Riding the Elephant
A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations, and Observations
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4.5 • 48 Ratings
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
From the comedian, actor, and former host of The Late Late Show comes an irreverent, lyrical memoir in essays featuring his signature wit.
Craig Ferguson has defied the odds his entire life. He has failed when he should have succeeded and succeeded when he should have failed. The fact that he is neither dead nor in a locked facility (at the time of printing) is something of a miracle in itself. In Craig’s candid and revealing memoir, readers will get a look into the mind and recollections of the unique and twisted Scottish American who became a national hero for pioneering the world’s first TV robot skeleton sidekick and reviving two dudes in a horse suit dancing as a form of entertainment.
In Riding the Elephant, there are some stories that are too graphic for television, too politically incorrect for social media, or too meditative for a stand-up comedy performance. Craig discusses his deep love for his native Scotland, examines his profound psychic change brought on by fatherhood, and looks at aging and mortality with a perspective that he was incapable of as a younger man. Each story is strung together in a colorful tapestry that ultimately reveals a complicated man who has learned to process—and even enjoy—the unusual trajectory of his life.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Ferguson, the former host of CBS's Late Late Show, charms in his third book (after American on Purpose). Using what he calls "a collection of recollections and observations that... don't fit in any other format's than this book's," he shares stories that include growing up in 1970s Scotland, accidentally eating dog in Sri Lanka, and meeting Princess Diana (he recalls how "easy it was to make her laugh"), as well as instances of his successes and downfalls both big (alcoholism) and small (a bad case of teenage acne, which he describes in hilarious detail). Throughout, Ferguson takes pride in his marriage to Megan (his third wife), his two sons (from two different marriages), and becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2008. The memoir's title is a reference to being high on marijuana, something Ferguson swore off along with alcohol when he became sober in 1992. Readers might expect the memoir of a funnyman to be endless laughs, but Ferguson doesn't hesitate to show his serious side in sections on his mother's death and finalizing a divorce. Ferguson's fans will certainly turn out for this smart, humble, and witty memoir.
