NOTHING COULD BE FINER THAN A CRISIS THAT IS MINOR IN THE MORNING

by Charles Osgood ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 23, 1979

Pointed verse and topical prose culled from radio shows; also pointed prose and topical verse (usually better, sometimes worse). Osgood, of CBS radio, gathers some of his daily wry commentary in this miscellany of humorous versification and occasional pungent essays. Now Gilbertian, now Edgar Guest-like but mostly Dr. Suess-y, the prosody gallops along, kicking up a variety of basic subjects including mankind, animal and vegetable life, and loopy lawsuits. It's all quite good-natured and there are even ten worthy stanzas comprising a commencement address In Words of One Syllable. From La Forza del Bologna, a mock opera synopsis, to the several recountings of governmental foolishness, the essays are solidly pleasant. The jingles are of a hefty length (69 lines on the swiping of an admiral's hat, 98 on how comely Donna got jammed in a laundry chute) and sometimes arhythmic enough to interest a cardiologist. But just give the author an inch of news and he'll take a poetical mile to produce his sane pleasantries. Warning: doggerel is an infectious disease. In sum: Minnesinger Osgood does a deft job as he jiggles the news like a thingamabob.

Pub Date: Oct. 23, 1979

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Holt, Rinehart & Winston

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1979

Categories: NONFICTION