Customer Reviews

In Our Humble Opinion: Car Talk's Click and Clack Rant and Rave

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I am a big fan of Car Talk with Tom & Ray Magliozzi. There show is generally quite witty. Im sorry to say that I cant say the same for their book. The stories of each of their lives was interesting with some quirky comments which made me smirk. I expected that for the rest of the book but war wront. their ranting and raving just wasnt interesting. They state the obvious, have nothing to back what they say up and the ranting and raving isnt in the least amusing. It was a chore to get through these guys ranting and raving. My advice, stick to what you are awesome at: your radio show!

My advice is to avoid reading this book all at once. I think I would have appreciated the Magliozzi humor more had I read it a little at a time. I enjoyed the parts about Tom's and Ray's own lives best. Knowing more about them made them even more likable. Additionally, Tom's section on education was insightful and interesting. However, the essays in the Rant section all started to blend together in my mind after a while. Potential readers should also note that this book is not all about cars, which readers may expect since Tom and Ray are known best for their Car Talk show on NPR.

The title tells it! It's Tom's and Ray's opinions, and Rants and Raves, if you don't like that sort of writing DON'T READ and complain!

Tom and Ray (especially Tom) rants on their Car Talk show once in awhile, so one should sort of know what to expect within these pages. I picked it up because I appreciate their insight into some of the same things that frustrate me, bad drivers, our awful elected officials, and public education.

Their banter is enjoyable as ever. The details of their wives, childrens' and growing up lives/years are refreshing and fun to hear about. Even as a woman, I found Ray's gleanings with regards to wives, cooking, love of cookbooks and splendid kitchens to be, um, right on! (Read it to understand.)

There is a respect for young people, children, in their writing ~ these guys are true humanitarians. Yes, Tom comes across as a bit of a vigilante wanna-be, but so am I when faced with idiots on the road, raising children and mucking up the school system.

This book will stand the test of time, they write about the current world and the frustrations of just being one person, yet one who can make small differences.....it all adds up. It's also refreshing to hear and see *celebrities* who are so down-to-earth and who really care about others.

I appreciate Mr. and Mr. Magliozzi taking the time out of their coffee drinking time to write this !

Be aware that this book is just what it says it will be, their personal Rants and Raves, and not much else. If you're also hoping for funny stories along the way, you might be disappointed like I was. I'm afraid the guys fell into the trap of thinking, "If all these people are listening to us, everyone must want to hear everything we have to say." Not necessarily. Don't get me wrong, I love Car Talk. I always tune in for my weekly dose of laughter, and have bought and enjoyed a number of their albums. However, as social commentators, they're out of their depth.

Hey, everybody's entitled to their opinion on life, the universe and everything, and when done with wit and insight, complaining about life's frustrations can definitely be entertaining. I wasn't exactly holding out for Mark Twain or "Groucho and Me" here, but put it this way - if 60 Minutes let Andy Rooney be grumpy and complain for the entire hour, would you watch the show? If you would, you'd like this book, but otherwise, you might not enjoy much more than the first two biographical chapters.

Here's hoping they've gotten this personal self-indulgence out of their system, and will stick with the brand of humor that has made them so popular with so many of us. If it's lots of laughs you're after, buy any of their other offerings. Those are a sure thing.

I guess you either love these guys or you hate them. My wife finds them incredibly annoying when she hears them on the radio.

Myself, I love them. Their accents are not off-putting to me, and I love how they laugh together.

What I've learned over time, though, is that the 'straight' answers they provide are actually pretty authoritative. They actually know what they're talking about, based not only on their extensive formal education but also based on their hands-on work with many, many cars.

If I personally found anything annoying here, it's only their constant self-referencing which gets old. However, it's a part of their "shtick" which we would not want to do without...the rants do not make a lot of sense and reveal more than the reader really wants to know.

If you like Car Talk and understand Tom & Ray's humor, you will LOVE this book. The reason I bought it... I like their humor and hey... more than anything else, it's a memoir for these two great entertainers!

Advice: Strong Buy!