Customer Rating: 
Summary: Where is Mickey Rourke?
Comment: Many people wonder why Mickey Rourke has never been on the show. He is one of the iconic grads of the school. The book and the show are not complete until the Rourke show occurs.
Customer Rating: Summary: Fine Book Demoted for Lack of Index
Comment: This is one of the name-droppingest books you will ever read. Lipton by virtue of his distinguished career and the stellar roster of guests on "Inside the Actors Studio" has earned the right to drop those names. Books like this deserve, nay, require an index. But the publisher cheaped out. Saving paper? Editorial cost? Computer time? Who knows? But it's a near fatal omission.
There's a great Bob Hope anecdote in there somewhere. Damned if I can find it again.
Customer Rating: Summary: I wish i could write like Todd Babcock...
Comment: His review said everything I was thinking but I would not be able to express. Thank you for your beautifully written and insightful analysis of this fascinating book. Mr. Lipton left me wanting more details of his life. What fun it would be to have a month of dinners with Mr. Lipton. Just as it has been lovely spending these years with him on TV. It was grand spending time reading this book.
Customer Rating: Summary: Will Farrell could have written a better book about James Lipton
Comment: Oh, how James Lipton loves James Lipton. I'm glad he loves his wife, but the fawning got a bit excessive. He never mentions he was married before, except to mention in passing that at a party he met the famous actress Nina Foch, who became a "lifelong friend". He failed to mention they were married for five years!
What really shocked me was when I saw the recent "Inside the Actors Studio" 200th show special where Dave Chapelle interviewed James Lipton. In the show, Lipton mentions quite a few anecdotes from his life - and it turns out his verbage in the show was *exactly the same* as what he used in the book. Word for word. That was sort of creepy and showed a lack of imagination - try to change up the wording a bit next time, eh?
Will Farrell, where are you when we need you?
Customer Rating: Summary: The James Lipton Ego Trip
Comment: I agree completely with the reviewer who stated Lipton is pompous and pedantic. This book is mostly Lipton's autobiography interspersed with a bits of material about the actors who appeared on "Inside the Actor's Studio". Who wants to read about Lipton's inconsequential life, his Oedipal adoration of his mother and his obsession with a wife who is much too attractive for him? At length, he describes producing the annual Bob Hope Specials and the Jimmy Carter celebration at the Kennedy Center. Big deal; ancient history and not interesting. I bought this book to read about actors. He basically quotes the transcripts of the "Inside the Actor's Studio" programs, which we've all SEEN. A big waste of your time and money.
