Thirty-Nine Years of Short-Term Memory Loss is a seriously funny, offbeat, and irreverent memoir that chronicles the early days of Saturday Night Live and features some of its greatest personalities—Al Franken, Lorne Michaels, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Bill Murray, Michael O'Donoghue, and Chris Farley. Written by Tom Davis, an original SNL writer and comedy partner of Al Franken, Thirty-Nine Years of Short-Term Memory Loss is the story of coming of age in the 1960s and a spellbinding account of the birth and rise of one of television's most celebrated shows. Davis's memoir is filled with wry, candid anecdotes about his days at Saturday Night Live and his friendship with its stars. But it is also the story of Davis's own coming of age—escaping his conservative roots in suburban Minneapolis, traveling the world, and reveling in the hippie culture of 1960s San Francisco. The author finds the highs and lows of his own career to be a hilarious counterpoint to the meteoric rise of SNL and his friends' growing celebrity. Hysterical, lucid, and wise, Thirty-Nine Years of Short-Term Memory Loss is a free-spirited, unrepentant romp through an era of sex, drugs, and comedy.
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“Though it features some lurid and hysterical SNL stories, Davis’ memoir is less a backstage exposé than a winning coming-of-age story featuring a funny Midwestern kid following his unlikely dream to the top.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Funny, spiky, and twistedly entertaining.”
— Entertainment WeeklyFunny, spiky, and twistedly entertaining.... B+.
— Entertainment Weekly“Certainly not everyone famous at the time survived to tell about this moment in history, but listeners will be glad that Davis is one who made it. He reads his own work with wonderful expression.”
— Library Journal (starred review)Be the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Tom Davis (1952–2012) won four Emmy Awards during his twelve seasons as a writer at Saturday Night Live, which included the first five years of the show. He was half the comedy team of Franken and Davis from 1968 until he and Al broke up in 1990. Tom lived alone in the woods in upstate New York until his death.