Stuart Woodward reviewed Andy Kaufman The Truth Finally by Bob Zmuda
Review of 'Andy Kaufman The Truth Finally' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
I'm not sure what to make of this book.
A couple of months ago, I suddenly got obsessed with Andy Kaufman and started to watch all of his TV appearance and performances on YouTube. I remember him from Taxi but I wasn't a really big fan of the show at the time that it was aired. Zmuda was Andy Kaufman's friend and writer and often a stooge in some of his live appearances.
This is Zmuda's second book, I intend to read the first book soon, and deals with Kaufman's desire to fake his own death. It is written from the perspective that Andy Kaufman created an elaborate plot to fake his own death and did not in fact die of cancer. Zmuda alleges that Kaufman had asked him to help but he didn't want to be involved but in the years subsequent to Kaufman's death Zmuda feels that it …
I'm not sure what to make of this book.
A couple of months ago, I suddenly got obsessed with Andy Kaufman and started to watch all of his TV appearance and performances on YouTube. I remember him from Taxi but I wasn't a really big fan of the show at the time that it was aired. Zmuda was Andy Kaufman's friend and writer and often a stooge in some of his live appearances.
This is Zmuda's second book, I intend to read the first book soon, and deals with Kaufman's desire to fake his own death. It is written from the perspective that Andy Kaufman created an elaborate plot to fake his own death and did not in fact die of cancer. Zmuda alleges that Kaufman had asked him to help but he didn't want to be involved but in the years subsequent to Kaufman's death Zmuda feels that it was actually faked and ends with an appeal to Kaufman to make an appearance and describes how he could return to public life.
Given that this is probably fiction, it makes you wonder how many of the stories are also fiction too. However, it seems that this book would have amused Andy Kaufman greatly as they both shared the same oddball sense of humour which worked so well as coauthors of much of Kaufman's material.
Also covered is the back story behind Miloš Forman's movie Man on the Moon, the story of Kaufman's life.
I really enjoyed the book which often shocks and amazes the reader. A must read if you are fan of Kaufman's life and work and shows that his real life was even more bizarre than his TV and comedy performance presence.