For true Andy Kaufman fans: Like reading his mind
The narrative style of this book perfectly translates the performance style of Andy Kaufman to print, this is NOT for the casual reader.
As many reviewers have stated this book is not a mindless "This Is Your Life" reading experience. The narrative moves between straight biographical text to excerpts from Andy's unpublished semi-auto-biographical writings and his many personas.
It's like being inside the mind of Andy Kaufman! And if you are familiar with his work you will know that it was not an easily traversed territory.
The book is an extremely detailed account of Andy's life, it almost seems to go minute by minute, so it will take some time to get through, but the understanding it provides of this complex performer is amazing.
I only recommend this book to die-hard Andy Kaufman fans, who really appreciate his subversive and deceptive performance art.
For most people "Andy Kaufman Revealed!" by Bob Zmuda is a much more accessible and shorter read, but it is also a necessary companion piece to this book as it provides an inside perspective from Andy's closest collaborator.
This is a great book, for the right reader.
I Hope This Isn't Really the Andy I've Come to Know
Took me over a month to finish reading this book. It was almost a chore. I don't know Andy personally but have been a fan from the first sighting on SNL's inaugural show through every quirky act I could catch on tv and lately catching up what I missed back then after finding it on youtube. I don't think Andy showed anybody who he really was including his own family. This book makes him look so childish and naive as to appear almost stupid. From what I do know about him his act was sheer genius. This isn't the Andy I've come to know. My puppy seems to be a critic and chewed a good part of the front cover. I shoulda bought Zmuda's book.
Lost in the Funouse
This was an entertaining bio of Andy Kaufman although I think some of what made it into this book is probably a figment of the authors imagination because I don't think even those who were closest to Kaufman really knew what was going on inside his head. Fun to read, great stuff about Kaufmans legendary bizarre work, life and habits. Kaufman was a true original.
A Stellar Buy!
For all Kaufman lovers and those not familiar with the entertainment genius this book is a must have. Zehme does a stellar job of rummaging through countless interviews and inside information to dig for the truth of an extremely complex man. It is highly recommended that you read both "Lost in the Funhouse" as well as "Andy Kaufman Revealed" by best friend Bob Zmuda. I recommend reading this book first. There is much information in this book that is uncovered in the Zmuda book. However, the same goes for this book compared to the Zmuda book. Zehme spends an equal amount of time on Kuafman's personal and professional life. The author does such a wonderful job of opening Andy's world to the reader that, by the end of the book, you feel an undeniable connection to the late, great genius. Thus, the book saddens the reader when Andy meets his supposed demise.
A great book on all levels and a definite must have for any Kaufman lover or new reader without previous knowledge of the great "song and dance man". FIVE STARS!
Andy Kaufman Revealed
I was first introduced to the comic stylings of Andy Kaufman when I was eight years old; I turned on the t.v. and there he was being voted off Saturday Night Live. Kaufman intrigued me, and my interest in his work was further heightened with the release of Man on the Moon a few years later. That being said, I started reading Lost in the Funhouse as a way to get information for a research paper I was writing on Kaufman, but Bill Zehme's book entertained me so much that I read the entire thing. Writing about the performance style of Andy Kaufman can't possibly be an easy thing to do, but Zehme does so with grace and clarity, not sparing any tidbit of information that led to Kaufman's career. The best thing about Lost in the Funhouse is that Zehme has been able to capture pure Kaufman-esque moments from his early childhood. The way Zehme presents the material is like Kaufman wrote it himself, and it is by far the best information I've gotten on Andy Kaufman to date. Zehme's book is a must-read for any fan, as well as those who detested Kaufman, because it shows Kaufman as brashly as he could have ever hoped.
