Quite Enough Of Calvin Trillin: Forty Years Of Funny Stuff (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
The short essays, and essays may not be the proper word for these pieces, at first frustrated me. I like the humor. But the pieces just seemd to get into the subject matter...then end. I am unaware of the space restraints he had to work with but many left me wanting more. Several were many pages in length, others a quick verse. I guess it was a good mixture. The author is older than I and referenced some songs that I do not know, nor my wife. Since the article in mind was written close to the end of the century I thought it would be a relevant song. But apparently the author's mind is set back in the fifties as far as dredging up songs to write alternate lyrics to. On the whole, the book was enjoyable. Not enough to actually share any of the pieces with anyone though. I have always been a Trillin fan. He makes me laugh and he makes me think. An essayist par excellence, he is adept at cracking wise, the pointed jibe, the succinct critique of the "zeitgeist," especially the foibles and failings of politicos and media darlings. His food writing is spiced with humor and expresses his deep appreciation of good eating. His writes movingly about family life, and in his novel, Tepper Isn't Going Out, he shows his love for his adopted city of New York. He can dash off a snappy poem on the current state of the election as well as tackle a serious topic with sensitivity. With this collection of works he originally wrote for the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Nation, and his syndicated King Features column, I was very pleased to re-visit some of his best.(Barbara L., Reader's Services)
What do You think about Quite Enough Of Calvin Trillin: Forty Years Of Funny Stuff (2011)?
More than everything you'd want to read by Trillin - even if you already had.
—Vogel
Some of it is dated, but all of it is funny
—jessica
