Joan Rivers and David Letterman. She is considered by many critics and journalists a pioneer of women in comedy. All authored and read by Joan Rivers, except where noted. Joan Rivers Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedian, actress, writer, producer, and television host. She was noted for her often controversial comedic persona—heavily self-deprecating or sharply acerbic, especially toward celebrities and politicians. Rivers rose to prominence in 1965 as a guest on "The Tonight Show". Hosted by her mentor, Johnny Carson, the show established Rivers' comedic style. In 1986, with
How It Is the world as mud ("E fango è il mondo") and therefore, a kind of purgatory, as well as Dante's image of souls gulping mud in the Stygian marsh of the "Inferno" (Canto VII, 109–126, in Palma's translation): Dante's Belacqua and his foetal position also are referenced in "How It Is" and the following quotation is an example of the work's unpunctuated, dense, and poetic style: The novel served as inspiration for Miroslaw Balka's 2009 work, "How It Is", in Tate Modern's Turbine Hall. How It Is How It Is is a novel by Samuel Beckett first published in French as