Fired!: Tales of the Canned, Canceled, Downsized, & Dismissed
by Annabelle Gurwitch
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Book Summary Information
Author: Annabelle GurwitchContributor: Bill Maher
Contributor: Felicity Huffman
Contributor: Bob Saget
Contributor: Robert Reich
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-02-28
ISBN: 0743289854
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: Touchstone
Book Reviews of Fired!: Tales of the Canned, Canceled, Downsized, & Dismissed
Book Review: Funny Showbiz Stories of Being Fired
Summary: 3 Stars
Some books are a like a fine four-course meal. You take your time. You appreciate every bite. You savor each delectable mouthful. When it is over, you feel like you've had an experience.
Some books are like comfort food. They fill you up and make you feel good inside. You crave more, and they make you feel better when you are feeling down.
Some books are like candy bars. They are sweet, easy to eat and gone in no time.
This book was a candy bar.
Now don't get me wrong -- I LOVE candy bars. (I love them a lot.) I gobbled this book up in record time and felt a little guilty about it because it wasn't real "good" for me -- just like when I eat a candy bar. These are the type of books I read after "coming down" from a four-course meal book like The Economist Book of Obituaries.
Now I know the title may sound a bit ominous or depressing. "A book about people losing their jobs. In this economy. I don't think so. That sounds like the last thing I want to think about." But you should know that the people who lost their jobs in this book are some of the best comedy writers, comedians and actors/actresses in the business. So their tales of losing their jobs are just downright funny and amusing. Did I mention that some of the contributors include Tim Allen, Andy Borowitz, Bill Maher, Bob Saget, D.L. Hughley, Harry Shearer, David Cross, Morgan Spurlock, Felicity Huffman, Patricia Heaton, Anne Meara, Judd Apatow, Andy Dick, Matt Walsh, Jeff Garlin, Paul F. Tompkins, Tate Donovan? I'm sure you've seen some of these names somewhere. The ones you might not be familiar with write for, act in or produce such little shows like The Simpsons, Late Night With Conan O'Brien, The Daily Show, and Curb Your Enthusiasm.
The book is broken up into five sections:
1. The Job So Terrible You Can Only Hope to Be Fired
2. The Firing You Didn't See Coming
3. The Time You Deserved To Be Fired
4. The Time Getting Fired Leads You To Something Better
5. The Time You Had To Fire Yourself.
Each "chapter" has about 10 or 12 mini-essays or interviews. And not all the contributions are about being fired from jobs; the essay by Rob Cohen called "Attractive In A Bad Way" is about how he needs to fire himself from dating because he is "that guy....the one responsible for all those late-night crying jags" and he dates women "...who are incredibly appealing on the outside, but soooooo not on the inside. Like a Godiva's chocolate...full of scorpions with diarrhea."
Here are some other lines in the book that gave me a chuckle.
From Annabelle Gurwitch's essay "Crimes and Mythdemeanors": I just couldn't believe Woody Allen was ruining my Woody Allen experience.
From Bruce Cameron's contribution "Remodels Your Redundancy": My friends have said I have a "dark gift," because instead of getting angry, most of the people I fired seemed worried for me.
From Dana Gould's "Jimmy the Idiot": I figured I'd become a movie star and use it as a springboard to writing. Is there not a more difficult route? It was as if I wanted to be a pastry chef and entered politics to do it. After all, once I'm president of the United States, I can bake anything I want.
From Maxine Lapiduss's essay "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service": ...and I didn't make a million bucks or become an instant hit on Letterman. But foolishly that wasn't what I had asked God to do for me. I'd asked for a below-minimum-wage job and some costume assistance, and that's exactly what I got. Next time, I'll be more specific.
About The Author/Editor
The book was edited by Annabelle Gurwitch -- an actress who had the distinction of being fired by her idol Woody Allen (a story she includes in the book). After that experience, she began gathering stories about being fired from her friends (and she's got some funny friends). The stories turned into a contributions on Day to Day on NPR, a show, a documentary, and a web site. She is perhaps best know as the cohost of the cult TV hit Dinner and a Movie on TBS. She is currently working on a book about marriage with her husband called You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up.
Final Opinion and Giveaway
This was a fun, easy book to read. It was pretty humorous, and I enjoyed it.
Summary of Fired!: Tales of the Canned, Canceled, Downsized, & Dismissed
If you've ever been fired, you're in good company. That's what actress and writer Annabelle Gurwitch discovered when she was fired by her idol Woody Allen ("You look retarded"). She confided her tale of woe to her friend Felicity Huffman, who made Annabelle laugh with her own stories. Annabelle realized that there was a world of people out there waiting to laugh at the experience that virtually everyone shares, and she began to collect stories of being fired from friends and colleagues. Soon she was contributing regular "Fired!" segments to Day to Day on NPR and gathering friends to appear with her in sold-out performances of Fired! in Los Angeles and New York. Fired!, her documentary film inspired by these stories, comes out in 2006.This book is a collection of hilarious but true tales from people who've all gotten the ax, the boot, or been canned at some point in their lives. In "That's a Fact," Andy Borowitz tells the story of being fired as a writer for the television sitcom The Facts of Life after being informed that he just didn't "get" Tootie. "Take that hanger off your head, you idiot!" were the last words Jeff Garlin heard before being fired from Spec's Music store after only one day on the job, just one of the many firings he recounts in "That Garlin Boy." In "Jimmy the Idiot," Dana Gould sums up his firing from the cast of the sitcom Working that led him to become a producer of The Simpsons: "In the second episode, I was a math genius, in the third -- a motocross racer, and in the fourth episode I was replaced by a chimp, but nobody noticed." In "Poor Judgment," Illeana Douglas tells about being fired after a few hours of working as a coat check girl: "How is it possible to be fired from hanging coats? I have arms. I know what coats are. I don't come home and throw my coat on the floor. I hang it in a closet. I have experience." How did Bob Saget find out he was being phased out of his job on The Morning Program? "One day I showed up and my hosting chair was gone!"
With an all-star cast from Tim Allen to Morgan Spurlock, from Anne Meara to David Cross, and contributions from people from all over the country, this book proves it's not the bounce that counts, it's the bounce back.
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