This is a collection of all the articles Dick Cavett wrote for the New York Times during his short run at writing a bi-weekly column of his ruminations. In typical Cavett style the articles are irreverent, funny, and just a bit snarky (in a good way).I bought this book having read a couple of his articles, in some reprinted fashion, some time ago. Of course the ones reprinted were the best of the best, so there are some articles in this book which weren't nearly as interesting.My favorites were the ones about Richard Burton, The Art of the Insult, and the one that claimed Sarah Palin had no "first language." But there were definitely some which seemed more like personal ramblings in a diary.It's a casual read and it was akin to popping open a can of Pringles. There's probably no more enjoyable way for people to improve their vocabulary than to read Cavett. I expected more of Cavett than this collection of NYT articles provided. Too often pedantic, priggish, and self-congratulatory, it also was too focused on the political events of 2007-2008. Cavett had no distance in his writing, only spleen for Bush and for Palin. And spleen gets old fairly quickly. His memories of figures like Groucho Marx, William F. Buckley, and John Wayne, among others, were quite funny and touching, but unfortunately occupied too little of the book.
What do You think about Talk Show, Enhanced Edition: Confrontations, Pointed Commentary, And Off-Screen Secrets (2011)?
This was actually a pretty funny book - but don't read if you are a conservative! :-)
—LIV
I have a feeling this book just scratches the surface of good Dick Cavett stories.
—Jojo
They guy is just so articulate and witty. I still miss his TV shows.
—Shelove
I loved it! I could hear his droll voice reciting every word.
—zreese1123
