Funny business : the legendary life and political satire of Art Buchwald / Michael Hill ; foreword by Christopher Buckley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hill, Mike, 1953- author.

Contributor:

Buckley, Christopher, 1952- writer of foreword.

Rosengarten Family Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Humorists, American--20th century--Biography.

Humorists, American.

Political satire, American--History and criticism.

Political satire, American.

Buchwald, Art.

Genre:

Biographies.

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

xxv, 307 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Random House, [2022]

Summary:

"Before Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, Trevor Noah, and "Doonesbury," there was Art Buchwald. For more than fifty years, from 1950 to 2006, his Pulitzer Prize-winning column of political satire and biting wit made him one of the most widely read American humorists and a popular player in the Washington of Ethel and Ted Kennedy, Ben Bradlee, and Katharine Graham. Dean Acheson, former U.S. Secretary of State, called Buchwald the "greatest satirist in the English language since Pope and Swift." But there was another, more serious side to Art Buchwald. A childhood in foster homes taught him to see comedy as a refuge. Buchwald also struggled with depression, which he kept secret from the public for nearly thirty years. Funny Business shows how Art Buchwald became an American original. Like Mark Twain, Dorothy Parker, and James Thurber, he satirized political scoundrels, lampooned the powerful and the pompous, and "worshipped the quicksand" that ten different Presidents of the United States walked on, as Buchwald said. The key to Buchwald's style of humor was to "treat light subjects seriously and serious subjects lightly," he once said. Over his life, he kept company with Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, Ted Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor, John Steinbeck, Irwin Shaw, William Styron, and Erma Bombeck. His fun-loving humor and legendary quips earned him interviews and correspondence with Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, "Batman" (Adam West), and Robert Frost. Buchwald wrote about such historical events as the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War, Apollo 11, and Watergate; featured here are stories of Buchwald's non-stop political jabs and one-liners, known in his day as "Buchshots"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: pt. I FROM CLASS CLOWN TO OUR TRIB MAN IN PARIS

ch. 1 "Plastered in Paris": Early Years and the Comic Charms of Paris (1948

52)

ch. 2 Raising the Stature of Ink: Funny Business at the Herald Tribune (1953

60)

pt. II "DOWN THE SEINE AND UP THE POTOMAC"

ch. 3 "Salinger's Folly" and "Bounties of the Banned": With the Kennedys on the New Frontier (1961

63)

ch. 4 Brumus, Batman, and Buchwald "Buchshots": A Satirist in a Mad, Mad World-The Tumultuous 1960s

ch. 5 Buchwald at Large: A Day in the Life of a Humorist

pt. III THE WORLD ACCORDING TO ART

ch. 6 The Great Joe Mayflower Feud: Buchwald on Broadway (1969

70)

ch. 7 "Cruise Director on the Titanic": Buchwald in the Nixon Years (1969

74)

ch. 8 Say Amen, Art Buchwald, Say Amen: Laughing Through the Carter Years (1976

79)

ch. 9 Joining the Hertz Five Star Credit Card Club: Goodbye Carter, Hello Reagan (1980s)

ch. 10 A Satirist Wins a Pulitzer, But Loses His Humidor (1982

88)

pt. IV TEARS OF THE CLOWN

ch. 11 A Matter of Honor: Buchwald v. Hollywood

Act I (1982

ch. 12 Drama in Department 52: Buchwald v. Hollywood

Act II (1989

95)

ch. 13 Buchwald Blues: Years of Laughter, Years of Sorrow (1991

ch. 14 "There's Life in the Boy Yet": Buchwald Is Back! (1997

2000)

ch. 15 "I Just Don't Want to Die the Same Day as Castro": The Last Glorious Bit of Laughter (2000

2007).

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 285-287) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Rosengarten Family Fund.

Other Format:

Online version: Hill, Michael. Funny business

ISBN:

9780593229514

0593229517

OCLC:

1268205547

Publisher Number:

99991091654