This lightweight yet un-fluffy collection of humorous letters is divided into sections from politicians, writers and show business figures, organized chronologically. Highlights include Fred Allen's 1932 "encounter" with a barrel of bricks, the bon mots
of Robert Benchley about water in the streets of Venice and Dorothy Parker's telegram about a friend's long-awaited baby: "Good work Mary. We all knew you had it in you." Groucho Marx's wit is sublime and sometimes bawdy, but who would have expected double entendres
in the correspondence of George Washington? Also from the 18th century is Joseph Addison's humorous love letter retelling his various incarnations, while the 19th's Charles Lamb notes the perils of being carried home drunk from an epic party. Drinking figures less humorously in letters from Hemingway and Faulkner. Some of the letters, indeed, such as those from an aging and convicted Oscar Wilde and an ailing but resilient Frederic Chopin are by men trying to laugh in order to avoid weeping, while Andy Rooney's signature curmudgeonliness plays poorly in print. In the end, this male-heavy book reveals less humor and more pain than the letter writers intended, which may be something of which old school CBS anchor Osgood is aware. (On sale Apr. 8)
