Lenny Bruce: The Making of a Prophet

Lenny Bruce was a controversial standup comedian of the 1950's and 60's who became a martyr to First Amendment rights when he satired the hypocrisy and deception of political and religious leaders. Those leaders used the law in an attempt to harrass him into silence. Even though Bruce used no more adult language than other comics of his time, his lower court convictions for obscenitywere all judged unconstitional and overtrned in higher courts, making those milestone cases for defense of First Amendment rights and providing the freedom of expression today's entertainers enjoy. Bruce was immortalized in Tom O'Horgan's 1960's musical "Lenny" and Bob Fosse's 1970's movie "Lenny" starring Dustin Hoffman in the title role.

Of the subsequent books about Lenny Bruce, William Karl Thomas' memoir of his ten year collaboration with Bruce is the only one by someone who knew him personally and professionally. Other books and documentaries about Bruce sometimes quote Thomas or use his photos and film footage, but Thomas' details the people and processes that inspired Bruce's classic routines with first person presence and poignancy. As the Manchester Guardian rview of this book says, ''Thomas can write...he superbly evokes the seedy atmosphere of the cheap Hollywood clubs and coffeehouses...his work sometimes reads like a Bogart script.'' Thomas' subsequent more than a dozen books chronicle most of the twentieth century in which he participated as a military correspoodent in Korea's combat zone, a photogapher of Hollywood's elite, a screnwriter and comedy writer with Lenny Bruce and others, a cinematographer of feature and documentary productions, and a book author Kirkus praises for "his historically astute depiction of the country and era. He aptly conveys the heights and depths of human capability." Click on his highighted name to see his author's page with descriptions and excerpts of all his books. This book is not a biography of Lenny Bruce, but a very intimate and revealing memoir of Bruce and his only writing collaborator.