Digging Up Mother: A Love Story by Doug Stanhope

(hb; 2016: memoir)

From the inside flap

“Doug Stanhope is one of the most critically acclaimed and stridently unrepentant comedians of his generation. What will surprise some is that he owes so muchof his dark and sometimes uncomfortably honest sense of humor to his mother, Bonnie. It was the cartoons in her Hustler magazine issues that molded the beginnings of his comedic journey, long before he was old enough to know what to do with the actual pornography. It was Bonnie who recited Monty Python sketches with him, who introduced him to Richard Pryor at nine years old, and who rescued him from a psychologist when he brought the brand of humor to school. And it was Bonnie who took him along to all of her AA meetings, where Doug undoubtedly found inspiration for his own storytelling.

“Bonnie’s own path from bartending to truck driving, massage therapy, elder abuse, stand-up comedy, and acting never stopped her from being Doug’s genuine number one fan. So when her alcoholic, hoarding life came to an end many weird adventures later in Arizona, it was inevitable that Doug and Bonnie would be together for one last excursion.

“Digging Up Mother follows Doug’s absurd, chaotic, and often obscene life as it intersects with that of his best friend, biggest fan, and love of his life─his mother. And it all starts with her death. . .”

Review

Like Stanhope’s often harsh, honest and X-rated humor, Digging is not for those who are easily offended by sex, drugs and human-based darkness. While his jokes─often sourced in real-life experiences─possess such qualities, they also have an underlying sense of decency and compassion that make them truly funny and resonant, even if they are disturbing.

The first hundred pages, about Stanhope’s serial debaucheries and upbringing, are more serious than funny. (He did not get into stand-up until later in life, relatively speaking.) That is not to say it is worth reading, far from it─it is a focused, blunt and engaging read that spares no one, especially Stanhope himself. This is a worthwhile read that effectively interweaves bleak humor, touching dedication and gravitas about our baseline impulses and graces.