"I ain't funny. I'm a serious mother."

Richard Pryor, the pioneering African-American comedian, actor, writer and filmmaker, was born in Peoria, Illinois, and primarily raised by his father Buck, a former boxer who "radiated a hustler's tough confidence" and grandmother Marie, a tall, aggressive and enterprising woman who ran a brothel --- each possessing an extraordinary gift for instilling fear.

As a madam, Marie's motto was "Don't mess with my money," and she enforced house rules with a pistol strapped to her leg. Although she was old-school strict (reenacting scenes from his youth on stage, "Mamapleasemamapleasemamaplease!," the comic howled, attempting to dodge the disciplinarian's blows), as a churchgoing Baptist, Marie impressed upon a young Richard a strong sense of personal dignity: "Son, one thing a white man can't take away from you is knowledge --- the knowledge of who you are, which you keep separate from how other people might treat you."

"Saul's massive biography absorbingly chronicles Pryor's development as an artist... In examining three decades of Pryor's life, Saul characterizes a man who is wide-eyed and world-weary...an Icarus figure ambitiously taking flight, transcending (racial and sexual) boundaries, and discovering meaning and freedom through art and humor."

Saul's massive biography absorbingly chronicles Pryor's development as an artist --- from his early interest in movies (his cinematic heroes included Tarzan and Lash LaRue) and discovery of theater (his first taste of stardom was the small part of a servant in Rumpelstiltskin at Peoria's George Washington Carver Community Center, "the Mecca of the black community") to his small-stage performances (before Harold's Club's freewheeling, mixed-race crowd, Pryor assumed a variety of inspired characters, such as a wino and jackleg preacher), travels (gigs in Chicago, New York City, Ontario and California), notable television and film appearances (“The Merv Griffin Show,” “The Richard Pryor Special,” Lady Sings the Blues, Which Way Is Up?), recordings (...Is It Something I Said? is one of five Grammy Award-winning comedy albums) and misadventures (including being booed off stage at Las Vegas’s Sands Hotel for criticizing the Vietnam War and serving jail time for aggravated assault, use of foul language and tax evasion).

Saul's important biography sheds light on several creative collaborations, including the artist’s work with Lily Tomlin (Pryor recalls, "We had conversations that spiraled into the ozone," adding, "In minutes, we'd create enough characters to populate entire neighborhoods), Mel Brooks (writing Blazing Saddles was "particularly fitful"), Paul Mooney ("the sounding board who, after a show, rapped with Richard for hours about which lines killed and which lines died; the quick-witted conversationalist who supplied Richard's comic act with some of its most unforgettable lines") and Harry Belafonte (“A Time for Laughter: A Look at Negro Humor in America” showcased Pryor among other comics such as Dick Gregory and "Chitlin' Circuit" veteran Redd Foxx). Saul also depicts Pryor's tumultuous personal life --- his infidelities and failed marriages, abusive behavior, breakdowns, and appetites for drugs and drama.

In examining three decades of Pryor's life, Saul characterizes a man who is wide-eyed and world-weary (skeptically sizing up America after the 1960s civil rights movements), an Icarus figure ambitiously taking flight, transcending (racial and sexual) boundaries, and discovering meaning and freedom through art and humor.