Free Press Acquires Posthumous Carlin Memoir

By Rachel Deahl -- Publishers Weekly, 7/14/2009 2:00:00 PM

Simon & Schuster's Free Press imprint has acquired George Carlin's memoir, Last Words. Carlin, who died in June 2008, had been working on the book, with writer Tony Hendra, for the last decade. Hendra, a founding editor of National Lampoon magazine and author of his own memoir, Father Joe, got permission to publish the book from Carlin's family.

Unlike Carlin's three previous comedy titles--When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?, Brain Droppings, and Napalm and Silly Putty--Last Words will focus on Carlin's own story and the 50 years he spent as a working comic. In a release from S&S, Carlin's manager and close friend, Jerry Hamza, noted that, despite his in-your-face stage persona, Carlin was famously private and "nobody knew much about [his life]." Agent Jonathan Lazear brokered the deal with Free Press v-p and editor-in-chief, Dominick V. Anfuso; the deal was for world rights, audio and first serial. Publication is set for November 17.