Howard Stern Comes Again

Reviews / Votes

"[A] hefty all-star tutorial on the art of the interview... It's the intimacy Stern establishes with his subjects that makes this collection worthwhile."

-Janet Maslin, The New York Times "Stern's decades in radio have unquestionably honed in him the near-mystical ability to get a guest talking freely, which is much, much harder than it looks. Even stripped of his voice - a velvety purr that remains one of the great radio voices - the interviews have palpable chemistry...[The ones] with comedians and talk show hosts, it seems to me, are especially fine. Collectively they serve as an oral history of contemporary comedy in America...More important, the book implicitly raises thorny questions about responsibility, agency and forgiveness, especially in the context of #MeToo and its fraught narratives of personal downfall and potential redemption...These matters are ineluctably complex and subjective, and in this, at least, Howard Stern Comes Again is perfectly of its time."

-Michael Lindgren, The Washington Post "[Stern] wrote lively introductions for each interview. He also composed an introduction that is detailed and charming, autobiographical but also self-reflectively honest...It is, on a number of levels, a terrific book. Only two of its interviews (one with Trump and another with Ozzy Osbourne) are from the pre-Sirius era, when his obsession with ratings combined with his self-absorption 'didn't lend itself to doing serious interviews.' They are, as you will read, serious now. He deeply researches all of his guests and he is able to get honest emotions and genuine insights from most of them. Yes, his radio shows can still dip into tawdry territory and he remains wildly funny and provocative. His interviews sparkle."

-Rick Kogan, The Chicago Tribune "What Howard Stern Comes Again underscores for those who might only view him as the prurient Pied Piper of his early career is his evolution from self-absorbed, mean-spirited attack dog to a thoughtful enquirer with genuine interest in his interview subjects. That the book is a gorgeous compendium - a bit like a mini-coffee table construct - is testament to Stern's seriousness about the topic...Even though "Howard Stern Comes Again" emphasizes the guests who have sunk into Stern's studio couch, his voice is always prominent as a narrator and guide through these engrossing dives into the lives of others...[R]eading these interviews instead of hearing them in their natural habitat elevates the process to a different level of engagement - wanting to guess and hope what Stern will ask next (and this is a guy who isn't afraid to delve)."

-Melissa Ruggieri, Atlanta Journal Constitution "The real story isn't about how Howard Stern had changed; it's about how he helped us change, making American culture a kinder and more soulful place by displaying the same passionate commitment to truth-telling that once burned brightly in the old Hebrew prophets...The prophets have always lived among the people they sought to sway back toward righteousness. Comport yourself as my moral and intellectual better, and I'll either shrug my shoulders and ignore you or contemplate giving you the finger; speak to me like an equal, and I'll listen. Stern the equalizer is on display on every page of his terrific new book. The move from audio to print does nothing to rob his conversations with the mighty-Madonna and Colbert, Paul McCartney and Joan Rivers, Amy Schumer and Donald Trump-of their energy and intimacy. Instead, they now read like a hopeful historical transcript, a steady stream of irrefutable grace amid an increasingly barren cultural terrain."

-Liel Leibovitz, Tablet Magazine