Never Shake Hands with a War Criminal

by Barry Crimmins

Overview

Never Shake Hands with a War Criminal is a personal and political history told with acid humor and a loving heart. Barry Crimmins, a writer and commentator on Air America Radio, travels from a skeptical childhood in frozen upstate New York, through the founding of the Boston comedy scene, to a career as a satirist and activist. No villain is spared; no hero is forgotten. Crimmins also cuts a hilarious swath through our political tormentors, in the spirit of Mark Twain, Will Rogers, and Lenny Bruce.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781609800185
Publisher:	Seven Stories Press
Publication date:	01/04/2011
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
File size:	272 KB

About the Author

BARRY CRIMMINS grew up in Skaneateles ("an Indian name meaning 'small lake surrounded by fascists'"), New York. In his time he has worked with many comedy greats, near-greats, and ingrates, and his exploits have included a stint writing for Dennis Miller. Crimmins lives in Troupsburg, New York.

Editorial Reviews

Humor writer and political activist Crimmins is a hero among professional comedians for having helped launch the careers of Steven Wright, Bobcat Goldthwait and others. While he's recently gained wider recognition through his stand-up performances and his writing for Air America Radio, this funny, intelligent book could increase his audience even more. Witty and insightful, it has the potential to make Crimmins a prominent voice on the left. One-page groupings of political one-liners are interspersed between short, provocative and extremely well-written essays. Crimmins takes a comedic scalpel to various right-wing targets, including what he perceives as post-9/11 jingoism, conservative "clone candidates," Henry Kissinger (who inspired the book's title), Dennis Miller and various members of the Bush administration, especially John Ashcroft and his support of the Patriot Act ("Kaiser Ashcroft doesn't think of them as nukes-he considers them `rapture accelerants' "). He also combines autobiographical glimpses of his youth in Skaneateles, N.Y. ("an Indian word that means `beautiful lake surrounded by fascists' "), and his life in the 1980s managing the Ding Ho, Boston's first real comedy club, with more substantial attacks on George W. Bush's government. Unapologetically admitting to preaching to the choir, "since the choir in America really needs a night out now and then," Crimmins presents "a thoughtful resistance to the madness of an era." (Nov. 15) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Barry is hilariously funny, but more important, his humor comes out of a deep intelligence, an extraordinary understanding of the world around him and an intense commitment to social change.” –Howard Zinn


“Barry Crimmins uses his sharp sense of irony as a political weapon. In his hands, the subversive joke is the first small act of resistance.” –Billy Bragg


“He breaks down reality in a hilarious way. He seems ticked off at everything, and when you hear him, you agree. One of the few political comedians who are really good.” –Steven Wright


“Like a mixture of Tom Paine and Mark Twain, Crimmins mixes politics and humor with savage results.” –Michael Blowen, The Boston Globe

From the Publisher