‘Better Call Saul’ Star Bob Odenkirk Memoir Details Grounded Life

When, last July, Bob Odenkirk had a heart attack on the Better Call Saul set in New Mexico at age 58, social media responded with a roar of affection. Oh no, not Bob! After recovering, he reflected in an interview with Variety that the message was received. “The idea of being constantly driven is sort of just an accepted game plan for every day of your f***ing life,” he said. “The people we celebrate are people who wake up at 4 a.m. and work out for an hour and eat kale and do yoga and then try to own the world. That’s super cool in some ways, and in some ways, it’s kind of gross and sick and misses the point.”

It’s pleasing to learn that Odenkirk is as grounded as you’d guess, and he has only burnished his regular-guy credentials with his endearing memoir Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama. A Catholic Boy Scout with six siblings, the young Odenkirk was scarred by an uneasy relationship with his rageful, booze-constructed dad, Wally, who was constantly saying things like, “Boys, we’re about to run out of money,” promising that everyone would soon be “out in the street.” Bob was about five when Dad started talking this way: “These little doom-laden rambles were striking, frightening, and irregular enough to have maximum impact.” The Odenkirk inner conflict was already being strongly developed. Bob started dealing with events by turning them into creative fodder, thinking of the Old Man as a fictional entity — a Dickens character. “I would overhear the latest tattle of pathetic behavior and just append it to the sorry tale I was ‘reading.’” Handy tool for an actor-to-be.

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Kyle Smith

Kyle Smith is the film critic for the Wall Street Journal.

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When, last July, Bob Odenkirk had a heart attack on the Better Call Saul set in New Mexico at age 58, social media responded with a roar of affection. Oh no, not Bob! After recovering, he reflected in an interview with Variety that the message was received. “The idea of being constantly driven is sort of just an accepted game plan for every day of your f***ing life,” he said. “The people we celebrate are people who wake up at 4 a.m. and work out for an hour and eat kale and do yoga and then try to own the world. That’s super cool in some ways, and in some ways, it’s kind of gross and sick and misses the point.”

It’s pleasing to learn that Odenkirk is as grounded as you’d guess, and he has only burnished his regular-guy credentials with his endearing memoir Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama. A Catholic Boy Scout with six siblings, the young Odenkirk was scarred by an uneasy relationship with his rageful, booze-constructed dad, Wally, who was constantly saying things like, “Boys, we’re about to run out of money,” promising that everyone would soon be “out in the street.” Bob was about five when Dad started talking this way: “These little doom-laden rambles were striking, frightening, and irregular enough to have maximum impact.” The Odenkirk inner conflict was already being strongly developed. Bob started dealing with events by turning them into creative fodder, thinking of the Old Man as a fictional entity — a Dickens character. “I would overhear the latest tattle of pathetic behavior and just append it to the sorry tale I was ‘reading.’” Handy tool for an actor-to-be.