A Funny Thing Happened to Me on the Way to My Funeral

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A Funny Thing Happened to Me on the Way to My Funeral

Name: A Funny Thing Happened to Me on the Way to My Funeral
Author: Mel Calvert
ISBN: 978-1481141802

by Mel Calvert ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 7, 2013

The humor runs the gamut from clever to corny, but the lighthearted, upbeat tone makes for a charming read.

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Calvert (How I Quit Smoking and Lived to Tell About It, 2012) shares the often humorous story of his life as a traveling entertainer performing comedy, music and magic both in solo performances and with his wife, Sunny.

These short tales offer a brief glimpse into Calvert’s career as an entertainer, including how he got started in show business, some of the people he’s met along the way and the different places both in the U.S. and abroad where he’s performed. Anecdotal tales about his life as a performer are blended together with clean jokes, many of which will be familiar to most readers. Calvert even tosses in a little word-game riddle, the solution to which he buries in the text at a much later point. As a proud family man, he includes short sections on each of his children. Black-and-white photos that accompany the text feature the author performing, family and friends, locales mentioned in the book, some funny signs and even a couple of Internet memes. Despite this strange mixture of information and a somewhat disjointed style, the book is quite readable, with the first and second chapters consisting of almost nothing but jokes before switching to a memoir style accented by jokes in Chapter 3. The author’s breezy, informal style makes it feel like he’s an old friend casually relating these tales. It doesn’t hurt that he focuses on the humorous stories from throughout his life, such as his early days flying: “I believe I am the only student pilot who has ever landed a plane backward.” His tales of performing tend to focus on entertaining events along the way, such as the day a waiter was enlisted to press the play button on the cassette player at the start of a dance number, though he hit fast forward instead and chaos ensued.

The humor runs the gamut from clever to corny, but the lighthearted, upbeat tone makes for a charming read.

Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2013

ISBN: 978-1481141802

Page Count: 180

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: April 17, 2013

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.