About the Audio          

CD Track List 

Prologue: When Outlaws Become Heroes        

      People v. Bruce           

      The Living Dead          

      Explanations    

1.  Comedy as Commentary         

     Obscenity or Blasphemy?        

     From Godfrey to Gazunka!      

     No Laughing Matter    

2.  The Force of an Opinion          

     Aiding and Abetting     

     Sweet Victory or Disaster?      

     Withhold Judgment      

3.  Free Speech in North Beach    

     Holy Howl       

     What Kindava Show Is It?       

     You Break It Down by Talking about It           

     Quickie Trial    

     Inviting Contempt        

     You Can’t Win a Case Based on “Cocksucker”           

     The Letter of the Law  

     Reasonable Doubt       

     A Throw-Away Line?  

     Judge and Jury 

4.  L.A. Story       

     Eye Candy      

     Building Up to The Crescendo 

     Trouble at The Troubadour      

     Beverly Hills Justice     

     Strategies, Satire, and Schizophrenia    

5.  Chicago: The Ash Wednesday Trial     

     The Gate of Horn        

     “He Mocks the Pope” 

     Legal Problems Galore

     The Right to Make a Fool of Oneself   

     Lenny the Lawyer        

     Essential Attacks         

     Foiled Again    

     Double Jurisdictional Jeopardy 

     “We the Jury Find…”  

     Love Letters    

     The Great Trio 

     Appealing Arguments   

     “There Were Adult Women Present”   

6.  What Does It Mean to Be Found

     Obscene in New York?           

     The Man from Outer Taste      

     Mr. First Amendment  

     Going to Au Go Go     

     The Sting         

     More Heat      

     “Get Me Somebody Who Swings with the First Amendment”   

     Make-It-or-Break-It Proceedings        

     The Sick Comedian     

     Poetic License 

7.  The Courtroom of the Absurd: New York, Part II        

     Standing Room Only    

     Burt Lancaster for the Prosecution       

     Where Do We Go from Here? 

     Religions, Inc.  

     Curtain Call at The Cork ’n Bib           

     An Anthro-Lingual-Philo-Jurisprudential Scene 

     Esteemed Enthusiasts   

     Attacking the Person and Performance 

8.  Court Adjourned: New York, Part III  

     Gifts From on High      

     A Cast of Critics          

     Censorship Debate and Courtroom Drama       

     Playing the Court         

     A Court Opinion Unfit to Be Printed    

     Victory in Illinois          

     Civil Rights and Uncivil Words 

     “The Jew Is Not Remorseful”   

     Island Retreat  

9.  The Path to Vindication

     High Hopes, Painful Flops        

     White Christmas          

     “For My Part, Go to Hell”       

     The Specter of a Rebel

     “I’m Going to Die This Year”   

     The Wisdom of Solomon         

10. The Resurrection of Lenny Bruce: 1966–1974 

      Icon and Irony 

      Essentially Yours               

      Making Book  

      The Play’s the Thing    

      Leaving London           

      Man of the Moment     

      “He Sees the Law as a Weapon”         

      Old Foes, New Battles, and Artists      

      The Ghost of Lenny Bruce       

      “Feminists Here Split Over an Endorsement of Kuh”    

      Tempers, Gentlemen    

      Wide Margins  

      Cinematic Justice         

11. Ex Officio Judgments   

      Lenny’s Legacy           

      Outlaw?          

      Community Standards, Then and Again

      “Perhaps It Has Been My Fault”          

      Taking the Fifth

      Who Killed Lenny Bruce?        

Epilogue: Only Words  

      Free Speech Zones      

      Coming Out of the Free Speech Closet

      “We Want It Stopped”

      “I’m Not a Comedian, I’m Lenny Bruce”         

Appendix A: The Lawyers, Judges, and Club Owners  

Appendix B: A Free Speech Chronology         

Notes  

Bibliography    

Index   

Credits

Acknowledgments