Just a Guy: Notes From A Blue Collar Life

Just a Guy:Notes From A Blue Collar Life, Bill Engvall with Alan Eisenstock, St. Martin's Press, New York, 2007


Bill Engvall amuses millions of people with his stand-up comedy and his trade-mark, "Here's Your Sign" quips. I have personally never been a huge fan of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour...I think Larry the Cable Guy tells too many fart jokes (and not much else), Foxworthy tells too many "You might be a redneck if..." jokes, and not much else, Ron White is too drunk and pretty much just tells drunk, fart, and masturbation jokes (though I did review his book...) and so forth...so I am an unlikely person to read his book.

I am glad I did. He starts in childhood and relates a variety of incidents from early childhood right up to the present. Along the way he injects a large dose of humor. He demonstrates mastery of the running joke, the call-back, and the ability to tell a story that has heart and humor while retaining the interest of the reader. He gives a lot of insight into how he became who he is today, where a lot of his humor comes from, and the path he took. He is appreciative of his family, friends, and fans. He nods to all of them. He is not above poking some light hearted fun at himself.

By the end of the book you feel you know a lot about Engvall and that he is just a good guy next door with values similar to your own, a guy who wishes he was a better parent but is doing the best he can, a guy who wishes he was a better husband but is doing the best he can, and a guy who is grateful for where he is today. Along the way you will get a lot of entertainment and if you are not careful you might even find yourself laughing out loud. I suspect that line there makes Engvall pretty happy.