No matter how seriously we take our politics, Americans love a light touch, a raised eyebrow, a generous chuckle - which is why millions of us tune in to Sunday morning television for the bracing cocktail of wit and practical wisdom dispensed, along with the news, by the inimitable David Brinkley. His closing remarks, like an exclamation point after each broadcast, may illuminate the week's events or they may range widely through the oft-puzzling human condition - but they're always worth waiting for. In this one-of-a-kind book, we get the undiluted Brinkley. He marvels at government regulations that require paint cans to bear a label reading "Do not drink paint". He nominates Richard Nixon as Official U.S. Government Scapegoat. He commiserates with an Oklahoma mayor who must earn extra money by collecting beer cans and claiming the deposits. He reminisces about a White House that welcomed casual picnickers on its lawn. He forgives George Bush for passing out in Tokyo. He observes that "if we can put a man on the moon, we could put Congress in orbit". He skewers lawyers, bureaucrats, Washington insiders, hypocrites of all stripes. He commemorates absurdity - and hence suffers fools gladly.
Industry reviews
The wit and wisdom of a TV giant. Breitman
Brinkley brings his bracing wit and journalistic acumen to this selection of his brief closing commentaries delivered over the last 15 years of his Sunday morning ABC-TV news program, This Week with David Brinkley. He skewers Washington's lingo of cover-up and denial, satirizes Clinton's defeated health care plan and blasts Japan for its resistance to imports. His rogues' gallery includes Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, Libyan dictator Muammar Khadafy, Haiti's deposed Duvalier clan and North Korea's Kim Jong Il. Many of these 180 mini-essays, each a page in length or less, topple easy targets, such as lax airline safety standards or self-aggrandizing government bureaucracies. Other pieces comment amusingly on the annoyances of modern life or on the odd or the bizarre e.g., castles for sale in East Germany, longhorn cattle bolting from a California rodeo to push into a bank's front door. Although Brinkley is a formidable foe of cant and hypocrisy, too many of these pieces seem dated or work better on the tube than on the printed page. 250,000 first printing; available in large print and on audio cassette. (Oct.) Lopate
Book is in like new condition. Dust jacket is in like new condition. 1996. 175 pp. Don't forget to addHodge Podge USA to your favorites list. Our inventory is constantly changing. We sell quality new,antiquarian, vintage, and collectible books and accessories. Buy from the bookstore with the best prices and the greatest values.
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