''Lenny Bruce is Dead'' is the first book by author and

radio presenter A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host, and in India and Pakistan as a rad ...

Jonathan Goldstein. The story follows a lead character, Josh, through various events in his life, including a death in the family and his exploration of sexuality. The novel includes multiple themes, such as love, faith, a

dysfunctional family A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often child neglect or abuse and sometimes even all of the above on the part of individual parents occur continuously and regularly, leading other members to accommodate suc ...

, and wavering

faith Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". Religious people often ...

. Its title is a direct quote of the first line of the song "Lenny Bruce" by

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

(from his 1981 album

Shot of Love ''Shot of Love'' is the 21st studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on August 12, 1981, by Columbia Records. It is considered to be Dylan's last of a trilogy of Christian albums. Arrangements are rooted more in rock, a ...

References

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Lenny Bruce Is Dead'' 2001 Canadian novels Novels about dysfunctional families Cultural depictions of Lenny Bruce 2001 debut novels