Michael Cader

#1025 in our old book database. Not rated.

Back in the 1990s my wife got her start in computer programming working at a distribution center for Little, Brown and Company in Massachusetts. The best perk of the job was that once a year employees were invited into the warehouse to pick through dozens of pallets of bins heaped with reject books from returns, damage, or overstocks. Everything was free and first-come-first-served. The giveaway happened just before Christmas, so I'm guessing many people were looking to regift and stuff some stockings.

So there was some tension along with the excitement. There was even a starting signal as everyone lined up around the perimeter waiting to lunge in for the loot. The giant bins were in no particular order, so it was a bit of a frenzy as people went tunneling through the dross looking for little gems.

This book was part of the dross. I snatched it up because I was a fan of David Letterman at the time.

The writers try to mimic the shambolic tone of Letterman's show as they cut and paste a scrapbook of trivia about him and interview people who became minor celebrities when their neighboring small businesses were featured on the show. There is even a running gag as one writer dresses up in a bear costume to visit Letterman landmarks. The book is filled out with some recipes and images of Letterman's many speeding tickets.

It's not bad, but it's the kind of humor that tries too hard and gets a little mean at times.

But, hey, it was free!… (plus d'informations)

If, like me, you love lists; then this is a book well worth finding space for on your book shelf. There are lists for American Indian Tribes, Egyptian Pharaohs, Japanese Emperors, Gods and Goddesses, and Military Ranks; but also for Cartoon Characters, Phobias, and even Subatomic Particles!
The entries are typically only one or two lines long, but that is more than made up for by the seemingly endless and obscure categories: Hurricanes, Imaginary Places, and even Fads!
These lists have many uses, apart from making fascinating browsing material. They can be perfect for solving crosswords, naming pets; or, if you administer network servers how about referring to the list of Pirates: Bishop, Tucker, and Barbarossa would make awesome server names!

The lists are not by any means flawless. Since I don't think the book has been re-published since 2001, some of the lists are now outdated; 'World Leaders', for example, serves mainly for historical purposes now. And, I am certain that peanuts are not technically 'Nuts', since unlike walnuts and almonds, they actually grow underground. But that may be *nit-picking.

*p.s. A phobia of nits (aka lice) is pediculophobia; and the collective noun for them is a flock (as previously noted, the lists are not perfect as I had to look up that last one elsewhere since 'a flock of lice' was not listed under Animal Collective Nouns for some strange reason.
Still, don't let that 'bug' you. This is still a very entertaining read.… (plus d'informations)

Rating: 3.25* of five

The Publisher Says: Whether we're reducing our intake or inceasing our exercise, staving off cravings or indulging with abandon, our relationship with food is nothing if not eternal. For the insatiable and the incurable alike, Eat These Words serves up a banquet of small delights guaranteed to satisfy the soul, if not the you-know-what. Here are nutritious words of wisdom and wit, consolation and consternation, carefully culled from both the great of mind and the great of body, from Plato to Roseanne Barr.

Scientifically categorized according to the four basic Food-for-Thought groups, Eat These Words contains easy-to-digest thoughts for every part of the tortured processes we call diet, exercise, and food. It begins by commiserating with your Frustration:

I want nothing to do with natural foods. At my age I need to eat as many preservatives as I can get.

George Burns

It's okay to be fat. So you're fat. Just be fat and shut up about it.

Rosanne Barr
Like any good book on diet and exercise, it provides timeless advice on Energy Conservation:

I stay in marvelous shape. I worry it off.

Nancy Reagan

The only reason I would take up jogging is so that I could hear heavy breathing again.

Erma Bombeck
For those nagging moments of remorse after polishing off the entire chocolate cake by yourself, there are quotes to induce the appropriate Shame:

The body never lies.

Martha Graham
But most of all, for the inevitable submission to the pure joys of food, there are expression of Love:

My idea of heaven is a great big baked potato and someone to share it with.

Oprah Winfrey
The next time you think you're the only person who obsesses over the struggle with food, take comfort in the words of Virginia Woolf, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Mark Twain, Bertolt Brecht, Oscar Wilde, Queen Victoria, Thomas Jefferson, and many others. To satisfy all your cravings, simply Eat These Words.

My Review: When the sads hit, when it makes no difference to you if you clean the house or just lie on the sofa channel surfing, it's a good time to grab a little book, one of those like this one that has amusing, silly, or just light and dietetic entertainment.

This one's a good example of the genre, and a fine way to wile away an hour or so. Nothing heavy here. Lots of places it's good to rest and check the insides of your eyelids for light leaks. And some days that's all you want.… (plus d'informations)

For those who remember the show since they weren't out on Saturday nights, this is a good book to refresh those memories of TV comedic genius weekend after weekend. The only glaring admission is The Jim Carroll Band being omitted altogether even though his "City Drops Into the Night" left the New York studio audience in complete awestruck silence. Probably the only time that had ever happened on the show. Overall a nice souvenir collection of what was once possible on network television. Even with the exceptions of 'In Living Color', 'Fridays' and 'Second City TV', SNL was always the benchmark. Cast member Profiles, index.… (plus d'informations)