Hello Junk Mail! [Hardcover]

Ted L. Nancy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2008

Who is Ted L. Nancy? Is it Jerry Seinfeld as many believe? Or is Ted L. Nancy someone else? Mr. Nancy’s hilarious, notorious Letters from a Nut series documented his correspondence with celebrities and companies, who took his outlandish ideas and suggestions at face value. In Hello Junk Mail!, Nancy tackles one of the most pernicious evils of the modern age: the junk mailer. Now writing with the Kabobbys of Glendale, a newly arrived foreign family and their relatives, Ted and his new neighbors answer scores of junk letters with riotous results. Responding to a solicitation from a pest control company, Hamooli Kabobby requests that they eliminate his freeloading cousin, then tells the pest control company about his family problems of body odors and stinky backyards. Geela Kabobby writes the distributors of free instant breakfast samples to ask if they cure eye infections. Grandfather Bahir Kabobby writes to a mortgage company: "Yes, I want financial freedom and healthier toes." Laid out as copies of the actual correspondence, the letters are as authentic as they are ridiculous — and all are wildly entertaining. So who is Ted? Jerry Seinfeld or The Kabobbys of Glendale?

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Pure comedic genius." — Jerry Seinfeld

About the Author

Ted L Nancy is the pseudonym used by Barry Marder. Marder wrote with Jerry Seinfeld the stand-up comedy on the show "Seinfeld" for the entire run of the series. He was the co-writer on "Bee Movie". Despite the common misconception that Jerry Seinfeld wrote the first three Letters From a Nut books, it is also speculated that Barry Marder has been the elusive Ted all along.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 226 pages
• Publisher: National Lampoon Press; 1 edition (November 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0980059216
• ISBN-13: 978-0980059212
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #214,672 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ted L. Nancy is Barry Marder. Finally the long national nightmare is over. Jerry Seinfeld unmasked the true author of the "Letters From A Nut" books on Larry King Live and The Today Show with Matt Lauer. (To View: Tedlnancy.com)

Mr. Nancy writes earnest letters to Icelandic malls, German theme parks, Norms Barbershop, shoe museums, waffle cone businesses, and an Indian Casino asking to sell ham sandwiches in their restroom. And publishes them along with their equally sincere but hilarious responses. He does this so that others may enjoy it. His letters include: Telling Ralphs Supermarket he bought a haunted sponge from them. Asking an Amsterdam hotel if he can check in with 300 hamsters for his production of Hamsterdam. And warning the telephone company installer about his Electronic Belching Machine on his patio.

His books on Amazon.com are under Ted. L. Nancy or Jerry Seinfeld. No one else. He has no affiliation with any other books or DVD's except what is on this Author's Page. He is proud that his books are suitable for all ages. Many teachers use them in their classrooms as learning tools for students. Mr. Nancy has moved to Glendale, California to be near the Turkish paranormal community. (of which he has attended a meeting) He does not like olives! Visit his website at tedlnancy.com

Barry Marder is a comedian, former writer on "Seinfeld" and the co-writer of Dreamworks' animated hit "Bee Movie." He was a writer for Bill Maher, Jay Leno, & David Letterman. He has performed at most major theaters in the United States as opening act for Jerry Seinfeld. He has also written with George Carlin.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny and FRESH, December 11, 2008

By 

Eric Bjorgum "Professor Bunkum" (Sierra Madre, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hello Junk Mail! (Hardcover)

I don't agree with the previous review at all, but before responding, let me say what is great about this book. This book shows change for Ted L. Nancy, as it moves beyond the letter/response genre--that Ted has done three of and that has been done to death by now. As far as I know, this is the first book to tell a story in letters responding to junk mail. It's a great idea. Some of the letters read well on their own, while others need to be read in context, but if you read the whole book, you will be wildly entertained by the story of the Kabboby family, CoCo LaBoy and Generalissimo Tazmak. This is a very funny book, but it is a BOOK that requires some work on the part of the reader, for which the reader will be greatly rewarded.

Now, in response to the first review...This book is full of replies. In fact, it is mainly all replies--replies to junk mail. Ok, so that's not what was intended by the reviewer, but it is a point worth making. However, there are replies to Mr. Nancy's letters. There are series of letters from Muldoon's footwear, the Cordon Bleu school, Dr. Katz the breath doctor, a trade school, some Canadian ministry of something or other-- and a killer respnose to Colonelissimo Tazmak from T.Rowe Price to end the book on a great note (if the reader has been paying attention). I'm not sure if the first reviewer read the whole book or read it with any comprehension of what it is really about. I suggest reading the forward first for some context.

I'm sure Ted could write another straight letters book. "More Extra Nutty"?? "More More Nutty"? The point is, Ted has told us even by his titles that he's had enough of that genre. It was getting a bit ridiculous. Ted has moved on. His audience should move on. It is mean spritied and short sighted to slam Mr. Nancy for not writing the same book over and over again. I support Ted and will always give him the benefit of the doubt by reading his work with an open mind. Once through with the book, I will make a judgment, and my judgment on this book is that it is very funny, and it is unique in the extreme. This book is ingenious and indicative of the crazed thought we expect from Mr. Nancy.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A New HOOT of a Book from Good Old Ted, December 12, 2008

By 

Murppy Dick (Newport, RI) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hello Junk Mail! (Hardcover)

I had given up hope of ever seeing another Ted book again. So I was happily surprised when Hello Junk Mail popped up. What a concept! Take those stupid mailers and pieces of instant garbage that just show up on our doorstep and inundate THEM with mail for a change. Plus, add silly letters about the goings on in your crazy family. Just as stupid and meaningless to the receiver as the junk mail they send out! Ha! That's what Ted did.

And then the stories he (or, uh, the Kabobbys) tells are hysterically funny. When Ted takes on these different characters he has different problems and different voices for each of them but still with the special Ted style of writing (Larry!).

I have given out the Letters From A Nut books to many friends who are depressed or in the hospital because the laughter they derive is so healing. I'll bet this one could have the same effect.

Bottom line -- you will laugh if you buy this book, guaranteed! I am giving some for Christmas. Enjoy!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars REALLY BIZARRE TED, October 2, 2010

By 

Alicia in Aurora - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hello Junk Mail! (Hardcover)

I guess I got into a Ted week here. I just read this for the second time. This is one of the under the radar books that never got the recognition of the "Letters From A Nut" books. It's different - Ted created some weird Hamooli family that lives in his backyard answering junk mail. Kind of a reverse of the "Letters" books. They live in cartons and tents. Cook weird food. Make decisions based on Judge Joe Brown. A lamb grill. There's a strange wedding. It's a Ted book. Just different. And FUNNY!