How to Talk Dirty and Influence People: An Autobiography

Lenny Bruce, the scathing and hilarious social satirist and comedian, died in 1966 at age 40 of a morphine overdose. During the course of a career that began in the late 1940s, he challenged the sanctity of organized religion and other societal and political conventions he perceived as having hypocritical tendencies, and widened the boundaries of free speech. His performances were intensely controversial for both the subject matter and the vocabulary employed, and his fight for the freedom of expression has made possible the work of subsequent generations of provocative performers. Critic Ralph Gleason said, "So many taboos have been lifted and so many comics have rushed through the doors Lenny opened. He utterly changed the world of comedy."