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Product Details
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Three Rivers Press; Reprint edition (October 12, 2004)
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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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.Read more ›
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If you're looking for funny books, this is not one of them. This book should be entitled personal, intimate, casual (or other synonyms) of famous people, and it should be categorized under history. If you're looking for a glance into the lives of important people in US history (esp. politicians, writers and artists), this book is for you. Just don't bring it to the beach expecting to laugh. It received high ratings, so I read it (I couldn't get through the whole thing and just skipped around to the people I found most interesting) but was not impressed. I love humor and I'm a history grad student so I appreciate certain histories (though I did not expect to see them here), but this book was just not for me. Perhaps I'm being overly harsh b/c I was really excited about reading something funny. If you go into this expecting something different, maybe you won't be as disappointed, just don't expect to laugh.
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I thought this was a good book with some interesting letters and letter excerpts in it, but I was not laughing at every letter. Some were pretty funny and had me laughing or chuckling, some were amusing, and some I just could not find the humor (maybe it is just me).
It is true we have lost the art of letter writing and I liked reading how people wrote letters in the past, using wording and language as an art form. I find it interesting that the letter writers in this book had the same kind of thoughts as we do today with a few exceptions due to culture and customs of the time.
I borrowed this book, and while it is a nice quaint collection of somewhat funny letters, I will not purchase it to keep in my personal library.
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Osgood has collected some very worthy entries here but, as may be expected from someone geeky enough to amass this collection, there are some odd and hard to justify entries as well - either from the not so famous or - worse - not so funny or both.
But all in all its a diverting collection with some worthy items which might come in handy for after-dinner speakers (or plagiarists!)
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Charles Osgood makes everything seem better and he does it again with this clever selection of letters and his own classic way of seeing them with dry wit and in forgiving human perspective makes this a small but delightful blessing for anybody's bookshelf - or gift list. Eugene Cullen Kennedy, emeritus professor of psychology, Loyola University of Chicago
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