Yearbook by Seth Rogen
‘I’ve thought about starting a business where I sell prosthetic foreskins to Jews so they can feel what it would have been like to have non-Jew junk. It would be called Gentile Genitals and it would make a fortune.’
YEAR BOOK
Yearbook is a collection of true stories that Seth desperately hopes are just funny at worst, and life-changingly amazing at best. (he understands that it’s likely the former, which is a fancy “book” way of saying “the first one.”)
He hopes you’ll enjoy the book should you buy it, and if you don’t enjoy it, he’s sorry. If you ever see him on the street and explain the situation, he’ll do his best to make it up to you.
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| Courtesy of Penguin Random House CA |
Vancouver born funny man, Seth Rogen. What an icon!
I absolutely loved Superbad, which Seth co-wrote a draft for when he was 13. He’s also in comedy classics like Pineapple Express, This is the End, Sausage Party (in which he was a frankfurter), Neighbors 2, and many more. He’s also produced a whole slew of movies, and has done a ton of other work.
Well, this funny guy just released a new book. Yearbook hit the shelves this month, and I’m so excited to review it. Penguin just sent me a copy, and like a kid on Christmas day, I tore open that packaging like there was no tomorrow.
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| Courtesy of Penguin Random House CA |
One thing I loved right off the bat about the book was the cover design. It hit me right away, and if I hadn’t been sent a copy for review, I would have purchased the book just for the cover, even if it wasn’t Seth’s book.
The art director on the cover project was Chris Brand, and the illustration was done by Todd James.
Wanting the full experience, I couldn’t have the hard copy without the audiobook, though, so I purchased that from Kobo. The audiobook cast features more than 80 voices (holy crap), including cameos by his mum and dad, Nick Kroll, Jay Pharoah, Jason Sega, Billy Idol, Simon Helberg, Tommy Chong, and others.
So this review is for both the hard copy book and audiobook, which is about 6 hours in length. Quite short for an audiobook, but I don’t mind since most of my audiobooks lately have been between the 10-12 hour mark.
So with that, I was ready to get lost for the next 6 hours. See you on the flip side!
The first chapter ‘Buddy and Zaidy’ talks about Seth’s grandparents. When talking about them, he says ‘they just didn’t seem that into me.’ He thought they liked his older sister more, stating ‘they were just nicer to her, which didn’t bug me that much, because I didn’t love spending time with them. They were simultaneously tough and eccentric.’
When checking into a hotel-like residence on the road with his mom he’s met by the host who says something in Hebrew: “Shalom! Baruch Falafel Latke!”
Not really that, but that’s the extent of Seth’s Hebrew. At that point I was dying with laughter.
This would have been a totally different experience without the audiobook, so I one hundred percent recommend getting the audiobook as well. It’s hilarious. Seth’s comedy really shines through. I laughed from start to finish.
I listened to it in one go, like a 6-hour-long Seth Rogen stand-up comedy set. Except I didn’t have to leave the house and could stay in my pyjamas. It was brilliant. I didn’t regret one second of it. I wanted another 6 hours. I could have done the whole book again. In fact, I probably will again in the future.
It’s clear that not only humour comes naturally to Seth, but writing does, too. This book was like a little comedy bible. It was everything I expected it to be, and more. Before the book came out, I thought there would be a lot of pictures with captions, and that would be it… But instead, there’s a lot of writing and actually not a lot of pictures. It was awesome because I felt like I got to know Seth more as a person, rather than just another character in a movie.
When talking about school, it’s hilarious to think of him at Point Grey secondary, roaming around Kerrisdale, which is so close to where I live. Thinking of him at the 711 where I’ve been so many times, him faking a seizure while his friends stuffed their pockets with stolen goods. ‘The manager realized I was fucking with him. That got me banned for a week, which, in retrospect, was a pretty light punishment,’ he says in the book.
Seth talks about the first time getting high, and buying weed at Wreck Beach in Vancouver, ‘we went over to a tall, leathery dude, who was completely naked except for a Fanny pack, which was covering the top two thirds of his penis, leaving the other third of his penis and his testicles dangling below.’ I won’t say much more aside from the fact that this describes Wreck beach perfectly. It’s a beautiful beach, but there’s definitely no shortage of balls.
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| Courtesy of Houseplant |
Getting high is ‘additive to my journey. It makes getting from here to there manageable and comfortable,’ he says. His first time smoking weed in Amsterdam was a bit wild with him feeling ‘Like a monkey touching that obelisk in 2001. It was the future and my brain was NOT ready for it.’
Seth has his own cannabis brand now. It’s called Houseplant. Their mission statement: ‘We celebrate weed because we truly believe that it is a plant unlike any other and that feeling of reverence goes into everything we do. We want to give weed the treatment that it deserves.’
If you live in Vancouver, you absolutely need this book. It’s so funny to think of Seth walking the streets he grew up in, the streets we live in. I absolutely loved this book. It brought me so much joy. Just a pleasure to read.
I liked Seth Rogen before this book, but I freaking LOVED him afterwards. Yearbook was an absolute trip. One of the funniest books I’ve ever read.
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| Courtesy of Seth's Instagram |
Seth Rogen is an actor, writer, producer, director, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. In 2012, Rogen and his wife, Lauren Miller-Rogen, founded HFC, a national nonprofit organization which funds research and provides care for families coping with Alzheimer’s.