Sunday, January 23, 2011

"They Call Me Baba Booey" by Gary Dell' Abate

Recently finished reading the Gary Dell' Abate memoir "They Call Me Baba Booey"... published because of his role as Producer of The Howard Stern Show.

Overall it was a fine book... surprisingly, I found the most interesting parts not related to the Stern radio show that I'm a listener of, but rather content about his parents and brothers.

Due largely to his mother, Dell' Abate grew up in a household very different than most. She suffered from mental issues characterized by depression, mood swings and erratic behavior and while her behavior may have become normal to the immediate family, it made for compelling reading. Additionally, Dell' Abate went through tragedy in relation to his brother and it's a pretty emotional depiction in the book... not confessional writing, but rather open and honest stuff.

To this end, the latter part of the book makes me think of the John Grogan memoir "The Longest Trip Home". I reviewed the book here, but the simply description is Grogan's book is excellent writing on family.

Other thing I noted from Dell' Abate's tale of his life was his work. He was fortunate enough to figure out at a young age what he wanted to do... and then seemed to pretty tirelessly go after that. He is no doubt talented at what he does, but that comes from a lot of hours spent on it.

It's not due to tremendous inside stuff about the Stern Show (has little of that), but is a worthwhile read for someone who knows of Dell' Abate's and is interested in his life experiences.