Excelsior, You Fathead!: The Art and Enigma of Jean Shepherd

By Eugene B. Bergmann

Book Overview

Jean Shepherd (1921-1999), master humorist, is best known for his creation A Christmas Story, the popular movie about the child who wants a BB gun for Christmas and nearly shoots his eye out.

What else did Shepherd do? He is considered by many to be the Mark Twain and James Thurber of his day. For many thousands of fans, for decades, "Shep" talked on the radio late at night, keeping them up way past their bedtimes. He entertained without a script, improvising like a jazz musician, on any and every subject you can imagine. He invented and remains the master of talk radio.

Shepherd perpetrated one of the great literary hoaxes of all time, promoting a nonexistent book and author, and then brought the book into existence. He wrote 23 short stories for Playboy, four times winning their humor of the year award, and also interviewed The Beatles for the magazine. He authored several popular books of humor and satire, created several television series and acted in several plays. He is the model for the character played by Jason Robards in the play and movie A Thousand Clowns, as well as the inspiration for the Shel Silverstein song made famous by Johnny Cash, "A Boy Named Sue."

Readers will learn the significance of innumerable Shepherd words and phrases, such as "Excelsior, you fathead " and observe his constant confrontations with the America he loved. They will get to know and understand this multitalented genius by peeking behind the wall he built for himself - a wall to hide a different and less agreeable persona. Through interviews with his friends, co-workers and creative associates, such as musician David Amram, cartoonist and playwright Jules Feiffer, publisher and broadcaster Paul Krassner, and author Norman Mailer, the book explains a complex and unique genius of our time.

"Shepherd pretty much invented talk radio ... What I got of him was a wonder at the world one man could create. I am as awed now by his achievement as I was then."

- Richard Corliss, Time magazine online

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1557836000
• ISBN13: 9781557836007
• Release Date: November 2004
• Publisher: Applause Books
• Length: 496 Pages
• Weight: 2.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.6" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Best book EVER on Jean Shepherd and his particular genius

Imagine doing a radio show every night and not just ANY radio show but one in which you told stories that sounded like you'd made them up on the spot. That was part of the unique charm, eccentricity and genius of Jean Shepherd, a man who was a wonderful writer as well (anyone who has ever seen A Christmas story, complete with Ralphie and his coveted BB gun, has come in contact with one of Shepherd's works). Bergmann has really done his homework in writing this bio of Shepherd and the results make for a wonderful read and a glimpse into days when radio really had an impact on people, a time when people took the time to listen to stories on the radio, something that may be making a bit of a comeback (as evidenced by Prairie Home Companion and other shows which feature short stories and other works read aloud). Shepherd was a pioneer, however, and no one has come close to his skill and genius. This book goes a long way in explaning why while it also reveals the particular demons that tormented and drove Shepherd. Highly recommended!

Shep Lives!

"Excelsior you Fathead" left as many questions as it answered, but, then again, so did its subject - Jean Shepherd. Punctuated by Shepherd's own words, this insightful book chronicles the most innovative, and underrated, American humorist of all time. Jean Shepherd will forever be known as the creative force, and narrator, behind "A Christmas Story" - a movie that has achieved "classic" proportions. Thankfully, Mr. Bergmann does not dwell on this topic, but digs much deeper into Shepherd's less popularly known, but far more groundbreaking, pursuits - including, particularly, his nightly broadcasts on the powerful New York radio station, WOR. Bergmann weaves together Shepherd's own words with biographical highlights and first-hand accounts of those who knew him. Sprinkled in along the way are Bergmann's personal musings on the often dark, but always fascinating, enigma that characterized his subject's life. Thankfully, and to his great credit, Bergmann stops just short of making sense of it all - recognizing, wisely, as Shepherd himself did, that our world is more about contradictions and pretensions than abject certainties. In his landmark book, "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash" (from which much of "A Christmas Story" was drawn), Shepherd posed a question. He wondered whether the coming-of-age, Midwestern-value-laden innocence embodied by his childhood best friend, Flick, had managed to survive in modern America. Immediately after the book's publication, graffiti artists all over New York City answered with the spray-painted declaration, "Flick Lives" - which was read by millions, but only understood by Shepherd's clued-in fans (who he often referred to as his "gang"). Now, forty years later, and six years after Shepherd's passing, Bergmann should be justifiably proud because, due his comprehensive and entertaining book, I can happily report that not only does Flick live, but so does Shep! I strongly urge you to buy a copy and join the gang of those whose lives have been forever enhanced by Jean Shepherd's genius.

Radio remains king

At yet another point in history when radio's doom was imminent, Jean Shepherd expanded its capabilities. He was a stunning performer, not just in his skills, but in the volume of his work. A Vegas or nightclub performer does the same 50 minutes every night, sometimes for years. He did a brand new 45 minute monologue every single night of the week for over 20 years. This book captures the spirit and genius of his work. I listened to him regularly from 1966 until the end. I saw several of his performances especially the ones at Seton Hall. (I have a recording of that.) Here's what the book does not emphasize, Jean was not on NPR or some obscure station. He was on the most commercial of radio stations. The most dominant station in the largest city. WOR was both "important" and credible. WOR was the station your mother and her friends listened to all day, but they didn't listen to Jean. Jean's voice came from the transister under the pillow in hundreds of thousands of suburban teenage bedrooms and college dorm rooms throughout the Northeast. The fact that he was on WOR made his riffs all the more subversive. If he had been on an obscure non-commercial station it is doubtful his work would have been as thrilling. Interestingly, and this is a consistent impression among my friends who grew up listening to him, the movie the Christmas Story isn't nearly as entertaining as the stories he told on the radio that are the foundation of that movie. We had heard those stories many times before the movie's release and the "sets" in our imaginations were more dramatic. There is nothing as powerful as a skilled broadcaster in front of a radio microphone. Nothing. This is a great book, get it.

If you loved "A Christmas Story", learn about the author...

This book is not a biography. It is an in depth study of the many faces of Jean Shepherd. A storyteller in the first person, it was often thought by his fans that he was telling us stories of his real childhood experiences. Shep claimed none of it was true, but we've learned that Shep was a master of disguise in this respect, cleverly weaving fact and fiction in a way so that the audience was drawn unknowingly into that same fictional world as if we were a part of it. Gene Bergmann presents us with a perspective of Shepherd that only a true fan could. Having listened to Shepherd during his 'feckless youth' Gene has now gone back to re-listen to hundreds of the surviving recordings of Jean Shepherd's WOR radio shows, and interviewed dozens of people who were in some way associated with Shep over the years. From his years of research he has compiled a book which begins with the "Formative Years" when Shep was just getting into the business and takes us through Shepherd's career stopping along the way to look behind the scenes at the Shepherd we never saw or heard. Gene clarifies some of the mysteries that surrounded Shep, things that many of his fans had often wondered about, and he brings to light many new things we didn't know. Using excerpts of Shep's own words, and the interviews he did with others, Gene weaves these together with his own thoughts to present the Shep fan with a deeper understanding of the man we all listened to in our beds at night telling tales of childhood, the Army, or travels around the world. Jean Shepherd was notorious for always talking, not just on the radio, but also away from the mike whether it was by the water cooler, a restaurant, or a party. Yet with all the talking he did there was much we never knew about him. Gene uncovers many of those enigmas that kept us shrouded in mystery over the years. If you are a Shep fan this is a must read. If you're not, you missed a lot and need to catch up.

The wait was worth it!

Back in the late 60's and early '70s, Shep was the AM Buddha who showed my wiseguy friends and me the path to enlightenment. We tried to observe, think, and tell stories like he did--something our teachers and parents weren't thrilled to see in 12-year-old kids, but it was too late. Shepherd's lessons have stayed with me for many years and I still rank them among the greatest gifts I've ever received. Almost a year after learning that a book on Shep's life was forthcoming, I finally have my copy. "Excelsior, You Fathead" is a like discovering an old attic steamer trunk crammed with family treasures. Each page brings back overpowering memories and peels away another layer of complexity from the guy I always thought of as "Ralphie". The writing is beautiful and I enjoyed the clever approach Bergmann took in weaving the three Shepherd personas into a single biography. Read "Excelsior" once to learn everything you never knew about the voice of the Night People: his family, his relationships, his pet peeves. Then read it again to fully appreciate the man's wit and genius.