Tasteful Nudes
...and Other Misguided Attempts at Personal Growth and Validation
By Dave Hill
(St. Martin's Press, Hardcover, 9781250002037, 240pp.)
Publication Date: May 22, 2012
Categories: General, Entertainment & Performing Arts - General, Personal Memoirs
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From the Book Jacket:
Dear ridiculously attractive person who just so happens to be holding Tasteful Nudes in his or her soft and supple yet commanding hands,
Hi. My name is Dave and this is my very first collection of essays. As you can probably imagine, it pretty much has everything. In fact, if you like stories about stolen meat, animal attacks, young love, death, naked people, clergymen, rock-n-roll, irritable Canadians, and prison, you have just hit a street called Easy because my book talks about all that stuff and a bunch of other stuff too.
Getting back to that prison thing for a second though, I can think of almost no place better to read my book than from within the confines of a correctional facility. For starters, you will definitely have the time. Also, cozying up with a good book in front of your fellow inmates is a great way to show them a softer side that for some reason no one ever wants to hear about in the yard.
Fear not though, non-convicts: my book makes for a solid read outside of prison too. At the beach, on the subway, while whitewater rafting, during couples counseling, under local anesthesia—I have personally seen to it that my book is totally readable in all these scenarios as well as most other scenarios out there today. It will make you laugh, cry, and maybe even think so much that it will make you forget all your problems while simultaneously creating a few new ones. In limited instances, it has been known to cause severe dehydration and the occasional groin pull, but honestly I don’t know what that’s about. That said, it’s probably not a bad idea to keep a glass of water handy and really stretch things out before strapping yourself in for a literary thrill ride you will want to experience again and again until you are either dead or your eyesight fails completely, whichever comes first. In fact, if I end up being wrong about any of this stuff, you can kick me right in the privates. Also, I will send you a nice ham (serves twenty). In short, you really can’t lose on this one.
Your man,
Dave Hill
DAVE HILL is a comedian, writer, musician, and man-about-town originally from Cleveland but now living in New York City in an apartment all by himself because he is a grown man. He has written for The New York Times, Salon, Huffington Post, NY Daily News, Guitar World and a bunch of other people too. He is a regular contributor to public radio’s This American Life and starred in his own TV series, “The King of Miami”, which was cancelled even though Dave really liked it. He has also appeared on Comedy Central, BBC America, MTV, and Adult Swim and is a regular host on HBO and Cinemax. Dave stages his own chat variety show “The Dave Hill Explosion” at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York and Los Angeles and also in London wherever it is tolerated. He is a member of several rock bands and is so good at the guitar that most people can’t even handle it. Dave also smells really nice—ask anyone.
“First of all, Dave Hill is a pathological liar, a fantasist, egoist, and unlicensed podiatrist. I cannot confirm the veracity of anything in this book, but my feet have never felt better. And as Dave always says, when you have your feet you have everything.”—Janeane Garofalo
“I run into Dave Hill all the time at the coffee shop in our neighborhood. He's always unshaven and badly hungover, with some 16-year-old groupie from Cleveland in tow—and he's just as funny then as he is in Tasteful Nudes. He is my idol.”—Malcolm Gladwell
“We have Dave Hill on our radio show as much as we can because he's so winningly funny, and it's thrilling to see how well his sense of humor translates to the page. I've never seen a comedian quite like him: full of unjustified bravado, but also amazingly vulnerable. There's something very bare through all these stories that are so full of jokes and brags. He's a rocker who shreds his way through mindblowing solos while somehow also communicating to you that maybe he thinks the whole thing is just a little much. I don't say that as a metaphor, I've actually seen him do this. I enjoyed the hell out of this book.”—Ira Glass
“If you want to get inside Dave Hill’s head then you have to go for it. Throw caution to the wind. Jump into the icy waters. Speed across the Bonneville Salt Flats. Trek the Himalayas. Take a solo flight around the globe. Or just read his new book, Tasteful Nudes, the most dangerous way to get there.”—Sandra Bernhard
"Not only did Tasteful Nudes take me on an emotional journey through the seedy underbelly of Dave Hill’s life, but it also introduced me to a whole new slew of colorful and imaginative euphemisms for my pud. For this, I shall forever be in Mr. Hill’s debt." —Chris Elliott
“Dave Hill speaks, rocks, and now writes with a voice so powerful and funny and compelling that I’m pretty sure he's channeling some weird god from another dimension. Basically, this dude is a comedic Cthulhu, and when you read this book, you will either go COMPLETELY MAD or BECOME A SLAVE TO HIS MAD GENIUS. Pray for the latter.”—John Hodgman











