Cabbie Bill has the ambition to be very, very rich. All he wants in this life is to have lots of money. The best way he can think to accomplish this is to be a stand-up comedian. His source of material: his wild days as a cab driver in a small college town. Fasten your seat belt, for a wild ride. Oh yeah, and don’t throw up in the cab. ********* In his book Standing Up, William Todd speaks to his reader as if they were a member of his audience, sitting in a night club with a beer in front of them, watching him on stage. Each story he spins in his book is one of his stand-up routines. Like any good comic, he delivers these in a smart, amusing and slightly disturbing way. Most of his fares are drunks he picks up from various bars around town. His main goals as a cabbie are to get them to pay their fare with a generous tip and to get them home quickly without them puking in his cab. This is often a challenge, because drunks are notoriously unpredictable. He also spends a lot of time dealing with various roommates, most of whom have boundary issues. He doesn’t always do this in the most logical manner, but his solutions to the problems are pretty funny. What I liked about this book is that his characters, including himself, are all very flawed people. That is what makes his stories believable. Most of them don’t take the high road when faced with moral dilemmas, and they don’t see anything wrong with that. While most of these stories are amusing, sometimes they also speak about the sadness, loneliness and often amoral behavior of everyday people in this country. This book often kept me wondering what I would do if I had been in the same positions. I think these essays are great but slightly shocking. It definitely isn’t for everyone, but if you like a little shock value with your humor, then this book is for you.