Jokes My Father Never Taught Me

October 30, 2006
Here's a rambling, warts-and-all look at life with Richard Pryor, the beloved comedy iconoclast whose public success masked a private life brimming with alcohol, drugs, violence and paranoia. Written by his 37-year-old daughter, this family biography chronicles her first meeting with her father at age four, Richard's role as a wayward family man (he had seven children by a number of different women), his struggle with MS, and his 2005 death. Amid less interesting snapshots of her own life-including her work as an actress-Pryor offers a bold but sympathetic portrait of her "misogynistic, mercurial, unpredictable, and violent" father that's as fascinating as it is conflicted: "That was life with Richard Pryor. Sex and violence, punctuated by rare moments of family happiness." In addition, Pryor takes readers behind the scenes of Richard's career; into the "weird sort of Richard Pryor Fan Club" made up of ex-wives, ex-girlfriends and their children; and down Richard's frightening path to debilitating illness. Vital, entertaining and appalling, Pryor has fleshed out a familiar dysfunctional family refrain-"It was a lot easier to love him if you didn't know him"-with bravery and wit.

December 15, 2006
Like many tortured geniuses, Richard Pryor (19402005) entertained and enlightened the public but made life miserable for those closest to them. Ask any of his six physically abused wives or his seemingly endless and lifelong retinue of prostitutes; better yet, consider the endearingly bizarre story of Rain Pryor, Richard's third child by the white and Jewish Shelley Bonis. In a deceptively simple and clear style, Rain tells multiple storiesof her brilliant and flawed father and their equally flawed but loving relationship, of her search for identity as a biracial Jew at Beverly Hills High and beyond, and of her artistic and personal development as an actor and healthy adult. While there is very little of the Mommie Dearest expos treatment you might expect (though wife number six, Jennifer Lee, is Pryor's favorite piata and gets whacked often), we do get the full skinny on the 1980s infamous freebasing incident. It won't spoil things for you to know that Rain comes out beautifully on the other side. The story is excellent; Rainflower's life, of which we are given a full-color glimpse, is hopefully even sweeter. Highly recommended for performing arts and memoirs collections.Barry X. Miller, Austin P.L., TX

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.