Customer Reviews

Common Nonsense

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Like most people, I really enjoy Andy's segments at the end of 60 Minutes, but this book was my introduction to his written word. I quickly determined there isn't much of a difference. Each little piece is like something he would say on air, and his voice could be heard in my head as I made my way through his commonly known form of crafting an essay.

I suggest reading this book over an extended period of time. Don't try to read it all in one weekend. He deals with some fascinating ideas that should be given appropriate time for reflection. I would read about ten pages per day, and in those essays, I would find two or three that would stay with me for a while. His greatest quality is his truly independent voice. I find it refreshing that his pieces on popularly discussed issues aren't littered with the same jargon and tired old arguments that are found in works by most pundits.

One last thing...I keep hearing people refer to Andy as grumpy and cantankerous. If I find myself intrigued and persuaded by many of his essays, does that make me grumpy as well?

I enjoyed every page of this book. One critique is for the book's editors, not for Mr. Rooney: numerous small errors divert the reader's attention. Mr. Rooney deserves better. But if you enjoy Andrew Rooney (he writes that he prefers "Andrew"), you'll love this book and will already be waiting for the next.

I first seen Andy Rooney's book 'Years of Minutes' while using a facility at a friend's house and was extremely interested. So I orderered this book. Very Good Stuff!

definately enjoyable - makes for frequent conversation - one has to almost immediately share the humor, wit, and "normalness" of Mr. Rooney's logic - my teenager & I have to schedule turns to read the book - it's very good .......

The short essays are so good that the title could be "UNCOMMON LOGIC"!

I am 17 years old and stumbled upon this book after seeing a few minutes of an interview with Andy Rooney. I knew of him, but found him quite interesting in the interview and decided to check out the book. I'm glad I did.

"Common Nonsense" is a collection of very short essays about nearly everything in life you could think of. Sports, politics, hobbies, food-- you name it, it's covered. Although he does repeat himself occassionally, the book is very facsinating to read. When I finished, I felt that I had just read a roadmap of life-- Mr. Rooney packs in 83 years of wisdom. Most everything that he writes just makes so much sense.

This is a fun book to read. The essays are short enough that you can read as many or as few as you want. He doesn't try to flaunt his writing skills with long, verbose words. When I read I felt like I was getting a couple hundred pages of pure, down-to-Earth honesty.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is curious about life.

definitely interesting and humorous, something we can all relate to but potentially be insulted by in a non-offensive way, if that makes sense. very enjoyable easy reading.

This is, indeed, a nice read, as we say, and many people will
find it a very pleasant book to browse through. This is a compendium of pure Andy Rooney, and if a person enjoys hearing his 60 Minutes commentaries, they will enjoy this present book.

His stories are short and to the point, and he makes no pretense
of them being anything other than his personal opinion on dozens
of topics, from WWII to the present, and he is usually funny
and accurate.

But there is nothing new here, and the book moves along almost
too smoothly. There is very little to catch the imagination.
This book is easily put down, and it can be read anytime, anywhere with some satisfaction.

It would be a wonderful gift for Rooney fans.

Funny book with 'on target' observations (especially the Catholic Church on sex). Rooney's comments regarding the absurdities in society make us laugh AND think. He's not afraid to lambast anyone & that's a MUST in a humorist.
If you like absurdities in institutions exposed, you may also like "No One's Even Bleeding" & "Delano".

This book is abolutely hilarious. However, there is very little knee-slapping humor in it. What is not funny, however, a lot of the stuff that goes on that no one even notices.

It simply tells, from Andy's point of view, all the goofy things that are going on in this country and the world. He is on target for most of it. It's sort of like getting in to a discussion at the local coffee shop with a friend - you can agree or disagree with his observations. Of course I don't know a lot about a lot of the statistics he throws around but that doesn't really matter, he gets his point across.

It certainly gives a person a lot to think about and decide whether you agree with his point of view or not.

If you can't find anything, controversial or interesting in this book you are not very interested in what is happening on federal, state or local level or for that matter in your own life.

What I found most interesting is all the stuff he brings up that are part of every day life and no one even thinks twice about.