Posted on: April 19, 2012 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

With Tough Sh*t, his latest self-confessional memoir, director Kevin Smith proves that absolutely nothing is off limits when it comes to opening up about his personal life and experiences in Hollywood. From sex with his wife (including a hilariously uncomfortable essay about her backside) to working with Bruce Willis on Cop Out (another essay about an ass), Smith is refreshingly honest and quite possibly the author of the funniest memoir that will come out this year.

Tough Sh*t it actually Smith’s fourth book since 2004, but by far his most consistently funny and one where he opens up on his biggest controversies, including the embarrassing incident where he was taken off a Southwest Airlines because the pilot (according to the flight attendant) thought he was too fat to fit in one seat. He details the chapter in sidesplitting, self-effacing detail, which has likely become a corporate case study on how-not-to handle a situation with a social media black belt. He opens up about his love affair with pot (surprisingly a relatively new romance, despite his iconic role as Silent Bob) and working with Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis in his only major studio release, the dreadful buddy police pic Cop Out. While praising Morgan for being professional, patient and hilarious, he pulls out the long knives for Willis, who he describes as lazy, bitter and completely full of himself.

Smith’s book begins with a touching anecdote about his father, who hated his job at the post office, dying quite loudly, fighting his death to the last moment. Smith took this as a sign to love what you do in life. It’s clear from this book, and the revelation that he will likely be moving on from movies after his latest is finished, that he is taking that advice to heart, spending more time pursuing projects that he truly cares about. Who knew a stoner auteur from Jersey could be so deep?       

Tough SH*T: Life Advice from a Fat, Lazy Slob Who Did Good/272 pages/Gotham Books/2012

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