From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor [Mass Market Paperback]

Jerry Della Femina (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1971

From the back cover: "I refuse to apologize for telling the truth about advertising, and if it offended some people, that's just too bad. If I had wanted to be loved by those people I would have joined the Peace Corps." Jerry Della Femina said that. He also said: "Advertising is the most fun you can have with your clothes on." And the critics agree!

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Book, Inc (1971)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671780522
• ISBN-13: 978-0671780524
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 3.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,853,067 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars great book, terrific anecdotes June 4, 1999

By Sabu Paul

Format:Hardcover

Like the reviewer above, I read this book when I was in college and it's one of the reasons I'm an advertising copywriter today. Great anecdotes and the story of modern advertising during its formative years. I must have read this book some five times. Della Femina and George Lois are still my heroes (Alas, The Art of Advertising by Lois is also out of print).

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Advertising the way it was meant to be April 30, 1997

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

I read this book in junior high school and it made advertising seem like so much fun and so interesting that I am now, like Mr. Della Femina, a copywriter in Manhattan. It is not as glamorous or as lucrative for me as it has been for him, but I'm not complaining. There are dozens of great anecdotes, one of which provides the title of the book. Unfortunately, I lent it to a work associate, who lent it to a girl at the agency who he was trying to date, and I never saw it again. So if you find a copy, read it and hang on to it

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Still laughing after all these years February 19, 2001

By HeyJudy VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

I read this book when it first was published; I must have been in high school at the time. After all these years--20? 30?--I'm still laughing!

As events would transpire, Mr. Della Femina and I ended up living in the same town. Okay, so maybe I live here and he owns it. My favorite reading in this town is the column that Jerry writes for the weekly newspaper...which he happens to own. I usually make copies of this column and send it to friends. Believe me, we all howl.

Considering his prominence in the place where we both live, there's not a month that passes that I don't tell somebody about this book. It was as interesting as it was funny, a primer on the advertising industry written by a man of integrity. (Did you hear the one about the time he got arrested for displaying pumpkins in front of the gourmet shop he owns? Seriously, folks....) Very simply, I think that Jerry Della Femina is a genius. Of course, I give Jerry full credit for the title of this memoir, both the way he crafted the phrase and the sentiment behind it.

A dear friend was doing a very important business deal with a prominent Japanese firm. He and his wife invited me to dinner to help entertain the company's rep on his trip to NYC. After they had invited me, they remembered my enthusiasm for this autobiography. Then, they started to worry that I was going to tell the client (who spoke perfect English) all about Jerry's book. They prevailed upon me to exercise restraint. It was difficult, but I held my tongue.

There are some books which, as a reader, one just can't understand why a publisher would let go out of print. As far as I'm concerned, WONDERFUL FOLKS heads my list.