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39 Years of Short-Term Memory Loss is a seriously funny and irreverent memoir that gives an insider's view of the birth and rise of Saturday Night Live, and features, laugh-out-loud stories about some of its greatest personalities—Al Franken, Lorne Michaels, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Bill Murray, Michael O'Danoghue, and Chris Farley. Davis's memoir describes not only his experiences on the set of SNL but also his suburban childhood, high school in the '60s, the discovery of sex and reveling in the hippie culture—and psychoactive drugs—from San Francisco to Kathmandu to Burning Man over the last four decades. Lucky for us that he remembers so much of it.
Writing for Saturday Night Live during the sketch show's legendary early seasons may be Davis's claim to fame, but this captivating memoir is about much more, including his suburban Minneapolis childhood, couch-surfing through his hometown, San Francisco, and New York City during the 1970s, and a life-long friendship with comedian-turned-political commentator-turned (probable) Senator Al Franken. Of course, that doesn't stop Davis from hooking readers at the outset with the true Coneheads origin story, involving Dan Aykroyd, LSD and a trip to Easter Island. Later, Davis recalls poignantly Aykroyd's eulogy at John Belushi's funeral, which began, "I so did not want to have to do this." Davis also speaks reverently of Lorne Michaels, despite their (often hilarious) professional differences. Davis's portrait of Franken, though, is most endearing. Fellow Minneapolisians, Franken and Davis were a comedy team throughout their young careers; Davis recreates their partnership in rich, funny details, bolstered by transcripts of their recent e-mail correspondence. Though it features some lurid and hysterical SNL stories, Davis's memoir is less a backstage expose than a winning coming-of-age story featuring a funny Midwestern kid following his unlikely dream to the top.
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Foreword vii
1 Dan Aykroyd 1
2 Beginnings 11
3 Al Franken 23
4 Dudley Riggs 29
5 India 51
6 First Love and Sex 71
7 San Francisco to Cambridge, Early '73 81
8 F & D & L.A. 91
9 Fuck Johnny Carson 115
10 Significant Other 123
11 Lorne 133
12 John Belushi 175
13 A Night in the Bungalow 179
14 Timothy Leary 183
15 Incidents and Coincidence: Death Camps, Franken, and the Beatles 197
16 More GD 203
17 Trading Places 211
18 Michael O'Donoghue 223
19 Chris Farley 233
20 More Danny 237
21 Hepburn Heights, The Den of Equity 249
22 More AF 261
23 The Breakup 275
24 The Best SNL Show Ever: Where Do You Get Your Ideas From? 279
25 The Grand Marquis 293
Unapologia 299
Books I Read While Writing My Own, Which Had Some Indeterminate Influence 301
My Favorite Films 303
Anonymous
Posted February 3, 2013
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Overview
39 Years of Short-Term Memory Loss is a seriously funny and irreverent memoir that gives an insider's view of the birth and rise of Saturday Night Live, and features, laugh-out-loud stories about some of its greatest personalities—Al Franken, Lorne Michaels, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Bill Murray, Michael O'Danoghue, and Chris Farley. Davis's memoir describes not only his experiences on the set of SNL but also his suburban childhood, high school in the '60s, the discovery of sex and reveling in the hippie ...