January 3, 2011
Funnyman Breuer, best known for his portrayals of Goat Boy and Joe Pesci on Saturday Night Live, shows that he is more than just a goofball in this engaging memoir. In incidents described with equal parts humor and solemnity, Breuer illustrates the important role that spirituality has played in his life: for example, he temporarily lost his memoir notes after daring the devil to take them; he kissed a friend the night before she died in an accident; and he felt strangely compelled to reach out to Chris Farley shortly before his death. Comedy has been another constant, and numerous SNL anecdotes will appeal to fans of the show. Breuer's memories of realizing as a child that he had the ability to entertain have a cinematic quality: "Pretty soon a crowd would gather around…cheering me on like it was a real boxing match." More interested in conveying himself as a multi-faceted man than fishing for laughs (though readers will still chuckle), Breuer succeeds in demonstrating groundedness, humility, and gratitude.