“[An] asshole in the old fashioned sense of asshole”

This book charmed me, even though the writing wasn’t anything incredible. It’s just hard not to love Bill Murray.

“There’s a charming assholeness to Bill, and it’s how really has gotten through life,” remembered Betty Thomas…”That was how I thought of him, as this charming, always seducing, assholey kind of guy. But asshole in the old fashioned sense of asshole. Like, a jerk willing to make a fool of himself — willing to do anything to get the girl. And there’s something admirable about that, and there’s something that makes you want to punch somebody like that.”

The internet abounds with stories about Bill Murray — crashing karaoke or frat parties, photobombing engagement shoots, wreaking havoc at golf games, and of course, that ever abundant catch phrase: “No one will ever believe you.” Gavin Edwards collected a bunch of these stories, categorized them by “lessons” we can learn from Murray, and book-ended them with a brief biography in the front, and summaries of each of his movies in the rear.

The editorializing by Edwards can easily be skipped, but the stories are wonderful. Bill Murray sounds like a total asshole — unreliable, unpredictable, occasionally totally bonkers — but still someone you’d love to know. And this book brings you just a bit closer to that.