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Beating Around the Bush: (Art Buchwald)

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Art Buchwald is one of the most influential newspaper columnists of the past half-century and one of the greatest humorists in the history of American journalism. So when he comes out with a new collection of columns, it is indeed a cause for celebration.

Buchwald has been plying his trade, which is to make us laugh at the absurdities of modern life, for an astounding 56 years. Along the way, he has won the Pulitzer Prize, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters, has built a legion of fans and has written 32 books. "Beating Around the Bush" is his 33rd. It's also one of his best.

Buchwald works in two ways: His columns are fresh and funny snapshots of our society, but when the topicality wears off and they appear in a book one to four years after they were originally published, they become little history lessons, still funny and still, amazingly, fresh. Or, at least, not stale.

Fans of the Bush administration may not appreciate some of the jabs Buchwald takes, but fans of the Clinton administration probably didn't appreciate the jabs the humorist took at Bill and Hillary in his previous collection, "We'll Laugh Again."

Buchwald is an equal-opportunity jabber. His humor is never cruel or mean-spirited, but it always hits the mark. It's remarkable considering he suffered and fully recovered from a massive stroke five years ago, recently turned 80 and shows no signs of slowing down.

Thanks for all the laughs, Art. Keep them coming.

Buchwald's "Beating Around the Bush" takes jabs at politicians, corporations, and the media. It is comprised of a number of Buchwald's newspapers columns on current events.

The humor is there, but not nearly as strong as with fellow satirists Al Franken and Bill Maher. Topics addressed include Iraq (it's the only war we've got, so we have to support it), Compassionate Conservatives (someone who wants to help the working poor, the undeducated, and the unemployed - not with money, but with prayers and tax cuts), Wal-Mart (solving one of America's biggest problems - sending jobs overseas, by keeping cleaning jobs here and bringing foreigners here to do them), and Zell Miller (had a heart transplant after giving keynote speech for Clinton in '92 - this allowed him to bash Democrats at Republican '04 Convention).

I'd go with Franken or Maher instead.