The first thing to mention is that Denis Leary is not a medical Doctor – the Doctor in his name is due to the fact that he has been granted an Honorary Degree. I mention it because anyone familiar with Denis Leary might be shocked (as I was) to see him referred to as Doctor!
For anyone not familiar with Denis Leary, he is an outspoken, often controversial, Irish-American writer, comedian and actor. He polarises audiences; generally people think he is extremely offensive, or extremely funny. I fall into the latter category.
Leary is famous for his onstage rants, and this book is an extended such rant. He discusses what in his opinion is wrong with America today (blaming lazy parenting,over medication, bad role models and the blame culture amongst other things), and says what he would do to put things right. To be clear, this book is obviously meant to be comedy, although he does raise many serious points in it.
It’s not an autobiography, although there is plenty here about Leary’s childhood and his relationship with his parents, especially his mother, who is obviously close to. He also talks about his marriage and children, and it is obvious that his family is the most important thing in the world to him – and he is frustrated that so many people don’t put their family first (or even second or third).
The book made me laugh out loud on many occasions. If you are easily offended by swearing, then I would advise you to approach with great caution (or just avoid altogether), but if you sometimes wonder at what on earth the world is coming to, and don’t object to a fair amount of bluntness and curse words, and feel like you need a good belly laugh, then I would definitely recommend this book to you.
BCF Book Reviews 