''Too Fat to Fish'' is a collection of

memoirs A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...

by American comedian, radio personality and actor

Artie Lange Artie is a masculine given name, usually a diminutive of Arthur. Notable people with the given name include: People * Artie Bettles (1891–1971), Australian rules footballer * Artie Butler (born 1942), American popular music arranger, songwrite ...

. Published by

Spiegel & Grau Spiegel & Grau was originally a publishing imprint of Penguin Random House founded by Celina Spiegel and Julie Grau in 2005. On January 25, 2019, Penguin Random House announced that the imprint was being shut down and the two founders were lea ...

on November 11, 2008, the book is co-written by journalist

Anthony Bozza Anthony Bozza is a New York City-based author and journalist who has written extensively for ''Rolling Stone'' and other magazines. He is also the author of bestselling books on Eminem, AC/DC and Artie Lange. Since 2005 he has co-authored numero ...

. Lange dedicated the book to radio personality

Howard Stern Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American radio and television personality, comedian, and author. He is best known for his radio show, ''The Howard Stern Show'', which gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on terre ...

, who also writes its

foreword A foreword is a (usually short) piece of writing, sometimes placed at the beginning of a book or other piece of literature. Typically written by someone other than the primary author of the work, it often tells of some interaction between the ...

. It is said that Lange writes about his "most personal revelation" in the book. ''Too Fat to Fish'' debuted at number one on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list, holding the position for one week. A

paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) book ...

edition was released on June 2, 2009, which included a bonus chapter and alternate back cover. In 2013, Lange released his second book, '' Crash and Burn''.

Pre-release

In June 2008, five months prior to the book's release, ''Too Fat to Fish'' hit the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

list at No. 27. Chapter eight of the book, "Pig in Shit", was made available for reading, including clips of the audio book from the book's website. On November 3, the

Howard 100 News Howard 100 News was a radio news team established by American radio personality Howard Stern. The group was formed in October 2005 following Stern's announced move from regular radio to Sirius Satellite Radio in 2006. From January 2006 until Febr ...

team reported that a billboard advertising ''Too Fat to Fish'' was put up at Broadway and 54th Street in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Post-release

One day after the release of ''Too Fat to Fish'', the book topped Amazon's "Hot New Releases" list. and reached No. 8 in its "Bestsellers in Books" lists. ''Too Fat to Fish'' debuted at number one on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list, holding the position for one week. The book remained on the list's top ten for 11 weeks, and inside the top 15 for fourteen weeks. The book has received some media attention for its unusual, humorous title, based on something Lange's mother once said. It was notably referenced twice on the Top Ten List segment on the ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...

''.

Audio book

The unabridged audio book was partly read by Lange himself (6 chapters), ''The Howard Stern Show'' producer

Gary Dell'Abate Gary Patrick Angelo Dell'Abate (born March 14, 1961), also known by the nickname Baba Booey, is an American radio producer who has been the executive producer of ''The Howard Stern Show'' since 1984. His autobiography, '' They Call Me Baba Booey'' ...

, "comedian" "The Reverend" Bob Levy, and comedian

Jim Florentine James Florentine (born August 18, 1964) is an American comedian, actor, author and television personality. He is best known for co-hosting '' That Metal Show'' on VH1 Classic and voicing several characters on ''Crank Yankers'', including Sp ...

Critical reception

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' called the book "scrappy, funny, tumultuous and profane, just like its author."

Notes

External links

''Too Fat to Fish'' Official Website''Too Fat to Fish'' at Spiegel & Grau
{{Howard_Stern Show 2008 non-fiction books Comedy books Collaborative memoirs Show business memoirs Spiegel & Grau books