I'm Dying Up Here: Heartbreak and High Times in Stand-up Comedy's Golden Era Book

One of the reasons I read so few books in the last year and a half is that I spent a lot of my commute time - usually my prime reading time - listening to Marc Maron's WTF podcast interviews with comedians, writers, actors, directors, chefs, artists, musicians, and others that are a serious master class in the creative process and incredibly inspiring. Marc mentioned this book on one of the podcasts, and it's a perfect companion piece, looking at the history of the stand-up comedy world in 1970s LA, when the scene completely exploded around Mitzi's Shore's Comedy Store, and then caused an enormous rift in the comedy world over the dispute with Mitzi and subsequent long strike of her club because she refused to pay any of the comedians that performed there. She fostered the careers of so many now-legendary comedians that it's mind-boggling - Robin Williams, Richard Pryor, Jimmie Walker, Jay Leno, David Letterman, Gary Shandling, Elayne Boosler, Richard Lewis, Freddie Prinze, Andy Kaufman, and many, many others. It's a great, engrossing read.