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Summary: THE BEST-HELP-ME-GET-THROUGH-THIS-NIGHT-BOOK EVER!
Review: OH, THE PERNICIOUS VACUOUSNESS OF IT ALL! WHY ISN'T THIS BOOK AVAILABLE? LISTEN TO US! AND UNDERSTAND, THAT WE NEED THIS BOOK! WHY DO YOU FORSAKE US? O.K., I'M DONE. WHAT WILL GET THIS BOOK BACK WHERE IT SHOULD BE? A HUNGER STRIKE MAYBE, ON YOUR FRONT DOORSTEPS,IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO YOUR FACILITIES? A PETITION? IS IT THE PRINTERS- I'M SURE SOME OF US CAN TYPE VERY WELL, OR IS IT THE PAPER ITSELF, IS THERE A SHORTAGE? I WILL GLADLY LET YOU THROW MY FURNITURE INTO THE CHIPPER! I HAD A COPY FOR YEARS-IT WAS TAPED, GLUED, AND WHEN AT REST, BOUND WITH RUBBER BANDS TO KEEP IT FROM TOTAL COLLAPSE. I BELIEVE IN SHARING A GOOD THING THOUGH,SO I GLADLY LET A FRIEND BORROW IT, AND I NEVER SAW IT AGAIN. I MISS THAT UNEVEN STACK OF YELLOWING PAGES. THE PEOPLE HERE HAVE SPOKEN SO ELOQUENTLY ON THE BOOK AND IT'S AUTHOR,THEY'VE PRETTY MUCH SAID IT ALL; PLEASE LISTEN! GIVE US BACK UNLIMITED NUMBERS OF OUR BOOK! (CLUTCHING OUR RAGGEDY COPIES TO OUR CHEST, WE NEED A FIX)...
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Summary: very touching & funny, i have pleasent thoughts around x-mas
Review: one of my teachers in highschool suggested i read it. cant remember her name but as i think of it, she was a lesbian, never talked about but i think it was her silent way of saying your not the only one. i read it for several years around christmas. i could invision the writers words of this person down and out in new york city, in the cold, down on his luck ?im trying to locate a copy for this christmas, it will remain on my bookshelf for years...
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Summary: A great read that will have you laughing out loud
Review: The past few months have been terrible for James Zoole. His apartment's been robbed twice. His best friend Pete passed away. He was laid off from the play in which he had a lead role (and rehersals hadn't even started). His girlfriend Kate dumps him on New Year's Eve. And, Bobby Seale, his cat, died. What a way to bring in the new year!Feeling angry and sad, Jimmy decides to hole up in his apartment and to not answer the phone, knowing that if he'd been robbed twice, the burglar was sure to come back again. Enter Vito Antenucci, a bisexual burglar who returns for a third robbery. They struggle, and Jimmy knocks Vito out, then ties him to the kitchen counter. Throughout this New Year's Eve together, Jimmy discovers what he's been avoiding in his life and begins to understand that he and Vito aren't that different from each other in what they want from life. To Jimmy's surprise, he begins to find friendship with his captive. A few unexpected interruptions from people in Jimmy's life help to liven up this dark comedy from one of the writers of "A Chrous Line." It's full of strong characters, even those with only minor roles such as Jimmy's Aunt claire, a rich spinster who sublty tries to control Jimmy's life, and Crazy Carmine, a drugged-out sex fanatic who's been trying to get into Jimmy's pants for years. It's the developing friendship between Jimmy and Vito that drives this story, though. I wanted them to get together at the end, either as friends or lovers, it didn't matter. I laughed out loud while reading some of the passages. Though it was written in the 1970's, the humor is defintiely NOT dated. If you're looking for some light, fun reading, then this is the perfect book for you.
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Summary: A great read that will have you laughing out loud
Review: The past few months have been terrible for James Zoole. His apartment's been robbed twice. His best friend Pete passed away. He was laid off from the play in which he had a lead role (and rehersals hadn't even started). His girlfriend Kate dumps him on New Year's Eve. And, Bobby Seale, his cat, died. What a way to bring in the new year! Feeling angry and sad, Jimmy decides to hole up in his apartment and to not answer the phone, knowing that if he'd been robbed twice, the burglar was sure to come back again. Enter Vito Antenucci, a bisexual burglar who returns for a third robbery. They struggle, and Jimmy knocks Vito out, then ties him to the kitchen counter. Throughout this New Year's Eve together, Jimmy discovers what he's been avoiding in his life and begins to understand that he and Vito aren't that different from each other in what they want from life. To Jimmy's surprise, he begins to find friendship with his captive. A few unexpected interruptions from people in Jimmy's life help to liven up this dark comedy from one of the writers of "A Chrous Line." It's full of strong characters, even those with only minor roles such as Jimmy's Aunt claire, a rich spinster who sublty tries to control Jimmy's life, and Crazy Carmine, a drugged-out sex fanatic who's been trying to get into Jimmy's pants for years. It's the developing friendship between Jimmy and Vito that drives this story, though. I wanted them to get together at the end, either as friends or lovers, it didn't matter. I laughed out loud while reading some of the passages. Though it was written in the 1970's, the humor is defintiely NOT dated. If you're looking for some light, fun reading, then this is the perfect book for you.
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Summary: Oh . . . my . . . GAWD!
Review: The readers of "PS" must be the more generous on Earth; we've all bought and lent this book so many times! I haven't read this book in a while, but, just reading other readers' reviews brings a smile to my face and a chuckle to my chest as I recall the humor of it all. This book makes me laugh at myself, take life a bit less seriously and put all in perspecitve. My friends and I used cast this book as a movie, the actors changing over the years. What fun. It also reminds me of another time when life was so different. I brings to mind my first "real" boyfriend (I'm gay), discos, living at home with mom and dad (was just out of high school)and all the tackiness and pretension of the time. Read this book and have fun!
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Summary: The Most Hilarious Book I've Ever Read!
Review: this book is great! i found it when i was walking through the aisles at barnes and noble. i read the first few pages in the store and was hooked. i bought it, read it, and laughed. i had people in class stare at me because i was laughing so much. it was hard to contain my laughter. they probably thought i was insane or something. i let them read a part i considered funny and then they would be laughing as hard and as much as i was. that's how hysterical this book is. if you're into comedies, this book is for you.
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Summary: Unequalled to any recent book with humor, satire, tears.
Review: This book is just one of Kirkwood's many, with insight to human behaviour. He could get you spell-bound with his phrases, descriptions, dialog. Talked on phone one time with him, and he talked just like he wrote. When he died, I almost stopped reading. His 'dead cat' is just one which displays his ability to make you 'see' the characters, and know them. He could make your stomach hurt from laughing, reduce you to tears, and make you realize just how precious we all are. His 'dead cat' should be taught in schools; perhaps it would encourage more compassion and humor into our daily, often-stressed lives. Mr. Kirkwood had a unique way of telling a story. One could almost reach out and feel the room, Vito, Jimmay...Bobby Seale (his real cat), and his selfishly-loving Aunt, whom he almost shot via Ma Bell. Tremendous book. I have had to tape my copy together; it's been shared so much. I would like to have his entire collection in my library. Must have read each one twenty times. I really miss his passing, and his gifts to humankind, in the name of satirical comedy-drama. What a guy! We've all had one of THOSE days when even getting up in the morning seemed like the wrong thing to do. He was so able to put these feelings in print, and make some sense out of it all. We shake our heads, and say, "Yep, been there, Jimmy." I truthfully want to fill my library with all of his books, which will be hard, since a lot are out of print. Shouldn't be...he gave so much to us. Laughter is wonderful, and Mr. Kirkwood did his all to produce some belly-laughs, and some tears. And lots of insight to me. I understand my human contacts a lot better now. I am not alone when I say that James Kirkwood left a great legacy... himself. I watched him get a Grammy on t.v. from Kirk Douglas, for A Chorus Line. I was as thrilled as he was. I don't think anyone could put this book down after reading the cover. Too hilarious and touching...one of his many masterpieces. Ganoog is Ganoog. I'm finished.
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Summary: if you need cheering up, or a new perspective, READ THIS!
Review: This book needs no review, just pick it up, start it and you won't put it down. P.S. It's a very fast read, also.
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Summary: Bizarre Cult Favorite
Review: This slim novel was the basis for three play versions and remained one of James Kirkwood's personal favorites of his oeuvre. Based on his own life as an actor, it is the weird story of a second-rate soap opera star who catches a burglar in his apartment on New Year's, ties him up over the kitchen sink, and eventually bonds with him.Noted for its blatant scatology, it embodies many of Kirkwood's most important themes (the Cosmic Joker and the saving grace of true friendship). This play was about to be made into a movie in 1976, starring Sal Mineo as the cat burglar. Mineo's murder, on the way home from a rehearsal of PS, Your Cat is Dead, is a sad sidelight of the story. As the author once said, the novel is "just a little kinky-dinky." Not for everyone
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