10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The lost art of letter writing, January 5, 2005
This review is from: Funny Letters from Famous People (Hardcover)
When I picked up this book, I thought the letters in it would be more ha-ha funny, or maybe unintentionally funny. Instead, I was treated to finely-constructed correspondences from politicians, authors, and entertainers. Some of my favorites: everything from Abraham Lincoln, Churchill's treatise on the unintended consequences of praying for rain, Bush The Elder's letter to the chairman of the Roach Bowl in Hawaii, Lewis Carroll's over-the-top apology for missing an appointment, everything by Mark Twain, groaners by Dorothy Parker and Carl Sandburg, and the exchange between Eddie Cantor and Florenz Ziegfeld.
Some letters are laugh-out-loud funny, but many are more subtle, understated, and dry. All display the wit and expressiveness of their authors. While I don't want to give up telephone and e-mail, I can see how these technologies have made the thoughtfully composed letter an endangered species.
So read this book and then get out some stationery and write a real letter!
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Humorous collection that was also touching, September 22, 2003
FUNNY LETTERS FROM FAMOUS PEOPLE by Charles Osgood,
the acclaimed broadcaster and humorist, is a humorous collection
of correspondence from politicians, writers and show business
figures--organized chronologically . . . there are contributions
from those you might expect, such as Groucho Marx and Bob
Hope, as well a surprising entry from George Washington . . . I
also got a kick from reading Dwight D. Eisenhower kvetch
to Mamie about Patton.
Some of the letters are actually quite touching; e.g., one
from an aging and convicted Oscar Wilde, as well as another from an
ailing but resilient Frederic Chopin . . . they appear to be written by
men trying to laugh in order to avoid crying.
Osgood's commentary also added to my enjoyment.
My only criticism: There are very few women represented in this
male-heavy collection.
Among the many passages that caught my attention were the
following:
* Truman was, of course, famous for his "plain speaking." He did not
suffer fools lightly, and he found a good deal of his job as president
to be a tremendous waste of time. In a letter to his sister in 1947,
Truman wrote: "All the President is, is a glorified public relations man
who spends his time flattering, kissing, and kicking people to get
them to do what they are supposed to do anyway."
* As Elizabeth Dole's fame and power grew over the years, even to
the point of being-with her husband-a front-runner for George
Bush's choice of a vice president, Bob Dole was utterly undisturbed.
When she was appointed Secretary of Transportation, Dole
remembered, "There were a lot of stories and a lot of pictures taken.
I was always in the picture, but I was never identified. They said,
'The man on the left is the husband.' PEOPLE magazine took an
interest in Elizabeth, so a photographer followed us around and took
about three hundred pictures. They wound up using three, and one
showed us making the bed.
"Some guy out in California whose wife had read the story wrote
that he was now helping make the bed. He said, "Senator, I don't
mind your wife getting the job. She's well qualified. She's doing
good work. But you've got to stop doing the work around the house.
You're causing problems for men all across the country."
Dole wrote back:
"Buster, you don't know the half of it. The only reason she was
helping was because they were taking the pictures."
* From time to time throughout her illustrious career, Julia Child was
attacked by people she began to refer to as "food police"--those who
thought her recipes and culinary edicts were too high-fat and unhealthy.
One such attacker wrote asking why Child couldn't advocate healthy
foods in her books and television programs-after all, she'd been
seen in public eating a salad.
Julia sent her the following recipe for a healthy life:
Small helpings,
no seconds,
eat a little bit of everything,
no snacking,
have a good time,
and pick your grandparents!
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