Book Recommendation – Stoogeology

As a Three Stooges fan, I have pretty much read every book about them. I have read Moe’s autobiography, Curly’s biography written by his niece, Larry’s biography written by Steve Cox, both of the Shemp biographies, and just about every other “compilation.” This book has popped up on my Amazon “You Might Like” list for some time. I wasn’t sure what to expect from a book full of essays, but Stoogeology was actually a very good read.

Before I offer my thoughts, here is the short Goodreads synopsis:

In the world of slapstick comedy, few are more beloved than the Three Stooges. Throughout their 190 short films, they consistently delivered physical, verbal and situational comedy in new and creative ways. Following the trio from outer space to ancient Rome, this volume provides an in-depth look at their comedy and its impact on twentieth century art, culture and thought. This analysis reveals new insights into the language, literary structure, politics, race, gender, ethnicity and even psychology of the classic shorts. It discusses the elements of surrealism within the Stooges films, exploring the many ways in which they created their own reality regardless of time and space. The portrayal of women and minorities and the role of the mistake in Stooges’ works are also addressed.

What did I learn from this book? There was a lot more to the Stooges comedies than I imagined. I knew that the were all Jewish, of course, but I didn’t realize how much of their Jewish/Yiddish vocabulary was slipped into their shorts. The look at the surrealism was very interesting. I really never thought about how that worked into so many of their films.

What I really enjoyed was the very honest look at how race, gender and ethnicity played into their films. Obviously, many of the Stooges shorts were shot during World War II. The way Germans and the Japanese were played in the films was skewed to belittle them. The in-depth analysis of the portrayal of women in the shorts was very interesting.

Some folks may see the phrase “psychology of the Stooges” as humorous, but there really is a lot to it. I found myself taking photos of some of the pages and sending them to another Stooges friend who said he needed to pick up the book. He really enjoyed the breakdown and analysis as well.

I’m biased, I know, but it was a 5 out of 5 stars for me. Might be less for you.