Product Description
On the day he turned thirty, John starred in America’s number-one movie (Animal House), starred in the number-one late-night show (Saturday Night Live) and had recorded the number-one album (Briefcase Full of Blues). All from a guy who was never supposed to make it out from behind the cash register of his family’s Chicago diner. How did this Albanian immigrant’s son capture a nation’s imagination and come to embody all the glory and tragedy of the American dream?It was one high-price, high-speed, short-lived wild ride.

BELUSHI is a whirlwind of a book, filled with never-before-seen photos and provocative, intensely personal testimonials by just about every major comedic figure of the last half century. Here is the remarkable and raucous story of a larger-than-life figure who danced out at the precipice of American fame. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Fantastic portrait of a tortured genius
Belushi tells through recollections of those who know and worked with him the tale of the rise and fall of John Belushi. He was a man who craved fame but was torn down by it. He was forced to grow up young due to his home life, and as a result he never really grew up, clearly evidenced by the many memories of him acting as a boy would act in situations that really called for a man. Contrasting these instances are those stories where he manned up and did what needed to be done for his family or his work. As one who was always there for everyone else, it seems almost like he never cared enough for himself to ask others to help.

The photos and stories in this book are fantastic, many never previously seen by the public. The intimate retellings of private encounters and interactions with this comedic genius are wonderful reading. The self-destructive bent he acquired to cope with the stress of his unparalleled success is seen to evolve through the telling, with Belushi only trying to return from the brink after passing too close to its edge.

There were only a few minor quality-control issues with this fantastic work, most prominent being the typo in the footer for an entire chapter. Outside of that and a few other typos here and there, the book is wonderful.

Belushi
I Was born later(that same year) so I didn't grow up literally or figuratively speaking On John Belushi, But I heard about him growing up and saw re-runs and classic scenes of his Sketches, The Samurai, the guy who wouldn't leave, He was and is hilarious, I have seen the Classic "Animal House". The Man was/is a Legend, Sadly also a Tragic figure who can be compared to a Genius I did grow up on "Chris Farley". Belushi -The book- Is in Depth, Has Lots of Photos, History,and other tidbits about the man.

Best Belushi Bio!
I first noticed John Belushi when I was about 15 years old. I was watching Saturday Night Live and the Star Trek parody with John as Captain Kirk came on, and Belushi nailed the impersonation and it was so funny it made me choke on the ham sandwich I was eating. After that Saturday Night Live (it wasn't SNL yet) became something to watch and John's performances were stand out from the killer bees, the samurai, the diner cheeezborger cook, all were skits I wanted to see. When John went onto movies I went to see Animal House, 1941, The Blues Brothers, Neighbors. And one spring day in 1982 as I was leaving work I turned on my car radio and the first thing that came out of the speakers that afternoon was that John Belushi had died in L.A. and I said to myself `I hope it wasn't drugs.' It's stories like these that give oral biographies like Belushi: A Biography their power, the first hand accounts of the participants that give the account it's flesh and blood and if done right, provides more verisimilitude than the standard biography.

Belushi: A Biography was written by Judy Belushi Pisano and Tanner Colby, Judy is John's widow, and you can tell this was a labor of love not only for Judy but for all the friends, relatives, teachers, cohorts and colleagues who share their stories of the time they spent with John and how he influenced their lives. Just about anybody who you can think of from SNL, National Lampoon, guest hosts, people from the movies both in front of and behind the camera, and anyone from any part of John's life share their stories. Of course Dan Aykroyd, Judy Belushi, Harold Ramis, John's mother, Jim Belushi, John Landis, Bill Murray, Robin Williams, Bernie Brillstein, Buck Henry, Steve Martin, Lorne Michaels, Tom Davis, Anne Beatts, Richard Belzer, you name a person they probably show up in here. And of course the book is filled with high quality pictures of John and Judy, a lot of them unseen and some breathtaking such as the picture on the opening page which shows John in an open field on a sunny day his arms raised to take in and be alive in the moment.

John Belushi wasa larger than life person and a book can't really contain all that was John Belushi the flesh and blood person but Belushi comes closest, and the force of John`s life is ably transmitted through the pictures and words of his friends.

If you have read other reviews of mine you know I really like the oral biography. It isn't easily pulled off but when it's done right they make for a great biography! And Belushi: A Biography is a great biography and a great service to John and his fans.

A great book about a comic genius who died before his time.
I admit, I'm a big John Belushi fan, and an even bigger Blues Brothers fan.I first heard "Briefcase full of Blues" in my best friend's bedroom on an old "Reader's Digest" record player, and it literally changed my life.

John Belushi's star was on the rise.He had a top TV show, a top movie, and the top record album in the country back in'79, a record NO ONE has beat.Judy Pisano has done a wonderful job of showing the man behind the legend.It's full of pictures from her private collection, showing the rise an the fall of a true comic genius.We still miss you, John.

Awesome.
I am a HUGE Belushi fan and was not let down by this book. The blurbs from friends and co workers are funny and offer a closer look at the man that made us all laugh with the lift of an eyebrow. ... Read more

Product Description
IN THE END WE ALL FADE TO BLACK.

Pink-haired Hilda and oddball loner Benji are not your typical teenagers. Instead of going to parties or hanging out at the mall, they comb the city streets and suburban culs-de-sac of Los Angeles for sites of celebrity murder and suicide. Bound by their interest in the macabre, Hilda and Benji neglect their schoolwork and their social lives in favor of prowling the most notorious crime scenes in Hollywood history and collecting odd mementos of celebrity death.

Hilda and Benji’s morbid pastime takes an unexpected turn when they meet Hank, the elderly, reclusive tenant of a dilapidated Echo Park apartment where a silent movie star once stabbed himself to death with a pair of scissors. Hilda feels a strange connection with Hank and comes to care deeply for her paranoid new friend as they watch old movies together and chat the sweltering afternoons away. But when Hank’s downstairs neighbor Jake, a handsome screenwriter, inserts himself into the equation and begins to hint at Hank’s terrible secrets, Hilda must decide what it is she’s come to Echo Park searching for . . . and whether her fascination with death is worth missing out on life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

Fun Candy
"John Belushi is Dead" is not the type of book I normally read; I'm more of a biography/great novels kind of guy. But I picked up my wife's copy on a sunny day and wasn't able to put it down.

Kathy Charles's story of two teenagers enamored with the gory side of Hollywood's glamorous history is surprisingly gripping. It's not heavy reading but it's great fun. As a new resident of Hollywood, the book is also a great tour guide for gory scenes like the Manson killings and the Black Dahlia murder.

If you want a quick and easy read full of slightly twisted fun, "John Belushi is Dead" is a fantastic choice.

Didn't Love, Didn't Hate
Seventeen year old Hilda is not a typical teenager. She and her best friend, Benji, are fascinated with death, specifically dead celebrities. They visit the areas of some of LA's most notorious crime scenes and cemeteries, collecting mementos of death. When Hilda and Benji meet Hank, a reclusive old man living in an apartment where an actor stabbed himself to death, Hilda and Hank form an odd bond. Soon, Hilda is visiting Hank by herself, becoming fascinated in his world and the secrets he keeps. When Hilda meets Jake, Hank's downstairs neighbor who just happens to be a good looking screenwriter, Hilda begins to questions her fascination in death. Is she missing out on life because of it? When Benji goes too far one night while trying to emulate John Belushi, Hilda finally gets another perspective on living life.

John Belushi is Dead, the debut novel by Kathy Charles, is an interesting YA contemporary novel. The characters are strong, and Charles writing is clearly fantastic.This is more of a dark and edgy novel, not supernatural at all, just digs into the unhappy cases of some real Hollywood murders (the OJ Simpson case, Charles Manson murders, etc). I liked the mystery that surrounds Hank's character, and a possible love connection between Hilda and Jake adds another layer to the story. I didn't hate this book, but didn't quite love it either. I didn't get as drawn into the plot as I would have liked, as interesting and different as it was. And a little forewarning: this book does contain multiple graphic scenes of murders and death, so if you don't mesh well with those types of scenes, I wouldn't recommend this specific title for you. But if you are looking for something on the opposite spectrum of chick lit, I would say check out John Belushi is Dead. There is a good life lesson to be learned from the young heroine.

Twisted and FUN!

Are you tired of typical YA books? Tired of Cheerleaders? Sick of Jocks? Maybe you don't even feel like reading about Vampires or Werewolves? Sounds like you need something gritty and maybe even a little morbid. I suggest you read John Belushi is Dead. I can almost guarantee that you have never read anything like it before.

Hilda, the main character, is not your everyday teen. She doesn't go to parties with her friends. She doesn't stalk hot celebrities in LA. No, along with her best friend Benji, she stalks the dead celebrities of Hollywood. They go to the sites of the glorious long dead. They take pieces of tile, or bricks as souvenirs. This is how they plan on spending their entire Summer vacation. Until Hilda meets a lonely old man and his young neighbor.

I'm a little bit in love with this book. I knew as soon as I read the premise that it was my kind of book. I've always been fascinated by things like this. Serial killers, cults and now, dead celebrities. It did not disappoint. Within 5 pages I was hooked! I don't think this book is for everyone, though. It does have a dark and sometimes twisted plot. It's heavy on the morbid and death. That being said, if you have no problems with that then read it!

Hilda, Benji, Hank and Jake were all wonderfully written characters. Hilda is just trying to deal with the horrific death of her parents and death obsession was a realistic way to do it. Benji creeped me out from the very beginning. He was crazy and completely believable. He was the kind of guy you didn't want to hang out with in high school because everyone knew he was going to go off the deep end eventually.
Their really wasn't much romance in this book, but it really would have been out of place in this dark tale. While Jake came off as a little odd to me, I think his relationship with Hilda and Hank were just what the story called for. I wouldn't change a thing.

As you can see, I loved this book. It wasn't predictable and it was completely different than anything else. You should read it. As soon as possible!!

Dark, freaky, and absolutely delightful.I really enjoyed this contemporary YA.
Plot Summary:Seventeen-year-old Hilda has an obsession that is ruling her life.She is fascinated with death, particularly the nasty, grisly, tragic deaths of celebrities who seem to attain immortality once they're gone.With her buddy, Benji, Hilda trolls Los Angeles's backways to visit the scene of the crime, and on one of these trips to a decrepit apartment building she meets Hank, an elderly recluse.Hilda feels drawn to Hank, who shares her love of classic films, and she starts to pull away from Benji, who is acting increasingly manic, possessive and outrageous on their outings.Hank's demons keep him locked inside his sweltering little box of an apartment, and with the help of Jake, a handsome screenwriter neighbor, Hilda tries to draw Hank out of his shell.Everyone is keeping secrets it seems, and Hank, Jake, and Benji all want a piece of Hilda.Can she help them when her own grasp on reality is so twisted?

If you have a dark side, you will absolutely love this freaky little young adult novel.John Belushi is Dead is about a teenage girl who is so fascinated with death that she forgets to live.Hilda stalks celebrities who have died under tragic circumstances, scrolling the web for illicit death scene photographs, visiting the places where they overdosed on drugs, or committed suicide, or were murdered, and she hoards worthless fragments and mementos from the structures they inhabited once upon a time.It's macabre in the extreme, and her partner in crime is Benji, another round peg who can't fit into the square hole that most adolescents covet.That's okay because "normal" is highly overrated anyway, but Hilda slowly learns that there is a line, and it's not cool to cross it.Our little goth girl is going to grow up.

This is a contemporary YA, so there's no supernatural stuff going on here.This is one of those books where truth is stranger than fiction, and it's peppered with real accounts of Hollywood's secret, seedy side, with sadistic stars and sad little nobodies who will be remembered most for how they exited the stage of life.Kathy Charles has a knack for total realism, and so when things start to sour between Hilda and Benji, it took on a heightened menace that felt almost thrillerish.I knew that something bad was going to happen, but I couldn't begin to guess how it would unfold.That's when I realized how real it felt, because it wasn't following the unwritten plot-points that seem to dominate most fiction.The fact that it also felt anti-climactic at the end was also realistic.Let's face it, most of us do not go out in a blaze of glory, so the way things shook out pleased me as well.

This is the first book I've read from MTV Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, but if this is the kind of raw, edgy writing that they're backing, then I'm interested in trying more.

Excellent debut!
Hilda and Benji are best friends forever. Maybe. Their interests seem to match perfectly, as both have a passion for haunting the most notorious places in Los Angeles: sites where celebrities have been murdered or where celebrities have taken their own lives. This fascination, while dark, is actually quite therapeutic for Hilda, who has had a lot of loss in her young life. Her mother and father were killed in a car accident that almost took her life, too.

Everything changes, though, when the pair end up investigating a suicide in the apartment of an old man named Hank. Although initially put off by the two crazy kids, one with pink hair, knocking at his door and asking to take pictures of his bathroom, Hank agrees and it takes little time for Hilda to realize there's something special about this man. And soon after, he'll begin calling her and she'll find a connection with an adult in town.

Although Hilda and Hank begin growing closer, Hank's downstairs neighbor Jack becomes concerned and tries to break it to Hilda that Hank has a lot of secrets and history that should make her wary. It won't be until tragedy strikes Hank and Benji nearly kills himself that Hilda begins to understand her fascination with death means something deeper.

John Belushi is Dead was one of my favorite reads so far this year. This engaging, edgy, and boundary-pushing novel brings together the ideas of life and death in a city of lore and lust that just works. Hilda is a likeable character from the get go: we know she's had a tough life, living with her aunt because of the death of her parents, and we know she's a little wild, as seen from her romps around notorious LA places. She and Benji are quite a pair, and while outsiders to the rest of the world, they come into their own together and don't quite feel like outsides, recluses, or losers. In the end we will find out that Benji isn't quite what he seems, but since this story is told from Hilda's perspective, this is a realization we will come to with her.

After Hilda and Benji initially meet Hank, I couldn't help but draw the comparisons between this book and Paul Zindel's classic The Pigman. While they aren't perfect readalikes, I think that the quirky relationship building between generations is somewhat similar, and the realizations that happen between Hilda and Hank are similar to those John and Lorraine have with the Pigman.

Enter Jack.

Jack is the propulsion in this novel that really drives Hilda to think about who she is and what she loves. Her budding relationship with Hank is completely innocent, though much of it is based around death, much like her relationship with Benji. When Jack comes in and begins to push Hilda's perception about Hank, though, things change. Hank, as it turns out, has a greater history in the world than he's letting on, and it's one that revolves around death. Big death -- something greater than the death of John Belushi or Chris Farley. No, this is the death that changes history, the world we live in, and Hilda.

Kathy Charles's novel was well paced and plotted, and the character development is absolutely spot on for me. That, in conjunction with the setting, came together to leave a not just a pretty story, but a strong message about life and living. This book published initially in Australia titled Hollywood Ending, and when it published in the US, the title changed to John Belushi is Dead. Both titles work, and they work for different reasons.

This is the kind of book I would hand off to fans of Perks of Being a Wallflower. The feeling of being an outsider and an insider simultaneously and the growth of the main characters are similar in both titles. Both push the boundaries of the reader's expectations, and both convey quite an important message without being books that are about delivering a message. The quirky factor will work for fans of Steffan Piper's Grayhound, Joe Nemo's Hairstyles of the Damned, and other similar titles.

Because of the issues brought up here and the edgy factors (and let me tell you - calling anything edgy really bothers me, but it's the best word to use here), this book is best for high schoolers and adult readers. This is the kind of book perfect for college students. While reading this title, I couldn't help but think of my best friend from college the entire time who would eat this up in no time. She's a huge fan of Francesca Lia Block, and I think it would be interesting to hand a book like this to a fan of hers. I suspect there would be a lot to like because of the language, the setting, and the character development. And of course, try this one who liked Zindel's classic. They aren't perfect readalikes, but the comparisons that could be drawn are great.
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Product Description
normal aging ... Read more

Customer Reviews (31)

WIRED-SHORT LIFE & FAST TIMES OF JOHN BELUSHI
Bob Woodward's masterpiece work (now out of print and why?) is a book about an all-American comedy entertainment hero, John Belushi who like the title of the book says lived fast and died young. Now a warning! for your own sake please do not attempt to emulate what you read in these heart-wrenching pages for you might just as well end up lonely at the bottom of the barrel and dead of an overdose. Yes the book is detailed but mostly detailed where there is little or no fun to be found at all and those are mostly the pages dealing with John's worn out, strung out day to day life and then his never ending substance abuse that makes him sadder and and sadder on the self chosen path to the early inevitable. Yes John Belushi was funny, genuinely funny, he was good, good in his heart and soul but his inner demons got the best of him in the end. Yes there is sensationalism in the book (never ending drug references) but dont ever for amoment think that to be an artist(in any sense), means you have to abuse drugs, because not only will you not be an artist anymore you will cease to be alltogether and leave behind you only a path of destruction and a trail of tears. If this book still doesn't drive home the message there is also another that should do it then: "The Chris Farley Show" . Enough said. Thank you very much.Darie Petrovic 09/12/2010

Hot Wired
Bob Woodward went off the deep end with John Belushi.
We all know John went down Big Time with the drugs,
but there must have been some Good Times, too.Wired The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi

Good product for the price paid
Great book...wanted to read it for a while.Nice price and good quality from the seller.

Such a tragic waste
Friends and colleagues of the late John Belushi were universally critical of this biography upon its initial release. Their efforts to denigrate Bob Woodward's account of the sudden rise, popular success and early death of Belushi was unsparing in detailing his addiction to drugs and alcohol and far too accurate for their tastes.

Belushi perfected his comedic skills with the Second City troupe and went on to acclaim as one of the original cast members on "Saturday Night Live." A low budget film about a college fraternity proved to be his comedic masterpiece. I recall a professor opining that hordes of unqualified high school seniors all wanted to attend college or university solely on the strength of having seen "Animal House."

Belushi made several more films, but none ever equalled the success of "Animal House." A few were multimillion dollar flops. The actor developed an insatiable appetite for drugs. He died after being injected with a lethal overdose in a Hollywood hotel by another junkie.

This is a thoroughly depressing account of the rapid downward spiral of an addict. To paraphrase Dean Vernon Wormer of Faber College, "Fat, drugged and stupid is no way to go through life son."

This is not a sentimental biography. This is Hollywood at its worst.

Fast & Short Run
This autobiography of Belushi seemed to focus a lot on his drug use, but it did delve into other aspects of his overall life, personality, and relationships.The politics and inner-workings of the film business are latently and appropriately repeated on a regular basis throughout "Wired."This biography on Belushi seems a bit sullen.The flow of the writing can be difficult to follow for some.(Just my opinion.)

Some additional points noted by Woodward described the seemingly common anxiety and trepidation that inflicts directors and producers when they are about to release a movie, no matter how "big" these movie moguls are.They anonymously attend the screening of their films to test audiences for the first time: focusing on the crowd, watching viewers, listening to responses to the punch lines, and gauging the mood of the audience.

Landis and a colleague anonymously went to the test showing of "Animal House" when it was first shown to a public audience in Denver.Denver was chosen because it was in the "heartland of middle America" and was not New York or Los Angeles.The two sat in the audience, pensive.After the initial seconds of the movie caused an uproar of hysterical laughter with Belushi and the shoes, they knew they had a hit: Bluto was born.Interesting about the making of this movie, were the details of scenes of "Animal House" that were cut out.In addition to details of "animal house," a lot of the book is dedicated to the making of "The Blues Brothers" film and Saturday Night Live (SNL).

Even Steven Spielberg had the common feeling of uncertainty when working on post-production of a film when it was ready to be released.Speilberg felt so uneasy about the film "1941" he directed, that he left Hollywood and went to Hawaii when it was released.At a budget of $26 million, "1941" was one of the most expensive comedies made.The critics trashed the movie, and Belushi even thought it would ruin his career.

When "Blues Brothers" was reviewed the critics bashed it and referred to the movie as "1942," in reference to the previous abysmal bomb, "1941."The LA Times called it a "$30 million dollar wreck, minus laughs."The Blues Brothers movie was below average and frankly, was and is still very over-rated.Just my opinon.

There are several instances of dialogue between people in this book.These are hard to replicate, and are based on reconstructions of people's memories.Recollections get fuzzy over time.Dialogues can be altered and edited, understandabley, for brevity and to make the flow of a book more smooth.Nontetheless, these are hard to replicate, and these dialogues can cause skepticism among readers.

There was occasional mention of the frequent press attention Belushi recieved from mainstream media outlets, primarily magazines.

Details of "Saturday Night Live" (SNL) were also provided.After 4 years and 87 shows Belushi resigned from SNL, because simultaneiously working on the "Blues Brothers" movie SNL was too difficult and time consuming, leading Belushi to burnout.

Some of the fun bits, were Akroyd and Belushi driving across the country and playing jokes on the CB radio, while reading Jack Kerouac's "On the Road."Another trivia, is that Belushi purchased and lived in a house on the Vineyard formerly owned by Robert McNamera and later had an indirect offer from Richard Nixon when he put the house on the market.

Bob Woodward did his homework.In the back of the book Woodward includes an index of the people and the job titles of the people he interviewed.Included in the research were appointments books, diaries, calendars, receipts, tapes, scripts, and personal business documents.A lengthy list of those interviewed, including Executive Producers in the movie business, Belushi's friends, police detectives, the Wheaton high school football coach, and the drug suppliers to Belushi.

Having read other works and bios by Woodward, the take on Belushi in "Wired" was a bit glum and solemn for me. ... Read more

Product Description
By the same investigative reporter as "All the President's Men", this book enquires into the death by drug abuse of John Belushi. In his search for what went wrong in the comedian's life, the author uncovers the seedier side of the American star system. A film based on the book has been made. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Well-researched in some aspects, weak in others
Funny how a quarter-century gives a bit more perspective. Wired was published two years after Belushi's death, and at that time so much of the focus on him regarded his drug use (fair enough, as that was what killed him), so it is only natural that a book about his life would touch on that subject. Reading Wired again recently for the first time in many years, I found the book to be even more lopsided in emphasizing this aspect of Belushi's life than I did when it first came out. The book opens with a three-day drug binge in 1979, and the last quarter of the 400-odd page book it is entirely focused on Belushi's last several weeks, chronicling in minute detail what drugs he took, how much he paid for them, how much of them he snorted and shot up and who he did them with. His formative years are glossed over in about 20 pages, and insights into other facets of his personality are sparse; it's as if Woodward couldn't get to the darker episodes of Belushi's life quick enough, so he just decided to edit out the less controversial stories and sides of Belushi's person(a) in order to throw in a few more tales of John snorting cocaine.
What has made the memory of Belushi lasting and endearing, to me, was his talent, be it in the work he did on SNL, the several movies he made and the music he played with the Blues Brothers. Yes, Wired is an interesting read, but I will say if one is looking to find out more about Belushi...more beyond just the drug addictions and binges...one should seek out the book Samurai Widow, by Judy Jacklin. It will provide a tonic and counterpoint to the toxicity of Wired, and between the two one might find something closer to the truth other than the portrait of Belushi offscreen as a one-dimemsional character who cared about nothing other than getting stoned. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Amazing book for all Belushi fans...
Samurai Widow is a beautiful, courageous, and honest story of Judy Jacklin Belushi's recovery following John Belushi's death. If you want to get to the bottom of all the lies and hoopla the media has thrown around John's fame and success, read this book.It makes his fans and those who admired him from afar feel like they truly get to know him as a person instead of a character or celebrity. Also, if you have lost someone close to you, this book is helpful in learning how to carry on and knowing that you're not alone. Extremely touching and emotional story. Ms. Jacklin, if you read this, thank you so much for giving your story to John's fans. It relieved me greatly to find out how wonderful the Belushi family is.

Belushi Forever!
In reading "Samaurai Widow," I was moved to tears on more than one occasion. This book is as intimate as one can get; exposing the difficulty of losing someone who was more than just someone Mrs. Belushi loved, but a part of her life..the other half of her being.
However in the midst of such a tragic time, this book also gives inspiration and recognizes the need and ability to love and be loved again. Although John Belushi is gone, he will never ever be forgotten.
All I can say is thank you. Thank you so much, Mrs. Belushi for letting us know who the real John Belushi is and allowing us to embrace the intimateness of the life you two shared together.

We love you, John

a great book about a great man
After the book "Wired", I was glad Judith wrote this book. John Belushi was more than just a wild man, and Judith showed a intimate portrait of a comical genius, who was as human as the rest of us. I wasglad Judith was able to show a side of John that isnt portrayed in themedia. That of a caring, giving, sensitive human being, who regualareveryday people could relate too. Though I never had the pleasure ofmeeting John, his well chronicled life, really made me examine my own. I'dlike to thank Jacklin for sharing a side of John that few of us knew, andwould have never known without her courage to write this book. Thanks.

A touching portrait of loss
I picked this book up for a dollar at a used book store. Judy Belushi's intimate portrait of the grief she felt when she lost John helped me get through my own loss of a love.You feel her anger, pain, frustration and love as she comes to grips with losing the person she loved the most in life.A wondeful book about survival that will show you why JB was not just a funny man, but a treasure to so many who knew him. ... Read more

Product Description
This book provides a psychological profile of John Belushi, Lenny Bruce, and Chris Farley, and attempts to examine the pathos that exists in the inner worlds of comedians.
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Customer Reviews (2)

Great Book
Excellent book that considers several factors including gender guiding lines,family atmosphere, culture, as well as the nature of addiction in providing an analysis of these three sad lives.

Great Book!!
Very well crafted work here. The author provides a great deal of compelling evidence to suggest how early Lifestyle patterns influence faulty thinking later on in life. Beyond the technical aspects of this technique, this book takes great pain to identify the struggles each of these men underwent to set things right in their lives, while still falling victim to their deeply habituated behavior. I never fully considered how common these compensatory behaviors are in comedians, and this book definitely holds a light up to this phenomenon. ... Read more

Product Description
Originally released on vinyl in 1980, this is a classic National Lampoon audio product. John Brlushi, Chevy Chase, Christopher Guest + + +. ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Chick Hearn, Gram Parsons, John Belushi, Lenny Bruce, Natalie Wood, John Denver, Milo Burcham, Jack Parsons, William Holden, Peter Tomarken, Evan Tanner, Richard Bong, G. David Schine, Dorothy Dandridge, Lincoln J. Beachey, Diane Whipple, Jack Cassidy, Dennis Wilson, Brad Renfro, Thelma Todd, Ron Hayes, Vic Morrow, Jon-Erik Hexum, William Penn Patrick, Bob Rosburg, Vaughn Bodé, Walter R. Taliaferro, Bertram Wolfe, Mario Danelo, John Joseph Montgomery, Morris Thompson, Larry Siemering, Calbraith Perry Rodgers, Ed Hinton, Kayo Hatta, Trevor Goddard, Glen Edwards, Kevin Gilbert, William Kapell, Christopher Bowman, Archibald Hoxsey, Bridgette Andersen, Terry Kath, Iven Carl Kincheloe, Jr., Beulah Bondi, Joe Flynn, Ken Steadman, Teresa Graves, Grace Olive Wiley, Erik Rauch, Fletcher R. Jones, Russ Columbo, Arky Vaughan, William Rulofson, Buddy Clark, Harald Bredesen, Richard Chichester Du Pont, Pimp C, Cass Daley, Saul Chaplin, Michael James Adams, Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr., Arthur Bunster, Jay Hughes, Bobby Hutchins, Oscar Westover, William Brice, Robbie Basho, Don Kirsch, Ormer Locklear, Frank Silvera, Al Benton, Bruce Yarnell, Charlie Waitt, Granville P. Swift, Ruth Alexander, Kathy Fiscus, Gloria Dickson, David Hermance, Robert Henry English, Henry Newhall, Milburn G. Apt, George D. Wallace, Dean Paul Martin, Chick Morrison, Peter Levinson, Lynne Roberts, W. Scott Darling, Clement Woodnutt Miller, Sidney Fox, Bruce Geller, Charles Clifford Ogle, Robert H. Smith, Henry Jones, Althea Flynt, Flora Call Disney, John Hopkins, Delphine Walsh, Jerry Pettis, David Bailey, Brooks Thomas, Scott Safran, Frederick Berndt Schine, Guy Standing, Shirley Palmer, William Hauber, Dave Freeman, Bill Munson, Peter Stafford, Dwaine Wilson, Michael Louden, Harry Sweet, Chip Mead, Lawrence Andreasen, Julia Clark, Charles Older, Henry Post, Dick Berg, Rutherford Page, Robert Francis, Martin E. Johnson. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 496. Not il...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=58586 ... Read more

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Chapters: American Sketch Writers, John Belushi, Christopher Guest, Paul Reubens, Harry Shearer, Phil Hartman, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Eddie Murphy, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Don Novello, Larry David, Tina Fey, Lorne Michaels, Ben Stiller, Brian Doyle-Murray, Michael Mckean, Chris Elliott, Michael Richards, Stephen Colbert, Conan O'brien, Al Franken, Sarah Silverman, Will Ferrell, Judd Apatow, Jack Black, Dave Chappelle, Martin Short, Andy Dick, Steve Carell, David Koechner, David Cross, Jimmy Fallon, Amy Poehler, Harold Ramis, Fred Armisen, Patton Oswalt, Jon Lovitz, Scott Aukerman, Rob Riggle, David Spade, Demetri Martin, Bill Hader, Zach Galifianakis, Casey Wilson, Michael Ian Black, Michael O'donoghue, Andy Richter, H. Jon Benjamin, Rob Corddry, Bob Odenkirk, Jason Sudeikis, Jack Handey, Brian Stack, Louis C.k., Brendon Small, Paul Scheer, Ed Helms, Jim Downey, Amy Sedaris, Wayne Federman, Aziz Ansari, Michael Mcdonald, Brian Posehn, Colin Quinn, Del Close, Damon Wayans, Seth Meyers, Catherine O'hara, Rich Hall, Kristen Schaal, Kevin Nealon, Alex Borstein, Crista Flanagan, Robert Smigel, Rachel Dratch, Alex Winter, Nicole Parker, Spike Feresten, David Wain, Will Forte, Simon Helberg, Matt Walsh, Jordan Peele, Craig Anton, Keegan-Michael Key, Eric Wareheim, Joe Flaherty, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Scott Adsit, Bobby Moynihan, Michael Showalter, Jon Glaser, Gregg Turkington, Tim Meadows, Maria Bamford, Eugene Mirman, Horatio Sanz, Rich Fulcher, Charlyne Yi, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Dino Stamatopoulos, Thomas Lennon, Paul F. Tompkins, Jorma Taccone, Tom Scharpling, Matt Braunger, Adam Mckay, Ike Barinholtz, Rob Schrab, Joe Lo Truglio, Michael Schur, James Adomian, Brian Mccann, Andy Samberg, Matt Besser, Alan Zweibel, Chris Hardwick, Jason Woliner, Jerry Minor, Josh Meyers, Tim Kazurinsky, Tommy Blacha, Andrea Rosen, Todd Barry, Donald Glover, Rob Huebel, Tim Heidecker, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Dave Allen, Nick Kroll, Dan Oster, Dannah ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=335195 ... Read more

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Chapters: John Belushi. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 38. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: John Adam Belushi (pronounced ; January 24, 1949 March 5, 1982) was an American comedian, actor, and musician best known as the original cast member of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and starred in the films National Lampoon's Animal House and The Blues Brothers. He was the older brother of James Belushi. John Belushi was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Agnes Belushi (née Samaras), a first generation Albanian-American, and Adam Belushi (b. 1919), an Albanian immigrant and restaurant operator who left his native village, Qytezë, in 1934 at the age of sixteen. The family's name at the time of immigration was Bellios, or Belliors. Belushi was raised in the Albanian Orthodox church and grew up outside Chicago in Wheaton with a brother Jim, five-and-a-half years his junior. He attended Wheaton Central High School, where he met his future wife, Judy Jacklin. Belushi's first big break as a comedian occurred in 1971, when he joined The Second City comedy troupe in Chicago. He was cast in National Lampoon's Lemmings, a parody of Woodstock, which played Off-Broadway in 1972 and also showcased future Saturday Night Live (SNL) performers Chevy Chase and Christopher Guest. From 1973 to 1975, National Lampoon Inc. aired The National Lampoon Radio Hour, a half-hour comedy program syndicated across the country on approximately 600 stations. Other players on the show included future SNL regulars Gilda Radner, Bill Murray, Brian Doyle-Murray and Chevy Chase. Belushi married Judy Jacklin (Judy Pisano), an associate producer of The Radio Hour. A number of comic segments first performed on The Radio Hour would be translated into SNL sketches in the show's early seasons. Belushi achieved n...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=16384 ... Read more