Tommy Chong

One would think this would be a humorous book because it is written about one of the funniest comedy teams since Wile E. Coyote & the Roadrunner...but it's not.

In fact it's quite the opposite....the fact that Tommy had 5 children by 3 different women....living with one woman (his "soul mate") and their child while still married to another woman who was raising his children (one by another relationship)...didn't impress me much.

Originally, Tommy was a R&B musician who traveled from Calgary to Vancouver to California and back....he chose to ignore his Chinese heritage to live as a Black" man.

His various bands never really made it...but he did have a contract with Motown. At one point Motown fired him for being late to a rehearsal...he was at the U.S. Treasury Dept. getting his Green Card. His bands opened for the likes of the Stones.... Tommy co-owned various R&B, Blues, & strip clubs in Canada, but eventually they closed.

He had performed some light comedy prior to meeting Richard (Cheech) Marin, but once the two of them met up with Lou Adler...the rest fell into place.

The book is by no means intellectual or comedic, but it is a plainly written, easy to read basic biography. No emotional abusive family saga that seems so prevalent with most stars who have ghost-written biographies these days.
… (mere)

This is the tale of how Tommy Chong ended up being sent to prison for selling drug pariphernalia (he sold 'tobacco' pipes through an online company), and of the personal changes he underwent and lessons he learned through the experience. Chong's version of the legal process by which he was convicted is at times transparently self-serving, and occasionally borders on paranoid conspiracy-theorization.

On the other hand, the book is surprisingly coherent, poignant, and honest. Chong does not apologize for having a self-serving perspective of how he came to be incarcerated, but the book is in part a story of his overcoming the significant (though simply human) vanity that leads to a victim identity. This story is a chronicle of Chong's transition from being a victim of circumstance to being focused on and aware of all the blessings which have come to him.

I found Chong's sense of humor, particularly about his own failures and shortcomings, refreshing and entertaining. His musings on human behavior learned through his prison experience were insightful and intelligent.

Altogether, this was an entertaining read with some good life lesson presented without getting too thick or clashing too much with the public persona that is "Chong".… (mere)