From Publishers Weekly
In this sequel to Barris's 1984 (re-released in 2003) sleeper, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, the TV producer best known for his role as the wacky host of The Gong Show picks up where he left off. The misanthropic Barris can't seem to catch a break. The literary world won't accept him, the TV world has had enough, the press crucifies him for bringing TV into the gutter—and the CIA won't let him walk away from his side gig. Globetrotting at the behest of a new CIA contact, Barris continues his assassination work, this time with aplomb, quietly eliminating enemies ranging from a Mexican assassin to a Mideastern terrorist, and he finds a new love. Still, unlike Confessions, which offered a hilarious, at times unflinchingly personal examination of Barris's controversial TV career, his second attempt at "memoir" is in fact little more than a spy "novel." Luckily, Barris isn't a bad novelist. In fact, he is an accomplished, entertaining writer. But was Chuck Barris truly a CIA assassin? Part of the charm of Confessions was that Barris was cagey enough about his claim to entice readers to suspend disbelief, if not swallow the story. But with yet another memoir, many readers may find he's gone to the well once too often. Sorry, Chuck, your cover's been blown. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


From Booklist
In Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), flamboyant television producer Barris (The Gong Show) confessed to living a secret life as a hit man for the CIA. Whether his story was fact or fiction, it was a rip-roaring read, and this sequel is every bit as entertaining. It begins with Barris postponing his plans to retire from the assassination business in order to track down a Mexican terrorist, who was behind the murders of two of Barris' colleagues. Later, holed up in France, Barris comes up against a crooked biochemist bent on world domination. And so on. Although marketed as a memoir, the book reads like one of those thrillers that incorporate real events. But sometimes even the real stuff gets garbled, as when Barris claims that in 1978 he envied Oprah Winfrey and Tom Hanks, even though Oprah's talk show didn't go on the air until the mid-1980s, and Hanks was still doing regional theater in 1978. But who cares? So the book isn't believable as autobiography. It's a lot of fun anyway. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
Good killers are hard to find. But the CIA has no trouble finding the legendary TV producer and game show king Chuck Barris. In Bad Grass Never Dies, Barris picks up the fast-paced intrigue in Hollywood, where his emotional life lies in ruins, his career careens out of control, and he can't get a break anyplace he turns. Then one day a high-ranking CIA boss appears unannounced on Barris' doorstep. The CIA needs the cooperation of a Mexican terrorist, and Barris is ordered to recruit the killer as a paid assassin. Complicating matters is the fact that this same assassin is responsible for the death of two of Barris' fellow operatives. What's to prevent him from facing the same fate on arrival in Mexico? Barris' beguiling humor and a crack-shot taxi driver hold the answer. The stakes continue to build in this eagerly awaited sequel from the author who dazzled and amused readers-and later movie audiences-with the publication of his first book of memoirs, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Good killers are hard to find. But the CIA has no trouble finding the legendary TV producer and game show king Chuck Barris. In Bad Grass Never Dies, Barris picks up the fast-paced intrigue in Hollywood, where his emotional life lies in ruins, his career careens out of control, and he can't get a break anyplace he turns. Then one day a high-ranking CIA boss appears unannounced on Barris' doorstep. The CIA needs the cooperation of a Mexican terrorist, and Barris is ordered to recruit the killer as a paid assassin. Complicating matters is the fact that this same assassin is responsible for the death of two of Barris' fellow operatives. What's to prevent him from facing the same fate on arrival in Mexico? Barris' beguiling humor and a crack-shot taxi driver hold the answer. The stakes continue to build in this eagerly awaited sequel from the author who dazzled and amused readers - and later movie audiences - with the publication of his first book of memoirs, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

In this sequel to Barris's 1984 (re-released in 2003) sleeper, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, the TV producer best known for his role as the wacky host of The Gong Show picks up where he left off. The misanthropic Barris can't seem to catch a break. The literary world won't accept him, the TV world has had enough, the press crucifies him for bringing TV into the gutter-and the CIA won't let him walk away from his side gig. Globetrotting at the behest of a new CIA contact, Barris continues his assassination work, this time with aplomb, quietly eliminating enemies ranging from a Mexican assassin to a Mideastern terrorist, and he finds a new love. Still, unlike Confessions, which offered a hilarious, at times unflinchingly personal examination of Barris's controversial TV career, his second attempt at "memoir" is in fact little more than a spy "novel." Luckily, Barris isn't a bad novelist. In fact, he is an accomplished, entertaining writer. But was Chuck Barris truly a CIA assassin? Part of the charm of Confessions was that Barris was cagey enough about his claim to entice readers to suspend disbelief, if not swallow the story. But with yet another memoir, many readers may find he's gone to the well once too often. Sorry, Chuck, your cover's been blown. (July) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews