Yearbook is a relatively short compilation of moments in Rogen's life. He talks about wanting a girlfriend in eighth grade, his training for and the multiple bar mitzvahs he attended when he was thirteen, being a child stand-up comedian, moving to Los Angeles, working on Superbad, meeting his wife, working on other projects, the disappointment of meeting his childhood idol, George Lucas, and lots and lots of stories about taking drugs. The book doesn't take itself too seriously, but it's consistently entertaining.
Rogen feels like an approachable and likeable guy, and that really comes across in this book. Although Rogen's numerous drug stories did feel a little repetitive, I never got too bored. However, I was most interested when Rogen talked about more serious topics. Rogen discussed the small amount of anti-semitism he'd run into in Hollywood as well as the much larger amount of anti-semitism that he's encountered on Twitter. He's serious when he talks about the damage these verified Twitter users are doing when they spew all that hate to countless people. I also liked the life lesson that Rogen packed into his description of Steve Wozniak, whom he met after playing him in Steve Jobs.
One thing I really appreciated about this audiobook was how it was produced. Rogen read the majority of it, and he did a good job. However, whenever there was dialogue in the book, he'd have the real people or actors read the lines. According to Amazon, there were over 80 people reading lines in the book. Some guest stars include: Nick Kroll, Jay Pharoah, Jason Segel, Billy Idol, Snoop Dogg, and Rogen's parents. George Lucas was not one of the guest stars, but that's not surprising when you hear about Rogen's experience with him. I've heard a couple of audiobooks now where the makers are more creative with their production, and I love it.
I didn't know much about Seth Rogen when I began this book except that I'd enjoyed some of his movies. It was interesting to learn a little more about his life.
No comments:
Post a Comment