cover image The Guy Under The Sheets: The Unauthorized Autobiography

The Guy Under The Sheets: The Unauthorized Autobiography

Chris Elliot. Blue Rider Press, $26.95 256 pages ISBN 978-0-399-15840-7

Comedian and author Elliot's fictionalized comic autobiography tells the story of simple-minded misfit who somehow manages to end up a celebrity. In real-life the son of legendary comedian Bob Eliott, Chris presents his alter-ego as the product of a marriage between caricatured versions of actors Bette Davis and Sam Elliott. The adventures of make-believe Chris include a shipwreck, a stint on a desert island, and run-ins with the Mafia. Woven into the fantasy are fragments of the real-life Elliot's career, from his days doing comedy improv to his appearances on Late Night with David Letterman. With its relentless scatology and show-biz-insider mockery, the book isn't for everyone. It's hard to know what to make of this relentless exercise in bad taste: on the screen, Elliot certainly displays talent and imagination, but very little of either is evident here. (Oct.)