Entrances and Exits

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

As seen on The Today Show, The View, and Jesse Watters

The man who brought the kavorka to the Seinfeld show through one of the most remarkable and beloved television characters ever invented, Kramer, shares the extraordinary life of a comedy genius—the way he came into himself as an artist, the ups and downs as a human being, the road he has traveled in search of understanding.

“The hair, so essential, symbolizes the irrational that was and is and always will be the underlying feature not only of Kramer but of comedy itself. This seemingly senseless spirit has been coursing through me since childhood. I’ve been under its almighty influence since the day I came into this world. I felt it all within myself, especially the physical comedy, the body movements, so freakish and undignified, where I bumped into things, knocked stuff down, messed up situations, and often ended up on my ass.

“This book is a hymn to the irrational, the senseless spirit that breaks the whole into pieces, a reflection on the seemingly absurd difficulties that intrude upon us all. It’s Harpo Marx turning us about, shaking up my plans, throwing me for a loop. Upset and turmoil is with us all the time. It’s at the basis of comedy. It’s the pratfall we all take. It’s the unavoidable mistake we didn’t expect. It’s everywhere I go. It’s in the way that I am, both light and dark, good and not-so-good. It’s my life.”

—Michael Richards, from Entrances and Exits

About the Author :
Michael Richards is a three-time Emmy Award–winning actor best known for playing Cosmo Kramer on the classic TV series Seinfeld, which continues to stream around the world more than twenty-five years after filming its final episode. He has starred in numerous movies, TV shows, and theater productions. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and son.

Review :
“Pleas for forgiveness can get boring. Entrances and Exits is something else: an accounting of a life and the performances that go into it, for better and worse.” “Entrances and Exits…is a well-written memoir that pulls back the curtain on Seinfeld like never before, with Richards, 74, utilizing four decades worth of journals to meticulously reveal a behind the scenes look at one of television’s most successful comedies as well as the curation and backstory of his iconic Cosmo Kramer character…. The book itself is unflinching in its examination of celebrity, with Richards detailing the inferiority and self-doubt he often dealt with despite the success as well as what he learned following an infamous on stage outburst at The Laugh Factory in 2006, which caused him to both retreat from the spotlight and reflect.” “In his new autobiography, Entrances and Exits, Richards charts the path through his early career as an aspiring actor, comedian, and spiritual seeker in the 1960s and 1970s, to his first major small-screen foray with the early-Eighties sketch comedy show Fridays (which also happened to be his first collaboration with writer and future Seinfeld co-creator Larry David), to the creation of Kramer and his ascension to a household name.… And indeed, the story of Michael Richards is one of humor and anger, good and ill, rise and fall. There’s a light to it and a dark to it.” “His brand new book—it’s excellent—Entrances and Exits—his recall of his life is just phenomenal, brings us back to his military days, his growing up days—anything but easy—as well as his Seinfeld days. If you love Seinfeld, you will love the insight he brings.” “Other celebrity books are full of anecdotes that have mostly been told ad nauseam on talk shows and interviews over the years. But chapter after chapter, Richards’ book is littered with stories about his time before, during, and after Seinfeld that feel genuinely fresh—even for obsessive fans of that series.” “It is really good to see you after all these years. You know, sometimes we walk, and we step in stuff, and it happens, and it happens! And it happens to all of us. And so, you took yourself away, and did a lot of work on yourself, and welcome back. That’s what I want to say. Welcome back.” “Reading Michael Richard’s new book. I’m 100 pages in and it’s already the best show biz autobiography I’ve ever read.”