Week 39: Nothing's Sacred by Lewis Black

Contrary to popular belief, Lewis Black did not crawl out from under a rock. He was born in Silver Spring, Maryland, which is a suburb of Washington D.C. (home of my best friend), and was immersed in politics from the very beginning. He learned quickly that politics is a messy business. And now, he makes a living by ridiculing Washington.

Lewis Black is known for his cameos on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and his HBO standup specials. But his background was surprising. He was first in his class in high school, he was drawn to government work (even though it disgusted him) and he trained at Georgetown, then at Yale in theater. He is a playwright (though he admits his work is terrible) and even produced musicals at one point. He was a pretty awful standup comedian for quite some time and took years to get it right. He was booed off the stage and given the silent treatment.

Nothing's Sacred is not for the faint of heart. The title doesn't accurately convey the real unholy nature of the book. No problem, since it appealed to my more screwed-up cynical side (which is becoming more evident every day). It is a wacked-out messed-up autobiography with no reverence whatsoever. I loved it. The chapters on organized religion made me giggle.

There were some seriously off-color sketches, so keep that in mind if you pick this up. I'm just warning you.