Product Description

From the award-winning screenwriter and director -- a collection of irreverent and hilarious rants on the absurdity of just about everything.

In 1994, Kevin Smith debuted his low-budget film Clerks at the Sundance Film Festival. It became an instant cult classic and made Smith the top dog of the indie film world. Next he was an executive producer of the smash hit Good Will Hunting and quickly earned the title "King of Gen X Cinema" from Time magazine. He appeared on Charlie Rose, Politically Incorrect, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and currently holds a regular spot on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno hosting a segment entitled "Roadside Attractions." Fans of his films will instantly recognize Smith as Silent Bob -- the character with no lines. And last year Smith began writing a hilarious monthly column covering popular culture for Arena magazine.

In this side-splitting rant-fest, Kevin Smith waxes rhapsodic and obnoxious on everything from his platonic infatuation with Ben Affleck to his bloodcurdling hatred of Britney Spears, from his shocking diagnosis with morbid obesity to the fatal flaws of SpiderMan -- all done in his inimitable, raunchy style.

Silent Bob Speaks interweaves the best of the Arena columns with a new introduction by the author to produce Smith’s first collection of bawdy, over-the-top essays, guaranteed to make his legions of fans choke on their Cheerios.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #101241 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-13
• Released on: 2005-04-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781401359737
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Customer Reviews

Don't read this review - just buy the book!
It's a quick read, primarily made up of articles that Kevin wrote for Arena magazine. Definitely worth the $10 Amazon's charging for it. The bit where Kevin interviews Tom Cruise is one of my favorites. Pretty funny stuff - caught my self laughing out loud at just about every story. Oh man, when Ben is telling Kevin's daughter that he's her real father.....

A Jersey Boy in L.A....
OK, there are pros and cons to this book. Lets do the cons first. There is no new material in this book - it is a collection of articles that Smith had written for the Internet a number of years ago. The result is that most of the information is hopelessly out-of-date. The reader will not find any new gossip - just old gossip. Also, I don't know if any movie's production needs so much documentation - let alone Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. It is unlikely that this book will make it into the annals of Great Literature.

However, on the good side, Kevin Smith is a surprisingly good prose writer. I know from his movies that he can be funny and turn a good phrase through dialogue when he really wants to, but these essays show that, not only does he have the ability to be funny on the printed page, but that he is quite a skilled narrative writer as well - conjuring a scene with a few lines of economic, effective description. Even when describing what he does in the bathroom, Smith is a master of finding le mot juste.

Also - like the nonfiction works of William Goldman - this book provides a look inside Hollywood from a "regular guy's" perspective. Kevin Smith will always view himself as some jerk from New Jersey who got incredibly lucky and fell in with the beautiful people. I can certainly relate to his preference for living in the Garden State and his aversion to life in L.A. - having lived in both places. He is quite willing to dish the dirt like an old lady on Hollywood phonies such as Reese Witherspoon - whom he refers to as "Greasy Reese Witherspoon."

I don't think that this book is for everyone. As in his movies, Smith's basic flaw is his lack of confidence in himself as a writer. It's obvious that he is talented - if he were only more disciplined, or had better editors, he would produce better product. When Smith is desperate to be funny, he will simply be as crude as possible. Still, I like his movies and - as Smith himself acknowledges - many people like HIM, and hence pay money for his stuff. If you are one of the fans of Kevin Smith as a character unto himself, this book is just the thing for you.

Kevin Smith Fans Will Love It.
I bought this book for my husband who is a huge Kevin Smith fan. If you are a fan, you won't be disappointed. If you are easily offended by language, the occasional potty humor and thinking out of the main stream its probably not the book for you. He is a brilliant writer who can write about everything from being obese to meeting Tom Cruise. It's a good (and quick) read.