"Jokes My Father Never Taught Me" by Rain Pryor

As a child, I disliked reading my oldest sister's books. She would black out any cuss words, such as hell or darn and I would be left wondering exactly what a sentence said. She seemed to do this even if the offending word was used to describe a donkey or mending clothes. She would have a field day with her black marker if she read: "Jokes My Father Never Taught Me: Life, Love, and Loss with Richard Pryor". If you are like my sister and do not approve of colorful language, this book is not for you. For everyone else and those that do not approve of censorship, it is an honest look at Richard Pryor as seen through the eyes of his daughter, Rain Pryor.

In September, 1967, Richard Pryor walked on stage to a sold-out crowd in the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas and froze. He spoke his thoughts into the microphone and walked off stage. The gist of those 5 words are explained by Rain: "Onstage, he was a black man, a funny black man, but deep down he was a Nigger with a capital N. An Angry Nigger". If I were like my sister, I would black that word out of the book. I loathe to use that quote, but that word it is part of Pryor's story and Rain's as well. Walking offstage that day, might have spelled death to other up and coming comedians, but it was the catalyst for Pryor's later success. Call it truth in humor.

Rain Pryor has inherited her father's talent for telling the truth and making you laugh at the same time. "Jokes My Father Never Taught Me" continues with her dad meeting her mother in a Los Angeles bar. She was dancing and he was writing. When he told her he was writing comedy, she mentioned seeing him on the Ed Sullivan show and said she admired him for walking off the stage in Las Vegas. Richard and Shelley, a blue-eyed, blonde Jewish woman were soon married giving birth to Rain in 1969. Their marriage was as turbulent as the times; Richard was soon gone and Rain did not meet her now famous dad until she was 4 years old.

Those 4 years were turbulent for Rain, as well. Shelley left her with the Jewish grandparents for a while as she struggled to find herself and establish her own career in the entertainment industry. She soon brought Rain to New York City "to take another stab at motherhood, even if it killed her." Rain tells us: "As night fell, she would pull herself together to go to work, as a dancer~because Jewish girls don't use the word stripper~and Miles Davis would come downstairs to babysit. Yes, that Miles Davis." Those days were early fodder for the later adult Rain's truth in humor and bittersweet memories.

Rain was soon back in Los Angeles. Shelley finally got Richard to agree to a visit to meet his daughter. That day in 1973 was the start of Rain developing a relationship with her father. It was also the day she met her half-sister, Elizabeth and step-brother, Richard, Jr. Elizabeth's mom was also white and Jewish, but never married to Richard. Rain also became acquainted with a party lifestyle that included alcohol, drugs, current and former entertainers as well as ex and current wives and girlfriends. Even when currently married, all the ladies seemed to accept each other and the presence of "whores". What an education for a child! The ladies were also very forgiving of Richard's use of physical violence.

"Jokes My Father Never Taught Me" is a 210 page turner with never a dull moment. Rain, with the help of Cathy Crimmins, takes readers on a journey that ends with Richard Pryor's death due to multiple sclerosis in December 2005. Jokes her father never taught her, include child abuse (Richard apologized later in life for beating her), sexual molestation, (she never told her mother), self-esteem and identity issues. I recommend the book for those reasons or to anyone who enjoyed Richard Pryor's comedy. The book will make you laugh and might bring some tears to emotional types. It also has a great selection of photos.

"Jokes My Father Never Taught Me" was copyrighted in 2006 by Rain Pryor and published by Harper Collins Publishers. It is available online for $24.95 from Harper Collins. Visit Rain Pryor dot com for more information on her career.

After visiting Africa, Richard Pryor stopped using the N-word. In a 1982 comedy routine he said, in part: "that's a word that describes our own wretchedness...that word is dead, we men and women, we come from the first people on the earth, ya know, the first people on the earth were black people, 'cause anthropologists, white anthropologists (Pryor pauses, changes his voice, looking to the side) so the white people go, 'that could be true, you know'..." Source: Richard Pryor on the N word