked I laughed out of nervousness. There were of course disgusting parts, but that's all part of comedy, I guess. One man's feces is another man's punchline.This was a book I had to read a little at a time -- much like anise, a little bit goes a long way. Cross' observations and the way he leaps from one tangent to another are amazing, though. It kind of makes you want to be trapped inside his brain (for maybe 10 minutes) to see how it works.
    • 5/5
      As expected from David Cross this wasn't sugar coated fluff and I found myself being offended until he turned it around and I had to laugh at myself.
    • 5/5
      A romping, ramshackle rant of irreligious reasoning that skewers holy cows by the dozen. Pour me another, please. Can’t wait for the “memoir” to be published.
    • 2/5
      David Cross, I’m mildly disappointed in you.But maybe it’s just me.I’m inclined to think it’s the latter, judging by some of the review blurbs available on Amazon. Either these people are seriously fucking with the reading public—and while that may be true in some cases (John Hodgman), it’s certainly not in all (Paul Rudd)—or they’re so caught up in their own verbosity as to render any insight unintelligible (Sarah Vowell).(I think that last sentence was somehow a mixture of self-deprecation, parody and scorn. A threefer!)After skimming through the blurbs, I’m forced to question whether I read the same book they did. Mind you, mine was the Kindle* version (because it’s $10 as opposed to Amazon’s $16.31 for the physical copy), but I wouldn’t expect them to rewrite it so the electronic version is terrible enough to make purchase the physical version. Then again, maybe that’s part of the plan to save the book-publishing industry. I can’t be certain.As with any review, I think it important to lay out my expectations going into the book. I’ve heard David Cross’ standup before, though it’s been awhile, and my more recent exposure comes through watching Arrested Development. I realize he’s only an actor on the show and not—to my knowledge, anyway—heavily involved in the script or creative decisions, so I wasn’t really expecting a book by Tobias.There are two types of books that comedians tend to write, excluding a standard memoir (see Steve Martin’s Born Standing Up for an amazing memoir/discourse on comedy). The primary type is composed of standup routines and jokes that are either too old or too overused to tell on stage anymore. In rare, glorified cases, we find people like George Carlin. Though some of his books were recycled, many of them possessed new material that was worth the price of admission. Even more fortunately, because Carlin has such a distinct style that comes across as well in print as it does aurally, while reading the books the fan can usually have Carlin performing the routine inside his/her head.The other type of book comedians typically write tries to stretch a theme through a series of anecdotes, stories or prose. Denis Leary’s Why We Suck drew on his life, experiences and standup in order to craft a (well-done) critique of American life. Lewis Black’s Nothing’s Sacred borrows so heavily from his life it might be confused as a memoir, but he pieces it together with modern critiques so well it’s almost unnoticeable that he’s actually trying to impart something.But the modern era heralded the vanguard of genre-busting, and apparently that’s what Cross tried to do. I Drink For A Reason comes across as a bit of a mishmash of standup, personal anecdotes and short stories. Some try to have a point while others just try for laughs.And I’m not calling the book unfunny. Some of the stories are fairly amusing, and he reprinted his “Open Letter to Larry the Cable Guy” (which made its way ’round the Internets two years ago), which is a must-read for those who haven’t seen. For the most part, every story gave me a laugh or two, though very rarely of the laugh-so-hard-I-have-to-set-the book-down-so-I-can-wipe-away-my-tears variety.I don’t know if I’d be able to recommend the book, not least because I don’t know how to describe it. “David Cross tries to amuse you” would be my preferred method, but that sounds dismissive. David Cross did amuse me at points, and to say it as written above would prejudice the listener in the direction of thinking he didn’t. But how do I summarize this? It’s part Chuck Klosterman (though, to be honest, not as good) in trying to critique culture, part Amazing Randi in pointing out the hypocrisy of religion, part David Cross (most of the stories base their humor on taking an everyday situation and applying a tame version of the “Aristocrats” joke to it) and part pure vitriol in regards to Jim Belushi (which, frankly, I don’t necessarily mind).I’m not even sure I’ll recommend it to my friend, who’s a huge David Cross fan. The disjointed nature of the individual parts left me unsatisfied. As I was reading it, I was trying to envision the process Cross went through. I imagined him sitting down at a computer, pounding out a chapter once every week or two—allowing enough time to transpire between sections to be unable to link them together, but close enough that he can refer back to earlier jokes when needed.In the end, I’d have to limit my evaluation of the book as such: “David Cross wanted to write a book, but didn’t particularly know what book he wanted to write.” It’s funny at times, because it’s Cross, but it ultimately feels a bit lacking because it’s so directionless. I’m more apt to direct people to nearly any of the comedian-penned books listed above, if only because those guys knew what and why they wanted to write. I’d certainly be willing to try another book by Cross, so long as he figured out ahead of time where he wanted to go.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      A couple of great chapters, a couple of lousy ones and the rest was just kinda ok. Mostly I found myself willing it to be better.
    • 3/5
      Rants by David Cross. If you like him, you'll laugh your ass off. If you don't, don't read this book.
    • 2/5
      Another light listen for a long car ride. This book was like listening to a very long set of standup by David Cross and as you would imagine any 6 hour standup set it would have its hits and misses. It did have just enough hits to keep me entertained and engaged during the journey.

      Throughout the audiobook Cross repeats his disgust for people having bought the audiobook a number of times, which is ok. It's just that it stops being funny after the first or second time and it isn't until about 5 hours in that he realizes that an audiobook might be convenient for a person driving, or traveling in some other manner. But I digress, this book did exactly what I expected it to do. It kept me entertained during a four hour car ride. I will say I'm glad I didn't buy the print version, as it would be destined for the trade-in pile and who needs that hassle? It would have however, taken far less time to read than the 6 hours it takes to listen.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Cross is sharp and funny as always in this book.It is a bit alarming how he chooses to respond to a blogger and Larry the Cable-Guy directly. It is not that his rebuffs aren’t funny and correct it just seems small.He goes through some funny stuff about Jim Belushi then relates the story about why he hates Belushi. You know it isn’t that bad. Yeah he sounds likes a conceited jerk, but so does Cross. But it seems Cross knows he’s a jerk and that honesty goes a long way.But the bottom line is he is funny and more original than most comedians. I like that he names names of people that are not funny, Larry the Cable Guy, Jim Belushi, Whoopee Goldberg, Dane Cook, etc. The fast I find none of these people funny and agree with him is probably why I love his work.