Dr. Denis’ Bid For
Oprah-Dom 'Rescue
Me' star embroiders elaborate riffs on what's wrong with America.
At
first, “Why We Suck: A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid” by (Dr.) Denis Leary, the comedian and actor, seems like just a
new presentation of the content of his early 1990s stand-up specials.
But after the first few chapters, Leary makes this book a wholly
original and elaborately funny work.
Once Leary really digs into his Irish heritage with a series of recipes
that are supposedly his mom’s and all contain tons of butter, cabbage
and potatoes, the book really starts to take off. And “Why We Suck”
really hits the stratosphere with Chapter 13, “Grande Vente Mocha Oprah
Chai,” an unexpected tribute to the power of Oprah Winfrey, especially
considering the source -- with the basis of most of Leary’s comedy being
picking apart anything that smacks of being touchy-feely or
therapy-oriented.
Leary admires Oprah’s ability to “shame anyone into admitting the
truth”: “I wanna drag a [Starbucks] barista onto Oprah and have her
cross-examine him or her and I know that within minutes she will have an
open admittance that Chai and Vente and Breve and all that shiny sugary
Starbuck smack is just an excuse to charge mo money mo money for what is
-- in the end -- just another good cup of joe.”
In fact, the author is surprised to find that the search engine on
Oprah’s website turns up more useful advice and information for guys
than Google or even ESPN.com could dream of. And Leary doesn’t shy away
from offering his own self-help prescriptions, telling guys exactly how
to respond to the dreaded “Does my ass look fat?” question from their
wife or girlfriend.
Leary hits many bases in “Why We Suck,” not just self-help gurus and
Starbucks or restaurants dressing up their menus with lots of fancy
language -- discrimination/racism/immigration, irresponsible parenting,
child stars, Catholicism and pets, to name a few. About child stars,
Leary says, “The annals of kids unleashed into the monster Hollywood
machine who came out clean and still working on the adult side has two
names on its list: Jodie Foster and Ron Howard. Case closed.”
And about the superiority of dogs to cats as pets, Leary looks to …
Eliot Spitzer. “When all of his trusted aides had fallen by the wayside
… when even his wife had given up … the paparazzi caught him out for a
leisurely walk along Park Avenue with his one and only remaining
confidant -- his dog. His dog could care less who he hired to [screw] …
”
While Leary’s distinct comic point of view and a few old chestnuts of
his past shows appear in “Why We Suck,” they’re only there to frame a
wealth of original material that offers more than a few laugh-out-loud
moments.
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