For the past three years, I have looked for a single book that went out of print years ago. Almost every single time I went to Half Price Books, I dropped in on the TV books section all for the hopes of finding Mr. Show: What Happened? by Naomi Odenkirk.
I wasn't sure how the book would be filed: "Mi" for mister or "Mr" for Mr? Repeat trips to the section found me looking a plethora of Monty Python-related books as well as books on Mr. Ed and Mr. Bean.
I can't remember exactly where in the filing I found this, but I was tremendously happy to find it last Sunday:
I wouldn't consider myself a super-fan of Mr. Show. I didn't really find it funny when I originally saw on HBO or when my friends would watch it. When it was on HBO, I thought the humor was over my head. When I originally watched it with my friends, I thought I had to be high to get the humor. Luckily, I gave the show another shot a few years ago and I finally appreciated the dark/twisted/meta humor Bob and David did.
Since What Happened? is billed as a behind-the-scenes look at the show, I figured there would be some interesting stories about the difficulty in doing a show like it. Reading about the struggles of making something fascinates me. Stories like these are healthy reminders about how creativity can be incredibly difficult, even for the people you look up to. It's a story I often read about, and I don't seem to get tired of.
Thinking I'd find out some more wisdom and background on the show, I looked and looked during my frequent trips to this great used bookstore chain in the world. I stopped looking at online retailers quite a while ago, figuring that people were asking too much for it. I wanted to hold a copy in my hands and see if it was truly worth buying.
Quickly thumbing through this copy on Sunday, I knew I had struck gold. Like when I finally found that five-LP set of Bruce Springsteen live material earlier in the year, there was a sense of relief finding something in good shape and for a decent price.
Three years is a long-ass time to look for something particular, but when I'm determined to find something, I'm quite sure I will find it. Of course, I do wonder, "What next?"
I wasn't sure how the book would be filed: "Mi" for mister or "Mr" for Mr? Repeat trips to the section found me looking a plethora of Monty Python-related books as well as books on Mr. Ed and Mr. Bean.
I can't remember exactly where in the filing I found this, but I was tremendously happy to find it last Sunday:
Since What Happened? is billed as a behind-the-scenes look at the show, I figured there would be some interesting stories about the difficulty in doing a show like it. Reading about the struggles of making something fascinates me. Stories like these are healthy reminders about how creativity can be incredibly difficult, even for the people you look up to. It's a story I often read about, and I don't seem to get tired of.
Thinking I'd find out some more wisdom and background on the show, I looked and looked during my frequent trips to this great used bookstore chain in the world. I stopped looking at online retailers quite a while ago, figuring that people were asking too much for it. I wanted to hold a copy in my hands and see if it was truly worth buying.
Quickly thumbing through this copy on Sunday, I knew I had struck gold. Like when I finally found that five-LP set of Bruce Springsteen live material earlier in the year, there was a sense of relief finding something in good shape and for a decent price.
Three years is a long-ass time to look for something particular, but when I'm determined to find something, I'm quite sure I will find it. Of course, I do wonder, "What next?"
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