The Best of The Show: A Classic Collection of Wit and Wisdom (Paperback)

~ (Author), Rick Reilly (Contributor), Bob Costas (Contributor) "Traditionally (and you know how I feel about tradition), this is the part of the book where someone more well-known than the author gives his..." (more)
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Editorial Reviews

Review

'The Untelling is the story of deep hurt and slow realization, injury and recovery, and the way people genuinely change their lives. I love it' Dorothy Allison, author of Cavedweller 'Tayari Jones is a remarkable novelist, able to face down the tragedies of life with the clarity and beauty and even the dark humor of a true artist. And she has unerring storytelling instincts. The Untelling is a wonderful book and Tayari Jones is a flat-out brilliant writer' - Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize-winning author

Product Description

- "The Show" is the second most widely-read column in Sports Illustrated, after Rick Reilly, who will write one of the book's introductions. Sports Illustrated has over three million subscribers, the third highest magazine circulation in the United States, and is read by 23 million adults each week.
- The Best Of "The Show" will appeal to fans of Rick Reilly's Life of Reilly (Total/Sports Illustrated, 2000) and Bill Geist's Fore!Play (Warner, 2001), both of which were bestsellers.
- Scheft was the Emmy Award-nominated head monologue writer for David Letterman for 13 years and routinely appears on the air with him. He is a frequent guest on the talk show circuit and on sports radio programs all over the country.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (May 9, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446695610
• ISBN-13: 978-0446695619
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #974,292 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A hit and miss collection, June 23, 2005

By	Craig (Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Best of the Show: A Classic Collection of Wit and Wisdom (Hardcover)

In this collection, Scheft has gathered some of his best material, along with adding some new jokes, to create a collection that has some ups to go along with too many downs. Too many of the jokes just fall flat (you can almost hear the little drum kick after some of them), and some of them already feel dated. There are some great lines, but they're unfortunately too few.

Scheft, a former writer for David Letterman, now writes what I consider to be one of the weaker elements of SI - a humor column that isn't often funny. I don't doubt that Scheft is funny, especially given the fact that Larry David sings his praises. However, that humor just doesn't come through in this book, and much of it can seem monotonous.

I think this may have worked better if the book was shorter, given that they could have been more selective about choosing material. Or perhaps they should have waited longer, until Scheft had enough quality jokes to justify the length of the book.

This is a fun book to flip through for a few minutes, but certainly not an essential read.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Classic it ain't, January 5, 2006

By	J. S. Share (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Best of the Show: A Classic Collection of Wit and Wisdom (Hardcover)

Bill's a pretty funny guy and I well remember his stand-up routines during those long cold nights at the Albany Times Union where he was a young sportswriter, but it doesn't come across very well here. He's at his best doing stand-up. His SI column has never worked either.

1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best of the Show: A Classic Collection of Wit and Wisdom, August 6, 2005

By	Gerry M. Crawford "KMC" (Santa Barbara, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Best of the Show: A Classic Collection of Wit and Wisdom (Hardcover)

Bill Sheft is the best. This book is so great! I very much enjoyed reading this book and his weekly articles in SI.