Customer Reviews

Time Flies

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Bill Cosby is one of those comdians who everyone loves. And this book is a good example why. He takes the reader down the road that he was going through back in the late 80's. He was struggling with getting old, and as his body started to age with him. He shows how he can no longer run in high-school track, and how his hair was starting to grey. His humorus look at getting old isgood for anyone to read. Now, I am in my 20's, so some of his jokes flew over my head, but I'm sure that is 20 years I will understand all to well what he was going through. I still enjoed this book though, and I'm sure you will too.

Once again, Cosby delights his public with his funny and sensitive prose. In this great book, he manages to turn an otherwise somber subject (that of the approaching of one's final years) into something much less frightening and more understandable. Cosby's humourous writing is the responsible for the book's lightness. At the same time, Dr. Alvin F. Poussaint makes the introduction of Cosby's book, as usual, giving his medical point of view about the biological process which is behind one of humanity's biggest fears. Fortunately, there is "Time Flies" - a book that should be read by anyone who is growing old.

This is one of the funniest books that you will ever read, guaranteed. America's favorite comic genius brings us another load of laughs. If there is only one book you are going to buy this year, it should be this one. In a way which will make you laugh out loud, Cosby explores the subject of aging in a way only Cosby could manage.

This book is so funny, i could not contain myself, i started laughing in the library, i was eventually kicked out!! i have never looked more silly in my life but i walked out giggling and laughing. my roommate says he heard me laughing in my sleep. A graceful book, full of truths handed out as comic situations and dialogue, a must if you need to laugh. and who doesn't these days?

If you have ever heard of Bill Cosby, then you will want to read this book. He tells about the many attributes one gets from aging, but in such a way that the only thing the reader can do is laugh. If you have seen the comedy concert, "Bill Cosby: 49" then you will have heard many of the routines he writes in this #1 best-seller; still, the book's untouched subjects make it a worth-while investment

Book Review

TIME FLIES

It was out of curiosity that I picked up Bill Cosby's "Time Flies" from a second hand bookstore in downtown San Francisco. I knew him earlier as an actor in the series "I Spy". He starred opposite Robert Culp. I tried not to miss the show. Later in life I followed avidly his hit comedy series, "Cosby Show". Knowing him, I thought it must be a book of humour reminiscent of the old P G Woodhouse. But behind all the zaniness and hilarity, there is a sombre message: that growing old is a serious business and should not be taken too lightly. Cosby deals with a topical subject on reaching 50 and growing old gracefully. It is also a subject close to our nation.

Dr Alvin Poussaint, who wrote the introduction to Cosby's "Time Flies", rightfully observes that, "Growing old begins to concern most of us to some extent when we are in our fifties. But growing old gracefully, in good mental and physical health, is unnecessarily impeded by attitudes in our culture that devalue old age." The aged people need to adopt a positive approach to ageing and accept ageing as not only a physical process but also a state of mind. After all a person is as old as he feels rather than how old his actual age is. It is Mark Twain who said: "Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter."

Cosby does not look at ageing from the viewpoint of social demographics or the socio-economic cost to a nation. He does not suggest policies and programmes that need to be designed or implemented to cope with a "greying" population. His is an anecdotal account of coping with growing age. Activities of living that seemed so obvious and effortless become pronounced and visible at age 50. One suddenly realises that the human machine is slowing down. As Cosby laments, "It seems that only yesterday I was fifteen and old people were people of forty, who were always going some place to sit down. And now I am doing the sitting....".How often old people have difficulty in remembering. Cosby recalls how with growing despair he began to hunt for the can of insect spray. He tells himself, "There is no point, of course, in also hunting for your mind: it is permanently lost". He later finds it on his desk only after drifting back upstairs.

Cosby deals with the many day-to-day predictable encounters faced by him with sensitivity, purpose and self-deprecating wit and humour. The events seem so real and their familiarity are quite comforting as if some of them had just happened to you a week before. Any person in his fifties can identify the situations. Cosby faces failing eye- sight and quips on his need for trifocals. He becomes conscious of his weight and the battle he has to keep away from fried egg-sandwiches and buttermilk pancakes. I could not help laughing under my breath when he describes his battle with his belt and growing mid- riff. "No matter what size belt is strangling you, there are times when it will disappear under a roll of dough", he observes. How true it is with some of us.

Maybe the climax of all his ins and outs of coping with growing old is his anxiety on going to bed. He says:

"A man of my age comes home late from the office, has dinner, takes a shower, ignores a few bills, and finally makes it into bed. Discovering another person in that bed, and dimly aware that this person is a different sex, he starts to make his move.
`Not tonight', says his wife.
And the man rolls over with a smile.
Thank you very much, he silently says.
His heart had not been in the mood, or any other part. All he wanted really to do was to go on record."

Cosby's treatment of his experiences is personalized to the extent that one feels that he is talking about them to a convivial group of friends in a neighbourhood coffee house. The language is simple, lucid and chatty. It makes for easy reading and one can probably finish the book at one sitting.

I would recommend the book to any causal reader who is probably seeking a quick anecdote for his transient depression.

K.V.Veloo

Bill Cosby is the best at looking at life's little unpleasant situations from a humorous perspective. Always lifts your spirits when your down.

I've been a fan of his for many years, and if you've somehow managed to live in a cave so long that you don't know why, you could easily find out by reading this book. I've also read one of his later books, which I also enjoyed, but this is somehow much better. Not a whole lot in it that's new -- observations about getting older -- but the style is Cosby at his best. Skip the introduction by Alvin Poussaint, however. If any writing is more painful to read, I haven't had the misfortune to find it.

This is an excellent book for men and women to read who are really concerned about getting past middle age. It presents a humorous approach to accepting the reality of each birthday. I am still laughing from reading this novel. It's classic humor! I like the use of figurative language including the way the metaphors and similes come across in a comparative way. Cosby presented truth and facts about life in an acceptable manner with humor. This book tears down the closet walls and exposes the truth as a process of life. This is a great book to read!!!

Bill Cosby is a very perceptive man. In "Time Flies", he makes his observations about getting old. Much like "Fatherhood", this book is laugh out loud funny. This is a great read for young and old.

Bill Cosby's has a gift for writing quality comedy. "Times Flies" focuses on several facets of growing old. One of the funniest chapters addresses the complications of adjusting to bifocals. As a former wearer of bifocals, I had a great appreciation of Cosby's view. As somebody that has dietary issues, I also had a great appreciation of his perspective of dieting. Other sections deal with changes in your body and clothes. My only objection is that I feel Alvin Poussaint's introductions are a bit patronizing and annoying. This is a sample of Cosby's wit. And Cosby's wit is worth its price.