They Call Me Baba Booey by Gary Dell'Abate (2011-05-31)

Surprisingly good. Didn't love the jumping back and forth but very good stories. Good to see pic of Mary too and nancy. Nancy was cute. Writing was fine in my opinion. Was cracking up at Gary retching before mets pitch. Definitely will recommend it. Big fan and sponsor of show

Thank you god. I no longer need ambien. This book is so boring it puts me sleeping three pages in. Oooooh he had a bi polar mom. What a story. Please. Gary has no story And he told the writer day 1. Thing is the same as the show. Who cares how it is I'm reading it. Stern Is a genius.

Garys book is such a great story that will appeal to hard core fans and those with only a passing interest in the Howard Stern World. It is a heartfelt look into one mans journey in life. I couldnt stop reading.

I really thought the way this book was being hyped (Stern show, first mistake) I thought I was going to actually learn something about the Ba Ba Boo-Hi I didn't know. I haven't finished the book because I got completely bored with the repetition of the radio show. If I extracted the stories of Fa-Fa-Foo-Hi I didn't know, of the 304 pages it would amount to maybe 75 pages. The inserted lists of his favorite music or music of the time are ridiculous page fillers, as Howard tried to tell him on the air. I could Google the music of the time, IF I were interested. Folks don't waste your money. Howard has and always be a master at promotion and this is a shining example. He's even busting on it today... Gary, yes Ba Ba Booey has become something of a cultural iconic name, but not because of you - totally because of the brilliance of Howard, Robin and Fred.

Pretty good book. Gary is an interesting guy and has some interesting stories. I'm a big Stern fan, and Gary is a big part of the show. This book is a about him and his life, not so much about the show. He seems like a great guy too. I wish him luck with the sales of this book. BA BA BOOOEEEYYYYY!!!

Try and view this book without the refraction of being connected to the Howard Stern Show. Taken as such, this memoir easily stands on it's own as the moving recounting of the steps and missteps of a (lower) middle class kid who found his way to the top of the radio heap. Dell'Abate's book is a no-holds-barred account of a family's dysfunction as they come to grips with a mother's mental illness and how that struggle influenced Dell'Abate dealings with life's curveballs. It's a fascinating tale of a young man trying to carve out a career in a cut-throat business that's filled with funny, revealing anecdotes and personal observations told from his unique point of view. There is nobody in radio with Gary's extraordinary perspective and it's his willingness to reveal his vulnerabilities and just plain be human that makes this book great. Dell'Abate shows nothing but heart. Don't let the usual Baba Booey goofing or polarized haters color your opinion ahead of time. This book's a great read; an honest, emotionally sincere, occasionally hysterical narrative that will appeal to Stern fans and non-fans alike.

Let me first preface this review by stating that I am a long-term fan of Howard Stern's radio show and a fan of Gary Dell'Abate himself. That being said, I found this book to be quite boring and highly irrelevant. As stated above, I find Gary to be a likable father and husband. His rise from record salesman to producer of the most successful morning radio show in the history of radio is quite commendable. But as the basis for a 280 page text it falls far short in terms of entertainment value. Frankly, if Howard was not promoting this book, and Gary was not calling in favors on Letterman and Kimmel,it would not be selling. As other reviewers have stated, there are absolutely no revealing details or "behind the scenes" information on the Stern show. As a book about a radio producer and his life... it is weak and inconsequential.

Try and view this book without the refraction of being connected to the Howard Stern Show. Taken as such, this memoir easily stands on it's own as the moving recounting of the steps and missteps of a (lower) middle class kid who found his way to the top of the radio heap. Dell'Abate's book is a no-holds-barred account of a family's dysfunction as they come to grips with a mother's mental illness and how that struggle influenced Dell'Abate dealings with life's curveballs. It's a fascinating tale of a young man trying to carve out a career in a cut-throat business that's filled with funny, revealing anecdotes and personal observations told from his unique point of view. There is nobody in radio with Gary's extraordinary perspective and it's his willingness to reveal his vulnerabilities and just plain be human that makes this book great. Dell'Abate shows nothing but heart. Don't let the usual Baba Booey goofing or polarized haters color your opinion ahead of time. This book's a great read; an honest, emotionally sincere, occasionally hysterical narrative that will appeal to Stern fans and non-fans alike.

Let me first preface this review by stating that I am a long-term fan of Howard Stern's radio show and a fan of Gary Dell'Abate himself. That being said, I found this book to be quite boring and highly irrelevant. As stated above, I find Gary to be a likable father and husband. His rise from record salesman to producer of the most successful morning radio show in the history of radio is quite commendable. But as the basis for a 280 page text it falls far short in terms of entertainment value. Frankly, if Howard was not promoting this book, and Gary was not calling in favors on Letterman and Kimmel,it would not be selling. As other reviewers have stated, there are absolutely no revealing details or "behind the scenes" information on the Stern show. As a book about a radio producer and his life... it is weak and inconsequential.

Gary obviously hates his mother and has major pent up resentment towards her. He just complains constantly in the book about her and his horrible life. Waaaahhh. Just kidding Gary, I heard you on wrap up saying you read these bad reviews but the book was actually EXCELLENT! Love it, love Gary!

This book describes everything that is wrong with our society. I will give Gary a lot of credit for becoming successful in his occupation, mostly by working harder, doing jobs that no one else would do, networking relentlessly, working all the time at whatever appearances he could find in the early days, and eventually finding his niche.

Other than that we have a kid from Long Island who never grew up, wont do anything to help his mentally ill aging mother, communicates with a long-time girlfriend by recording a self-centered video, and thinks we are interested in which dopey songs he likes. It was news to me that Gary had thrown out a first pitch at the Mets game and performed even worse than we would expect. For some reason he put himself in a state of anxiety about an event that not even baseball fans watch, and has now spent years analyzing his miserable perfomance.

Gary and I are about the same age so I dont mind the relentless reliving of the 80's. I was a Stern fan 30 years ago in Philadelphia but have not listened much for a very long time. When I do listen now, I think it is a repeat from those days. Stern loved to criticize Carson for doing the same show every night but look at the gang now.

I dont know why Gary wrote this book other than to make some money. We learn that he agreed to play the sappy girlfriend video on air because he needed money for his kitchen. Most of it is boring beyond hope. Gary needs a good editor even better than he needs new caps.

I think correctly Gary decided to focus on his life and not the endlessly analyzed show. We learn that Gary's mother was psychotic and nothing ever really cured her except resigning at the end of her life. Gary's brother was gay and died of AIDS, but both brothers were much older so there is no real connection to Gary. Other than that we go through a chronicle of Long Island youth, dead-end jobs, life lessons that were missed, and sudden celebrity. We do cross paths with other WNBC colleagues like Imus but not much is said except for stories about off-air temper tantrums and swiping cigarettes.

I really enjoyed this book. I found it well written for the most part, and thoroughly engaging. It was hard to put down.

I've been listening to Howard ever since he first came to NBC in the early 80s, so I remember the pre-Gary days. I remember Boy Lee, and then Boy Gary. I distinctly remember hearing him say, in a straight voice, "Right away, boss", whenever Howard asked him to do something. Little did anyone know that almost 30 years later, Howard would be using that phrase in his goofy Gary impression.

It's too bad some people rank on this book for not giving information about what goes on behind the scenes and what the staff is really like. That's not the point of the book, which is to tell about Gary's life.

Obviously, it helped that I've been a fan of the show for so long and also that I'm just two years older than Gary. I could identify with Gary's thoughts about music, the WNBC personalities, and dealing with aging parents. Being a Mets fan, too, was a plus, and I didn't realize how hard he took The Pitch until now. It made me feel bad for him.

But, Bravo, Gary. You wrote a good book.

Pulls up short. And understandably so. No need to read this unless you're a Howard Stern fan. So when Dell'Abate glosses over his relationship with Howard, professionally and personally, it's disappointing. But, again, I understand why. The show is still a success and Howard is still his boss. Not much incentive to be candid when you've been the show's punching bag for 20+ years.

However, the first half of the book is well done. Great insight into an Italian family growing up in NY that avoids stereotypes (well, some) and illustrates how hard he worked to make it in the industry. Thoroughly enjoyed these parts. But the second half struggles to find the same honesty with unnecessarily long chapters on The Pitch and Afghanistan. And we didn't need a full translation of the The Call (Stern fans already know it). I really wanted to know more how Dell'Abate feels about Howard as a boss and as a person, as well as the other key members of the crew. It does address them to some extent, but very limited.

Nicely written, it avoids the ghost-writer style that reads like the celebrity "author" dictated their life story. If Dell'abate did the writing, I'm doubly impressed.

Still, I would recommend it to any Howard Stern fan.

Baba Booey, Baba Booey, Howard Stern's penis.

Yup, I'm a Stern fan. While I type this, I am listening to Howard talk to former governor Jesse Ventura and guest announcer George Takei is with them this week. Thank you Sirius XM on teh Interwebz.

Gary has been in the background of the Howard Stern Show as far back as I remember (NOTE: I started listening in the early nineties.) When I heard he was putting out a book, I figured it could make for an interesting read but it wasn't on my "must read" list. Last month, though, I was walking down Lincoln Road in Miami, Florida and walked into Books & Books. Lo and behold they has a signed copy so I figured: what the hell.

They Call Me Baba Booey has the feel of two short books weaved into one: the story of Gary growing up in New York and his anecdotes about working with Howard and the crew. Ironically, I found myself more drawn to the stories of his family since (somehow) I found myself relating... especially since my mother has dealt with similar issues.

This wasn't the great American novel, but it was a fun read worth some of your spare time.

As a longtime listener of The Howard Stern Show I thought I knew a lot about Gary's life but realized it was nothing in comparison to what was detailed in this great memoir. This not only provides an inside look into Gary's career success and how he landed on The Howard Stern Show but reveals details about his life and upbringing that we can all relate to as human beings. Gary well captures the nuances of an Italian American family and all that is unique to this culture, he honestly talks about his mother's struggle with mental illness and her hospitalizations which was no easy task and details the heartbreaking story of losing his brother to AIDS at the height of the AIDS crisis. These storylines are rounded out by the funny retelling of making it in the radio business through hard work and great moments on The Howard Stern Show. I highly recommend this book even if you are not a Howard Stern fan. You'll still find this a compelling read.

I first started listening to Howard Stern in my junior year of high school. He was at DC 101 and he was something that we had never seen or heard before. I received this book initially thinking that it would be a behind the scenes look at the show. Maybe his next book will cover that. I was very suprised that this book did not cover that but I was able to learn about what makes Gary Gary. I was able to learn about his struggles including his moms mental illness to his brother dying of Aids. I am very happy that my wife bought this book for me at christmas and would recommend this to everyone.

I'm not sure I understand all the negative reviews of this book. Gary's stories are extremely interesting and filled with self-deprecating humor. His life story goes to show you that getting to the top is much harder work than most people realize. Gary worked his butt off for free for years as an Intern but never gave less than 100% effort. His story is inspirational and admirable. I was also very moved by his brother Steven's situation.

Quiet boring for most of the time. Very simple, and easy reading. The details goes back and forth between childhood and life with Howard's shows.

I wish he would talk more about the time with Howard inside stories. I rather hear him on the show than this book. Not worth the price.

On two separate Howard TV shows, David Letterman tells a hilarious story about how when Gary was first hired at NBC to work for Howard, he begged the Late Show staff for a postition away from Howard, saying,"Please, if anything opens up, I'll take anything, anything, please, when it opens up, i'll take anything!" Obviously when Howard and Gary's relationship first started, Gary hated working for the young, cruel, and manic Howard Stern and wanted to quickly and quietly transfer to the Late Show staff, as far away from Howard as possible.

These are the stories that I want to read about, not 14 pages of him working at Record Town!

To be 100% honest, the only way that we are ever going to get a great book out of Gary is if Howard either dies or retires and moves to Israel and is never heard of again, like Bobby Fisher!

Sorry Gary, but no one cares about your ordinary childhood. They only care about an honest story, on how what it has been like to work with the very cruel, moody, and hilarious Howard Stern for 25 years.