Reno: Rebel Without A Pause

Cracking wise about 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon when the dust had barely settled and the flames were still smoldering took nerve, which veteran stream-of-consciousness comedian Reno has always had to spare. Her Sept. 11 began with phone calls whose mix of everyday chatter and apocalyptic gloom — "Sorry to call so early, but we're under attack. Call me later." — immediately activated her keen sense of the absurd. She saw the WTC towers fall from her apartment eight blocks south, and began sharing her unrestrained reflections in October 2001. Reno, whom Lily Tomlin once dubbed a "raving little everywoman" (in the best possibl...