Description
Price: $0.99
(as of Mar 21, 2025 11:30:26 UTC – Details)
The first book in 25 years from “one of our great comic minds” (The Washington Post) features Seinfeld’s best work across five decades in comedy.
Since his first performance at the legendary New York nightclub “Catch a Rising Star” as a 21-year-old college student in fall of 1975, Jerry Seinfeld has written his own material and saved everything. “Whenever I came up with a funny bit, whether it happened on a stage, in a conversation, or working it out on my preferred canvas, the big yellow legal pad, I kept it in one of those old school accordion folders,” Seinfeld writes. “So I have everything I thought was worth saving from 45 years of hacking away at this for all I was worth.”
For this book, Jerry Seinfeld has selected his favorite material, organized decade by decade. In this “trove of laugh-out-loud one-liners” (Associated Press), you will witness the evolution of one of the great comedians of our time and gain new insights into the thrilling but unforgiving art of writing stand-up comedy.
Customers say
Customers find the book entertaining and informative about the writing process. They find it a great value for money and recommend it as an excellent purchase. The book is easy to read with clean language. It’s well-made and solid, with short chapters and fond memories from Jerry. Many consider it a good gift. However, some readers feel the content is presented boringly.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
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Chris Parr –
Great! But, may or may not be what’s expected.
This is a compilation of memorable Seinfeld jokes by decade.
I bought this under the impression (through a third party) that this outlined some general principles in joke writing structure and theory.
It’s not that in a straight forward manner, but you can see a pretty interesting pattern in how he structures his jokes.
It’s highly entertaining and I have found, though different than anticipated, some good writing take aways.
David Rose –
It took years before we thought he was funny.
And this book taught me why. This guy IS extremely funny but I realized what I donât like is his timing and flow of words. Still what he says had me laughing for hours. I could hear him speaking the words but I was able to go the speed of what I thought was a much better delivery. Still him, still very funny.
Five stars because this enabled me to enjoy the jokes at my own vocal speed, pace and delivery. Now Iâm funny too (only not very original. Thanks again Jerry. Top shelf stuff.)
Johnny –
LOL on first flip open.
I’m a huge Seinfeld fan so I am familiar with his material. Even so, the book cracks me up every time I flip it open to any page. These are literally his material. Material people have enjoyed for a long time. It’ll be a staple around my coffee table or my bookshelf or even my desk.
You know how people have a favourite dish, flavour or fruit. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve had mangoes; I still get excited when I spot it on the shelfs. This is like that.
kendra –
I can hear his voice in every joke
It was such a fun read. Itâs a great book to pick up when you need to get into a different headspace. One minute you are worried about something and the next you are realizing you are just human. Jerryâs jokes are all so funny bc they are true.
Yulia –
Great
Thank you!!!
Christopher Baker –
TOTALLY RELATABLE TOPICS…..EVERYONE CAN ENJOY!!!!!!
My review is based on reading the entire Kindle version of this book. The beauty of this book is that Jerry investigates everyday, common experiences and products that everyone is exposed to and analyzes them at face value. The reader immediately recognizes the topics Jerry is talking about but his whit and criticism bring the topics into a completely new light that is hysterical in its truth. Another valid win for the book is the fact that the TOPICS TRANSCEND GENERATIONS and genders. I was able to read some of my favorite excerpts to my Mom who was also in tears with the ridiculousness.
***A special note: This is NOT a biography about Jerry NOR does it reveal his secret process for creating his routines. This is purely a collection of notes he has saved on various topics that he wondered if it was anything that he could use for stand up.
Duane Schneider –
Money-Grabbing, not Super Funny
I’m a Jerry Seinfeld fan but not a disciple, so I can honestly say there were portions of this book I found amusing but overall it was a disappointment. It must be nice to be a millionaire comedian. While others are struggling in quarantine, he can grab his old comedy bits from a shoebox, send them to an editor, and they are made into a book. That’s what this is. Bit after bit. The same kind of material that Seinfeld became well-known for adding at the beginning of each “Seinfeld” episode to remind us that he was Jerry Seinfeld playing Jerry Seinfeld, not an actor but a stand-up comedian in NYC, as if we could forget. His bits are famously “What’s the deal with ___?” Fill in the blank with some innocuous thing like cereal or honking in traffic, etc. He divides “Is This Anything?” by decade, but the material is largely the same, one or two page riffs on something, although I noticed that the first half of “Is This Anything?” was funnier than the second half. Artists seem to write better material when they’re young and struggling. At the point Seinfeld reaches millionaire status, with tons of money from reruns, multiple mansions, a wife and kids and plenty of free time, the bits go downhill. I think he has a harder time now relating to “regular” things and people. I’ll admit I was hoping for a more introspective book, something like Steve Martin’s great memoir on comedy. But “Is This Anything?” seems more slapdash, thrown together, the brief one and two page autobiographical sections tossed in almost as afterthoughts, to tie things together. I think these bits were meant to stay in the shoebox, the best of them to be incorporated into routines at comedy clubs. After a drink or two, listening to these while watching the comedian among other fans of comedy, I think they would be funnier. More often than not, I was left pondering the strange use of punctuation in the book, the abundant white space, and the choice to cut sentences off midway through the page rather than allowing them to continue to the righthand margin like normal sentences. The text was left looking more like poetry, but these bits are not poems. Instead, I was left thinking that the writer and editor tried to stretch 90 pages of material into 200 pages, which is a bit of a rip-off for the reader.
Karen –
Had to stifle laughing out loud
While reading in bed. First half funnier than second half. But Iâve loved Jerry Seinfeld since his first appearance on Johnny Carson! Heâs adorable.
Sal –
Excellent bite sized sketches and observations by one of the worlds best comedians. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
Eduardo –
Eres fan de Seinfeld ? Me flipo este libro y si eres fan te flipara igual. Muy recomendable
Nathalia Carvalho Tardivo –
liked it so much, gave one to my dad as xmas present. He liked it as well… a lot. Great reading and gift.
M K –
Per gli appassionati è d’obbligo averlo
Muthu –
Jerry synonym funny.. I am glad to be part of the generation enjoyed his sitcom. His observation and the jokes are out of the park.