It’s Garry Shandling’s Book

Director and producer Apatow shares personal insights into the life and career of his late friend, comedian Garry Shandling, in this heartfelt and humorous illustrated biography. Comprised of a judicious selection of “photos, jokes, journals, script pages [and] interviews” that Shandling had collected, the book begins with Shandling’s 1950s childhood, when he described himself as “The Only Jew in Tucson,” and ends in 2016 with his death from a pulmonary embolism at 66. Marked-up scripts and jokes—as well as quotes from such comedians as Sarah Silverman, Jay Leno, and Bob Saget—offer a window into Shandling’s approach to scripted humor. The unfiltered image of Shandling is often moving, as in a letter Shandling had written to his brother Barry years after Barry’s death at a young age from cystic fibrosis. Apatow includes the last text messages Shandling had sent—including one to the driver who was to take him to a doctor the day he died. Even casual viewers of his two TV shows, It’s Garry Shandling’s Show and The Larry Sanders Show, which mocked the conventions of the sitcom and the late night talk show, are likely to gain a deeper appreciation of the comic genius behind them. Fans of the self-deprecating Shandling will delight in Apatow’s collected remembrances. (Nov.)