*Includes Brooks' quotes about his life and career
*Includes a bibliography for further reading
“If you're quiet, you're not living. You've got to be noisy and colorful and lively.” – Mel Brooks
A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history’s most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors’ American Legends series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of America’s most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known.
One of the more well-known Mel Brooks quips is his statement, in reference to his birth, that “We were so poor, my mother couldn’t afford to have me; the lady next door gave birth to me.” While obviously fabricated, the story is worthy of note, as it illustrates Brooks’ self-deprecatory Jewish humor and his way of transforming a childhood of deep adversity into fodder for comedy.