Mr Mike: The Life and Work of Michael O'Donoghue Book + PRICE WATCH * Amazon pricing is not included in price watch

Mr Mike: The Life and Work of Michael O'Donoghue Book

"I had a funny thought: What if Ed Sullivan were tortured? And when I say tortured what I mean is, what if steel needles, say six inches long, were plunged into Ed's eyes? I think it would go something like this...[several minutes of horrible screaming and thrashing]." Now that the National Lampoon is virtually defunct, and Saturday Night Live has turned into just another late-night network cash cow, you can be excused for forgetting about Michael O'Donoghue. But back in the glory days of the 1970s, O'Donoghue gave both their distinctive edge of viciousness, death, and celebratory mayhem. Even though O'Donoghue died (prematurely) in 1994, his legacy in American comedy is still strong. Dennis Perrin has done a boon service by bringing this American original out of the shadows. For the devoted fan of O'Donoghue--you're likely either one of those, or nothing--Mr. Mike is often more tantalizing than completely fulfilling. Though his life and career are described in welcome detail, the author's attempts at analysis are less sure. For example, Perrin lets O'Donoghue off much too easily when discussing the sinister elements of his work: Was his obsession with Nazis--one of his tried-and-true comic devices--anti-Semitic? What was his fascination with S&M, mutilation, and torture all about, and how much did the readers really connect with it? Was O'Donoghue a self-made artist in the right place at the right time, or did the culture around him create his distinctive double-dark worldview? Since O'Donoghue himself was highly intellectual and analytical regarding his feral art, one expects answers to these questions, but they are not forthcoming. Gaps in analysis aside, fans of American humor owe Perrin big-time; for better or worse, O'Donoghue remains as unique and seminal as ever, and Mr. Mike goes an awfully long way towards ensuring that its subject doesn't fade into literary obscurity, at the very same time that the style of humor he created becomes more and more mainstream. --Michael GerberRead More

from£18.22 | RRP: £13.50
* Excludes Voucher Code Discount Also available Used from £17.48
  • Product Description

    Michael O'Donoghue's widely influential style of humor spared no one's feelings or sensitivities. John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, P.J. O'Rourke, Buck Henry, Doug Kenney--all these great comic minds and many more were affected by the acid wit of Mr. Mike. Now, critic and humorist Dennis Perrin examines the times that formed this singular sensibility and the outrageous creative work that constitutes O'Donoghue's legacy, from his early days devising confrontational theatre pieces and the brilliant underground comic Phoebe Zeit-Geist to an unprecedented string of famous and infamous pieces in National Lampoon, from O'Donoghue's breathtaking stint as the key founding writer of Saturday Night Live to his tumultuous adventures in Hollywood. Here too is never-before-seen O'Donoghue material, some of it censored by editors or TV executives, made public here for the first time. This is the unvarnished story of a towering figure in American popular culture, the prime artistic force behind an entire generation of humorist and satirists. Here is the singular, sinister Mr. Mike.

  • 038072832X
  • 9780380728329
  • Dennis Perrin
  • 1 July 1999
  • Avon Books
  • Paperback (Book)
  • 429
  • illustrated edition
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. If you click through any of the links below and make a purchase we may earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you). Click here to learn more.

Would you like your name to appear with the review?

We will post your book review within a day or so as long as it meets our guidelines and terms and conditions. All reviews submitted become the licensed property of www.find-book.co.uk as written in our terms and conditions. None of your personal details will be passed on to any other third party.

All form fields are required.