“Just A Guy” by Bill Engvall

SYNOPSIS:  This is a somewhat funny and heartfelt memoir in which Bill Engvall takes you on the rollicking ride of his life. It begins with his childhood in Texas and adolescence in Arizona, and becoming a fixture in local emergency rooms, the result of massive amounts of non-thinking behavior trying to impress girls or torture his sisters.  In high school in Dallas he dabbled in an array of truly odd jobs, learned the trombone, and came of age. At college he became his fraternity’s social chairman, where he masterminded a series of legendary parties and attempted to rescue his pet bird while the house was burning down.  Throughout all this he follows his dream as a standup comic with brief forays as a singer, and various acting jobs. In the end it is his bumbling and riotous courtship, then marriage to Gail, the love of his life that allows him to forage into the world of comedy. REVIEW: I felt that this was a rather weak attempt at a humorous sensitive-man memoir.  Rather than stick to one theme, such a marriage, college life or sex, he tries to cram his whole life into one book.  The end result being 46 mini-chapters that never really deliver the kind of laughs that have made him a part of the successful Blue Collar comedy quartet. There are however, a few interesting reminisces about his career, first as a stand-in and extra on movie sets and later playing chauffeur to some of the biggest names of comedy. In the end, Engvall realizes that "all guys are the same," and that's why the sensitive parts of the book—Engvall's parents' divorce or the pain of leaving his family to go on the road—are the ones that truly stand out. The fact that I like him as a comedian coupled with the fact that he narrates the book make it more interesting. I give it [2.25-stars]. Click here to purchase ... Just A Guy by Bill Engvall