The Trials of Lenny Bruce: The Fall and Rise of an American Icon

Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks MediaFusion, 2002. First Edition. First Printing. Hardcover. Good/very good. 562 pages + CD. Illus., notes, bibliography, index, slight wear to DJ edges. Signed by both co-authors. Contains an audio CD with performances, interviews, and commentary, narrated by Nat Hentoff. Lenny Bruce committed his life to telling the truth--about sex, race, religion, government and the lies we tell ourselves. But the things he said infuriated those in power, which is why authorities in the largest, most progressive cities in the country tried relentlessly to put him in jail. To them, Lenny's words were filthy and depraved. But to his fans--the hip, the discontented, the fringe--his words were not only sharp and hilarious, they were a light in the dark, repressed society of the early 1960s. Exhaustively researched and written with engaging wit and penetrating analysis, this portrait of the comic icon's free-speech battles is a major contribution to the ongoing First Amendment debate.