Private Parts (book)

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Private Parts
Author Howard Stern with Larry "Ratso" Sloman
Cover artist Design by Jackie Seow, Photograph by Timothy White
Country United States
Language English
Subject(s) Autobiography
Publisher Simon & Schuster
Publication date October 15, 1993
Media type Print (Hardcover)
Pages 448
ISBN ISBN 0-671-88016-0
Followed by Miss America
For other uses, see Private Parts (disambiguation).

Private Parts is the autobiography of shock jock Howard Stern. Published in 1993 by Simon & Schuster, it is the fastest-selling book in the company's history.[1] It was adapted into a film in 1997 starring Stern as himself.[2] The early chapters are autobiographical, covering his upbringing and early career. The later chapters are a memoir, and cover recurring themes from his radio show such as sex, flatulence, and celebrities.

In 2007, Stern revealed on his radio show that his first choice for a title was actually "Mein Kampf" but the publisher refused to allow it, though it was used as the title of the fifth chapter regarding the beginning of his career. His second choice was "Penis," as he thought it would lead to the amusing headline "Howard Stern's 'Penis' On The Bestseller List," which the publisher also rejected. They then compromised with "Private Parts" which Howard liked as a sexual pun, referring to his personal life (i.e. the "private parts" of his life) with a common childhood euphemism for genitalia.

The book received mixed reviews from critics, often drawing comparisons to Lenny Bruce's How to Talk Dirty and Influence People. Like Stern's radio show it received a great deal of opposition due to its content. It is number 87 on the American Library Association's list of the 100 most frequently challenged books between 1990 and 2000.[3] In 1996 Stern published a second memoir called Miss America.[4]

Contents

[edit] Upbringing and rise to stardom

In the book's opening acknowledgments Stern thanks to his coauthor Larry "Ratso" Sloman as well as his staff and family. The first chapter is a story of a male listener of Stern's show masturbating while driving on his way to work to an interview of a woman about her first lesbian sexual encounter. Chapters two through six focus on Stern's upbringing and family. Initially Stern focuses on his birth, parents, sister and family through marriage. He then moves out to focus on his upbringing in Roosevelt, Long Island where he was one of few white men in a predominantly black neighborhood.[5] Stern also uses this chapter to relay his thoughts on the topics from the time the book was published such as Spike Lee and his film Malcolm X, and Rodney King and the 1992 Los Angeles riots. The fourth chapter deals with Stern's adolescent sexual development including his earliest sexual experiences. He also details his sex life in college and the courtship of his eventual marriage to his wife Alison.

The fifth and sixth chapters deal with Stern's career in radio from childhood interest through his rise to prominence. Stern cites an early interest in radio from the age of five,[6] and his father's assistance and encouragement in growing his early career. His days in college radio are detailed followed by his earliest jobs at radio stations along the east coast of the US. He then details his career at radio stations WWWW in Detroit, Michigan, WWDC in Washington, D.C., and finally WNBC in New York City. Stern's conflict with management at various radio stations are relayed, including a rather detailed conflict with WNBC Program director Kevin Metheny (whom he refers to as Pig Virus).

[edit] Stern's show and views

Chapters seven through eighteen move through a variety of topics beginning with his celebrity interviews. This includes individuals such as Sandi Korn, Bob Hope, Jessica Hahn, Richard Simmons, and Sylvester Stallone and his family. The book then moves into Stern's views on various groups especially the French, the Germans, Filipinos, and "everybody else".[7]

The book then details the Fartman character including the origins, and his appearance on the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards. This is followed up by a listing of various regulars on his show referred to as the Wack Pack. Celebrities are revisited as Stern details those who irritate him, such as Oprah Winfrey, Arsenio Hall, and Madonna. Stern follows this up by revisiting his various sexual topics with stories of strippers, nudity, masturbation, and more lesbian sexual encounters.

Stern then returns to the familiar topic of celebrities, this time detailing feuds he has had with people such as the musical group Bon Jovi, Sam Kinison, Magic Johnson, and a physical altercation with Elaine Boosler at the Grammy Awards. Stern revisits homosexuality once again, this detail his musings on gay men. He then goes into comedy as he lists various comedians of the day and gives his opinion, including show regulars Kinison and Andrew Dice Clay. Lesbianism is revisited for the last time as another lesbian sex story is relayed. The seventeenth chapter details his interviews conducted by staff members Gary Dell'Abate and "Stuttering John" Melendez. The last chapter is reserved for Stern's critics and their efforts to have his show prohibited, and his response to them. An afterword is written by two psychologists who analyze Stern's personality and provide their professional opinion of the man.

[edit] Popular success

Upon its release in 1993 the book quickly became the fastest-selling title in publisher Simon & Schuster's history.[8] The sales were supported by in store book signings by Stern.[9] The success was in spite of mixed reviews and the refusal by several stores to carry the book over objections to its content.[10] The Caldor chain of book stores also modified the New York Times bestseller list which was displayed in stores to remove Private Parts from the top position, moving all subsequent books up one position.[10] The inclusion of the book in library lists was frequently challenged in subsequent years as well.[3] The book spent five weeks at the top of the non-fiction list from the weeks of October 9th thru November 6th, before being displaced by fellow radio personality Rush Limbaugh's See, I Told You So.[11]

[edit] Criticism

Stern's venture into literature drew much of the same criticism as his radio show. Private Parts drew favorable comparisons to Lenny Bruce and his book How to Talk Dirty and Influence People, but it was also characterized as nothing more than an extension of his radio show with little more to offer. Stern was praised for his populist message and attracting a group of people who normally do not read either by choice or for lack of ability. Another frequent criticism was that the material was juvenile, with little more to offer than stories of "breasts, behinds, penises, masturbation, defecation, and the expulsion of gas".[9]

[edit] Comparisons to Lenny Bruce

The book frequently drew comparisons to Lenny Bruce's well regarded book from thirty years earlier.[12] In some instances the comparison was favorable, citing Stern's as the best book by a comedian since Bruce's.[13] Others felt Stern fell short of the mark, or at least not influencing people as suggested by his ratings in certain radio markets.[14]

[edit] Extension of radio show

As the host of a highly rated radio show, the comparison between the book and his radio show was inevitable. The radio show was often the starting point from which the reviewer based their opinion of the book.[15] Sometimes the praise for the book came in spite of the critic's distaste for the show,[9] but often it was used to damn the book as nothing more than a collection of radio show highlights in print, but in more explicit detail.[16] Critics would sometimes qualify that they could not adequately relay the stories because of their papers' editorial standards.[9]

[edit] Mass appeal

With the considerable audience from his radio show, Stern was able to sell the first printing of his book within hours of its release.[17] This was in spite of a perception of Stern's listeners who were considered to not be given to reading books, or even illiterate.[18] The strong sales were seen as reflection of his populist appeal to a middle-class white male demographic who compose a large part of the fan base of his show.[19] The main reason given for his appeal at the time was as a response to a push towards what was considered political correctness.[20]

[edit] Juvenile

Another frequent observation about the book was that it was juvenile both in its topics and layout. This included being compared to a comic book for its heavy use of pictures and varying fonts.[21] Margo Jefferson of the New York Times enjoyed the way it broke up the book, as this allowed readers to read the passages out of sequence.[22] The reliance on stories of body parts, functions, and human sexuality were also cited as a reason for what constituted the entirety of the book, and was not seen as compelling to readers.[23] In one instance the review was given by a high school student.[24]

[edit] Chapters

Several of the Chapter titles are references to prominent literary works.

  • Acknowledgments
  1. My Philosophy
  2. It Was the Worst of Times, It Was the Worst of Times
  3. Black and Blue Like Me
  4. My Sex Life
  5. Mein Kampf "My Struggle"
  6. Pig Virus
  7. Spill It
  8. If You're Not Like Me, I Hate You
  9. Yes I Am Fartman
  10. The Wack Pack
  11. The Power of Negative Thinking
  12. You've Been a Bad Girl, Haven't You?
  13. Star Wars
  14. Out of the Closet Stern
  15. The Comics
  16. Another Lesbian Story
  17. Stuttering John
  18. Stop Howard Stern
  • Afterword: A Psychological Profile

[edit] Quotations

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
  • It's weird, but I always wanted to be in radio. That was all I could think about from the time I was five years old.[6]
  • I grew up the only white man in a black neighborhood in Roosevelt, Long Island, a pawn in my mother's little social experiment in integration.[5]
  • I'm an obsessive-compulsive, anal-retentive, miserable neurotic because I was raised by a woman who ran her household with the intensity of Hitler.[25]
  • My father's favorite sport was yelling.[26]
  • Basically, my mother, Ray, raised me like a veal. It was like growing up in a box with no lights on.[27]
  • So my father jumped up, banged on the glass in his control booth, and screamed, "SYMPHONY SID! BY THE POWERS VESTED IN ME BY THE FCC, I COMMAND YOU TO GET ON THE MICROPHONE IN A SERIOUS MANNER AND CONTINUE THE BROADCAST!" It worked.[28]
  • It dawned on me that if you were half a mutant you could probably get on the radio to entertain people and to make them forget about the drudgery of that shitty commute.[29]
  • I always resented the label of "shock jock" that the press came up with for me, because I never intentionally set out to shock anybody.[30]
  • You want the secret of life? Here it is: You wake up in the morning. You eat a litle breakfast, maybe read the newspaper. If you're lucky enough, you're married. You yell at your wife, you make up with your wife. If your testicles feel alright, you bang your wife. You watch a video you rented or maybe you go out to the movies. The secret of life is so simple. That's life. If you have kids, you live with the kids. You don't move out on your wife. You stay with her even if you've banged her nine thousand times and you're sick of it. Nobody follows that. That's the secret to life.[31]
  • The rule is: Don't say anything that is 'patently indecent' or offensive to your community. Well, I live in a community where priests rape young boys, where you get shot in your car, where angry black mobs stab Hasidic Jews, and the mayor turns his back, where crack runs free like the River Ganges, and where movie directors fuck their wives' daughters. NOW YOU TELL ME WHAT I SHOULD TALK ABOUT ON THE RADIO![32]

[edit] Publication

  • Stern, Howard (1993), Private Parts (1st ed.), New York: Simon & Schuster (published 1993, October 15), ISBN 978-0671880163, OCLC 28968496
  • Stern, Howard (1994), Private Parts (Mass Market paperback ed.), New York: Simon & Schuster (published 1993, October 1), ISBN 978-0671510435
  • Stern, Howard (1997), Private Parts (Mass Market paperback ed.), New York: Simon & Schuster (published 1997, March 1), ISBN 978-0671009441

[edit] Adaptations

  • Thomas, Betty (Director) (1997, March 7), Private Parts [Motion picture], United States: Paramount Pictures
  • Stern, Howard (1997), Private Parts. Das Buch zum Film mit Howard Stern in der Hauptrolle [Private parts. The book to the film with Howard star in the main role], Munich: Goldmann Wilhelm GmbH, ISBN 978-3442440221

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ (Stern 1993; Bark 1993)
  2. ^ (Thomas 1997)
  3. ^ a b (American Library Association 2008)
  4. ^ (Stern 1995)
  5. ^ a b (Stern 1993, p. 63)
  6. ^ a b (Stern 1993, p. 111)
  7. ^ (Stern 1993, p. 230)
  8. ^ (Bark 1993)
  9. ^ a b c d (Goodman 1993)
  10. ^ a b (Barron 1993)
  11. ^ (New York Times Oct 1993, Nov 1993)
  12. ^ (Goodman 1993; Jefferson 1993; Saracino 1994; Gleiberman 1993)
  13. ^ (Santiago 1993)
  14. ^ (Kening 1993)
  15. ^ (Saracino 1994; Greto 1993)
  16. ^ (Kening 1993; Freeman 1993; Naudi 1993; Cobb 1993)
  17. ^ (Mills 1993)
  18. ^ (Macintyre 1993; Roeper 1993)
  19. ^ (Macintyre 1993; Greto 1993; Gardner 1994)
  20. ^ (Goodman 1993; Jefferson 1993; Macintyre 1993; Greto 1993)
  21. ^ (Goodman 1993; Jefferson 1993; Pintarich 1993)
  22. ^ (Jefferson 1993)
  23. ^ (Kening 1993; Naudi 1993)
  24. ^ (Saracino 1994)
  25. ^ (Stern 1993, p. 36)
  26. ^ (Stern 1993, p. 41)
  27. ^ (Stern 1993, p. 36)
  28. ^ (Stern 1993, p. 112)
  29. ^ (Stern 1993, p. 114)
  30. ^ (Stern 1993, p. 114)
  31. ^ (Stern 1993, p. 80)
  32. ^ (Stern 1993, p. 421)

[edit] References

  1. American Library Association (n.d.), The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000, American Library Association, <http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.htm>. Retrieved on 16 February 2008 
  2. Bark, Ed (1993, October 20), Stern's 'Private Parts' Tops Limbaugh's Mark, Wichita Eagle, p. 4C, <http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=WE&s_site=kansas&p_multi=WE&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EADB5AD4BD7B3C3&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM>. Retrieved on 6 February 2007 
  3. Barron, James (1993, November 12), “Stores Shy Away From Book Written by Radio Personality”, The New York Times, <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE7DE1438F931A25752C1A965958260> 
  4. Cobb, Nathan (1993, October 26), “Howard Stern: Between the Covers From shock radio to TV and now with a best-selling book, his parts are rarely private [Review of the book Private Parts]”, Boston Globe: 53 
  5. Freeman (1993, November 7), “Stern is sheerly up to usual smut, smugness [Review of the book Private Parts]”, The San Diego Union - Tribune: Books.3 
  6. Gardner, James (1994, February 7), “Private Parts [Review of the book Private Parts]”, National Review 
  7. Githens, Lauri (1993, October 26), “Mr. Outrageous Howard Stern In Print; Talking Dirty, Selling Big [Review of the book Private Parts]”, Buffalo News: C1 
  8. Gleiberman, Owen (1993, October 22), “Exposing Himself [Review of the book Private Parts]”, Entertainment Weekly, <http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,308499,00.html>. Retrieved on 16 February 
  9. Goodman, Walter (1993, November 14), “Stern's Complaint [Review of the book Private Parts]”, The New York Times, <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE5D8173DF937A25752C1A965958260> 
  10. Greto, Victor (1993, October 31), “Stern bares his soul and more / 'Shock jock' just trying to be honest' [Review of the book Private Parts]”, The Gazette (Colorado Springs): B16 
  11. Jefferson, Margo (1993, November 24), “Books of The Times; Experts in the Comedy of Self-Love [Review of the books Private Parts and Confessions of a Raving, Unconfined Nut Misadventures in the Counterculture]”, The New York Times, <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE4D91F39F937A15752C1A965958260> 
  12. Kening, Dan (1993, November 12), “Not Much Between The Covers of 'Private Parts' [Review of the book Private Parts]”, Chicago Tribune: 3 
  13. Macintyre, Ben (1993, November 4), “A champion of the people? [Review of the book Private Parts]”, The Times 
  14. Mills, Joshua (1993, October 24), “He Keeps Giving New Meaning to Gross Revenue [Review of the book Private Parts]”, The New York Times, <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE1DF133FF937A15753C1A965958260>. Retrieved on 16 February 2008 
  15. Naudi, Jack (1993, November 7), “Even sex grows tedious in Stern autobiography [Review of the book Private Parts]”, The Grand Rapids Press: K.11 
  16. New York Times (1993, October 24), “BEST SELLERS: October 24, 1993”, The New York Times, <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE0D91E30F937A15753C1A965958260> 
  17. New York Times (1993, November 21), “BEST SELLERS: November 21, 1993”, The New York Times, <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE1D8163FF932A15752C1A965958260> 
  18. Pintarich, Paul (1993, October 29), “There's Very Little Wisdom Mixed with Howard Stern's Wit [Review of the book Private Parts]”, The Oregonian: E08 
  19. Roeper, Richard (1993, November 11), “People Who Read Books Becoming a Rare Breed [Review of the book Private Parts]”, Chicago Sun-Times: 11 
  20. Santiago (1993, October 25), “Howard Stern - Raw, Funny and Real [Review of the book Private Parts]”, The Plain Dealer: 10D 
  21. Saracino, Chris (1994, January 1), “Shock or schlock? Is Howard Stern for real? Maybe we shouldn't even care [Review of the book Private Parts]”, The Ottawa Citizen: B5 
  22. Stern, Howard (1993, October 15), Private Parts (1st ed.), New York: Simon & Schuster, ISBN 978-0671880163, OCLC 28968496, <http://books.google.com/books?id=YUipWBuc6_MC&q=private+parts&dq=private+parts&ei=qIRxR5D4K57mtQPCsJmeBw&pgis=1> 
  23. Stern, Howard (1995, March), Miss America (1st ed.), New York: HarperCollins, ISBN 978-0060391676, OCLC 33432817, <http://books.google.com/books?id=7ApIWDCU5gAC&q=miss+america+howard+stern&dq=miss+america+howard+stern&ei=Q4i2R7b0KKLstAOnoKyGBQ&pgis=1> 
  24. Thomas, Betty (Director) (1997, March 7), Private Parts [Motion picture], United States: Paramount Pictures, <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119951/> 

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

v • d • e
The Howard Stern Show
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Former staff
The Wack Pack
Howard Channels
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