Customer Reviews

Sincerely, Andy Rooney

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I must admit that I am only half way through Andy's book, but if the second half is as funny as the first, I will be very pleased. I have always enjoyed Andy Rooney on "60 Minutes", therefore I am somewhat biased, but if you want a good, humerous, enjoyable read, get this book now.

I got this book to read while on vacation on the beach in Mexcio. It did not disappoint me. It is full of the acerbic wit and wisdom of Andy, yet the final "letter" is an honest look at philosophy and religion. The book is well-paced and well editied and rambles, just as Andy does. After reading his letters, I appreciate him more than ever.

Andy Rooney and 60 Minutes are arguably one of the finest hours on television past and present, and I doubt it would fail to make anyone's top 5 list. Mr. Rooney can always be counted on for either a clever, humorous thought on an issue that generally is a bit offbeat, for example I would site the time he went on about paperclips, he hates them. There is another side to Mr. Rooney and that is when he clearly is angered, and while upset, he is always eloquent and reasoned, as when he spoke of the suicide of Kurt Cobain. As I mention in the title of this review take the book jacket seriously. There are letters that are outrageously funny (his correspondence with the IRS) and others that will leave you with abdominal pain from laughter. However you rate his warning that he may give offense to some individuals or groups, the book is more serious than the Mr. Rooney of television, and he speaks very bluntly about his feelings on topics that may not gain many new fans, and may lose a few. I hope I am wrong, as his type of reasoned candor that never rises to that of a zealot is rare. This is a book by a very principled man who once left CBS rather than compromise his beliefs, and who was suspended from 60 Minutes for 3 months by politically correct, cowards. This is not the Andy Rooney that people parody with the line "did you ever wonder?". This book is not a humor book although it contains some very entertaining and funny letters. This is a serious, and very personal book, and lest anyone doubt his willingness to share the most personal of thoughts, the letter he writes to his Children about Religion in general, not a specific branch, is about as personal as one can get. I fear that his thoughts may be lost as emotions will be raised quickly, the issue of Religion is always a dangerous one to comment upon. He had the courage to put these thoughts in a book, they deserve to be read. I think the collection of letters is very good, and shows a whole new dimension to this man. As I said, I doubt this book will win many new friends for him, but he clearly values honesty, and his personal feelings are not attacks however much his detractors may wish them to be.

I first purchased this book for my boyfriend's father as a Christmas present. After reading the first chapter, I almost kept it for myself. Thankfully, my boyfriend gave it to me for Christmas (what a nice guy!). Growing up in a one-TV household, I was often tortured as a child by being FORCED to watch "60 Minutes" every Sunday with my parents. The only part I liked when I was a kid was Andy Rooney's "complaint of the week," as I called it. If you typically enjoy his sarcasm and wit, you will love this book!

Mr. Rooney is always both clever, and humorous in dealing with any issue, especially those pesky little inconveniences that bother us all but which most of us choose to ignore.
In this book Mr. Rooney has collected his responses, to letters other people have written to him, and presented them to us with very little fuss or filling. Occasional he prefaces one of his letters with a note to let us know the background.
Taken as a whole, these missives make an interesting overview of his life and career. Some are extremely funny, while others make you think deeply about the odd situations we all find ourselves facing.
Mr. Rooney is at his best when he is just being cantankerous and his cunningly witty self. He is not nearly so good when he tries to vindicate his beliefs with logic or reason.
If you are a religious person, you will probably be offended by his letter to his children.

His letter about religion to his children is beautiful. It is as classic an attack on it's obsurdity as any shown by Sagan, Edison, Paine, or Mark Twain.
And his claiming patriotism and religion as two major problems in the world is prophetic.
I love that old man. What a treasure he is.

Rooney's best book is this one. Extremely entertainng, it shows Rooney's impatience and wittiness. Although most letters serve a purpose, some letters are fluff, others are a bit boring, and some just too ridiculous. Nonetheless, we see just some of Rooney's world outside of television and his satrical commentary on government, media, viewers and people trying to sell something.

If you don't like his commentary, you'll find this collection of letters pretty similar, so you won't like this book. However if you don't regularly watch his commentary but appreciate his sense of humor, this book is definately better than his appearances on 60 minutes.

Why is it that all this feller does is complain, and we love him so? This is great for reading a few letters every day and enjoying the wit and insight of a great writer. Of particular interest to me was a letter to Rooney's children profiling his religious beliefs and their relation to his speculative nature as a journalist. Lots of fun if you're a Rooney fan!

Andy Rooney is America's Grouch. He's a brilliant writer, humorist and commentator who has experienced just about everything and has little time to suffer fools gladly. Many of the letters in this book involve Rooney's response to criticism or undue demands of his time with his acid wit. It's clear that Rooney hangs up an "off duty" sign when he leaves the office and considers his private life his own and no one else's. Don't sneer -- it's not easy to write entertaining negative correspondence. Ann Coulter has consistently shown that a snarling, bitter and hateful person's rants about people she hates is as dull as plain oatmeal when it doesn't have any sense, compassion, intelligence or wit behind it. Andy Rooney's has entertained a lot of people and offended most people -- one gets the impression while reading this book that that is exactly what he sets out to do with his writings. One letter in particular -- a rant about organized religion to his children -- is refreshing during this time when phony Christians pontificate self righteously to others without practicing, or even understanding, what they preach.

However, the letters that stay with me are those positive letters that show Rooney's vulnerable side. There are many letters, for example, that show his soft spot for fellow veterans of World War II. The war was clearly the defining period in Rooney's life -- a time when he forged the majority of his lasting friendships. What's nice is that Rooney's discussions of this time in his letters aren't self-congratulatory ego pieces. They do, however, beautifully show the bond between the servicemen who fought that war and, in all likelyhood, saved democracy.

However, my favorite letter deals with longtime San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen who was a close friend of Rooney's that he wrote on the occasion of Caen's death in 1995. As a Bay Area native, I fondly remember Herb Caen's column -- a beloved staple of life in San Francisco that will never be replaced. So many tributes to the recently deceased, though well meaning, degenerate into sappy, saccharine love notes with cliches in place of real feelings. Rooney, however, instead tells of all the wonderful times he had with Caen, including a hilarious run-in with William Randolph Hearst, Jr. from whose paper, the San Francisco Examiner, Caen defected to work at the Chronicle. It's not sappy and Rooney doesn't even mention his sadness at Caen's passing until the last paragraph. But it is very touching nevertheless as it's clear that Rooney will dearly miss his old friend.

That humanity shines through and lets the reader know, in no uncertain terms, that Rooney is a compassionate and caring person who values and cherishes his friends and family. But keep that a secret ... it might ruin Andy Rooney's reputation.

I really enjoyed this book. Of particular interest was his reminiscences on living in Hollis, Queens. I really enjoyed the stories of playing stickball at PS 35.