Not as funny as your weekly dose of Drew Carey

This book represents the best and worst of books by comedians. Drew Carey indicates at the start of this book that he didn't want to just compile a bunch of his routines with the help of a ghost writer. So he did it himself. What we get is sometimes amusing, sometimes downright strange, but seldom outright funny.

Most enjoyable are the parts regarding the Drew Carey Show. Drew documents how the show went from being ridiculed as a Friends clone to a bonafide hit. Additionally, he tells of the sometimes ridiculous battles with ABC's Standard's and Practices over the show's content.

Less enjoyable are the "Stories of the Unrefined" found in the last half of the book. These stories are okay, but don't really rise above the level of the type of story a Junior in high school might right. I applaud Drew for trying something different, but in the end, they wind up seeming like a large piece of filler in an already tiny book.

All in all, Dirty Jokes and Beer is amusing enough for a paperback purchase or a visit to the library for a copy.