Yearbook

I'm not a huge fan of Seth Rogen, but he can certainly be funny and charming so I thought hearing stories from, especially about the film industry, could be entertaining. And they are, I really liked his behind-the-scenes takes from some movies or about certain celebrities. A lot of them are just very strange interactions that he seems to have been bewildered by. I'm not as big of a fan of drug trip stories though and that's about a third of this book, but you kind of have to expect that from a Seth Rogen.

Overall a pretty fun quick read and it was nice to listen to the audiobook narrated by Rogen himself and featuring a bunch of other actors.

Very entertaining! No surprise that Seth Rogen is a talented comedy writer. I laughed out loud quite often. Also fun to read about the real-life experiences that influenced his movies, and to get some insight into the strange world of Hollywood. While it's mostly a surface-level memoir of his life's funnier (vs most impactful) moments, Rogen does skirt some interesting deeper questions (about drug use, anti-Semitism, free speech, etc.). Definitely recommend this delightful read!

This book was a breath of fresh air. I laughed out loud repeatedly. I felt like Seth Rogen was talking to me the same way his dialogue unspools in his films. No filter, no edit just straight talk and wow does he cover some topics. There are several famous people in this book that he straight up wrecks. To be fair- sounds like they deserved it. There were so many song and movie references that I knew and loved that I had such a good time reading about Seth's life. This was a blast.

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Readeras part of a quick takes/catch up post —emphasizing pithiness, not thoroughness.
—
Simply put, this is a collection of stories from Rogen's life—from doing stand-up as a teenager to his work on TV and in movies. There's—no surprise at all—a lot of references to and stories about drug use.

I'm not a huge Rogen fan—have enjoyed some of his work, but not most of it. I have always appreciated his ability to tell a story in interviews, though, and that's what we get here. Great literature? Nope. Insightful look into the human condition and/or the Entertainment Industry? Nope. Silly fun? Yup. I can't imagine anyone picking up a Rogen book looking for more than the last option, anyway. So you get what you expect.

This was definitely a book to listen to on audio—listening to Rogen tell these stories adds a bit of humor and flavor to it that I think just reading it wouldn't deliver.

(closer to 3.5 but - give that 0.5 to storytelling and narrative)

Seth does a great job at telling a hilarious, non stop narrative which at times feels like the best stand up he's ever done. The end to me didn't seem to have landed - either because I wanted him to keep going or perhaps he is already thinking of follow-up. None the less - it was hilarious, catching myself laughing out loud, non-stop.

It's easy to give Seth Rogen five stars...I mean, it's Seth Rogen. This is not a life changing, perspective altering memoir but as a fan of his writing, movies, and overall personality, it's awesome to get an inside look into the more intimate details of his life and way of thinking.

My greatest take away was that Seth Rogen is indeed outspoken and stands up for what he believes in. This is what makes me a fan of the man.

Books that are intentionally trying to be funny are usually a miss for me. I still read them, though, if I'm a fan of the supposed funny person. I guess I like pain or maybe I'm optimistic or maybe I like having a better understanding of said funny person. But there are only few exceptions where funny book is actually funny.

This is one of those times.

I listened to the audiobook, which was brilliant. Each story in this book was funny, to me personally. Some were laugh out loud funny (the Interview filming, the Tom Cruise meeting, the Nicolas Cage misunderstandings, the Kanye West stuff), and others were merely amusing, but I was entertained the entire time. I rarely think comedy books should be longer but this one should have been. I hope he does another.

5 stars bc it is what it is. In other words, this isn't great literature, but as a Hollywood memoir to make you laugh and give you this one person's perspective, it was great. I especially enjoyed hearing about his Jewish identity, his ideas about drug use, and the stories of movies he has made. I listened to it (his reading), and I think that made it better too.

I went in knowing this was gonna be funny, and it was! I laughed out loud for most of the pieces, and even rewatched The Interview after hearing the part about its controversy and how they handled it. 

I also liked his commentaries on drugs vs. alcohol, anti-semitism and Hollywood life. I think he explained it in a more digestible way so it was easier to switch from humorous to serious topics.

Initially I thought all the drug stories were getting boring, because I think 99% of all the stories here are him with his friends getting high. But I realized it's simply part of getting high, you also get to bring with you an experience you never would've gotten otherwise when you are sober and thinking straight. So yes, can't blame him for coming up with a lot of funny stories thanks to weeds. 

Overall this was a really enjoyable book, amplified with the great audiobook production with a full cast! I would love to get a physical copy someday so I can see the pictures mentioned though, but the experience is probably way better hearing the stories directly from Seth Rogen. 

This is an easy read and definitely one of the better celebrity memoirs. Still, it is a celebrity memoir. I find the genre disappointing, on the whole. “Born a Crime” is the exception.
What I liked was the voice. It was all Seth and didn't feel like an editor added their voice to it.
What I wish there was more of was the thoughtful reflection a memoir normally contains. This was a book filled with funny dinner-party stories of people I feel I know through their work. But what did the anti-Semitic elevator incident tell us about the world or about Seth? Not much and I wish I understood the importance of that moment for him.
All of that said–I'd still recommend this book. It is a beach read and we all need to inject more beach and more reading into our lives :)