I have been a Mel Brooks fan for decades, so I know quite a bit about the 95-year-old comedian’s life. I also realize that the actor, writer, producer and director is a wild and wacky entertainer. An interview with Brooks is an adventure because the simplest question could be the catalyst for a 20-minute one-man comedy sketch with two or three side trips into areas having no connection whatsoever to the original inquiry. One can never predict in what direction he might go, but certainly there will be laughter along the way.

The same can be said of Brooks’ autobiography, ALL ABOUT ME!: My Remarkable Life in Show Business. While the book lacks some discipline, the result is still a heartfelt, poignant and loving story of an improbable American life culminating in Brooks’ nomination to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2009 and the American Film Institute Life Achievement Award in 2013.

"...a heartfelt, poignant and loving story of an improbable American life... Mel Brooks has written about a life that truly epitomizes the American dream. Even at 480 pages, you will be sorry when you reach the end."

ALL ABOUT ME! begins with the birth of Melvin Kaminsky in Brooklyn in 1926. His father died of kidney disease when he was just two years old, which meant his older brothers had to work and rely on their extended family for financial support. These struggles certainly affected Brooks: “You can struggle when things are bad if you have a sense of humor. Laughter is a protest scream against death, against the long good-bye. It’s a defense against unhappiness and depression.”

Brooks probably would have attended a trade school and begun working in New York’s Garment District if it wasn’t for the events that influenced his early life. At age nine, his uncle took him to see a production of “Anything Goes” with Ethel Merman on Broadway. He was enchanted with the performance and decided that show business was his future. Five years later, he found a summer job in the Catskills, and his association with the world of entertainment began.

World War II resulted in Brooks being drafted. As he notes, “If you don’t get killed in the Army you can learn a lot.” He was trained in the artillery and stationed overseas towards the end of the war. Military service exposed him to a far greater expanse of America and opened his comedic mind to influences beyond New York. This experience inspired much of the comedy he wrote for television, movies and the theater, which had a significant impact on the genre in the second half of the 20th century.

In 1947, Brooks was working on Broadway for Benjamin Kutcher Productions. Kutcher would be his model for Max Bialystock when years later he wrote and directed the iconic movie, The Producers. One day, Brooks learned that a comedian would be performing in New York and needed to hire a writer. This began his association with Sid Caesar that lasted for a decade and led to his work on “Your Show of Shows.”

ALL ABOUT ME! captures the frenetic nature of the early days of television. For 39 weeks a year, the cast and crew of “Your Show of Shows” created a live, one-hour program that became so popular in the 1950s that companies could not meet the demand for TV sets. On many Saturday nights, changes in the script were made right up until the time the sketch was performed that evening. Brooks was now established in show business and spent one of his vacations working in Hollywood on a movie, which helped pave the way for his remarkable film career.

The book includes sections on each of Brooks’ movies, beginning with The Producers and ending with To Be or Not to Be. Even in his 90s he is working on a new film. The chapters are funny and informative with great pieces of trivia from each production recounted by Brooks in loving detail. Space prevents me from further discussion except to note that he considers The Twelve Chairs to be his favorite film, and I am in complete agreement with him on this.

Mel Brooks has written about a life that truly epitomizes the American dream. Even at 480 pages, you will be sorry when you reach the end.