Customer Reviews

The Ferrari in the Bedroom

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"In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash" and "Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories: And Other Disasters" are two books where humorist Jean Shepherd shows his mastery of the nostalgic anecdote laced with satire. A third book, "A Fistful of Fig Newtons", is also anecdotal, but with a more cynical, adult twist. Except for an occasional trip or two down Memory Lane, "The Ferrari in the Bedroom" presents a series of droll observations Shepherd makes of contemporary America ("contemporary" meaning the early 1970s). In a style of sociological humor only his, Shepherd takes on basic components of the American psyche: cars, road travel, consumerism, the battle of the sexes, television, just to name a few. The author also shoots some salvoes at 1970s precursors to 1990s political correctness. Much of the material in this book, albeit dated, will still make some readers reminisce on younger days; references are made to Playboy bunnies, real service stations (i.e., before self-serve), hippies, and the Generation Gap. Shepherd also treats us to amusing travelogues about Maine and Alaska, plus a "critique" of the Johnson Smith novelty catalog which also appears in "A Fistful of Fig Newtons", but under another title. After reading Shepherd's four books, "In God We Trust" and "Wanda Hickey's" stand out as my favorites (coincidentally, these two are still in print).

Well, this isn't Shep's best, but it's still a hell of a good read. Not really a work of fiction, it's largely a collection of essays and musings on American culture. The stories are always funny and smart, and it's illustrated with Shepherd's own excellent pen and ink line drawings. Shep fans will love it and non-shep fans... Well, there aren't any non-Shep fans, only those who haven't read him yet.

"In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash" and "Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories: And Other Disasters" are two books where humorist Jean Shepherd shows his mastery of the nostalgic anecdote laced with satire. A third book, "A Fistful of Fig Newtons", is also anecdotal, but with a more cynical, adult twist. Except for an occasional trip or two down Memory Lane, "The Ferrari in the Bedroom" presents a series of droll observations Shepherd makes of contemporary America ("contemporary" meaning the early 1970s). In a style of sociological humor only his, Shepherd takes on basic components of the American psyche: cars, road travel, consumerism, the battle of the sexes, television, just to name a few. The author also shoots some salvoes at 1970s precursors to 1990s political correctness. Much of the material in this book, albeit dated, will still make some readers reminisce on younger days; references are made to Playboy bunnies, real service stations (i.e., before self-serve), hippies, and the Generation Gap. Shepherd also treats us to amusing travelogues about Maine and Alaska, plus a "critique" of the Johnson Smith novelty catalog which also appears in "A Fistful of Fig Newtons", but under another title. After reading Shepherd's four books, "In God We Trust" and "Wanda Hickey's" stand out as my favorites.

Even though there are no stories of Flick and Schwartz here, this book still brings the laughs, particularly to the afficionado. This isn't a book to introduce Shepherd, this is for the fan who already knows how funny he can be. The best story here is about a trip to the 1939 Indy 500. Only Brock Yates in his novel "Against Death and Time," has ever presented a more clear picture of what it must have been like, to be a spectator at the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. Next in quality is Shepherd's view about how car makers will keep trying to make cars safer, and drivers will still find ways to smash them into one another, or into other unyielding objects. 40 years later, and the piece rings true as ever. As he writes, "There are a lot of ways to prang a Buick," and in 2010 we're still doing it, despite every gadget the car makers come up with. Another good laugh is Shepherd's appearance on a TV fishing show, done at a God-forsaken spot in the Wisconsin tundra in mid-January, in the company of Playboy bunnies who would have been untouchable even if Shep were smooth enough to try his luck. After reading this, I began calling my wife "Bunny ---," (insert first name) though as a non-Shepherd fan she doesn't get the joke. And of course, what race fan wouldn't buy a Ferrari bed, if such were being made? And on it goes. The least known of Shepherd's 4 books, this one has some of his best writing tucked away in it.

More great stories by Jean Shepherd. Some were retold again, but they are still very funny and enjoyable.

This a very funny book. All of Jean Shepherd's books are funny and wonderful reads. It's to bad we have lost him.