Digging Up Mother: A Love Story

By Doug Stanhope

Book Overview

Doug Stanhope is one of the most critically acclaimed and stridently unrepentant comedians of his generation. What will surprise some is that he owes so much of his dark and sometimes uncomfortably honest sense of humor to his mother, Bonnie. It was the cartoons in her Hustler magazine issues that molded the beginnings of his comedic journey, long before he was old enough to know what to do with the actual pornography. It was Bonnie who recited Monty Python sketches with him, who introduced him to Richard Pryor at nine years old, and who rescued him from a psychologist when he brought that brand of humor to school. And it was Bonnie who took him along to all of her AA meetings, where Doug undoubtedly found inspiration for his own storytelling. Bonnie's own path from bartending to truck driving, massage therapy, elder abuse, stand-up comedy, and acting never stopped her from being Doug's genuine number one fan. So when her alcoholic, hoarding life finally came to an end many weird adventures later in rural Arizona, it was inevitable that Doug and Bonnie would be together for one last excursion. Digging Up Mother follows Doug's absurd, chaotic, and often obscene life as it intersects with that of his best friend, biggest fan, and love of his life-his mother. And it all starts with her death-one of the most memorable and amazing farewells you will ever read.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0306824396
• ISBN13: 9780306824395
• Release Date: May 2016
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.9" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Real comedy meets real life.

If you're already a Stanhope fan already of course you'll love this book, but if you are unfamiliar with his comedy I still recommend you read this raw, funny, and touching book. It does so much more than make you laugh! But you will laugh, many times. If you don't, you don't understand comedy.