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What This Comedian Said Will Shock You

About The Book

The hilarious and controversial host of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher has written his funniest, most opinionated, and most necessary book ever—a brilliantly astute and acerbically funny vivisection of American life, politics, and culture.

Some of the smartest commentary about what’s happening in America is coming from a comedian—this comedian being Bill Maher. If you want to understand what’s wrong with this country, it turns out that one of the best informed and most thought-provoking analysts is this very funny pothead.

The book was inspired by the “editorial” Bill delivers at the end of each episode of Real Time. These editorials are direct-to-camera sermons about culture, politics, and what’s happening in the world. To put this book together, Maher reviewed more than a decade of his editorials, rewriting, reimagining, and updating them, and adding new material to speak exactly to the moment we’re in. Free speech, cops, drugs, race, religion, the generations, cancel culture, the parties, the media, show biz, romance, health—Maher covers it all. The result is a hugely entertaining work of commentary about American culture in the tradition of Mark Twain, Will Rogers, and H. L. Mencken.

About The Author

© Home Box Office, Inc./Photographer: Kevin Kwan

Before hosting Real Time on HBO for the last twenty-one years, Bill Maher created and hosted Politically Incorrect on ABC. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster (May 21, 2024)
  • Length: 400 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781668051405

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Raves and Reviews

"For fans, the book is a welcome reminder of Maher’s funniness, his intelligence, his sanity....Maher’s observations are often as cutting as they’re well-written [and] come from a place of wit and education and work well bundled together as a book."—New York Post

"Maher’s style...is funny but not hyperbolic, challenging but not confrontational, and urgent but not in your face. That formula has served Maher well throughout his career, and it serves him well in this book."—Booklist

"His wittiest and most incisive book yet...he writes sharp critiques on American life, politics, and culture. From covering free speech and cancel culture to race and religion, Maher manages to dissect the most controversial of topics in a way that is both funny and digestible."—Air Mail

“The least boring book I’ve ever read.”—John Cleese

“This book is so funny you may not notice how smart it is. The only thing that will make you want to put it down is to take a moment to tell someone else about it.”—Donna Brazile

“I love Bill Maher. He’s often brilliant, occasionally maddening but unfailingly original. He’s the unfiltered, hilarious voice we desperately need during these batshit-crazy times.”—Katie Couric

“Whether you agree or disagree with him—and I do both—Bill Maher had proven himself to be an illuminating force in a world that values heat over light. His is a vital voice, keeping the left honest and calling the right to account for itself before the bar of reason and of decency. I’d say ‘thank God for Bill,’ but he doesn’t believe in God. So I’ll just say thanks.”—Jon Meacham

Resources and Downloads

High Resolution Images

  • Author Photo (jpg): Bill Maher
    © Home Box Office, Inc./Photographer: Kevin Kwan
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