Kevin Smith

This weekend, in between running a marathon, I read Silent Bob Speaks: The Collected Writing of Kevin Smith. It is exactly what the title says it is, a collection of Smith's essays and articles that have been printed and posted on various websites, including his own. Whether or not you like this book is almost certainly going to depend on whether or not you like Kevin Smith and his movies. Between his films and the commentary tracks he records for the DVDs, I got a good sense the Smith is a wise cracking, funny, and very likeable guy. He is very regular, like your buddy from high school, you know the funny guy who smoked too much but made everyone laugh. That's the feeling I have of Smith and because of this, and the dialogue and humor in his movies, I am probably more inclined to like his work even if it is being bashed everywhere else.

With that said, I really liked this book. Much of what is included can be found somewhere else for free and those who are obsessive about Smith have likely already read it...so in that sense there is nothing new here except for maybe one article that wasn't published but was supposed to be. But I haven't read any of these (except for the Jersey Girl production diary), so it's all new to me.

It's funny, honest (brutally at times), and like his movies and commentary tracks (as well as how he comes off in An Evening With Kevin Smith), I think that Smith's personality comes off very well here. And yes, Smith is as full of praise for Ben Affleck as he always is, only this time you get just a little bit more of a reason and how Affleck is a very decent man (no matter what one thinks of his movies, and to be honest, I don't mind Affleck, though I prefer Damon).

It's almost a book that reviews itself because if you don't like Kevin Smith you won't like the book and if you do, you probably will and already plan on reading it.