Broadcast Books

This is a classic work.
It is short and still covers many attributes of God.
What's so good about this book, is authors ability to give comprehensive and interconnected view of divine attributes; to show how they are connected and do not oppose each other.

I would recommend this book for everybody.
It's easy to read and will cause you to rethink your relationship with God for better.

The Knowledge of the Holy by Tozer is a must read for every Christian. He seems to see into the heart of God and knows, as we all should, that God wants us to know Him and in knowing Him worship and serve Him. The book has short chapters each on something "True about God" and the essential first chapters explain why we need to think rightly about God, anything short is idolatry. As I said, the book is essential reading with an open Bible next to it for all Christians, young and old.
In Jesus
steve

This is a book about the attributes of God. Tozer does an outstanding job of pointing us to God by recalling those things which the Bible says are true of God Almighty.

A few ideas Tozer repeats throughout the book. These ideas are:

1) Modern man has lost the vision of the majesty of our God, and the first step to aquiring it is to determine to "Aquaint ourselves with God".

2) In attempting to see God the way that He truly is, we must believe in order that we may understand, not the other way around.

3) That God is unitary in His being and that all of His attributes work together perfectly without conflict with each other. Also, since God is infinite then all of His attributes are infinite as well.

I read a chapter from this book daily, and my hunger for His presence has certainly increased as a result. This book has helped me to see how futile I am in myself and how pride and worldliness are my biggest hinderences to drawing near to the Lord. This book will help you to see that nothing else in life really matters in comparison to our Almighty God.

AW Tozer is the best at anthropomorshism, which is the abilit to explain the unexplainable in terms understandable. This concept is almost beyond reason but after reading "The Knowlege of the Holy" I have experienced it.

This is the best book for those wanting to better understand God. It's also perfect for those who are struggling with their spiritual life. Tozer' gift is the ability to explain God's attributes in very simple terms.

It's a timeless book. I keep several copies on hand and use them for spontaneous gifts.

some have marked Tozer as a writer and theologian who took a rather "mystical" look at God and the things of God, but this book's beautiful prose serves not to mystify God but to make Him more understandable to the human mind. It helped me in seeing what it meant that He is lovely.

This is the definite cluetrain (doc searls et al)for broadcasTV news. Much the same way cluetrain sparked a marketing revolution, this does the same for broadcast journalism.
I first meet the author when she was interning for Florida Today in Cocca Beach.
Every point she makes in this book is vaild. The take on "fox fair and balanced" tells me she won't be on the O'Reilly factor anytime soon.
I found only one sort of error. FYI> Matt Lauer does have a broadcast journalism background on the local level. He came out of the same environment that former NBC correspondent and current talk show host (WBUR Boston) Robin Young did, PM Magazine at WJAR TV 10 in Providence Rhode Island. That's the only small flaw I could find in the book.
The suits at CNN don't want you to read the book. They are not happy campers and with good reason. The hollywood suits trashed the network big time, and with than came the opening for Fox news to fill. Rick Kaplan is currently doing the same thing for MSNBC that he did for CNN take it down the pike.
It's a fast read but once you start you wont' want to stop.

Finally---an insider with enough intestinal fortitude to call a sham a sham!!! One can just imagine the 6 o'clock news being primmed, powdered and perfumed with just enough tear (or smile) to make it palatibly entertaining. Ms. Anderson, with her years of experience and credibility, still believes that the American citizenry is due the news, the whole news, and nothing but the news. Reserve the spin and "holy cows" for the baseball commentators! If the media execs remain stoically entrenched in the annals of the entertainment world, then let them be reminded of the old radio classic, Dragnet, where the byline was...."the facts, Ma'am, just the facts".

Bonnie Anderson's book has brought to the light of day what I have felt has been a problem with the media for some time. Many of the newscasts are more concerned with form, not substance; how they look and not what they say. Her book is a very good read and pulls no punches in pointing out the way many in the media are more concerned with entertainment than hard news coverage. Her description of this type of coverage as "Infotainment" is right on point.

News Flash brings to the reader another big problem influencing news coverage which is how mega mergers are affecting the coverage that is being presented to the viewing public. Unfortunately the impact is not good and these large conglomerates are proving the old adage "bigger is not always better" to be very true.

From her experience at CNN as a reporter, managing director of a news division and Vice President of Recruitment and Training, Anderson offers the reader a unique perspective as to what goes on inside a large news organization. She provides an in depth look at what takes place behind closed doors when it comes to hiring, firing and staffing in today's media corporations and much of what she reveals should be quite disturbing to the viewing public. This book provides some very interesting statistics about the media and its management which I am sure most of us were never aware of.

While Anderson points out numerous things that are wrong with today's TV media and its management, she also brings out the good that the true journalist can and should do. At the end of the book she offers her thoughts on what the media can do to provide the viewing public with quality news coverage. She should be commended for taking a stand and bringing to our attention the problems and proposing solutions to get TV journalism back to the quality we need and deserve.

In light of Anderson's criticism of the TV networks and cable news channels, it will be interesting to see if any of the media will afford her the same opportunity to present her views as they did when Bernard Goldberg published his book on bias in the media. If they do not, shame on the media, again.

News Flash appears as a rising meteor against a field of weakening stars. Ms. Anderson's book takes the reader through the shenanigans of the TV news broadcasters in their unadulterated striving for place and profits while leaving behind journalistic investigation and integrity. Her words turn out to be an exciting journey of personal experience and incisive exposure.
As a long time news journalist Ms. Anderson sets a fair bar for news organization to reach. Her experiences and reporting often show just how good news organization can function. The same intimacy exposes the petty, inexcusable machinations of networks in journalistic decline.
Ms. Anderson's news flashes exposes the perfidy of CNN's executive wing in its Tailwind scandal, the staging of news as presented by NBC's Dateline story on General Motors in 1992 and the apparent homophobia of Roger Mudd given his attitude toward AIDS victims. But indeed, Ms Anderson is not a muckraker. On the contrary, hers is to excite the industry to better, to reset the standard of TV journalism. She gives as examples her own series on drought and famine in Africa bringing a change in American policy on humanitarian aid, or of CNN's initiative in covering the return of twenty-four U.S. Navy spy plane crewmen held in China. While these could be considered scoops, her admiration for her industry is best held by her words on the, "spectacular breaking news coverage of the 9/11 attacks."
Ms. Anderson words border on the requirement for broadcast journalism to return to its traditional values and to assure the public a clear and unbiased presentation of the news. Ms. Anderson carries the fight to those in the industry already sullying news broadcasts as entertainment and who have diluted their own professionalism for money, position, or simply hubris.

From her insiders view of the whole industry, Bonnie
Anderson delivers a searing indictment of our corrupt,
sensationalistic television news. She lays out fact
by fact, and name by name, just how, why, and most
importantly who is to blame for this once esteemed
institution's downward slide into the very muck it
used to deplore. For years, Noam Chomsky's theories
about the corruption of the news media have grown less
alarmist and eerily more prescient as the
infotainment age reaches its belligerent maturity.
But while Chomsky was lecturing about it, Ms. Anderson
was out in the field living it. She recounts, with a
journalist's eye for detail, all that went astray
within our large media conglomerates. The cast of
characters are all to familiar, Browkaw, Jennings,
Schwarzenegger, Striesand, O.J., Clinton, Leo,
Lewinsky, and Lettermen, as Ms. Anderson makes a
compelling case for the media's distortion from a
revered source of accurate information to an
increasingly grotesque and obvious fountain of
entertainment. "If it bleeds it leads" is the mantra
of newsrooms of our day, and may truth and rational
perspective be damned. Everything of value is
jettisoned in light of shocking and sensational video
footage about any subject, no matter how irrelevant
and trivial. No one will hear about the latest civil war in
Africa when every second of news time is dedicated to
footage of a shark attack in Florida, human interest
stories, a surfing cat, or another excessive
Hollywood wedding.

"There is No Box" takes the reader through the entire sales process in step by step order. One would have to read and study multiple Sales and Motivational books to get what is contained in "There is No Box." This book is great for both new and experienced sellers. I carry "There is No Box" in my bag with me everyday for easy and quick reference.

My dad purchased There Is No Box for me and it helped me with my buisness class. I suggested this book to my friends and they LOVED it! I'm looking foward to getting and reading the updated version.

THERE IS NO BOX should be required reading for all college freshman. It is more than a sales and marketing text.

THERE IS NO BOX is a must read for minds that strive for ongoing personal growth.Optimism and mental toughness are overriding themes in the book which translates into long-term self improvement.

I found "There Is No Box" by accident while surfing for new management books on sales and marketing. (I didn't expect a book on sales to be titled; "There Is No Box".) But it was the title that actually got me interested. I have had excellent success for years in sales and marketing. Now as a manager, I wanted a reference book, a quick read reminder to keep me and my sales department fresh without long examples or boring material. This book did just that. Each subject is concise and easy enough to bring into a sales meeting and talk about for a few minutes. The techniques are proven and the author doesn't impose his way, but instead credits others that along the way have contributed successful selling ideas. I strongly recommend this book for those who want a reference to keep in their briefcase of on their desktop. If you're new to selling, this book will give you an excellent start by developing your personal skills as it leads you through the selling process. I also agree with another reviewer that this is excellent for students.

I have read a lot of sales books and have attended more than my share of sales seminars. Seldom is the content clearly written by sales managers, for sales people. In THERE IS NO BOX, the information is of "how to" rather than "one should" of real examples rather that philosophies about what should work and answers a lot of tough questions where others have failed to go.

I'm 18 years old. My Uncle Keith bought my sister, now 20, and I the Cinnamon Bear when I was 11 years old.

I love this show and anticipate listening to it every year. This year, I convinced my boyfriend to listen along with me. It took a lot of nagging and begging, but he agreed to. Now I have to hide it from him to keep him from binging and listening to all of them early!

I'm the Cinnamon Bear
With the Shoe-button eyes
And I'm looking for someone
To take by surprise

I go growling and prowling
Each night after dark
But the folks say my growl's
Just a cinnamon bark...

So begins the enchanting world of puns and humor and fantasy and some superior caliber voice work which is the Cinnamon Bear. Who wouldn't want to meet candy pirates and gentle giants? And guess who the children meet at the end?...somebody very important in the world of Christmas, if you get my drift.

I also grew up in SW Portland in the 60s, listening to the Cinnamon Bear every Christmas on KEX. I treasure this as one of my favorite holiday memories. I used to sit on the floor and color pictures to go along with the fantastic stories. How wonderful that Smithsonian has now remastered this and re-released it!

Now my young kids can't wait to go to bed and turn off the lights so I'll play the Cinnamon Bear for them. What more incentive do you need? The 15 minute episodes are just right for getting the kiddies to settle. There is something fun about the live "feel" to the shows.

I would buy a CD version if I could find it, but this cassette holds up very well.

I first heard the adventures of The Cinnamon Bear and twins, Judy and Jimmy on the radio back in the l940's and remember the excitment I felt in anticipation of each days episode where they were in search of the silver star. The magical happenings, and many unforgetable Maybeland characters make this a cherished childrens story.

Shortly after Thanksgiving I share the story with my grandchildren, playing one episode each day (over the phone) and in addition to the silver stars they have each found in their Christmas stockings, I am sure they have a happy memory of a special story.

Wow! What a joy to know they are still selling these tapes! My sister and I grew up in a household where we played the Cinnamon Bear every year. My sister had a baby last year, and my father really wanted to start playing the tapes for the new grandbaby this year. Unfortunately, the tapes must have gotten lost in the last house move. I know my father will be thrilled to get the tapes this year as an early Christmas gift! Let the Christmas tradition continue!

This is our family favorite we even listen to it in the summer! I am 33 yrs old and my father MADE me listen to this on KEX radio when I was little. I just could not stand to hear it then it made me miserable. My things have changed. I bought this gift set for my dad for his birthday because he always said he missed it during the holidays because it has been discontinued. I have a 5 year old daughter who we introducted this to last Christmas. Her being more intellectual than myself just loves it! My husband cannot stand the music. The sound effects crack me up but my daughter just thinks it is the living end. We are planning on getting a reproduction old time radio with a tape player and I cannot wait to hear this on the old time radio. If you dont like this radio show at first it will grow on you. Start it out after Thanksgiving and listen to one everynight. It will get you in the spirit. I wish they had a Cinnamon stuffed bear I could buy my daughter. I like it because you have to use your imagination and things are not just presented to you like on the TV. I highly recommend it especially for people over 55 and little kids!

Rather than write another long review which would essentially just agree with all the other positive comments by other reviewers, I will make this brief. I am pleased with this book with one exception. The list of guest stars for the radio programs does not include the part played by the actor/actress. The television programs do. This was one of the principal reasons I bought the book. At least I know in advance the stars who will be in each broadcast. I would have liked to know who played what role. That is the only reason I gave it a rating of 4.

Even if my dog ate the cover off of the book (he only eats books that I love), this is a great reference for the true Gunsmoke fan. Too many folks don't realize that the first 11 years were the best, and they need some reference to those. This is a great history of all of Gunsmoke, not just the TVLAND "scrubbed" version.

This book is AWESOME. It is filled with the history of Gunsmoke from the radio days through the TWENTY YEARS it was on TV. Also a very interesting history of Dodge City, Kansas.

This was a very good, very well written and very informative book to buy and read.
Janet Nazer

I am a huge gunsmoke fan, since it first was shown in 1955. i thought it was interesting on how they auditioned and chose the main charcters, I enjoyed this more than the 50th year, due to the fact that Miss Kitty, was alive and others that were guest star were also. It was not a boring book and the layout was very good. They also had an interview of Roger Ewing (Thad) Which was informative. I highly recommned paying the price for it to all Gunsmoke fans. )

i thought selling above the crowd is an excellent book. the reason i like this book is because it provide you a daily focus year round. it is bold and to the point . it is not something you read once or twice and put up on a shelf somewhere., it is a daily trainer.

This book in my opinion is a very effective tool for the professional salesperson of today. The ideas in the book, when followed are a sure fire way to succeed in the ever changing highly competitive sales industry of today. Anyone interested in advancing their career or the career of other fellow sales professionals will see this book needs to be in their library for personal growth. I have and will continue to spread this book around in my circle of influence, to further the career's of my peer's.

After reading Dave Andersons' Column in "Dealer" magazine, I ordered 25 copies of his book, one for each salesperson. We listen to his tapes in weekly salesmeetings. Finally, I invited him to speak to our staff about Leadership. His books have changed our entire outlook. We are now a dealership with a vision. I just asked him to return for another 3 day session. He definitely gets us going!

Great insight on selling written in a non-traditional format. 365 Daily affirmations with an action plan that helps any sales staff. Looking for next book by Dave.

As one of the United Kingdoms most controversial speakers on profit improvement in the Motor Industry, and author of Customer Care In the Motor Industry I thought I had everything covered. But Dave Andersons Book has inspired me to change direction, in my own personal approach to my business and I have to admit that I have pinched a lot of his ideas,to use in my own workshops with clients. A compelling read especially if used with his tapes.

After teaching English for several years, Judy Muller worked her way from small-town radio up to network television.

Her short, readable memoir is by turns poignant, moving, and hysterically funny. The copy that I checked out of the library had many dog-eared pages and I quickly grew to expect laughter -- that is, to hear myself laughing out loud -- when I reached one of these frequent waystations.

I knew that Judy Muller teaches a graduate course in broadcast journalism and I checked this book out of the library because I thought it might provide some good insights into the specifics of delivering the news. Beyond learning that radio reporters actually write their stories (but many TV reporters don't), which for some reason I found surprising -- you mean they don't just wing it? -- I learned very little about the mechanics of broadcast reporting, yet "Now This" is so accessible, and so funny, that I read the whole book anyway.

The editorial reviewers (above) have pretty much covered the topic areas of the book, so let me mention something other reviewers have not emphasized.

In anecdote after knee-slapping anecdote, Muller really captures a prevailing disjunction, a gap between the way the Big Media Powers that Be (back in New York) see the world, and the way the rest of us see it out here on the other side of William Penn's woods.

Judy Muller must have zillions of these stories under her belt by now, and now that she's gotten her memoir out of the way, it would be great to sit back and enjoy hearing her recount some episodes from her travels through small-town USA.

I look forward to a sequel, especially if it as as funny as the original ... Now This!

Judy Muller's unique combination of sharp wit, keen perception, brutal honesty, and personal courage gives us a glimpse into radio and TV journalism we can't get from just listening or watching. The book is a triumph, fleshing out the real people behind the talking heads. Her frank description of personal alcoholism is heart-wrenching, and her tale of the prices paid, and the gains made, in her profession should be required reading for anyone seriously considering a career in journalism. A fine read on several levels. Thanks for sharing, Judy!

This is easily one of the best written, most thoroughly delightful books I've read in many years. If you are a parent you will love it! If you're interested in radio you'll love it! If you're interested in TV you'll love it! One of the few books I've read in recent years where I truly hated to see the last few pages coming up.

Now, this is why Judy Muller is one of the very best correspondants on television--she's obviously a superb storyteller on the air, and when she's got some real time, boy can she ever write 'em down. Ms. Muller says up-front in her book that she comes from a whole family of storytellers. The lady's got great genes.

Judy Muller's wonderful book is a treat for anyone interested in an inside look at the whacky world of television news. Ms. Muller has a terrific sense of humor which keeps the reader doubled over throughout. I read the book cover-to-cover in one sitting, then gave it to a friend who also found it impossible to put down. We both had a good laugh together afterward comparing notes on our favorite stories from the book.

Ms. Muller also infuses her book with fascinating tales from her vantage point on history and poignant moments about dealing with life's problems. Her story is told honestly and from the heart. This is easily the best book by a television newswoman since Linda Ellerbee's "And So it Goes."

"Principles of Spiritual Growth" focuses on the basics needed to encourage and challenge the reader to further maturity in Jesus Christ. The book is around 110 pages and contains 18 short chapters focusing on topics such as:

1. Faith
2. Purpose
3. Preparation
4. Identification
5. Self
6. Self-Denial
7. The Cross
8. Discipleship
9. Rest
10. Continuance

While some of the reading may appear to be basic to some readers, it certainly does not hurt to be reminded lest we fall!

The narrative is easy to read and flows smoothly from topic to topic. Read, enjoy, and be challenged and encouraged. Recommended!

I received this book in a timely manner, and I found it to be as it had been described.

I've read hundreds of Christian books and one thing that I've noticed is that there are very few "original" ideas. Like someone once said, "christianity in America is 3,000 miles wide... and a half-inch deep". Most of the popular Christian books still in print today are merely tired re-hashes of someone else's interpretations from 5 years prior re-packaged with a new cover and new marketing strategy. Unfortunately, it seems as though most contemporary Christian books just spew the same old pablum. The other thing I've noticed is more often than not, the shorter the book the more profound the message. This short tome rates in the top 10 that I've ever read - simply brilliant theology! My other "Top 10 Favorites" include "Freedom of Simplicity" by Richard J. Foster, "The Surrendered Life" by James F. McConkey, "Christ-Esteem" by Don Matzat and anything by Zane Hodges. Read all of these and they will make a difference in your understanding of Christianity and your walk with Jesus Christ!

My wife bought this book in the seventies and we had it kicking around the house for years. Then a couple of years ago I started reading it. I'm not sure it taught me anything I didn't already know but it helped me to more fully understand what spiritual growth is all about. Take your time reading it, ponder what the author says and then apply it.

I first read this book in the late 70's, and while it deeply impacted me, there were aspects I didn't understand. I re-read it occasionally, and I understand more each time. One of Miles Stanford's emphases was the uniqueness of Paul's writings. Paul not only taught that salvation was by faith in the Son of God, but also that our Christian lives must be lived by faith in the Son of God. "I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Put those other Christian books aside, and read this one!

I rarely find myself drawn to "relationship" stories, but Prodigal Father was terrific. I found myself drawn to each chapter and couldn't put it down until I hit the last page.

This is *not* just another Oprah-book. It is unsentimental: every emotion and insight is dearly earned. One of the most interesting things about it is that Du Pre doesn't come off as a very likable person in the middle stages of the book; he presents himself as self-absorbed and harsh with those around him. His final confrontation with his father is wrenching and unforgettable. The message of this book: you have to face down your demons in order to be a complete human being. Not a very "New Age" or touchy-feely moral. The author's Mormon background is a central part of his story, and should interest readers who are curious about that religion. This book reminds me of Mikal Gilmore's masterful "Shot in the Heart", William Kennedy's great novel "Ironweed", and Geoffrey Wolff's memoir "The Duke of Deception": august company, indeed.

This book is a must read for all! I found myself captivated from the first paragraph to the final word. Jon was able to pull me in to his world which caused me to reflect on my own past. Even though my background is different from Jon's, I was still able to relate. I could feel Jon and his brother's triumphs, heartaches, and pain. I was touched by his wife and children's generosity and selflessness. I laughed and cried while reading this touching story. I thank Jon for not letting his story die, but for sharing it with us.I highly recommend this book!

I have never felt so personally attached to a book in my life. Jon became my friend on the first few pages, and there were times, like I told him in an e-mail that I wanted to shake him good for contributing to his father's addictions. Then my attitude would change. He never ceased being my friend though.

Having a rather awkward relationship with my own father made this story "real" to me. I never went to the lengths Jon did to "make it right."

I recommend this book to everyone, because everyone can find themselves in this unbelievable story of the human spirit and the will of a young man to "make things right." I'm sorry there are only 5 stars I could give this book.

I hope those of you who have read this fantastic story will agree with me when I take words from the Forward and say, Jon, you took the "right sense" way. Thank you again for writing it, and bearing your soul to all of us who needed to read it.

Ron

I rarely find myself drawn to "relationship" stories, but Prodigal Father was terrific. I found myself drawn to each chapter and couldn't put it down until I hit the last page.

Nice book. But in this edition, there is no chapter title on each page, so it's a little difficult to track the chapters.

There is at least one author who may remind you of Stephen Leacock, namely Garrison Keillor of Lake Wobegon fame, but Leacock should be recognized as the ultimate master of quaint, bucolic humor. Leacock, who died in 1944, became arguably the most prominent Canadian humorist of his day (and probably of all time). What is ironic about that claim is that Leacock worked for most of his life as a professor of economics. We do not usually equate economics with humor, preferring to think of that profession as one of bow ties and supply and demand charts. Throw that presumption out the window and pick up a copy of "Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town," Leacock's best known work available through the New Canadian Library series.

For me, one of the funniest sections of the book was the introduction written by Leacock, where he gives you some background about himself and his profession. This short piece of writing quickly gives you an idea of the type of humor you will find in the actual sketches: a very sly, very quiet and clever type of humor that often takes a while to sink in. Leacock does not rely on rim shot jokes or manic posturing in his writings. Instead, he creates the fictional Canadian town of Mariposa and populates it with small town archetypes that are wonders to behold.

All of the characters are hilarious in their own way: Mr. Smith, the proprietor of the local hotel and bar, full of schemes to earn money while trying to get his liquor license back. Then there is Jefferson Thorpe, the barber involved in financial schemes that may put him on the level of the Morgans and the Rockefellers. The Reverend Mr. Drone presides over the local Church of England in Mariposa, a man who reads Greek as easy as can be but laments his lack of knowledge about logarithms and balancing the financial books of the church. Peter Pupkin, the teller at the local bank, has a secret he wants no one to know about, but which eventually comes out while he is courting the daughter of the town judge. All of these characters, and several others, interact throughout the sketches.

Leacock has the ability to turn a story, to make it take a crazy, unexpected twist even when you are looking for such a maneuver. That he accomplishes this in stories that rarely run longer than twenty pages is certainly a sign of great talent. By the time you reach the end of the book, you know these people as though you lived in the town yourself, and you know what makes them tick.

Despite all of the crazy antics in Mariposa, Leacock never lets the reader lose sight of the fact that these are basically good people living good lives. There seems to be a lot of feeling for the citizens of Mariposa on the part of Leacock, which comes to a head in the final sketch in the collection, "L'Envoi. The Train to Mariposa," where he recounts traveling back to the town after being away for years, with all of the attendant emotions that brings as recognizable landmarks come into view and the traveler realizes that his little town is the same as when he left it years before.

I suspect there is a historical importance to "Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town." These writings first appeared in 1912, a time when many people living in the bigger Canadian cities still remembered life in a small town. In addition to the humorous aspects of the book, the author includes many descriptive passages concerning the atmosphere and layout of Mariposa, something instantly recognizable to anyone who grew up in such a place. Nostalgia for the simpler life of the small town probably played a significant role in the book's success.

I look forward to reading more Stephen Leacock. While much of the humor in the book is not belly laugh funny, it does provide one with a deep satisfaction of reading clever humor from an author who knows how to tickle the funny bone. You do not need to be Canadian to enjoy this wonderful book.

no hype. i couldn't stop laughing as i was reading this. and i mean laughing out loud. in a cafe. with everyone staring at me. but i didn't care. and i couldn't help it if i did. it's just too hilarious.

Like the heading says, this is the funniest book I've ever read. Leacock was a comic genius and this is his best work. Buy it, read it, love it.

Perhaps the finest comment about Stephen Leacock in the last half century is that "he is a
Will Rogers for the 90's."

Rogers, of course, is one of the most beloved of American humorists -- he was killed in
1935 when his plane crashed near Point Barrow, Alaska. Leacock died on March 28, 1944.
Like Rogers, he had been Canada's favorite humorist for decades.

Sunshine Sketches is about Orillia, Ontario, Canada, where Leacock had his summer home
on Brewery Bay (he once wrote, "I have known that name, the old Brewery Bay, to make
people feel thirsty by correspondence as far away as Nevada.") His home is now maintained
as a historic site by the town of Orillia. I lived there for almost 30 years, and the people of Orillia are still much the same as Leacock portrayed them in 1912.

These stories about various personalities in town were printed in the local newspaper in the
1910 - 1912 era, before being compiled into this book which established Leacock's literary
fame. The people portrayed really lived, though some are composites; the events are of a
kindly humorist looking at the foibles of small town life. Once they came out in book form
and soared to national popularity, everyone in town figured the rest of the country was
laughing at them because of Leacock's book and he was royally hated in Orillia to the end
of his life.

Gradually, and this took decades, Orillians came to recognize that genius had walked
amongst them for several decades. (It's hard to recognize genius when your own ego is so
inflated.) Orillia now awards the annual "Leacock Medal for Humor" -- Canada's top literary
prize for the best book of humour for the preceding year.

Leacock died when I was six, but I did know his son, who still lived in town. I delivered
papers to the editor of the "Newspacket," Leacock's name for the Orillia Packet and Times
(where I worked) and the rival Newsletter. The Packet had the same editor in the 1940's as
when Leacock wrote about him in 1910.

But the book is more than Orillia; it is a wonderfully kind and humorous description of life in
many small towns. The American artist Norman Rockwell painted the same kinds of scenes;
it is the type of idyllic urban life so many of us keep longing to find again in our hectic
urban world.

Leacock realized the book was universal in its description of small towns, and in the preface
he wrote "Mariposa is not a real town. On the contrary, it is about seventy or eighty of
them. You may find them all the way from Lake Superior to the sea, with the same square
streets and the same maple trees and the same churches and hotels, and everywhere the
sunshine of the land of hope."

True enough, which gives this book continuing appeal nearly a century after it was written.
All great writing is about topics you know, and as a longtime resident Leacock knew Orillia
well. As for Leacock himself, he wrote, "I was born at Swanmoor, Hants., England, on Dec.
30, 1869. I am not aware that there was any particular conjunction of the planets at the
time, but should think it extremely likely."

He says of his education, "I survived until I took the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in
1903. The meaning of this degree is that the recipient of instruction is examined for the last
time in his life, and is pronounced completely full. After this, no new ideas can be imparted
to him."

In reviewing Charles Dickens' works in 1934, Leacock wrote what could well be his own
epitaph: "Transitory popularity is not proof of genius. But permanent popularity is." The fact
his writings are still current illustrates the nature of his writing.

In contrast to the sometimes sardonic humor of modern times, Sunshine Sketches reflects
Leacock's idea that "the essence of humor is human kindness." Or, in the same vein, "Humor
may be defined as the kindly contemplation of the incongruities of life, and the artistic
expression thereof."

Granted, this book is not what he recognized to have widespread appeal to modern readers.
In his own words, "There are only two subjects that appeal nowadays to the general public,
murder and sex; and, for people of culture, sex-murder." Yet, anyone reading this will
remember scenes from it for much longer than anything from a murder mystery.

In today's world, where newspapers almost daily track Prime Minister Tony Blair's dash to
the political right, Leacock wrote, "Socialism won't work except in Heaven where they don't
need it and in Hell where they already have it."

He described his own home as follows, "I have a large country house -- a sort of farm
which I carry on as a hobby . . . . Ten years ago the deficit on my farm was about a
hundred dollars; but by well-designed capital expenditure and by greater attention to
details, I have got it into the thousands." Sounds familiar to today's farm policies ?

It's what I mean by this being a timeless work.

Leacock himself noted, when talking about good literature, "Personally, I would sooner have
written 'Alice in Wonderland' than the whole of the 'Encyclopedia Britannica'." This is his
'Alice' and it well deserves to be favorably compared to Lewis Carroll's work.

By all measures, it is still the finest Canadian book ever written.