Calvin Trillin is a delightfully funny writer, somewhat reminiscent of Dave Barry with a touch of Mike Royko thrown in. This book was written around the end of the 1980s, so some of the topics are a bit dated. This is no problem for those of us not only old enough to remember the late '80s, but old enough to find it hard to believe that they were really almost 20 years ago (wasn't all of that just the other day?) but younger readers might wonder what some of the columns were actually about. This makes it not only funny, but educational. Good for the young whippersnappers to discover that the world was already darned silly back in the dark ages. Maybe some of them will actually look up some of the topics and learn something. Maybe pigs will fly.
Never enough from this cumudgen
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 20 years ago
Have you heard about the Retentive family of Canada? That's not their real name,it's just what Calvin Trillin dubbed them after reading somewhere that there was a family of four that produced only three bags of garbage a year.Trillin seems to excell in writing about the obvious,odd and ponderable. If he didn't display (quietly)such a sense of humor,I would suspect he was the neighborhood "Hey you kids, get off my lawn",guy. Every neighborhood has one, the guy who vigilantly guards his lawnagainst attacks by footballs, frisbees and the damages caused by 42 pound children cutting across the corner). Actually, Mr. Trillin is a sane voice in these times when we are bombarded with information and seem to have lost the ability to sort through the drivel think for ourselves. When asked about childcrearing advice he opines "get one that doesn't spit up." This collection of his syndicated columns is sure to delight,amuse,irritate and to make you think.
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