In 1993, network executives abruptly cut the final appearance of comedian Bill Hicks - a scathing tirade of digs on the Pope and the pro-life movement - from an episode of The Late Show with David Letterman. His banning from the show, along with a profile in The New Yorker by veteran writer John Lahr, catapulted Hicks to national prominence. Just months later, at age 32, he died of pancreatic cancer. Now available for the first time are Hick's most critical and comic observations, gathered from his stand-up routines, diaries, notebooks, letters, and final writings. This collection features his controversial humor and witheringly funny attacks on American culture, from its worship of celebrity and material goods to its involvement in the first Gulf War. Love All the People faithfully traces Hicks's evolution from a funny but conventional stand-up comedian into a fearless and brilliant iconoclast.

'By the way, if anyone here is in advertising or marketing, kill yourself. Kill yourselves, seriously. You're the ruiner of all things good. Seriously, no, this is not a joke. "There's gonna be a joke coming..." There's no fucking joke coming, you are Satan's spawn, filling the world with bile and garbage, you are fucked and you are fucking us, kill yourselves, it's the only way to save your fucking soul. Kill yourself, kill yourself, kill yourself now. Now, back to the show.' Bill Hicks could have been on all the chat shows. He could have had his own show on prime time. He could have got rich and fat and frightened. But Hicks didn't go the easy way (give or take the occasional dick joke). He turned down every offer Satan made him. Instead he figured out his best shot at the truth and then he said it. He attacked the lies that justified and prettified the carnage of the First Gulf War. He attacked the easy surrender of art to commerce, the demeaning cynicism of the marketing culture and the preposterous power of the mainstream media to confuse and corrupt.

The Long Climb Back is the story of an adventurous young woman who strikes out on her own after an over-the-top marriage proposal from a winery heir. Her travels introduce her to two engaging brothers. Will she be able to return to her fiance with her mind, body, and soul intact?