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Dear Andy Kaufman, I Hate Your Guts!

“...Hilarious...You couldn't write better insults than these if you tried, and it's easy to understand why Kaufman just couldn't let them go.” — Pop Candy for USA Today

“It is not just the letters that help to make Dear Andy Kaufman a complete success. The grainy graphics and often hilarious images ultimately tie the entire book together, making it something heftier than a coffee table book but no less engaging to thumb through.” — LAist

“Collecting hundreds of angry letters written to the provocative star of Taxi and SNL, the coffee table-style book Dear Andy Kaufman, I Hate Your Guts! is a suitably ironic love letter to the oft-misunderstood comedian.” — Flavorpill

“Andy saved and organized all of the letters and photos he received and now his widow, Lynn Margulies, has released them as the exact sort of book you would want to own.” — Vice

Famous for his role as Latka Gravas on television's Taxi and for his appearances on Saturday Night Live and his own variety show, the legendary eccentric performer Andy Kaufman provoked a national outrage in 1977 by taunting the women of America and challenging them to wrestle him live on television. Taking on an aggressive and ridiculous personality based upon the characters invented by professional wrestlers, he offered a $1,000 reward to any woman who could pin him.

Thousands of fired-up females (and a few males) responded to the call, and Kaufman received a torrent of impassioned challenges, hate mail, and love letters from would-be wrestling contenders.

These fascinating and sometimes bizarre handwritten letters, photographs, and illustrations from would-be contenders are here assembled into an astonishing Rorschach of the late ‘70s liberated female psyche.

Kaufman’s girlfriend at the time of his death, Lynne Margulies, provides an introduction. Bob Zmuda, Kaufman’s cohort and longtime friend, writes the foreword.

  • Format
  • hardcover
  • Pages
  • 113
  • Language
  • english
  • ISBN
  • 9781934170083
  • Release date
  • 2009