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Whistle Stopper - The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts
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List Price: $26.95
Our Price: $13.78
Your Save: $ 13.17 ( 49% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 792.028092
EAN: 9780670019236
ISBN: 0670019232
Label: Viking Adult
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 368
Publication Date: 2008-05-06
Publisher: Viking Adult
Studio: Viking Adult
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: I HATE KNOWING HOW THIS BOOK ENDS...
Comment: I'm nearly finished with this book and am at the point were the book is getting depressing. This book chronicles the life and times of Chris Farley, through the hilarious, through the heartwarming, through the"Wow, I never knew Chris Farley was like this", through his final days. It is an absolute MUST READ for anyone. Wether you are interested in Chris or not, It is an amazing story that tragically came to an end way way to early.Tom Farley and Tanner Colby did amazing jobs making this book. I have to personally thank each and everyone who wrote this book because it is a wonderful read.
Just finished the book and once again am glad I bought this book. This book touched me because my best friend died last year in a similar way. You see it coming and then its too late. I know how these people feel because I feel it for not only Chris Farley, but for my best friend...
Maybe you can show this book to someone close to you with a similar disease and help them help themselves before they are gone.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking and wonderful
Comment: Who would have expected Chris Farley to be such a loving man? A devastating story that will seduce those who even hold just a passing interest in Farley's work. The question is, why did we have to wait so long for his story to be told?
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Big Heart, Big Addictions
Comment: I tore through this book. Like the history of Saturday Night Live called "Live from New York" this is an oral biography of Chris Farley (interestingly, in this book the "Live from New York" book takes a pretty harsh hit from someone claiming he was misquoted in the SNL history). The oral format worked for me. As Tom wrote in the introduction, Chris Farley lived the type of life where all his friends had "Chris stories."
This book, like its subject's life, is funny, revealing, touching, maddening and ultimately tragic. There is a period in Chris' life where he really had his stuff together he was on top of the world and I was unaware of that. I was not prepared to for the Chris Farley that was sober and on top of things and brightening the world around him. That high period in his life makes his ending all the more depressing. Especially since it really seemed he was going to keep his addictions down and go on to break out from the "fat guy falls down" comedy and truly make something great one day.
What surprised me was the unanimous love for Chris by everyone that is interviewed. Surely they could have found someone out there that knew Chris that thought he was a jerk? Even at his most outrageous he could still find a way to make people love him. To me, that's another tragedy of his life. He was greatly loved and it seems he really didn't see it or, if he did see it, feel he deserved it.
It's also impressive for the honesty of all those interviewed. Sure, they all loved Chris but they do not airbrush his faults. Even some of things that made him endearing could become a pain in the behind if a schtick was carried on too long. His drinking, his drug use, his rehab and the problems of and caused by his family are all addressed here. It's an honest book and in a biography, that is all that you can really hope for.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Sad Story
Comment: The Chris Farley Show is basically his brother Tom and a bunch Chris' closest work, high school, and college friends talking about their experiences with Farley.
The book is broken up into three "acts", the first is about Chris as a youth and how he became an aspiring comedian, the second is about making it to Second City and eventually SNL and then to his feature films and the last act is about Chris' demise.
The book is almost overwhelmingly (70-80%) about Chris' addictions and demons. He was in and out of probably every rehab center in America but could never truly stay clean.
I am a huge Chris Farley fan and love all of his work, he was truly a great talent and by all accounts a very generous and caring individual. He was also extremely insecure and riddled by almost every addiction known to man (overeating, alcoholism, drug use, obsessive compulsive disorder).
Anywho, this was a quick read at 330 pages mainly because it's set up like reading a movie script. Each person opines about a given topic and then the next jumps in. There are a lot of celebrity memories in this book from SNL Alums including Chevy Chase, Tim Meadows, David Spade, Alec Baldwin and so forth.
The best parts of The Chris Farley Show were when his friends would reminisce about the funny pranks that Farley use to pull as a kid, such as eating a box of white tic-tacs and then banging his mouth on a church pew and spitting the tic-tacs out like they were his teeth! or every time a pretty girl would walk by Chris would get down in the push-up position and start counting 198, 199, 200. It was the little things in this book that made it a good read.
The Bottom Line: Everyone knows Chris' story but few knew the man and after reading this book you will have a bit more insight into how great of a person and talent we lost.
Highly Recommended for even casual Farley fans
Customer Rating:
Summary: Honest insight into a man struggling with demons
Comment: I bought this for my dh's birthday and we've been fighting over who gets to read it. We're actually keeping two bookmarks in the book so we can read it simultaneously.
It's really a sad story. But a very honest look at Farley's insecurities and his fatal struggle with drugs and alcohol. I find myself feeling sorry for him.
The interview format makes it a pretty quick read.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Amazon Best of the Month, May 2008: You don't have to be a rabid Chris Farley fan to enjoy The Chris Farley Show, an honest, endearing oral biography about a truly funny, deeply troubled addict that is as likely to make you cry as it is to make you laugh out loud. Made up mostly of excerpts from intimate interviews with family, childhood friends, famous castmates, and writers, The Chris Farley Show is a vivid portrait of a performer, told plainly by the people who knew him best at every stage of his life. These hundred or so interviews piece together the complex back-story of a hugely talented, big-hearted guy who could make the funniest people in the business laugh with "just a look," but whose vulnerability and "puppy dog personality" charmed friends and family into letting him off the hook--preventing him from getting help when he needed it most. Funny and heart wrenching, The Chris Farley Show is a must-read for fans of Farley and of the people who loved him (including David Spade, Chris Rock, Tim Meadows), as well as anyone looking for a glimpse into life on the stage. --Daphne Durham
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