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Hollywood Causes Cancer: The Tom Green Story
For the first time, Tom Green—who shot to fame as host of MTV’s The Tom Green Show; starred in a hit movie; wrote and directed his own film, which was soundly trashed by the entertainment press; married and divorced Hollywood royalty; and suffered a very public, poignant, and even darkly comic battle with testicular cancer—tells the wild story of his unlikely journey from media darling to media punching bag and how he survived the Hollywood hype machine.
Seven years ago, Tom Green was a skateboarding fanatic who lived with his parents in Canada, worked on comedy with his friends, and dreamed of becoming a talk-show host. He was doing a public access show up north when MTV heard about him and brought him to New York to see what he could do in the big city. Tom became an instant smash, slicing up dead raccoons on stage, introducing his parents to Monica Lewinsky in the middle of the night, and pioneering a type of shocking humor that begat Jackass, Fear Factor, and other reality shows.
In the next few years, Tom starred in the hilarious Road Trip and three other movies (Freddy Got Fingered, Stealing Harvard, and Charlie’s Angels), married and divorced Drew Barrymore, and recorded his surgery for testicular cancer in a well-received, hysterical, and oddly moving documentary for MTV. But the fearless Canadian with the outrageous sense of humor, hit show, and tabloid-hyped marriage got a taste of the darker side of Hollywood, too, as the media that made him the toast of Tinseltown cut him down to size in the wake of his divorce, illness, and some professional bumps in the road.
Hollywood Causes Cancer not only tells the full story of Tom’s wildly entertaining trip to celebrity but is also an absorbing and even revelatory look at a dramatic, excessive, ruthless place called Hollywood, and how one man survived his journey into the heart of it all.
Seven years ago, Tom Green was a skateboarding fanatic who lived with his parents in Canada, worked on comedy with his friends, and dreamed of becoming a talk-show host. He was doing a public access show up north when MTV heard about him and brought him to New York to see what he could do in the big city. Tom became an instant smash, slicing up dead raccoons on stage, introducing his parents to Monica Lewinsky in the middle of the night, and pioneering a type of shocking humor that begat Jackass, Fear Factor, and other reality shows.
In the next few years, Tom starred in the hilarious Road Trip and three other movies (Freddy Got Fingered, Stealing Harvard, and Charlie’s Angels), married and divorced Drew Barrymore, and recorded his surgery for testicular cancer in a well-received, hysterical, and oddly moving documentary for MTV. But the fearless Canadian with the outrageous sense of humor, hit show, and tabloid-hyped marriage got a taste of the darker side of Hollywood, too, as the media that made him the toast of Tinseltown cut him down to size in the wake of his divorce, illness, and some professional bumps in the road.
Hollywood Causes Cancer not only tells the full story of Tom’s wildly entertaining trip to celebrity but is also an absorbing and even revelatory look at a dramatic, excessive, ruthless place called Hollywood, and how one man survived his journey into the heart of it all.
257 pages, Hardcover
First published October 12, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
August 8, 2021
misunderstood genius of our time. on an unrelated note, this book had a lot of typos
August 16, 2023
Well, I’ve only read two biographies in my life and they’re both about comedians from Canada.
April 20, 2011
People either love Tom Green or hate him. Regardless of your feelings on the man, you can’t deny the influence he’s had on our culture: Tom Green was the precursor to Jackass and the entire Youtube generation. He was doing stunt videos, street pranks, and homemade gross-out gags before everyone and their kids were uploading them to Youtube. Who knows if we would even have had 2 Girls 1 Cup without Green? Few celebrities have had such an interesting and volatile career path; Green went from the host of a cheap show Canadian community-television to one of the biggest celebrities in North America (with a #1 song, hosting gigs on SNL and a massively successful show) to box-office poison and finally obscurity. Ten years ago he was the biggest TV-star, a cultural sensation ushering in a completely unseen form of comedy; today, he’s all but forgotten, rarely even mentioned in reference.
You either love him or hate him, and I bounce between the two. I found his show aggressively stupid in a bad way, but Freddy Got Fingered, for its insanity and relentless nastiness, holds a special place in my heart. Hollywood Causes Cancer bumped me a bit further towards the “love” side of the Green dichotomy. The most surprising element about Green’s autobiography is that he doesn’t come across like a psycho, jackass or annoying moron; rather, Green reveals a different side of himself, that of a somewhat-naive, but well-intentioned man, with a lot of insecurities and emotions hiding beneath his masquerade of juvenility. Up until he was 27, Green was an unsuccessful loser living in his parent’s basement. This all changed after a TV deal with MTV, in which he shot to sudden stardom, before being hit by a quadruple-whammy of overwhelming fame, testicular cancer, divorce and one of the biggest box-office bombs of the decade.
It’s a really interesting rags to riches story and while Green isn’t as funny on paper as he is on screen, he comes across as a likable, grounded individual. He never seems to have forgotten his roots or to have let Hollywood go to his head; he hangs around with the same friends from college, supports his parents back home, and keeps his distance from the elite celebrity cliques, which he largely sees as self-absorbed, cynical and contemptuous of ordinary people. It’s this “fish-out-of-water” theme that really makes Hollywood Causes Cancer an intriguing read; Green was just a kid who wanted to goof around, never really suited for or comfortable with the Hollywood elite and business-oriented bigwigs.
Hollywood Causes Cancer is a breezy read and while there’s nothing incredibly noteworthy about it, it should satisfy anyone interested in Green’s interesting early life and rise-to-fame. I just wish a little more detail and effort was put in. At one point, Green, when talking about acting in Superstar with Will Ferrell, repeatedly refers to acting in “Super Star” with Will “Farrell”. Expect similarly sloppy writing to permeate much of the book.
You either love him or hate him, and I bounce between the two. I found his show aggressively stupid in a bad way, but Freddy Got Fingered, for its insanity and relentless nastiness, holds a special place in my heart. Hollywood Causes Cancer bumped me a bit further towards the “love” side of the Green dichotomy. The most surprising element about Green’s autobiography is that he doesn’t come across like a psycho, jackass or annoying moron; rather, Green reveals a different side of himself, that of a somewhat-naive, but well-intentioned man, with a lot of insecurities and emotions hiding beneath his masquerade of juvenility. Up until he was 27, Green was an unsuccessful loser living in his parent’s basement. This all changed after a TV deal with MTV, in which he shot to sudden stardom, before being hit by a quadruple-whammy of overwhelming fame, testicular cancer, divorce and one of the biggest box-office bombs of the decade.
It’s a really interesting rags to riches story and while Green isn’t as funny on paper as he is on screen, he comes across as a likable, grounded individual. He never seems to have forgotten his roots or to have let Hollywood go to his head; he hangs around with the same friends from college, supports his parents back home, and keeps his distance from the elite celebrity cliques, which he largely sees as self-absorbed, cynical and contemptuous of ordinary people. It’s this “fish-out-of-water” theme that really makes Hollywood Causes Cancer an intriguing read; Green was just a kid who wanted to goof around, never really suited for or comfortable with the Hollywood elite and business-oriented bigwigs.
Hollywood Causes Cancer is a breezy read and while there’s nothing incredibly noteworthy about it, it should satisfy anyone interested in Green’s interesting early life and rise-to-fame. I just wish a little more detail and effort was put in. At one point, Green, when talking about acting in Superstar with Will Ferrell, repeatedly refers to acting in “Super Star” with Will “Farrell”. Expect similarly sloppy writing to permeate much of the book.
October 3, 2007
My partner, knowing of my secret love of Tom Green, got this book for me on the cheap from the remaindered shelf of our local booksellers. It's always hard to say, when reading an autobiography, how honest the auto-biographer is being, both with his audience and with himself. That said, he may just be a very good liar, but I ended up liking Tom Green as a person as much as I like him as a comedian. The book was surprisingly un-sensational and yet seemed fairly frank. If not spectacularly literary, it wasn't totally daft either, and I didn't feel embarrassed for Tom Green for having published it. (as I kind of did for Bebe Buell, who, even with a ghostwriter, comes across in her tell-all, "Rebel Heart" as shallow, catty, and a bit sour-grapey)
That said, if I met Tom Green at a party, I feel like we could hang.
That said, if I met Tom Green at a party, I feel like we could hang.
April 28, 2009
I'm a huge fan of everything Tom Green has done and am of the mind that he is a brilliant person. This book made me appreciate him even more. Reading about how he got his start on public access television was inspiring, and it was interesting to hear where the ideas for many of the segments on his MTV show came from. After reading his memoir, I got the sense that he is an incredibly resilient and level-headed person who will continue to do innovative things.
January 30, 2009
Not really sure why Tom Green inspires such hatred in everyone I know. Its not just dislike, it is utter hatred! I happen to think he's quite funny, in a unique, inventive, dumbed-down-Andy Kaufman sort of way. His biography is really a work of the average man, who just happened to ride the MTV rocket of popularity through fame and into obscurity. This is a really good read.
March 25, 2013
Tom Green is my hero. I think he is hilarious.
I read this book and decided if Tom and I ever met- we would be friends. I know what its like to have friends take everything you do for face value.
I know what it feels like to be used.
Tom is a good person. I think he is misunderstood and taken for granted.
If you are a fan at all, or ever were- read this book.
I read this book and decided if Tom and I ever met- we would be friends. I know what its like to have friends take everything you do for face value.
I know what it feels like to be used.
Tom is a good person. I think he is misunderstood and taken for granted.
If you are a fan at all, or ever were- read this book.
July 19, 2017
Ten minutes in I already fondled my balls, checking for cancer, and genuinely laughed out loud at least twice. He lays bare how Hollywood has shaped him for better and for worse. His fluent, hilarious and illuminating approach only adds to the contrast how universally misunderstood and hard working he really is. His story is a case in point that a society with wealth and fame as their core constituents is undoubtedly not the be-all and end-all; furthermore, something to despised. Tom Green, if you read this, thanks for all the laughs you've given me since the first time I saw Freddy Got Fingered. I hope you can continue to hump dead animals with an unscathed scrotum.
March 21, 2022
Some laugh out loud funny parts, also a refreshingly honest take on what it's like to get famous when you come from a not-famous background. Reveals how confused Tom was the whole time! Still only good for TG fans.
May 17, 2018
A really easy read, especially if you’re a fan of Tom Green.
January 31, 2020
I have followed only a little work of Tom Green but I had read about his rapping and skateboarding prowess on cracked.com Wow!!! what a great autobiography. I loved it it gave me such an insight of Tom as a person and his struggles. I will definitely watch more of Tom apart from Road Trip which I had a seen a very long time ago. I am very lucky that of all the books I got a long time ago in bargain whatever I have read till now has turned out good.
I loved this book and will recommend to everyone. FYI I also breezed through this book.
People who don't read generally ask me my reasons for reading. Simply put I just love reading and so to that end I have made it my motto to just Keep on Reading. I love to read everything except for Self Help books but even those once in a while. I read almost all the genre but YA, Fantasy, Biographies are the most. My favorite series is, of course, Harry Potter but then there are many more books that I just adore. I have bookcases filled with books which are waiting to be read so can't stay and spend more time in this review, so remember I loved reading this and love reading more, you should also read what you love and then just Keep on Reading.
I loved this book and will recommend to everyone. FYI I also breezed through this book.
People who don't read generally ask me my reasons for reading. Simply put I just love reading and so to that end I have made it my motto to just Keep on Reading. I love to read everything except for Self Help books but even those once in a while. I read almost all the genre but YA, Fantasy, Biographies are the most. My favorite series is, of course, Harry Potter but then there are many more books that I just adore. I have bookcases filled with books which are waiting to be read so can't stay and spend more time in this review, so remember I loved reading this and love reading more, you should also read what you love and then just Keep on Reading.
April 9, 2009
I was one of those people that hated Freddy Got Fingered...I actually turned it off at the horse masturbation scene...in saying that I really enjoyed this book as it did give me a new perspective on Tom Green. He seems like a nice guy, a guy I would be proud to call a friend. His perspective on Hollywood was so wonderfully refreshing - I certainly developed a new liking for him. I remember when he first came out I actualy thought he was quite funny in a confrontational quirky way but he lost me on the Freddy movie. It was interesting to connect the whole Jackass phenomenon with him too, he was very gracious about their blatant plaguerism too. I grew up loving Tony Hawk and the whole untrendy outsider skateboarding culture too so I could connect with him on that level as well. I remember being 10 years old and buying a Skateboarding is not a crime sticker for my k-mart skinny board special, later graduating to a Vision deck with a Sk8 or die one...Tom Green reminded me of all of that and the awkwardness of being different - for that alone I loved this book.
October 22, 2014
I was a fan of the Tom Green Show in the 90s with its quirky story line and reality TV feel. Tom Green was not afraid to push the envelope in the world of entertainment. He sometimes would veer some unexpected paths. But behind the persona was a more complex individual and this book enables the reader to go beneath the surface and discover what most already knew.
In the book titled Hollywood Causes Cancer, Green traces his humble roots on the public airways in Canada to rise to a Hollywood A-lister star and marry Drew Barrymore.
This book is far more quirky and has a lots of insightful stories from the personal side of this Hollywood persona.
In the book titled Hollywood Causes Cancer, Green traces his humble roots on the public airways in Canada to rise to a Hollywood A-lister star and marry Drew Barrymore.
This book is far more quirky and has a lots of insightful stories from the personal side of this Hollywood persona.
May 14, 2020
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11014334
I wasn't a fan of his show, I tried to watch one episode but it was really gross. I know there is a huge marked for his kind of gross-out comedy, but it is not for me. Some of the book was funny, but for the most part it was what was shown on tv and in the tabloids.
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11014334
I wasn't a fan of his show, I tried to watch one episode but it was really gross. I know there is a huge marked for his kind of gross-out comedy, but it is not for me. Some of the book was funny, but for the most part it was what was shown on tv and in the tabloids.
January 24, 2008
I was hoping for something funnier, but it was still a good read, learning about his early days skateboarding and rapping and how his original show in Canada came to be. I still think "Freddy Got Fingered" is about as funny as anything out there. "I'm 27 years old! I think I can eat a chicken-burger if I want to!"
July 2, 2007
Funniest book ever.
October 20, 2008
Made me think of him as really pathetic and sad. His story of things like how drew barrymore ditched him and he didnt do anything about it. Oh well Tom, maybe you need to be a stronger person.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews