5 comments about Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume.

1. This book did something surprising to me---it made me feel very old! I am not really VERY old yet, although my teenager might think so, but I guess I am old enough so the Chick Lit style of writing doesn't really appeal to me. Most of the essays here are written in that style---they are very centered on the feelings and experiences of the writer, and most of the writers seem convinced that their own thoughts and feelings and childhood family are quite fascinating. Almost every essay follows the same path---telling about a childhood experience and then telling how they read a Judy Blume book and it made them realize they weren't alone in what they were feeling.
   
   My friends and I read plenty of Judy Blume growing up too, and I admire her as a writer. However, we didn't really read her because she mirrored our own lives. Her characters live in a pretty small world, really---suburban,fairly well-to-do families. It's the world she herself knows, and she writes about it very, very well. It didn't really interact much with the world we lived in, in rural Maine, mostly in families that struggled with money. Although of course some issues of childhood are universal, I think the book would have been more powerful if we heard from some authors who lived a life UNLIKE those of the characters in Blume's books. Maybe that is what I find I don't like about chick lit type books also. Although they probably don't think so, the writers and the characters usually share membership in a pretty exclusive club---suburban or urban professionals or the children of such!
   
   I don't meant to knock this book. I think if I had lived that life or if I lived it now, and if a Judy Blume book had been a real guide to life for me, I would love reading about others like myself. And if you did, you probably will enjoy this book a great deal.



2. When I felt that wave of nostalgia that hit me when I spotted Judy Blume's name scripted in girly letters in on the front cover, I knew this book was a must read. And, reading the essays written by the 20-to-40-something female authors in this book, I remembered just how much Judy Blume's own books were must reads for navigating the perpetual perplexities of puberty.
   
   More than just a trip down memory lane, these essays depict how Judy's fictional stories comforted so many of us during the real-life struggles of adolescence. A common thread in these essays is that reading Judy's books as teens allowed the authors to feel less alone in their overwhelming confusion surrounding their changing bodies, friendships, family dynamics, identities, and overall place in their ever-changing worlds. Returning to these books decades later, these authors can appreciate Judy's wisdom, advice, and insight at a completely different level. It turns out that "Judy's Blume moments" are Forever...



3. I am a huge Judy Blume fan and came of age reading her books. This anthology is such a treat to read, I read it on a recent business trip and it made the hours at the airport fly by!



4. This book features a wide variety of young adult and chick lit authors paying tribute to Judy Blume in different ways. The authors range in age from late 20's to late 40's, and each of the 24 essays is unique. The idea was to write something along the theme of the book's title, but surprisingly, many different approaches were taken. Some of the contributers wrote about incidents in their lives and compared them to events in Judy Blume books. Others described how reading a particular JB book had made a difference in their lives, or helped them in some adolescent situation. Still others analyzed elements of JB books heavily and only briefly compared them to their own childhoods or lives.
   
   Among the essays, JB's novels "Are You There, God? It's Me Margaret", "Forever", and "Deenie" seem to be discussed more often than others. Some get only a few mentions, and others, such as "Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great" are virtually overlooked. JB fans of my generation will be pleased to know "Just as Long as We're Together" is featured in several essays.
   
   This collection of essays is sure to please fans of chick lit and/or fans of Judy Blume. I enjoyed some of the essays more than others, and have found myself wanting to read the published novels of several of these ladies, since I enjoyed their writing so much. Overall, it is almost like reading a JB book in and of itself. It'll take you right back to adolescence. You'll relate, you'll remember, you'll laugh, and best of all, you'll be immersed in some high-quality, honest writing.



5. Judy Blume is one of the most beloved and well-known authors of our time. She has written countless stories for pre-teens, teens, and adults alike, and millions of readers have been charmed by her lovable characters and easy-to-relate-to storylines.
   
   In EVERYTHING I NEEDED TO KNOW ABOUT BEING A GIRL I LEARNED FROM JUDY BLUME, twenty-four of the most popular female authors today, including Megan McCafferty, Jennifer O'Connell, Megan Crane, Cara Lockwood, and Meg Cabot, contribute essays relating their own experiences with Judy Blume.
   
   Covering everything from their own "Judy Blume moments" to hiding under the covers with Forever . . ., these stories are intensely personal recollections that offer an insight into the influence that Judy Blume's works have had on everyone who reads them.
   
   As a Judy Blume fan myself, I really loved reading this book, and it brought to mind my own memories of reading her novels. Whether you just want to know more about some of your favorite authors today, or, like me, you grew up with Blume and her characters, this book is well worth reading and you definitely don't want to miss it.
   
   Reviewed by: Andie Z.

5 comments about Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China.

1. Chinese Lessons scratched a persistent itch for me: How in the world did the participants and victims of the Cultural Revolution move beyond it?
   
   Several books by victims have graphically illustrated what it was like to be a victim of this horrifying period in Chinese history. (Life and Death in Shanghai by Nien Cheng and Wolf Totem by Jiang Rong, two very different but equally powerful memoirs, are my favorites to date.) But this is the first I've read that includes the other side and explores the aftermath.
   
   What was it like to be a perpetrator, a Red Guard, and what kinds of lives did they (and the survivors) build when the government once again shifted and Cultural Revolution rather suddenly ground to a halt? How did they get from "there" to the often cut-throat capitalism-with-Chinese-characteristics of today's China?
   
   The individual stories of John Pomfret's classmates (and his own) bring the ensuing three decades to life in a readable and thought-full way, while taken as a whole, the book's overarching viewpoint that the Communist party is still committed to doing anything necessary to remain in power(mainly, suppression of people, ideas, and its own failures) gives credence to his conclusion that the Chinese system today is on shaky ground (all those peasants who haven't gotten a piece of the pie yet!) and the biggest story of the 21st century could be China's failure rather than its success.
   
   Personally, I hope that doesn't happen, as I've been there and share Pomfret's fascination with the sheer dogged determination of the people to not just survive, but thrive. Still, I can't deny his thesis.
   
   Last words: Very readable, couldn't put it down once I started reading, learned a lot, highly recommended.



2. This book was suggested reading for a trip I am taking to China in November. I am very glad I bought the book and read it. There was a lot of history and real people's experiences. I had so little idea of what it was like to live through the Cultural Revolution and in the snitch society created by Mao. I would recommend this book to anyone.



3. I needed this book for a college class. I was able to buy it on line for a savings of about 40% even after shipping charges. The book arrived in good shape and in plenty of time for my class.



4. Though it is going to sound like a newspaper movie ad, I cannot resist quoting the tag lines from others who have already reviewed this book:
   
   1. "Masterful account of modern China"
   
   2. "Superb"
   
   3. "A book you can't put down"
   
   4. "An exceptional book, exceptionally written"
   
   5. "Extraordinary"
   
   6. "I laughed, I cried" Okay, so I made up the last one.
   
   The book beautifully (and usually depressingly) describes how China's past so heavily influences its present. I felt I knew everyone in the book because they were composites of the real life Chinese with whom I deal in my work as a lawyer dealing with China. It was a joy to read and it increased my understanding of China. To understand today's China, one must know at least the basics of China's modern history and, perhaps even more importantly, how that history has affected today's Chinese. This book definitely aids in that understanding.



5. Very easy to read. Great entertaining writing style with lots of very clever anecdotes. On completing this book I then had to a) read all the other reviews here and b) check the Washington Post for any further author work. The big question here is:
   
   what happens to the five profiled students in this book?
   Are they still friendly with the author?

5 comments about On the Wild Edge: In Search of a Natural Life.

1. This has got to be one of my favorite books of all time. Dave Petersen seems to have figured out early on how to get his priorities in order. That money and 'things' are fleeting and empty acquisitions. That what really matters are great relationships with those you love, be it your spouse, friends or even your dog, and that being debt free is a power all it's own. Dave freely admits that he doesn't have a lot of money, but, he is most definitely the captain of his own ship, truly able to call his time and what he does with it his own. How many of us can say that? It is a great wake up call and definitely motivates you to get your own priorities in order. Dave finds more value in the treasures of nature, the wild animals that call it home and the ability to know how to appreciate it than in 'filthy money' as he so rightly puts it. I happen to love his political rants about the state of our world, he is dead on most of the time, and thank goodness doesn't sugarcoat it one iota!! This is a must read if you love the mountains, snow, wildlife, and unlike so many Americans who seem to only be able to follow the herd, have the ability to think for yourself.



2. I read Dave's book, along with several other good reads, during the dead of winter this season. Time well spent. I found myself consuming the book each evening, and it was finsihed in short order. Following Dave from season to season, reading about his everyday experiences and thoughts, mulling over his political views, sharing his pains, exultations, celebrations of life, and observations of his natural world, I finished the book feeling quite satisfied. This should be required reading for any environmentally-aware hunter-naturalist, or anyone else who loves the outdoors, for that matter. I like it.



3. David Peterson writes very well and has a great ability to engage the reader and make them feel as if they are part of the forest where David writes. I am only about half finished with the book and have enjoyed his views on simple living and self sufficiency. However, his subtle and not-so-subtle interjections about politics totally distract from the beautiful writings about nature. If I wanted political commentary, I would read a book about politics, not a book about nature and simple living.



4. Mr. Petersen is a far left liberal hippie. Throughout the book (I actually only made it about halfway through before I could no longer force myself to read anymore) he is always interjecting his misinformed political views, always saying how bad the humans are compared to the animal kingdom, (especially American humans), but yet he seems to enjoy his car (which he says it always smokes a lot when it is running), electricity to run a few house hold items, (radio, well pump, hot water heater), and the gas to run his chainsaw and his car. He is not too divorced from the "evil civilization", considering he does have a road that goes to his cabin.



5. What a treat! I bought this from Amazon back when it first came out in hardcover, and it has resided on my to-be-read shelf all this time. We now have snow here and, in a wintry mood, I was prompted to pick this one up after finishing Vardis Fisher's excellent THE MOUNTAIN MAN and watching the Robert Redford movie based upon that book.
   
   What a dustjacket! It says here that Caroline Peterson, the author's "permanent wife," took that photo. If the gorgeous, dustjacket art especially appeals to you--as it does to me--then you might also enjoy looking inside at these marvelous tales of David and Caroline Peterson in their natural surroundings.
   
   This author will resonate to those who love the nature writings of Emerson and Thoreau, Doug Peacock and Edward Abbey. Peterson writes with the practical common sense of Wendell Berry mixed with an almost mystical be-here-now sense of wonder. He sees the Great Spirit in things.
   
   We found this a delightful, gorgeous edition to our personal library of naturalism. This author edited A. B. Guthrie's enviromental essays and wrote the afterward to Guthrie's marvelous autobiography. I can't say if this is Peterson's best book because I've yet to read several of his others. They are now moving up on my list.

5 comments about A Personal Odyssey.

1. The economist Thomas Sowell IS a hero, as well as a tough guy, as two other reviewers respectively describe him here, not only for his formidable intellectual accomplishments, but more important, for his lifetime dogged insistence on seeing things as they actually were, and unflinchingly reaching his conclusions based solely on the data and the rigorous application of logic to that data, no matter where that led him. I have never seen anyone with a greater commitment to the truth and to intellectual honesty, discipline and integrity.
   
   I read this memoir because I had always admired Sowell's columns in the Post,in which he never displayed any interest in playing to the public, or in advancing any personal agenda, or in gratifying his own ego, but , instead, a completely serious interest in telling the unvarnished truth. I was curious about the man behind the scowling face that appeared next to his columns.
   
   I wonder where Sowell's confidence came from so early in his life, but maybe even he doesn't know, and he doesn't seem to be big on navel-gazing. But he is truly an exceptional man.
   
   We would be better off if we had a lot more teachers - and students - like Sowell.



2. If you are interested in Thomas Sowell and enjoy some of his other books, then this book will be the perfect compliment explaining this great man's life. Built off of all personal accounts, Dr. Sowell takes you through his journey from a youngster to today's life.
   
   Intriguing chapters include ones about being in the military, his son's inability to speak early on, and his mental conundrum about whether to get his PhD or not.
   
   I personally enjoyed every page in the book and now feel like I know the man as a personal friend. Thank you Dr. Sowell!



3. This is an inspiring book overall, and for me personally. My views are very similar to those of Dr. Sowell and, like him, I'm a PhD economist. Like the author, I have worked in government, the private sector, and academia, so I very much understand the frustration he faced at various stages of his career and his reasons for moving from job to job during the early part of his career, despite taking pay cuts at various points along the way.
   
   What I most admire about Dr. Sowell is his refusal to compromise, his consistently high standards, and his keen eye for the truth. These are what make him truly unique and, in my estimation, almost heroic. It is very difficult to make one's way in this world without compromising your standards and eventually giving in to mediocrity. A clearly brilliant man, he never tolerated stupidity from those who should know better. Most definitely a person to be admired and emulated (if that's possible).



4. Sowell's autobiography leaves a lot to be desired in terms of literary style. His writing is mostly stilted, and you feel that he is writing at you rather than taking you along on his "personal odyssey". There are far more "literary" books in this genre, two of which I recently read, one of which I reviewed: Into My Own: The Remarkable People and Events That Shaped a Life. Nevertheless, Sowell's book provides valuable insights and lessons from his struggles and circumstances with which he dealt.
   
   Sowell comes across as someone who was, from a very young age, very aware of his situation with respect to others, and keenly knowledgeable of actions he needed to take to improve his lot. This he models when he advocate for a better class placement in elementary school, for example. The same goes for the rest of his career, including his stint in the military.
   
   He demonstrates a very rational, economics-type mind, before becoming an economist, making decisions such as whether to clean his rifle for inspection based on the probability that his specific rifle would ever be selected for actual inspection. For someone like me who is generally a rule follower, its almost painful to see how Sowell "got away" with so much while most of the time he was just practicing good reasoning.
   
   He leaves a lasting impression as someone who always puts principle before practicality, though he sometimes seems too uncompromising. But he lives and dies by the sword, and he more than once left a job or project for reasons of principle, most of the time with little to fall back on.
   
   While his comments and anecdotes on academia, economics, politics, racism, social policy and other issues where interesting and stimulating, I was left wanting for more in terms of introspection or revelation.



5. I first became acquainted with Dr. Sowell through his weekly articles in our local paper and am really impressed by the things he writes about, so I jumped at the chance to get this story of his life. He is a black man who moved from a hard beginning to what I consider great heights. He is a man who will not compromise his convictions no matter the cost. A very inspiring read of a fellow traveler through this time on earth and I would recommend it highly.

No comments about Seeing Red.

5 comments about My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands.

1. As Chelsea's first book, it was ok, but it was not as good as her latest one, "Hello Vodka, It's Me Chelsea". If you are going to read them both, read this one first and then Hello Vodka. If you read it, the other way around, you may be disappointed.



2. This book could very well be the funniest book that i have ever read. I def. recommend it for a funny read!



3. Way to go Chelsea!! This is by far the funniest book I have ever read! I could not put it down!! Every woman on my Christmas list is getting a copy of this book!!



4. Hilarious. A must-read for all who have loved and lost- in the same night.



5. I loved this book! It's super funny to read about all her one nights stands !!

No comments about Hooking Up with Tila Tequila: A Guide to Love, Fame, Happiness, Success, and Being the Life of the Party.

5 comments about Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life.

1. When I learnt that James Blake, the author of the book, whom I have admired as a good tennis player, suffers from a condition which affects me as well, I was surprised and decided to pick up this book hoping to gain some insights by learning how he managed to stay fit enough to become a tennis pro....
   
   Though little has been discussed about Scoliosis,there is enough in the whole book, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. The fundamental aspects which have governed the life of James Blake are seemingly obvious but hard to stick to and implement during trying times like the ones he had to face up in 2003 with a broken neck and losing his hero, his dad, to cancer - accepting what has transpired, taking one step at a time, focusing on process rather than results, count one's blessing rather than brooding what could have been, and simple things like these...
   
   It seems to me that we are good at learning things when we can tie them to experiences, both direct and vicarious. The lessons that I take away from the life of James Blake - how he dealt with career threatening injury in neck, a viral attack that left him paralyzed in left side of the face and made a comeback within a year, how his dad, who really comes out as a super hero as described by James Blake, dealt with imminent death...
   
   I would highly recommend this auto biographical account to anybody who is concerned about gaining some insights into what really defines the strength of one's character...



2. I learned about James Blake last year when I started watching tennis matches on the Tennis Channel. The book is easy to read. I highly recommend it.



3. The most boring tennis book I ever read.I bought almost every single tennis book Amazon has to offer, and this one is by far the dullest one.This book is not aimed at the serious tennis player.You'll learn nothing new from it.It's just a personal journal where he keeps trying to take the focus away from tennis. The only conclusion I arrived to is that Blake's life without tennis is boring as hell.



4. Interesting, inspiring, uplifting story. Reminds us that there are still a lot of GOOD people in this world.
   
   A good and enjoyable lesson for people of all ages, athletes and couch potatoes alike. After reading, you will be a James Blake fan, even if you have never seen a tennis match.



5. This is by far a must read for any person. Realizing the hardships and injuries for Mr. Blake to overcome is incredible. The best part about reading his book is the way you view life and to understand everything happens for the best.
   
   Towards the end of the book there is a chapter on his friends who he calls the J-BLOCK. People would kill to have something like that Today, and the best part about it is he is so great full to be where he is today.

5 comments about River of No Return: Tennessee Ernie Ford and the Woman He Loved.

1. Good Book, what can I say? I was and am a fan and enjoyed the book.



2. Jeffery Buckner Ford has written a wonderful story of his journey as the son of Tennessee Ernie Ford. This is a must read for all of us who experienced his father's great musical talent on the radio and television. Jeffery describes the interesting business details of his father's career as well as his family's personal triumphs and heartaches. Jeffery makes you feel as though you are right there experiencing his life with him. The author tells the story with a heartfelt range of emotions from humor to saddness.Thanks Jeffery for writing about your interesting life as the son of Tennessee Ernie Ford.I will be buying the book for Christmas presents this year. I highly recommend this book to all of you!



3. What a talent! Its a shame he didn't have time for himself, or his wife. A very honest review of the life of Ernie Ford. For me there were several surprises in this book. It has to be placed in the "Must Read" catagory.



4. Reviewed by Carol Hoyer for Reader Views (7/08)
   
   Jeffrey Buckner Ford has written an amazing book on the inside of his family's life from the beginning of his dad's start to fame to the downfall of the family. While most of us think that the rich and famous have no problems, Buck Ford shows us that is not true.
   
   Tennessee Ernie Ford started his career as a radio announcer in Knoxville, Tennessee. As Buck recalls, his father always said he didn't go looking for fame; he just fell into the business. In 1942 he married Betty Ford and had planned on a quiet, simple life. Into the marriage came Buck and Brion Ford, who thought their family was the greatest. Although the boys did not always seem to fit up to their dad's standards, they still loved him greatly.
   
   During the course of the marriage, Betty Ford became very friendly with the bottle; this gave her the courage to say the things she felt she should say without any apologies. Over the years her drinking would increase, she would abuse prescription pills and verbally lash out at anyone who stood in her way. Her behavior was never addressed in private or public. The relationship with her husband turned sour. After many suicide attempts and embarrassing behavior in public, it took its final toll.
   
   Tennessee Ernie Ford was a kind gentleman; he had a style of his own and everyone wanted a piece of the action. Little did he know that his advisors were steering him in the wrong direction. After several failed businesses and selling his property, it finally got the best of him. After his wife died, he married Beverly Wood Smith, three months and ten days after burying Betty Ford. She was not what she portrayed to be. She immediately took over all Ernie Ford's business projects and left his sons without any knowledge of what she was doing. When Tennessee Ernie Ford died, she didn't even let them know where he would be buried.
   
   "River of No Return" by Jeffrey Buckner Ford is a very interesting story if you like to know the personal background of the Ford family. It covers the ups and down's of a stars life. I personally thought it was well-written, easy-to-read and a page-turner. However, I would like to remember Tennessee Ernie Ford as the icon he was.



5. Ernest Jennings Ford was at heart a family man devoutly devoted to his wife and two sons. At the very peak of his Hollywood success, the man who will forever be known as "Tennessee Ernie" Ford, the radio character he created for himself, decided to walk away from all the glamour because of his concern for what the Hollywood lifestyle was doing to his family. The great irony of his life is that Ernie Ford would die in October 1991 under the care of a second wife who was determined to deny his two sons any part of his legacy, financial or otherwise, a woman who even tried to deny them access to their father's funeral.
   
   In River of No Return, Jeffrey Buckner Ford, eldest of the Ford sons, mixes his fond memories of growing up next door to Bob Hope and of the several successful television series that his father hosted with sad recollections of how alcohol and pills ended up destroying both his parents. He speaks frankly of the addictions and dissatisfaction with her life that resulted in his mother's suicide after several earlier attempts had failed, and he speaks just as honestly of how his father failed to do the things that might have saved her life. Perhaps saddest of all is his disclosure of how Ernie Ford's decision to protect his sons by moving them from Hollywood was doomed to failure because of what the boys witnessed in their own home, wherever it might be located.
   
   Betty Jean Heminger met Ernie Ford when he was stationed at Victorville Army Air Base in California, where she worked as a secretary; she was only nineteen years old when they married. Betty Jean, an avid reader and an accomplished artist, was at first content to be labeled simply an entertainer's wife but, as the years went by, she seemed to grow frustrated with her role, turning to alcohol and drugs to get through her day. Ernie and her sons sensed when she was losing control, but though they did their best to protect her from herself, they were not always successful. As the couple grew farther and farther apart, Ernie turned more often to alcohol to ease his own pain, a decision that would eventually lead to liver disease, severe memory loss, and ultimately his death.
   
   But River of No Return is not just about the bad times. Jeffrey Buckner Ford celebrates the good times as well, and his pride in and love for both his parents are evident. He remembers the times when being around his parents was sheer joy, days spent on the set of his father's television shows, his brief encounter with Bob Hope when he crawled through the hedges dividing their property in order to sneak a picture of Mrs. Hope, whom the neighborhood boys insisted swam in the nude in her backyard, and days spent basking in "celebrity" as only the child of famous parents can.
   
   Ernie Ford was a spectacularly successful entertainer, a man with the voice and talent to sing any style of music but who, almost by default due to his "Tennessee Ernie" image, became best known as a country music singer. At the peak of his career, he was world-famous and played to particularly large audiences in England. As so often happens to a singer, today he is probably best-known for a single recording, "Sixteen Tons," which in 1955 became the fastest selling single in the history of the record business. Ernie Ford received numerous honors during his career, but four of them particularly stand out because they reward his decades as an entertainer: the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984, induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1994, and three stars on the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame (one each for television, recordings and radio).
   
   Jeffrey Buckner Ford presents the contrast between Ernie Ford's public success and the frustrating failures he experienced in private in what is often a conversationally ironic tone, an approach that makes the sadness of Ernie's life especially vivid. Longtime fans of Ernie Ford are certain to find River of No Return a gratifying experience despite its sad revelations about his personal life. Those not as familiar with Ford as a performer will likely read the book more as the cautionary tale it is but might, at the same time, find themselves compelled to investigate his musical history. They will be better off for having discovered why Ernie Ford is still considered to be an American music legend.

5 comments about I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This: And Other Things That Strike Me as Funny.

1. I love Bob Newhart. So, I knew before I bought this book that I would enjoy it. It's not a boring autobiography with every detail of his life and his ancestor's lives. Rather, the book gives some tid-bits of Bob's history along with life observations and scripts to some funny routines. It is well-written and clearly "Bob Newhart Style"--easy to imagine him reading it to you. Job well done!



2. While I don't read show biz biographies--heaven knows theres too many of them and those subjects are already over-idolized--I saw this one. Newhart has always been my favorite "clean" comic. That doesn't mean I don't like, say, Lenny Bruce. But, say, Eddie Murphy and George Carlin overdo the "let's be audacious" thing. Newhart doesn't need to do that.
   
   What's more, I've always wanted to learn a little about what makes a comedian's mind tick. (Though Newhart explains in one chapter that if he sees another book on the science of comedy, he's going to "throw up.")
   
   Actually, Newhart is quite eloquent. His vocabulary impressed me. There is, of course, name dropping, but it doesn't come across that way. He has a chapter, for example, on golf, those with whom he'd golf and witty anecdotes about other golfers, like Dean Martin--and an interesting story about Clark Gabel and Robert Wagner.
   
   Interspersed with the biography are many of his bits. But he adds to them. Like I've always liked his "airline and stormdoor company" bit. He adds a little about the real flight, on a C47 with seats bolted down--when the aircraft did cargo flights the seats were taken out.
   
   He does talk about both of his television shows. While I'm not a TV watcher and don't think I ever saw either of them all the way through, he even explains a little about how each show came about--and how his wife offered the plot of the finale of all of them.
   
   Oh, and the one I "read" was an abridged, CD version. I couldn't imagine reading this, but Newhart read it with his usual, stammering version, part of his bit. (Indeed, he distinguishes at the beginning of the book between stammering, which he does, and stuttering.
   
   Overall, it's a lot of fun. And you might even learn a little, about his background, about what makes things funny--and about the political correctness that pervades a bit too much of our society. (Yes, I even admit that!) As Newhart says, we need to laugh at ourselves too!



3. Fun book, easy to pack. Better for someone old enough to remember Bob Newhart era of 60's, 70's & 80's!



4. In years past, I enjoyed a bit of Newhart. He was always a "clean" comic to the best of my knowledge. However, when he spoke of his time as a draftee during the Korean War and how he manipulated the system to avoid overseas duty, I was completely turned off and view the man in an entirely different light. Instead of cheering me up, it left me sad and even a little mad.



5. I bought this book for my mom and dad because besides Bob Newhart Jack Lemmon is there favorite. My father laughed so hard no sound was coming out of him. We were laughing hysterically just watching him. Get this book! It is a great book even if you're not even sure who Jack Lemmon is. You won't be sorry! The seller is amazing and stands by there product 100%.