{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20260529T161654Z","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062309544?tag=bookfrontier-20","asin":"0062309544","authors":["Martin Short"],"book_id":"9780062309549","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/i-must-say-0062309544","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780062309549.jpg?v=20260529T161654Z%3A2026-05-29T17%3A17%3A38Z","description":"“Short’s endearing memoir is, of course, funny, but it’s also a rare thing: the tale of a genuine human being who’s thrived on planet Hollywood.” — Washington Post In this engagingly witty, wise, and heartfelt memoir, Martin Short tells the tale of how a showbiz-obsessed kid from Canada transformed himself into one of Hollywood's favorite funnymen, known to his famous peers as the \"comedian's comedian.\" Short takes the reader on a rich, hilarious, and occasionally heartbreaking ride through his life and times, from his early years in Toronto as a member of the fabled improvisational troupe Second City to the all-American comic big time of Saturday Night Live , and from memorable roles in such movies as ¡Three Amigos! and Father of the Bride to Broadway stardom in Fame Becomes Me and the Tony-winning Little Me . He reveals how he created his most indelible comedic characters, among them the manic man-child Ed Grimley, the slimy corporate lawyer Nathan Thurm, and the bizarrely insensitive interviewer Jiminy Glick. Throughout, Short freely shares the spotlight with friends, colleagues, and collaborators, among them Steve Martin, Tom Hanks, Gilda Radner, Mel Brooks, Nora Ephron, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Paul Shaffer, and David Letterman. But there is another side to Short's life that he has long kept private. He lost his eldest brother and both parents by the time he turned twenty, and, more recently, he lost his wife of thirty years to cancer. In I Must Say , Short talks for the first time about the pain that these losses inflicted and the upbeat life philosophy that has kept him resilient and carried him through. In the grand tradition of comedy legends, Martin Short offers a show-business memoir densely populated with boldface names and rife with retellable tales: a hugely entertaining yet surprisingly moving self-portrait that will keep you laughing—and crying—from the first page to the last.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9780062309549","publication_date":"20150721","publisher":"HarperCollins","slug":"i-must-say","subtitle":"My Life As a Humble Comedy Legend","title":"I Must Say"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"PER004090","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Comedy Films","score":0.729,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"PER010080","confidence_band":"medium","label":"TV Comedy","score":0.7015,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"PER010030","confidence_band":"low","label":"Television History & Criticism","score":0.6665,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"PER004090","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Comedy Films","score":0.729,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"PER010080","confidence_band":"medium","label":"TV Comedy","score":0.7015,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"PER010030","confidence_band":"low","label":"Television History & Criticism","score":0.6665,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"BIO003000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Business Lives","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BIO005000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Lives in Entertainment","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BIO022000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Women's Lives","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BIO026000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Personal Memoirs","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS006000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Canadian History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS049000","confidence_band":"high","label":"History Writing","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS058000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Women's History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"NAT024000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Nature Writing","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Comedy Films","score":0.729,"slug":"comedy-films"},{"label":"TV Comedy","score":0.7015,"slug":"tv-comedy"},{"label":"Television History & Criticism","score":0.6665,"slug":"television-history-criticism"}],"reader_fit":["Good for readers interested in comedy and showbiz memoirs","Good for fans of Martin Short or classic TV comedy history"],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Kevin James Thornton"],"book_id":"9781538783290","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781538783290.jpg?v=20260529T161654Z%3A2026-05-29T17%3A17%3A38Z","score":18.0923,"title":"Big Baby","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781538783290"},{"authors":["Jenny Lawson"],"book_id":"9780425261019","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780425261019.jpg?v=20260529T161654Z%3A2026-05-29T17%3A17%3A38Z","score":15.6634,"title":"Let's Pretend This Never Happened","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780425261019"},{"authors":["Ted Turner","Bill Burke"],"book_id":"9780446582032","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780446582032.jpg?v=20260529T161654Z%3A2026-05-29T17%3A17%3A38Z","score":15.5797,"title":"Call Me Ted","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780446582032"}],"topics":[{"evidence_refs":["keyword:my life as a humble comedy legend"],"label":"Life","score":0.1327,"slug":"life"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:comedian biography"],"label":"Biography","score":0.0768,"slug":"biography"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:tony award winner"],"label":"Award","score":0.0726,"slug":"award"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:funny"],"label":"Funny","score":0.0698,"slug":"funny"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:comedy legend"],"label":"Comedy","score":0.0447,"slug":"comedy"}],"what_you_get":["Themes: comedy, loss and resilience, show business.","Pacing: mixed tempo with quieter and high-intensity stretches.","Story elements: comedian's journey, celebrity friendships, personal tragedy."]},"llm_signals":{"confidence":0.9,"pacing":"mixed","reader_fit":["Readers interested in comedy and showbiz memoirs","Fans of Martin Short or classic TV comedy history"],"themes":["comedy","loss and resilience","show business"],"tropes":["comedian's journey","celebrity friendships","personal tragedy"]},"source_presence":{"amazon":true,"book_detail":true,"goodreads":true,"llm_signals":true,"similarity_seed":true},"stats":{"amazon_ratings_count":0,"goodreads_ratings_count":19040,"goodreads_reviews_count":2703,"quality_score":0.9672}}