Description
If you ran into Stephen Tobolowsky on the street, you would not be mistaken: Yes, you've seen him before. A childhood dentist? A former geometry teacher? Your local florist? Tobolowsky is a character actor, one of the most prolific screen and stage presences of our time, having appeared in productions that range from Deadwood to Glee, from Mississippi Burning to Groundhog Day.
But Stephen Tobolowsky, it turns out, is also a dazzlingly talented storyteller and writer. The Dangerous Animals Clubis a beguiling series of stories combining biography and essay, with a tone both hilarious and introspective. The stories have heroics and embarrassments, riotous humour and pathos, characters ranging from Bubbles the Pigmy Hippo to Stephen's unforgettable mother, and scenes that include coke-fueled parties, Hollywood sets, and hospital rooms.
Told in a voice that is "wry, discursive, and full of generous spirit and curiosity" (Kirkus Reviews), Tobolowsky renders the majestic out of the mundane, profundity from the patently absurd, and grace from tragedy. The Dangerous Animals Clubmarks the debut of a massively talented storyteller.
About the Author
Stephen Tobolowsky has appeared in more than 100 movies and 200 television shows, including unforgettable roles in Mississippi Burning, Groundhog Day, and Memento. He is the author of The Dangerous Animals Club and My Adventures with God. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and sons.
Reviews
"Stephen Tobolowsky has found his true calling as a storyteller. He is candid, insightful, often profound, and very, very funny, especially when he recounts his adventures in show business. By blending sharp memories of his childhood with astute, adult observations of the world around him, he weaves a spell not unlike Jean Shepherd or Garrison Keillor... but he has a voice all his own, and I love it."-Leonard Maltin, film critic and author
"Here are some of the dangerous animals you will meet in Stephen Tobolowsky's wise, funny memoir: rattlesnakes, tarantulas, talking dogs, attic raccoons, and Hollywood agents. What a pleasure it is to learn that one of the movies' most interesting character actors is also one of its most interesting characters."-Ken Jennings, author of Maphead and Brainiac
"No one spins yarns and knits them into a lyrical fabric of self like Tobolowsky: deep, warm and a little itchy but you love it."-Marc Maron, host of WTF with Marc Maron
"You know those imaginary dinner parties where you get to invite any five people from history for an evening of amazing conversation? This book is the reason Stephen Tobolowsky has always been one of my five. He is a raconteur of the first order, and I think an evening with Beethoven, Abe Lincoln, and Winston Churchill would be made ever more fascinating for his inclusion. But it's not just that his stories are compulsively entertaining. It's that they resound with insight and revelation. Tobolowsky's stories make me glad I'm alive. And they make me want to throw a dinner party every night."-Jim Beaver, actor in Deadwood and Supernatural and author of Life's That Way
"You already know Stephen Tobolowsky as an actor-his face, if not his name-but in The Dangerous Animals Club he opens his heart, soul and mind to you, along with a lot of belly laughs. He is a modern-day Job in his pursuit of an acting career, or maybe just a meaningful life. The odds seem stacked against him. And yet now, in the middle of his life, it is all within his grasp. Read this book and rejoice!"-Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey, author of A Woman of Independent Means
"Funny, highly original, and quirky. Stephen Tobolowsky has written a memoir that is almost as enchanting and lovable as he is. Bravo!"-Linda Bloodworth Thomason
"Hard to find a guy in Hollywood whose colossal loyalty stands right up their with his colossal talent. Now I see what shaped it all. A great book from an uncommon man!"-Harry Thomason
"The actor has plenty of rich material to mine-he has been held hostage at gunpoint by a lunatic, suffered an apocalyptic infestation of fleas, barely eluded a goring by a bull, and auditioned with a broken neck-but the delight of the book is the author's voice: wry, discursive and full of generous spirit and curiosity [...] A copiously examined life rendered with humor and heart." - Kirkus, Starred Review
"Stories that are quirky, funny and sentimental." - Publishers Weekly
"Funny, intelligent, and stylishly written..."-Booklist
"[The book] deals with... first love and heartbreak, early efforts to break into show business, and the sometimes hazy line between perception and truth.... Tobolowsky's narratives have a haunting, elliptical quality with motifs that circle back when you least expect it-one of the advantages, he speculates, of never shooting scenes in order. Above all, they're humane."-Jenny Lower, Los Angeles Magazine
"Profound delight...At its core, "The Dangerous Animals Club" is about an artist's passionate, heartbreaking and sometimes hilarious commitment to his calling... What Tobolowsky brings to all his stories is a pitch-perfect ability to tell a story...That's the goal for all artists: To create work that deeply touches and moves other human beings. Stephen Tobolowsky hits the mark in "The Dangerous Animals Club." -- Joseph Bednarik * Portland Oregonian *
"The Dangerous Animal Club runs the gamut between the youthful, dreamlike compulsions of a brainy little boy, to the recollections and misadventures of a struggling actor in Los Angeles in the past 30 years, and in between you have story-telling at its finest: well-written, poignant, hysterical, heart-wrenching and above all - wise." -- Domingo Martinez, bestselling author of The Boy Kings of Texas
Praise for Stephen Tobolowsky's work:
"These stories are about life, and about love, and about finding inspiration in anything, and they are told with enthusiasm, and optimism, and joy for life. I hate to sound like I'm overselling it, but I think anyone who has listened to a The Tobolowsky Files will agree: They are a goddamn pleasure."-Dustin Rowles
"The Citizen Kane of podcasts."-DC Pierson of Derrick Comedy
"I LOVE THIS!"-Sarah Silverman
"Great storytelling, beautiful stuff."-Rian Johnson, director of The Brothers Bloom and Brick
Book Information
ISBN 9781451633160
Author Stephen Tobolowsky
Format Paperback
Page Count 352
Imprint Simon & Schuster
Publisher Simon & Schuster
Weight(grams) 404g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 23mm
But Stephen Tobolowsky, it turns out, is also a dazzlingly talented storyteller and writer. The Dangerous Animals Clubis a beguiling series of stories combining biography and essay, with a tone both hilarious and introspective. The stories have heroics and embarrassments, riotous humour and pathos, characters ranging from Bubbles the Pigmy Hippo to Stephen's unforgettable mother, and scenes that include coke-fueled parties, Hollywood sets, and hospital rooms.
Told in a voice that is "wry, discursive, and full of generous spirit and curiosity" (Kirkus Reviews), Tobolowsky renders the majestic out of the mundane, profundity from the patently absurd, and grace from tragedy. The Dangerous Animals Clubmarks the debut of a massively talented storyteller.
About the Author
Stephen Tobolowsky has appeared in more than 100 movies and 200 television shows, including unforgettable roles in Mississippi Burning, Groundhog Day, and Memento. He is the author of The Dangerous Animals Club and My Adventures with God. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and sons.
Reviews
"Stephen Tobolowsky has found his true calling as a storyteller. He is candid, insightful, often profound, and very, very funny, especially when he recounts his adventures in show business. By blending sharp memories of his childhood with astute, adult observations of the world around him, he weaves a spell not unlike Jean Shepherd or Garrison Keillor... but he has a voice all his own, and I love it."-Leonard Maltin, film critic and author
"Here are some of the dangerous animals you will meet in Stephen Tobolowsky's wise, funny memoir: rattlesnakes, tarantulas, talking dogs, attic raccoons, and Hollywood agents. What a pleasure it is to learn that one of the movies' most interesting character actors is also one of its most interesting characters."-Ken Jennings, author of Maphead and Brainiac
"No one spins yarns and knits them into a lyrical fabric of self like Tobolowsky: deep, warm and a little itchy but you love it."-Marc Maron, host of WTF with Marc Maron
"You know those imaginary dinner parties where you get to invite any five people from history for an evening of amazing conversation? This book is the reason Stephen Tobolowsky has always been one of my five. He is a raconteur of the first order, and I think an evening with Beethoven, Abe Lincoln, and Winston Churchill would be made ever more fascinating for his inclusion. But it's not just that his stories are compulsively entertaining. It's that they resound with insight and revelation. Tobolowsky's stories make me glad I'm alive. And they make me want to throw a dinner party every night."-Jim Beaver, actor in Deadwood and Supernatural and author of Life's That Way
"You already know Stephen Tobolowsky as an actor-his face, if not his name-but in The Dangerous Animals Club he opens his heart, soul and mind to you, along with a lot of belly laughs. He is a modern-day Job in his pursuit of an acting career, or maybe just a meaningful life. The odds seem stacked against him. And yet now, in the middle of his life, it is all within his grasp. Read this book and rejoice!"-Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey, author of A Woman of Independent Means
"Funny, highly original, and quirky. Stephen Tobolowsky has written a memoir that is almost as enchanting and lovable as he is. Bravo!"-Linda Bloodworth Thomason
"Hard to find a guy in Hollywood whose colossal loyalty stands right up their with his colossal talent. Now I see what shaped it all. A great book from an uncommon man!"-Harry Thomason
"The actor has plenty of rich material to mine-he has been held hostage at gunpoint by a lunatic, suffered an apocalyptic infestation of fleas, barely eluded a goring by a bull, and auditioned with a broken neck-but the delight of the book is the author's voice: wry, discursive and full of generous spirit and curiosity [...] A copiously examined life rendered with humor and heart." - Kirkus, Starred Review
"Stories that are quirky, funny and sentimental." - Publishers Weekly
"Funny, intelligent, and stylishly written..."-Booklist
"[The book] deals with... first love and heartbreak, early efforts to break into show business, and the sometimes hazy line between perception and truth.... Tobolowsky's narratives have a haunting, elliptical quality with motifs that circle back when you least expect it-one of the advantages, he speculates, of never shooting scenes in order. Above all, they're humane."-Jenny Lower, Los Angeles Magazine
"Profound delight...At its core, "The Dangerous Animals Club" is about an artist's passionate, heartbreaking and sometimes hilarious commitment to his calling... What Tobolowsky brings to all his stories is a pitch-perfect ability to tell a story...That's the goal for all artists: To create work that deeply touches and moves other human beings. Stephen Tobolowsky hits the mark in "The Dangerous Animals Club." -- Joseph Bednarik * Portland Oregonian *
"The Dangerous Animal Club runs the gamut between the youthful, dreamlike compulsions of a brainy little boy, to the recollections and misadventures of a struggling actor in Los Angeles in the past 30 years, and in between you have story-telling at its finest: well-written, poignant, hysterical, heart-wrenching and above all - wise." -- Domingo Martinez, bestselling author of The Boy Kings of Texas
Praise for Stephen Tobolowsky's work:
"These stories are about life, and about love, and about finding inspiration in anything, and they are told with enthusiasm, and optimism, and joy for life. I hate to sound like I'm overselling it, but I think anyone who has listened to a The Tobolowsky Files will agree: They are a goddamn pleasure."-Dustin Rowles
"The Citizen Kane of podcasts."-DC Pierson of Derrick Comedy
"I LOVE THIS!"-Sarah Silverman
"Great storytelling, beautiful stuff."-Rian Johnson, director of The Brothers Bloom and Brick
Book Information
ISBN 9781451633160
Author Stephen Tobolowsky
Format Paperback
Page Count 352
Imprint Simon & Schuster
Publisher Simon & Schuster
Weight(grams) 404g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 23mm
