Don Rickles

The Merchant of Venom

By: Michael Seth Starr

Narrated by: Johnny Heller

Riding a wave of success that lasted more than sixty years, Don Rickles is best known as the "insult" comic who skewered presidents, royalty, celebrities, and friends and fans alike. But there was more to "Mr. Warmth" than a devilish ear-to-ear grin and lightning-fast put-downs. Rickles was a loving husband, an adoring father who suffered a devastating loss, and a loyal friend to the likes of Bob Newhart and Frank Sinatra. Sex, race, religion, nationality, physical appearance, political leanings—nothing and no one was safe from the "Planned Parenthood Poster Boy," as Johnny Carson referred to him.

The Merchant of Venom traces Don Rickles's career from his rise in the 1950s to a late-in-life resurgence thanks to the Toy Story franchise, his role in Martin Scorsese's Casino, and scores of TV appearances from Carson to Seth Meyers. In the intervening decades, Rickles conquered every medium he worked in, including film, television, and on stage. He was idolized by a generation of younger comedians including Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, and Jay Leno, and performed in the shadow of a shocking open secret: he was the nicest man in town.

An in-depth portrait of the personal and singular professional life of Don Rickles, The Merchant of Venom delivers a hilarious, moving, and long-overdue look at the real man behind the sting.

©2022 Michael Seth Starr (P)2022 Tantor

Funniest Man!!!

Brought tears to my eyes!!!
Loved that guy!
There will be only one Don Rickles

The true heartwarming story of Don

Nothing i disliked
Hence the 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
So if your teetering on whethering to get the book. Get it!

Great, but could have been even greater!

Previous generations of my family absolutely *LOVED* Don Rickles. My earliest memories of him were from the watching the Dean Martin Roasts with my great uncle and great aunt.

This story was very good and included a lot of information about his early years, but it quickly tapered off after the 1970s. I was hoping for a lot more information and context about his new-age/present-day relationships and roles (Leno, Letterman, Toy Story, etc).

In defense of…

While giving the author full credit for his fact-gathering to ensure that this spans Don’s entire career, more often than not, this comes off more like a compilation of articles/reviews from Variety or the Hollywood Reporter than a deep-delving bio. It is also apparent that the author is a diehard fan, because he refuses to delve into criticism of Don for very long at all, and always uses a piece of every chapter to defend Don‘s act or intentions. While I realize that Don was controversial then - and in today’s“must be politically correct or else“ culture, even more so now - it became unnecessary about halfway through the book to keep revisiting that. It became redundant – much like some of the writing in the book about other topics. The narration was solid, and his old – style, close – to – the – vest narration fit the content well.

Wonderful book!

As a lifelong fan of Rickles, I was absolutely glued to every word of this biography. Immensely enjoyable and I’ve already recommended it to multiple people.