Pun Salad

I'm not proud of this, but I'll admit it: I've been inordinately attracted now and then to the "celebrity memoir" genre. Written by musicians and actors I like, mostly. I tell myself that they'll provide me with some insight into the wellsprings of their creative talents. And I am invariably disappointed; these guys (yes, mostly guys) don't seem to have any eye-opening revelations on the matter. Hard work, good luck, singular focus… that's about it.

But I was enticed into reading Peter Wolf's memoir by this review in the WSJ.

Wolf is no exception on the creativity score. But—holy cow!—he really makes up for it on another score: this book is full of stories about the people he's encountered over the course of his career, most famous, many surprising. And those stories are great: some hilarious, some poignant, some even tragic. But all of them well told. (If you're looking for hilarity, for example, skip ahead to his story about making this classic music video.)

In the unlikely event that a celebrity is reading this: If you're thinking about writing a memoir, read Peter Wolf first. Go and do thou likewise.

He starts out with a biggie: In 1956, his parents take ten-year-old Peter to a movie, an artsy-fartsy French flick. In comes another couple: an older guy and a mink-coated, sunglassed blonde. And the blonde sits next to Peter. Eventually (since it's an artsy-fartsy French flick) the blonde nods off, with her head falling on Pete's shoulder.

Punchline: the guy is Arthur Miller, and the blonde is Marilyn Monroe.

I wasn't a huge fan of the J. Geils Band, although I really liked their 1974 single, "Must of Got Lost" well enough to buy the album it was on ("Nightmares...and Other Tales from the Vinyl Jungle"). But our musical tastes diverged as time went on. I don't think that was Wolf's fault, though.

On the "sex, drugs, and rock and roll" score: the drug of choice is alcohol, and prodigous amounts of it. I think Pete could drink you. me, and the entire defensive line of the New England Patriots under the table. And the sex is never prurient. Although (you might not know) he was married to Faye Dunaway, and he was a little miffed about her extramarital dalliances.