''Napalm and Silly Putty'' is a 2001 book by comedian

George Carlin George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American comedian, actor, author, and social critic. Regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comedians of all time, he was dubbed "the dean of countercul ...

.January Magazine
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Background

This book contains much of Carlin's

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...

material. The title derives from one of the observations in the book: Carlin finds it interesting that the same race can invent something as fun and innocent as Silly Putty and something as deadly as

napalm Napalm is an incendiary mixture of a gelling agent and a volatile petrochemical (usually gasoline (petrol) or diesel fuel). The name is a portmanteau of two of the constituents of the original thickening and gelling agents: coprecipitated al ...

— the two have many similar properties. The title is also an allusion to the type of thoughts that occupy his time, saying, "on one hand I kinda like it when a lot of people die, but on the other hand, I always wonder how many unused

frequent-flyer miles A frequent-flyer program (American English) or frequent-flyer programme (British English) is a loyalty program offered by an airline. Many airlines have frequent-flyer programs designed to encourage airline customers enrolled in the program ...

they had."

Reception

The hardcover edition of ''Napalm and Silly Putty'' was on ''New York Times'' Best Seller list for 20 straight weeks. The following year, the paperback edition was published. Both editions were published by

Hyperion Books Hyperion Books can refer to: * Hachette Books, book publishing division formerly known as Hyperion Books * Disney-Hyperion, an imprint that was retained by Disney Publishing Worldwide when its division, Hyperion Books, was sold to Hachette USA publi ...

. As of April 2002, the hardcover edition had sold over 375,000 total copies.

Other versions

The audiobook was released abridged in two parts: ''Napalm and Silly Putty'' in May 2001 and ''More Napalm and Silly Putty'' in 2002. The audiobook received a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

, Carlin's fourth, in February 2002. The audiobook edition was published by HighBridge Audio, an imprint of Recorded Books.

References

External links

Google Books
{{Authority control Books by George Carlin 2001 non-fiction books Comedy books Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album