Seven Dirty Words_ The Life and Crimes of George Carlin - James Sullivan [126]
208 “Carlin’s aging hipster character”: Todd Everett, “Unexpected Things Happen to George,” Daily Variety, January 14, 1994.
209 “He was my kind of guy”: Interview, Archive of American Television.
210 “I’m doing my best work”: Ronald L. Smith, Who’s Who in Comedy (Facts on File, 1992), 92.
211 “I knew I’d found my voice”: Interview, Archive of American Television.
215 “I’m very much a realist and a practical person”: Hochman, “Playboy Interview.”
216 “Carlin replaced Catholicism”: Kevin Smith, A God Who Cussed,” Newsweek, June 23, 2008.
216 “convincingly gruff and blue-collar portrayal”: Mick LaSalle, “Down and Out in New Jersey, Without Jennifer Lopez By His Side,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 26, 2004.
216 “so understated and devoid of sentimentality”: Stephanie Zacharek, “Jersey Girl,” Salon, March 26, 2004.
217 “a Gucci shirt or a McDonald’s hat”: Onion Club and Thompson, Tenacity of the Cockroach, 23-24.
218 “it was a little embarrassing to be placed ahead of Lenny Bruce”: Joseph P. Kahn, “From 7 Words to Endless Ideas,” Boston Globe, July 20, 2006.
219 “I find out where they draw the line”: Make ’Em Laugh.
220 “it’s not only bad prose and poetry”: www.georgecarlin.com.
220 “If you’re born in America”: Appearance on Tavis Smiley (PBS), April 8, 2004.
221 “just one more bullshit political philosophy”: George Carlin, Napalm & Silly Putty (Hyperion, 2001), 261.
221 “I belong to no party”: Teachout, The Skeptic, 236.
221 “I read somewhere that every atom in us”: James A. Haught, “God, Life, and Avocado-Colored Kitchen Appliances: A Chat with George Carlin,” Free Inquiry (Summer 1999).
224 “picketers and counter-picketers”: Phil Grecian, “Carlin’s Complaints Not Shocking, for Him,” Topeka Capital-Journal, October 5, 2001.
224 “Riffs included suicide”: Norm Clarke, “Dark Carlin,” Las Vegas Review-Journal , December 4, 2004.
224 “punch up the writing”: Richard Cusick, “High Times Interview: The Clown’s Dark Genius,” High Times, November 1997.
224 “Some of the guys in there”: Hochman, “Playboy Interview.”
225 “the most dispiriting, soul-deadening city on earth”: Richard Abowitz, “George Carlin Hates Vegas,” Los Angeles Times, August 13, 2007.
226 “an apocalypse that is part Steven King”: Joshua David Mann, “The Complete Carlin: What You Can Learn by Watching 800 Minutes of George Carlin,” Slate, June 26, 2008.
226 “try to outwit the inner censor”: Jim Holt, Stop Me If You’ve Heard This: A History and Philosophy of Jokes (W.W. Norton, 2008), 70.
226 “There are a lot of comics working forty years”: Jacques Steinberg, “Refusing to Coast on 7 Infamous Words,” New York Times, November 4, 2005.
228 “Thank you, Mr. Twain”: Paul Harris, “George Carlin to Take Twain Prize,” Variety, June 18, 2008.
228 “There’s always hope for comedians”: Hochman, “Playboy Interview.”
Kicker
231 “the filthiest piece of legislation”: Steven Pinker The Stuff of Thought: Language As a Window into Human Nature (Penguin Books, 2007), 360.
232 “to be fruitful and multiply”: Pinker, Stuff of Thought, 20.
232 “the word that’s probably the Queen Mother”: Glenn Garvin, “Carlin May Be Gone, But the Flap Over His Seven Words Isn’t,” Miami Herald, June 24, 2008.
232 “People have been telling me”: Joan Biskupic, “Supreme Court Ruling Bans Broadcast ‘Fleeting Expletives,’” USA Today, April 28, 2009.
233 “What can I say about George Carlin”: The Eleventh Annual Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize (PBS), 2009.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The one thing George Carlin took seriously was refusing to take anything seriously. In making a case for his comic philosophy, I am indebted to the many friends and acquaintances who shared their memories of him with me. Particular thanks to Jenni Matz, Ken Harris, Nick Zaino, David Tillotson, Trevon Blondet, and John Lewis Puff for their help with source materials.
Thanks to Paul Bresnick, my agent, for helping me cast a wide net. Thanks to Ben Schafer, my editor, for his