Jokes My Father Never Taught Me: Life, Love, and Loss with Richard Pryor

by Rain Pryor

Book Overview

The loving yet brutally honest memoir of the daughter of comedy legend Richard Pryor

Rain Pryor was born in the idealistic, free-love 1960s. Her mother was a Jewish go-go dancer who wanted a tribe of rainbow children, and her father was Richard Pryor, perhaps the most compelling and brilliant comedian of his era.

In this intimate, harrowing, and often hilarious memoir, Rain talks about her divided heritage, and about the forces that...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061195421
• ISBN13: 9780061195426
• Release Date: October 2006
• Publisher: HarperEntertainment
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Emotional, Uplifting Read

Excellent writer with extensive, descriptive vocabulary! My 1st time reading her; though I've been a fan of her father since childhood. I learned, I laughed! I cried and had to pause on a few parts. Such are LIFE and READING. Giggles! She has a comedic flair, also. The resilience of abused/neglected children is mighty!

No Jokes But This Is The Story of a Survivor

Frankly I could care less about the children of stars. But Rain Pryor and her co-author Cathy Crimmins have created a true voice---the voice of a survivor. This is a story that is heartbreaking and yet in the end heart lifting. Bravo to Rain for finding her true self while being surrounded by adults who had less sense than children they were "raising". It's a shame that Rain's mother couldn't open up more and give her authentic story to Rain. Because she didn't this book becomes the story of a heartbroken defenseless girl who never really gets true authentic consistent love from anyone. She tries to commit suicide and her father buys her a Nissan? Hello? (That would be a great scene in a movie) I love when Rain's mother is upset about the stares that Rain gets as a child and wishes she were wearing a T-shirt that says, Yes, I f----d a black man. And I absolutely love when Rain says to her father, "Daddy, the whores have to be paid." (A truly great movie scene) I wish Rain had had more of a backstage/offstage anecdotal life with her father. (I kept waiting for her to describe being on a movie set with him) Her father was a great artist who was messed up so often on drugs and booze and still created a unique body of work. From the little window Rain has on her life with Richard I can see that a movie biography of him could be sensational. Here is a trailblazing hip cool comic who behind closed doors abused himself and physically and mentally abused everyone around him. Especially women and children. The scene of him shredding that early film that Rain's mother inspired him to make is just pathetic. And yet it's amazing that he destroyed his "first" film but then went on to be the most successful black film actor until Denzel Washington or Wil Smith.

Couldn't put it down....

I can't remember the last book I read that made me laugh as well as cry. This is a good'un: a must have for any Richard Pryor fan. And if you weren't a Rain Pryor fan before, you will be after reading this. I am proud of Rain and she should be proud of herself. She really did her thing on this one. She didn't hold back, she let it all out. This book is not sugar-coated at all. She's brutally honest just like her dad. This book was so moving to me because I can relate to Rain in several different ways. My father was also abusive. My father abused alcohol and drugs and went on violent rampages. My father also believed that money was equivalent to an apology or an expression of love. Rain recalled that a good solid hug would have been much better than a new car. I can definitely relate to that. My father also ended up wheel-chair bound and died from a debilitating disease (Parkinson's). It's not easy watching someone you love deteriorate like that no matter how bad of a parent they were. And like Rain, no matter what my father did, I still loved him very much. I know Richard is looking down on her beaming with pride. While he never recovered from his troubled childhood, she did. And she did it with grace and a forgiving spirit. Bless her heart, with two unstable parents, it's amazing what's she's done with her life. Though she dabbled with alcohol and drugs, she never became an addict. She was also blessed to find a good husband unlike many daughters of abusive fathers. Hats off to you Rain! This book is definitely a page-turner, as a matter of fact, I didn't put it down once I started reading it. I read the whole thing in one sitting. An easy read, this book is also filled with some really nice photos. And the photos are not only in the middle of the book, they're placed here and there throughout the book which is very nice. There's a touching photo of Rain and her father taking a nap together. She looks just like her dad and she's funny just like him too. This book also revealed Jennifer Lee's true colors. Jennifer was Richard's last wife, wife #5 and wife#7. I was convinced she really loved Richard, had forgiven him for the way he'd treated her and wanted to take care of him in his time of need. That would explain her marrying him when he was wheel-chair bound, nearly in a vegetative state and dependent on her for his survival, right? WRONG! She had dollar signs written all over her. I once admired her for trying to keep some dollars coming in for Richard. She helped to get his TV show released on DVD, she helped put together his 9 CD box set and she also appeared on his Comedy Central Special, "I Ain't Dead Yet." But I guess I didn't stop to think that by being his wife/caretaker, she got to cash some chips in too for herself. She did a good job handling Richard's business affairs but she was wrong for keeping him away from his children. She also had him change his will shortly before he died which left the bulk of his estate to her. Now I'

On Point Book

Richard Pryor for me like so many other people truly moved me with His Comic genius & timing on situations. I mean He was a Voice of the community & also a Man who was direct & vulnerable. that Honesty in his routines was what made him stand out so much. but this Book shows the other side once the lights went down on the stage & there was no Audience what Family Life was like for Rain & Her Father Richard. she saw first hand all the Demons He dealt with. she expereinced things that while in front of a Crowd was a delievery of Genius, in a Private atmosphere it could haunt you & make you feel Saddness.Rain is half Black & Jewish & she also was dealing with Race as a Young woman coming into her own. this Book touches on many topics & Subject matters. a very strogn Book & also has Photos over the years with Rain & Her Father.

Let's review the book and not the black community

Response to C. M. Serrano comments: Rain Pryor's book is one that pulls no punches. What is good about the book is that it is from the heart. Many times when stories are told, people seem to beat around the bush. "Beating around the bush" only avoids what there. I agree with you that child abuse is a serious issue; but I don't agree with you one hundred percent. The words "child abuse" needs to be revaluated. In Rain's case defiantly over done (Yes, I agree that Rain was abuse). Child abuse is not only in the black community. Child abuse doesn't go by race. The black comics make jokes about whopping a child, but let's be honest the white community can throw some good punches. It true- it has been caught on tape. Nothing like punching a toddler that strapped in a car set. That wasn't funny either. Bottom line; stop blaming the whole black community and save the word "child abuse" for cases that are actually are child abuse. If you read Rain's book and look at what she has become, it should inspire anyone that has been through something. If you hold on to that terrible experience for the rest of your life, it will spill over and affect everyone around you. I am not saying to forget it; "but you have to let go". Once you let go, it will open the doors to a lot of other things. Rain's life is an example of that.

Life with Pryor ain't no joke !

Rain Pryor's book was hard to put down. As intimate as it was, I wanted even more details of her life, and I wanted to book to be longer. She inherited her Fathers incredible sence of humor, which I could not get enough of. Her strength and forgivness amazing me though. How can you forgive two Parents that were totally abusive in everyway ? Its tough, and Rain is one tough cookie ! In her book she describes Mamma , Richard Pryors Grandmother as teaching her that "Your Daddy beats you cuz he loves you" "Get over it" And she calls this good advice, was she serious or sarcastic ? I think accepting this kind of child abuse, perpetuates it.This scene was after Rain was sexually molested my a relative, and good ol' Richard stepped in to beat the hell out of Rain, for being molested ! "To teach her a lesson for flaunting her stuff " Richard Pryor being raised in a whorehouse run by this Mamma, he himself only saw sex and whoppin's, he had no chance. It fueled his true comic genius, sure, But, when is all this abuse going to stop? especially in the Black community, were Black comics think child Whoppin's are just hilarious? I see it everyday. Rain said "you have to let go", I agree, but until child abuse can be seen for what it is, Parents are going to get away with it, for cultural reasons. Rains Mother was the Mother from hell also, but she tried and admitted to Rain that she was "messed up" and on Richards death bed she told him Rain was the best we ever created, Rain heard this and it really helped her. Also one day close to the end Richard told Rain that he was so sorry for everything he put Rain through, and touchingly gave her, as an adult, a Teddy bear, his way of making amends.