Dad, Dames, Demons, and a Dwarf: My Trip Down Freedom Road FROM THE PUBLISHER
Mancow Muller is the creator, writer, and ringmaster of what has been called the "funniest, fastest-moving, and most diverse radio show in history," Mancow's Morning Madhouse, syndicated nationally from Chicago. And now, in his first audio book, he rushes headlong into an adventure cross-dressed as a memoir.
When Mancow loses his dad to cancer, he has a meltdown, spiraling down Freedom Road on a nonstop death ride: racing the autobahn at breakneck speeds, narrowly escaping a visit to Castro's Cuba, suffering a near-fatal nervous breakdown, and cavorting under dog piles of women. All of these adventures send him on a mind trip through his past, questioning everything. "Do we already live in a police state?"
Finding his soul again, he discovers a strange new freedom that only members of The Dead Dad's Club can understand. In this, his first humble masterpiece, Mancow makes you laugh, makes you think, makes you feel and takes you on a journey that kindles your independent spirit and knocks you to the floor with laughter.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Muller's first book is part memoir and part three-ring circus, a mirror of his Chicago-based syndicated radio show, "Mancow's Morning Madhouse." With its rapid-fire, hyperventilating prose, it resembles a transcript of the motor mouth that made him famous rather than a coherent narrative, as Muller regales his readers with stories of prostitutes, stunts that go bad, pigeons blowing up and, incongruously, touching memories of his beloved late father. A lot of time gets spent on puerile, even offensive stuff-Muller brags of sleeping around ("If I put notches on my rifle for every woman I've been with I wouldn't have a gun anymore") charging people money to look at his bowel movements, the benefits of fame ("success draws women like car grilles attract deer") and his apparently rare ability to "pee in two streams." In a section on traveling in Germany, he writes, "As we eat our Big Mac breakfasts, I watch Berliners dipping fries in mayonnaise. Huh? Anyone who likes that swallows." But despite Muller's crudeness, his stories can sometimes be affecting, showing some of the compassion that helped him become popular. During one of his shows, a paramedic calls in about to commit suicide, and Muller recounts how he tried to comfort him while a colleague called the police. When police find him "hanging from his belt in the paramedic van," Muller wonders, "Did I let this man die? God forgive me. Anonymous voices on the radio, the last place he could reach for help." Fans of the radio show will enjoy this peek into Muller's travels, his sexcapades, his shows and his radio life, and will be as startled as if they were listening to him live; other readers beware. B&w photos. (June) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
These memoirs by "shock jocks" both belong in the popular genre of celebrity autobiographies, but one is better than the other. Muller, the host of "Mancow Morning MadHouse," a morning radio show nationally syndicated from Chicago and Fox News, attempts to use his coming to terms with his father's death to frame his journey toward freedom and love. When this quickly falls flat, the memoir becomes an egomaniac's boasting tale of his exploits in Amsterdam's Red Light district and hashish-fogged "coffee shops," with lots of shallow libertarian preaching thrown in as a bonus. The narrative is full of odd and unannounced stream-of-consciousness jumps between past and present that appear more meaningful than they are, and there is even an ill-fated attempt at free verse. As much as Muller detests Howard Stern, the undisputed king of shock jocks, this book-compared with Stern's Private Parts and Miss America-makes Muller look like a Stern clone lacking the original's character. Without any redeeming qualities whatsoever, this unimpressive memoir is not recommended. Williams, a shock jock diva and "radio gossip guru" on WBLS in New York (and in national syndication), has a lot more to offer in her autobiography. A successful woman in an overwhelmingly male-dominated profession and a product of a conservative, middle-class upbringing, she describes her college days, her early career with its many setbacks, and her personal struggles to get to the top of her profession. She talks candidly about her marital problems, drug addiction, miscarriages, job insecurity, and other topics far more interesting than the preening rants and juvenile infatuations with genitalia that Stern and Muller often focus on. Written in a down-to-earth, casual style, with only a few instances of the hubris typical of celebrity autobiographies, this book offers encouragement to other women in similar situations who want to break into a heavily male-dominated community. While public libraries in areas where Williams is unknown might want to pass, those where Williams is heard may find it a useful addition to their collections.-Mark Bay, Cumberland Coll. Lib., Williamsburg, KY Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
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