I thought that this was a very interesting memoir in its approach. This is a book about a particular aspect of a person's life. In this case, Martin tells us from the outset, that he performed stand-up comedy for eighteen years, was incredibly successful for the last four, and then walked away. Right away, he has my interest. He has laid out his story, and now I want to know the details.
It was interesting to me to see how Martin handled his personal life in telling his story. He talks of his relationship with his family and how he resolved his issues with them over the years. He speaks of anxiety attacks. He mentions marriages. But the fulcrum of this book is always the work, how he started as a comic who literally started out doing his act wtih no one in the room (the theory was that passerbys would hear his voice and venture in) to the real problem of figuring out how to do vital comedy with thousands of people in attendance.
Martin's prose felt effortlessly gorgeous, and it was illuminating in the end to read Martin's gracious acknowledgements to his many friends who read the book and gave him feedback while it was in process. It made me wish he would enlist their support again and write more volumes. I want to read more about his career in film. I want to hear about his interest in art. I want to hear about his work as a musician. I would really like to read more about Steve Martin's life and work.
Born Standing Up by Steve Martin
