Keep It Simple, Stupid: You're Smarter Than You Look [Hardcover]

Judy Sheindlin (Author, Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 3, 2000

Judge Judy, the star of the TV show, offers her opinions, legal and otherwise, on the state of the American family.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If you think buying a home with Mr. Maybe is a good way to determine if he's Mr. Right, hold everything. In Judge Judy's latest round of advice, Keep it Simple, Stupid: You're Smarter Than You Look, she tells you to keep it all separate until you tie the knot legally. Touching on all of life's challenging family situations, from dating and marriage to caring for elderly parents and losing loved ones, America's favorite judge ultimately encourages us to plan ahead and avoid unnecessarily complicating our lives.

Much of what she delivers we've all heard a thousand times before, but for some readers her renowned matter-of-fact tone is the ideal voice to reaffirm these commonsense solutions. "Life is a one-shot deal," she says. "There are only so many seconds, minutes, hours, days, and years. Every second you devote to negative energy and negative emotion is a second lost forever."

Carefully excerpted conversations between feuding family members lay the groundwork for each chapter. For instance, when Jimmy, trying to help his brother's failing marriage, inadvertently invites them to tag along on his anniversary trip to Hawaii, Jimmy's wife, Joanne, hits the roof. Judge Judy's response is simply put:

Jimmy, you're clueless. While you're so busy trying to save your brother's marriage, your wife is getting ready to pack her bags. Your brother and his wife can mend their marriage at another locale. It doesn't have to be Hawaii. Besides, since when do husbands make social plans? It's not unreasonable for Joanne to want to celebrate a special anniversary alone, and that's what you should do.

With the no-nonsense attitude and cut-to-the-chase style of a woman who has seen and heard everything, Judge Judy Sheindlin continues to help us solve our most complicated life problems and find ways to keep it simple. --Phyllis Monroe

From Publishers Weekly

Stop squabbling and get real because Judge Judy (author of the bestselling Beauty Fades, Dumb Is Forever) is back on all our cases with the patented combination of sass and savvy made famous on her hugely popular syndicated television show. Here, she presents a series of short, lively composites of classic family conflicts that she has heard over the years, concerning everything from the breakups of live-in relationships to funeral arrangements. Just as in court, Judge Judy gives both parties a chance to say their piece before she passes judgment and hands out her bracing, no-nonsense advice. Pig-headed would-be family feuders take notice: Judge Judy has no problem saying, "I find you guilty of being insensitive and a bit shallow." Her wrist slaps and tongue-lashings are all part of the brand of justice she doles out. Another refreshing aspect of her rulings is that while she recognizes the rights bestowed upon a parent by law regarding, for example, joint custody after an acrimonious divorce, she also points out when exercising those rights may not be in a child's best interest; she also proposes more humane alternatives that may be less destructive. Her many fans will know that Judge Judy stands for honesty, loyalty, honoring family ties and protecting kidsAand that dirty rotten rats need not appeal for mercy. While she discloses how others may have failed to keep the peace over money, marriage, divorce and re-marriage, she also reminds her readers to "stop playing games," "grow up" and do the right thing. B&w illus. (July)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Harper (July 3, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060195460
• ISBN-13: 978-0060195465
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #316,108 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You go, girl! Judge Judy tells it like it is, July 18, 2000

By 

Helen M. Moss (Yorktown Heights, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Keep It Simple, Stupid: You're Smarter Than You Look (Hardcover)

I'm a big fan of Judge Judy's TV show, so of course I immediately went out and bought the book. As I was reading it, I couldn't help thinking that for a person to endure 25 years of people like this in Family Court without going insane is nothing short of a miracle.

The book takes you through a variety of family-forming and family-splitting situations, such as moving in together, divorce and remarriage, as well as relationships with and between parents, step-parents, grandparents, siblings and children. Every point in every chapter is supported by a a highly entertaining amalgam of cases culled from her years in Family Court, as well as cases heard on her TV show. Believe me, there is NOTHING she hasn't seen or heard!

Judge Judy offers no-nonsense, common-sense advise when it comes to marriage, money, families and living arrangements, and she frequently reminds her readers that American courts are not designed to soothe every last one of a person's ruffled feathers. Whether or not she actually receives it, she expects a high level of maturity in the people who come before her. And she's not shy about saying "Tough Luck" to those who lost out as a result of their own stupidity.

I think the vast majority of people who would be interested in this book are reasonably intelligent, and as such will be just as amused (and sometimes outraged) at some of the cases she's heard as I was. She's not shy about holding up her own life, with her two divorces and her blended family, as an example about what and what not to do. Although the book itself was rather short (you could probably finish the whole thing in under an hour), I found it highly entertaining and would recommend it to anybody.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Judge Judy Blasts Away at Harmful Behavior as Only She Can!, August 6, 2000

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 110,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Keep It Simple, Stupid: You're Smarter Than You Look (Hardcover)

Judge Judy has a simple point here: We do it to ourselves by making bad decisions about how we interact with those closest to us. The reason is obviously because we all assume we are right, and cannot understand why everyone else doesn't see it our way. Rather, we should look at how it is from everyone's perspective (as a judge would) and make the best common sense choice. Works for me!

Judge Judy brings a lot to this book. She is a mother, a remarried spouse, a step mother, lawyer, financial advisor, and judge. Occasionally, she also talks to you like a wise elder sister. At other times, she makes a convincing drill instructor in boot camp.

The format is very interesting. She makes up scenarios from more than one case she has seen before. In so doing, she makes them just a little more complicated than they probably are in real life. This makes the situations so ridiculous that you have to laugh at yourself if you see yourself in some aspect of the scenario. That was brilliant. People are more open to change when they are laughting, than when they are angry.

Like in the television show, the parties get to tell their beef. Usually, the second party explains why the first one was all wet in her or his explanation. Judge Judy then gets out her opinions and levels one . . . or the other . . . or both.

Actually, I liked the book better than the television show because the scenarios are pretty funny, while the people on television are sometimes just pathetic. Also, you don't have to listen to a lot of ranting at each other. Judge Judy has edited it down to the minimum.

Further, she explains some general philosophies that you would only pick up on by watching about 200 of her shows. Here are some of these:

Living Without Benefit -- If you call this commitment, you should be committed. She suggests living together for no more than one year, splitting the expenses down the middle, and not buying anything expensive together. If any other money passes hands, put the promises in writing.

Tying the Knot -- Measure ten times, and cut once. Get a pre-nuptial agreement. 50 percent of these marriages are going to fail. It'll save pain and money later.

Married Bliss -- If life were fair, men would have stretch marks.

Kids Happen -- Having a baby is easy; being a parent is hard.

After the Ball Is Over -- Don't get mad. Get out. Move on.

Tug-of-War -- Love your kids more than you hate each other.

The Second Time Around -- For better or forget about it!

The Family Bond -- Honor your parents.

'Til Death Do Us In -- Where there's a will, there's a way.

Keep It Simple, Stupid -- You're smarter than you look. "The bottom line is, it's up to you."

Overcome your misconceptions that you can act like a two year old in your personal life without paying for the consequences with this sage, practical advice from the front lines of the vanquished. Judge Judy is a 2,000 percent stallbusting solution!

By the way, you can save a lot of future grief by sharing this book with your children before they get themselves into these messes.

Donald Mitchell ([e-mail])

21 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Dissappointing read, July 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Keep It Simple, Stupid: You're Smarter Than You Look (Hardcover)

I saw Judge Judy on an interview with Larry King Live about the book. From the interview I thought it would be interesting enough to buy.

When I finally got it, I was dissappointed. It was like reading a magazine, not a hardcover book. It was just filled with quotes & complaints from couples. It was like a Q&A book. But with 80% of the book filled with other peoples squables, and only 20% of her personal solutions to them.

I thought that there would be more thought provoking analysis or discussions on marriage, families & relationships. It was a dissappointment.