Funny Business
The Legendary Life and Political Satire of Art Buchwald
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $18.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Mark Feuerstein
-
Christopher Buckley
About this listen
“A delightful and entertaining book about one of America’s greatest humorists.”—Seth Meyers
This “absorbing, illuminating” (Jon Meacham) biography of the legendary political humorist reveals the life behind his must-read Washington Post columns, featuring never-before-published documents and interviews.
Before Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, and Doonesbury, there was Art Buchwald. For more than fifty years, from 1949 to 2006, Art Buchwald’s 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 world 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.”
Drawing on Buchwald’s most memorable columns and unpublished correspondence with other famous people, Funny Business shows how Art Buchwald became an American original.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 “worshipped the quicksand” that ten presidents walked on, as Buchwald joked. “The key to Buchwald’s style of humor, he once stated, was to “treat light subjects seriously and serious subjects lightly.”
But there was a darker, more serious side to Art Buchwald. A childhood spent in foster homes taught him to see comedy as a refuge. Buchwald also struggled with depression, a secret he kept from the public for nearly thirty years.
This revealing book is studded with stories of Buchwald’s friendships with Humphrey Bogart, John Steinbeck, Irwin Shaw, William Styron, Erma Bombeck, Frank Sinatra, Adam West ("Batman"), Robert Frost, and others. Throughout his career, Buchwald wrote about such historical events as the Vietnam War, the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy, Watergate, and the 9/11 terrorist attack. Featured here are stories of Buchwald’s nonstop one-liners, known in his day as “Buchshots.”
Entertaining and absorbing, Funny Business looks back on Buchwald’s brilliant gift for humor and satire, which will once again bring listeners a comedic respite from troublesome times.
©2022 Michael Hill (P)2022 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Directed by James Burrows
- Five Decades of Stories from the Legendary Director of Taxi, Cheers, Frasier, Friends, Will & Grace, and More
- By: James Burrows, Eddy Friedfeld
- Narrated by: James Burrows, Danny Campbell
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Legendary sitcom director James Burrows has spent five decades making America laugh. Here listeners will find never-revealed stories behind the casting of the dozens of great sitcoms he directed, as well as details as to how these memorable shows were created, how they got on the air, and how the cast and crew continued to develop and grow. Burrows also examines his own challenges, career victories, and defeats, and provides advice for aspiring directors, writers, and actors.
-
-
Read like the credits rolling at end of a show
- By Maxine on 07-05-22
By: James Burrows, and others
-
Make Russia Great Again
- A Novel
- By: Christopher Buckley
- Narrated by: Gibson Frazier
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In “the Trump satire we’ve been waiting for” (The Washington Post), award-winning and best-selling author of Thank You for Smoking delivers a hilarious and whipsmart fake memoir by Herb Nutterman - Donald Trump’s seventh chief of staff - who has written the ultimate tell-all about Trump and Russia.
-
-
It feels like any other white house memoir
- By Debra Gore on 07-15-20
-
Thank You for Your Servitude
- Donald Trump's Washington and the Price of Submission
- By: Mark Leibovich
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller This Town, the eyewitness account of how the GOP collaborated with Donald Trump to transform Washington’s “swamp” into a gold-plated hot tub—and a onetime party of rugged individualists into a sycophantic personality cult.
-
-
ALL the Stars!!!!!
- By Iread on 07-28-22
By: Mark Leibovich
-
Like a Rolling Stone
- A Memoir
- By: Jann S. Wenner
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris, Jann S. Wenner
- Length: 17 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rolling Stone founder, co-editor, and publisher Jann Wenner's deeply personal memoir vividly describes and brings you inside the music, the politics, and the lifestyle of a generation, an epoch of cultural change that swept America and beyond. The age of rock and roll in an era of consequence, what will be considered one of the great watersheds in modern history. Wenner writes with the clarity of a journalist and an essayist. He takes us into the life and work of Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Bono, and Bruce Springsteen, to name a few.
-
-
Name-dropping on steroids
- By Tim on 09-19-22
By: Jann S. Wenner
-
Has Anyone Seen My Toes?
- By: Christopher Buckley
- Narrated by: Gibson Frazier
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the bestselling author of Thank You for Smoking and Make Russia Great Again comes a comic tour de force, the story of one man’s “lively and funny” (New York Journal of Books) journey through lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic.
-
-
Disappointing
- By Richard on 12-03-22
-
American Midnight
- The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy’s Forgotten Crisis
- By: Adam Hochschild
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From legendary historian Adam Hochschild, a groundbreaking reassessment of the overlooked but startlingly resonant period between World War I and the Roaring Twenties, when the foundations of American democracy were threated by war, pandemic, and violence fueled by battles over race, immigration, and the rights of labor
-
-
Disturbing yet Reassuring
- By Sams95 on 11-18-22
By: Adam Hochschild
-
Directed by James Burrows
- Five Decades of Stories from the Legendary Director of Taxi, Cheers, Frasier, Friends, Will & Grace, and More
- By: James Burrows, Eddy Friedfeld
- Narrated by: James Burrows, Danny Campbell
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Legendary sitcom director James Burrows has spent five decades making America laugh. Here listeners will find never-revealed stories behind the casting of the dozens of great sitcoms he directed, as well as details as to how these memorable shows were created, how they got on the air, and how the cast and crew continued to develop and grow. Burrows also examines his own challenges, career victories, and defeats, and provides advice for aspiring directors, writers, and actors.
-
-
Read like the credits rolling at end of a show
- By Maxine on 07-05-22
By: James Burrows, and others
-
Make Russia Great Again
- A Novel
- By: Christopher Buckley
- Narrated by: Gibson Frazier
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In “the Trump satire we’ve been waiting for” (The Washington Post), award-winning and best-selling author of Thank You for Smoking delivers a hilarious and whipsmart fake memoir by Herb Nutterman - Donald Trump’s seventh chief of staff - who has written the ultimate tell-all about Trump and Russia.
-
-
It feels like any other white house memoir
- By Debra Gore on 07-15-20
-
Thank You for Your Servitude
- Donald Trump's Washington and the Price of Submission
- By: Mark Leibovich
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller This Town, the eyewitness account of how the GOP collaborated with Donald Trump to transform Washington’s “swamp” into a gold-plated hot tub—and a onetime party of rugged individualists into a sycophantic personality cult.
-
-
ALL the Stars!!!!!
- By Iread on 07-28-22
By: Mark Leibovich
-
Like a Rolling Stone
- A Memoir
- By: Jann S. Wenner
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris, Jann S. Wenner
- Length: 17 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rolling Stone founder, co-editor, and publisher Jann Wenner's deeply personal memoir vividly describes and brings you inside the music, the politics, and the lifestyle of a generation, an epoch of cultural change that swept America and beyond. The age of rock and roll in an era of consequence, what will be considered one of the great watersheds in modern history. Wenner writes with the clarity of a journalist and an essayist. He takes us into the life and work of Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Bono, and Bruce Springsteen, to name a few.
-
-
Name-dropping on steroids
- By Tim on 09-19-22
By: Jann S. Wenner
-
Has Anyone Seen My Toes?
- By: Christopher Buckley
- Narrated by: Gibson Frazier
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the bestselling author of Thank You for Smoking and Make Russia Great Again comes a comic tour de force, the story of one man’s “lively and funny” (New York Journal of Books) journey through lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic.
-
-
Disappointing
- By Richard on 12-03-22
-
American Midnight
- The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy’s Forgotten Crisis
- By: Adam Hochschild
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From legendary historian Adam Hochschild, a groundbreaking reassessment of the overlooked but startlingly resonant period between World War I and the Roaring Twenties, when the foundations of American democracy were threated by war, pandemic, and violence fueled by battles over race, immigration, and the rights of labor
-
-
Disturbing yet Reassuring
- By Sams95 on 11-18-22
By: Adam Hochschild
-
Confidence Man
- The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America
- By: Maggie Haberman
- Narrated by: Maggie Haberman
- Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few journalists working today have covered Donald Trump more extensively than Maggie Haberman. And few understand him and his motivations better. Now, demonstrating her majestic command of this story, Haberman reveals in full the depth of her understanding of the 45th president himself, and of what the Trump phenomenon means.
-
-
This is the only one you have to read
- By Amazon Customer on 10-06-22
By: Maggie Haberman
-
Rogues
- True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks
- By: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Narrated by: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the prize-winning, New York Times bestselling author of Empire of Pain and Say Nothing—and one of the most decorated journalists of our time—twelve enthralling stories of skulduggery and intrigue.
-
-
Too political
- By Xi Chen on 07-11-22
-
Hollywood Ending
- Harvey Weinstein and the Culture of Silence
- By: Ken Auletta
- Narrated by: Jonathan Coleman
- Length: 19 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty years ago, Ken Auletta wrote an iconic New Yorker profile of the Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, who was then at the height of his powers. The profile made waves for exposing how volatile, even violent, Weinstein was to his employees and collaborators. But there was a much darker story that was just out of reach: rumors had long swirled that Weinstein was a sexual predator. Auletta confronted Weinstein, who denied the claims. Since no one was willing to go on the record, Auletta and the magazine concluded they couldn’t close the case.
-
-
Compelling but too long, with some strange errors
- By bugsmeany on 11-16-22
By: Ken Auletta
-
The Divider
- Trump in the White House, 2017-2021
- By: Peter Baker, Susan Glasser
- Narrated by: Michael Quinlan
- Length: 28 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The inside story of the four years when Donald Trump went to war with Washington, from the chaotic beginning to the violent finale, told by revered journalists Peter Baker of The New York Times and Susan Glasser of The New Yorker—an ambitious and lasting history of the full Trump presidency that also contains dozens of exclusive scoops and stories from behind the scenes in the White House, from the absurd to the deadly serious.
-
-
An expertly guided tour through history.
- By Cocoabelle on 09-24-22
By: Peter Baker, and others
-
G-Man (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
- J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century
- By: Beverly Gage
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 36 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A major new biography of J Edgar Hoover that draws from never-before-seen sources to create a groundbreaking portrait of a colossus who dominated half a century of American history and planted the seeds for much of today's conservative political landscape.
-
-
Amazing!
- By Jessica Armas on 12-06-22
By: Beverly Gage
-
The Trump Tapes
- Bob Woodward's Twenty Interviews with President Donald Trump
- By: Bob Woodward
- Narrated by: Donald J. Trump, Bob Woodward
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Trump Tapes explodes with the exclusive, inside story of Trump’s performance as president—in his own words as he is questioned, even interrogated by Woodward, on the president’s key responsibilities from managing foreign relations to crisis management of the coronavirus pandemic. This is the job Trump seeks again. How did he do the first time? This is the authentic answer, laying bare his repeated failures, obsessions, and grievances.
-
-
The Trump Tapes
- By Melvin on 10-27-22
By: Bob Woodward
-
River of the Gods
- Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile
- By: Candice Millard
- Narrated by: Paul Michael
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For millennia the location of the Nile River’s headwaters was shrouded in mystery. In the 19th century, there was a frenzy of interest in ancient Egypt. At the same time, European powers sent off waves of explorations intended to map the unknown corners of the globe—and extend their colonial empires.
-
-
Good book by Millard, narrator ruined it
- By Tally D Lykins on 05-25-22
By: Candice Millard
-
Profiles in Ignorance
- How America's Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber
- By: Andy Borowitz
- Narrated by: Andy Borowitz
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The winner of the first-ever National Press Club award for humor, Andy Borowitz has been called a “Swiftian satirist” (The Wall Street Journal) and “one of the country’s finest satirists” (The New York Times). Millions of fans and New Yorker readers enjoy his satirical news column “The Borowitz Report”. Now, in Profiles in Ignorance, he offers a witty, spot-on diagnosis of our country’s political troubles by showing how ignorant leaders are degrading, embarrassing, and endangering our nation.
-
-
Fascinating, Familiar and Frightening Tales
- By Shoppy McShopperson on 09-28-22
By: Andy Borowitz
-
And There Was Light
- Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle
- By: Jon Meacham
- Narrated by: Jon Meacham
- Length: 17 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hated and hailed, excoriated and revered, Abraham Lincoln was at the pinnacle of American power when secessionists gave no quarter in a clash of visions bound up with money, race, identity, and faith. In him we can see the possibilities of the presidency as well as its limitations. This book tells the story of Lincoln from his birth on the Kentucky frontier to his leadership during the Civil War to his tragic assassination: his rise, his self-education, his loves, his bouts of depression, his political failures, his deepening faith, and his persistent conviction that slavery must end.
-
-
A Winner
- By Diane Moore on 10-31-22
By: Jon Meacham
-
The Palace Papers
- Inside the House of Windsor - the Truth and the Turmoil
- By: Tina Brown
- Narrated by: Tina Brown
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tina Brown has been observing and chronicling the British monarchy for three decades, and her sweeping account is full of powerful revelations, newly reported details, and searing insight gleaned from remarkable access to royal insiders. Stylish, witty, and erudite, The Palace Papers will irrevocably change how the world perceives and understands the royal family.
-
-
Audible narration is dreadful
- By M M. on 05-03-22
By: Tina Brown
-
All About Me!
- My Remarkable Life in Show Business
- By: Mel Brooks
- Narrated by: Mel Brooks
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At 95, the legendary Mel Brooks continues to set the standard for comedy across television, film, and the stage. Now, for the first time, this EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) winner shares his story in his own words.
-
-
Wonderful and nostalgic
- By GAT on 12-07-21
By: Mel Brooks
-
The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man
- A Memoir
- By: Paul Newman, David Rosenthal - editor, Melissa Newman - foreword, and others
- Narrated by: Jeff Daniels, Melissa Newman, Clea Newman Soderlund, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1986, Paul Newman and his closest friend, screenwriter Stewart Stern, began an extraordinary project. Stuart was to compile an oral history, to have Newman’s family and friends and those who worked closely with him, talk about the actor’s life. And then Newman would work with Stewart and give his side of the story. The only stipulation was that anyone who spoke on the record had to be completely honest. The result is The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man—revelatory and introspective, personal and analytical, loving and tender in places, always complex and profound.
-
-
A lot of navel gazing, and yet….
- By Ben on 10-24-22
By: Paul Newman, and others
Related to this topic
-
A Torch Kept Lit
- Great Lives of the Twentieth Century
- By: William F. Buckley
- Narrated by: Tony Pasqualini
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a half century on the national stage, William F. Buckley Jr. achieved unique stature as a polemicist and the undisputed godfather of modern American conservatism. He knew everybody, hosted everybody at his East 73rd Street maisonette, skewered everybody who needed skewering, and in general lived life on a scale, and in a swashbuckling manner, that captivated and inspired countless young conservatives across that half century.
-
-
Excellent...inspiring imagery!
- By Lisa Hill on 10-14-16
-
Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right
- Opinionated Columns on American Life
- By: Michael Smerconish
- Narrated by: Michael Smerconish
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Opinionated talk show host and columnist Michael Smerconish has been chronicling local, state, and national events for the Philadelphia Daily News and the Philadelphia Inquirer for more than 15 years. He has sounded off on topics as diverse as the hunt for Osama bin Laden and what the color of your Christmas lights says about you. In this collection of 100 of his most memorable columns, Smerconish reflects on American political life with his characteristic feistiness.
-
-
All about Smerc and who cares about the victims
- By Mark J. Rosen on 12-10-20
-
She Made Me Laugh
- My Friend Nora Ephron
- By: Richard Cohen
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Award-winning journalist Richard Cohen, wrote this about his "third-person memoir": "I call this book a third-person memoir. It is about my closest friend, Nora Ephron, and the lives we lived together and how her life got to be bigger until, finally, she wrote her last work, the play, Lucky Guy, about a newspaper columnist dying of cancer while she herself was dying of cancer. I have interviewed many of her other friends - Mike Nichols, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep, Arianna Huffington.
-
-
Loved it!
- By Leigh Lerro on 10-27-17
By: Richard Cohen
-
And So It Goes
- Kurt Vonnegut: A Life
- By: Charles J. Shields
- Narrated by: Fred Berman
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times best-selling author and biographer Charles J. Shields crafts this fascinating portrait of literary icon Kurt Vonnegut. The first authorized biography of the influential American writer, And So It Goes examines Vonnegut’s life, from his childhood to his death in 2007, and explores how the author changed the conversation of American literature.
-
-
Probably only for die hard Vonnegut fans
- By Watery M on 12-22-12
-
Eleanor and Hick
- The Love Affair That Shaped a First Lady
- By: Susan Quinn
- Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
- Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1932 Eleanor Roosevelt entered the claustrophobic, duty-bound existence of the first lady with dread. By that time she had put her deep disappointment in her marriage behind her and developed an independent life - now threatened by the public role she would be forced to play. A lifeline came to her in the form of a feisty campaign reporter for the Associated Press: Lorena Hickok. Over the next 30 years, until Eleanor's death, the two women carried on an extraordinary relationship.
-
-
An Icon who was real.
- By Francine Fields on 08-17-17
By: Susan Quinn
-
Empire of Self
- A Life of Gore Vidal
- By: Jay Parini
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 16 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The product of 30 years of friendship and conversation, Jay Parini's Empire of Self probes behind the glittering surface of Gore Vidal's colorful life to reveal the complex emotional and sexual truth underlying his celebrity-strewn life. But there is plenty of glittering surface as well - a virtual who's who of the American Century, from Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart through the Kennedys, Princess Margaret, and the creme de la creme of Hollywood.
-
-
Well done!
- By Christopher on 03-22-16
By: Jay Parini
-
A Torch Kept Lit
- Great Lives of the Twentieth Century
- By: William F. Buckley
- Narrated by: Tony Pasqualini
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a half century on the national stage, William F. Buckley Jr. achieved unique stature as a polemicist and the undisputed godfather of modern American conservatism. He knew everybody, hosted everybody at his East 73rd Street maisonette, skewered everybody who needed skewering, and in general lived life on a scale, and in a swashbuckling manner, that captivated and inspired countless young conservatives across that half century.
-
-
Excellent...inspiring imagery!
- By Lisa Hill on 10-14-16
-
Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right
- Opinionated Columns on American Life
- By: Michael Smerconish
- Narrated by: Michael Smerconish
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Opinionated talk show host and columnist Michael Smerconish has been chronicling local, state, and national events for the Philadelphia Daily News and the Philadelphia Inquirer for more than 15 years. He has sounded off on topics as diverse as the hunt for Osama bin Laden and what the color of your Christmas lights says about you. In this collection of 100 of his most memorable columns, Smerconish reflects on American political life with his characteristic feistiness.
-
-
All about Smerc and who cares about the victims
- By Mark J. Rosen on 12-10-20
-
She Made Me Laugh
- My Friend Nora Ephron
- By: Richard Cohen
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Award-winning journalist Richard Cohen, wrote this about his "third-person memoir": "I call this book a third-person memoir. It is about my closest friend, Nora Ephron, and the lives we lived together and how her life got to be bigger until, finally, she wrote her last work, the play, Lucky Guy, about a newspaper columnist dying of cancer while she herself was dying of cancer. I have interviewed many of her other friends - Mike Nichols, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep, Arianna Huffington.
-
-
Loved it!
- By Leigh Lerro on 10-27-17
By: Richard Cohen
-
And So It Goes
- Kurt Vonnegut: A Life
- By: Charles J. Shields
- Narrated by: Fred Berman
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times best-selling author and biographer Charles J. Shields crafts this fascinating portrait of literary icon Kurt Vonnegut. The first authorized biography of the influential American writer, And So It Goes examines Vonnegut’s life, from his childhood to his death in 2007, and explores how the author changed the conversation of American literature.
-
-
Probably only for die hard Vonnegut fans
- By Watery M on 12-22-12
-
Eleanor and Hick
- The Love Affair That Shaped a First Lady
- By: Susan Quinn
- Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
- Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1932 Eleanor Roosevelt entered the claustrophobic, duty-bound existence of the first lady with dread. By that time she had put her deep disappointment in her marriage behind her and developed an independent life - now threatened by the public role she would be forced to play. A lifeline came to her in the form of a feisty campaign reporter for the Associated Press: Lorena Hickok. Over the next 30 years, until Eleanor's death, the two women carried on an extraordinary relationship.
-
-
An Icon who was real.
- By Francine Fields on 08-17-17
By: Susan Quinn
-
Empire of Self
- A Life of Gore Vidal
- By: Jay Parini
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 16 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The product of 30 years of friendship and conversation, Jay Parini's Empire of Self probes behind the glittering surface of Gore Vidal's colorful life to reveal the complex emotional and sexual truth underlying his celebrity-strewn life. But there is plenty of glittering surface as well - a virtual who's who of the American Century, from Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart through the Kennedys, Princess Margaret, and the creme de la creme of Hollywood.
-
-
Well done!
- By Christopher on 03-22-16
By: Jay Parini
-
Inga
- Kennedy's Great Love, Hitler's Perfect Beauty, and J. Edgar Hoover's Prime Suspect
- By: Scott Farris
- Narrated by: Scott Farris
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In addition to her romance with Kennedy, Arvad married four times - including to an Egyptian prince, the brilliant filmmaker Paul Fejos, and the famed cowboy movie star Tim McCoy. She had affairs with Wall Street financier Bernard Baruch, the noted surgeon Dr. William Cahan, and Winston Churchill's right hand man, Baron Robert Boothby. But by all accounts her admirers among the European and American elite loved Inga not for her physical beauty, but for her joie de vivre.
-
-
Excellent Kennedy Read
- By James P. Barraza on 04-14-17
By: Scott Farris
-
The Place to Be
- Washington, CBS, and the Glory Days of Television News
- By: Roger Mudd
- Narrated by: Roger Mudd
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Roger Mudd joined CBS in 1961 and rose to fame as the congressional correspondent, covering the historic Senate filibuster debate over the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Mudd was there to see Dan Rather going toe-to-toe with the Nixon White House, Marvin Kalb deciphering the State Department, Daniel Schorr bird-dogging Watergate, Lesley Stahl and Connie Chung staking out all the president's men, George Herman presiding over Face the Nation, Bob Schieffer covering the Pentagon like a police reporter.
-
-
No Doubt About It
- By Deborah Jacob on 02-24-17
By: Roger Mudd
-
The Last Love Song
- A Biography of Joan Didion
- By: Tracy Daugherty
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 26 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joan Didion lived a life in the public and private eye with her late husband, writer John Gregory Dunne, whom she met while the two were working in New York City, when Didion was at Vogue and Dunne was writing for Time. They became wildly successful writing partners when they moved to Los Angeles and cowrote screenplays and adaptations together. Didion is well known for her literary journalistic style in both fiction and nonfiction.
-
-
Riveted for 1591 miles
- By Kaysi12 on 04-11-16
By: Tracy Daugherty
-
Lady Bird and Lyndon
- The Hidden Story of a Marriage That Made a President
- By: Betty Boyd Caroli
- Narrated by: Amanda Carlin
- Length: 16 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A fresh look at Lady Bird Johnson that upends her image as a plain Jane who was married for her money and mistreated by Lyndon. This Lady Bird worked quietly behind the scenes through every campaign, every illness, and a trying presidency as a key strategist, fundraiser, barnstormer, peacemaker, and indispensable therapist.
-
-
Lady Bird & btw Lyndon
- By Richard on 11-27-15
-
Write It When I'm Gone
- Remarkable Off-the-Record Conversations with Gerald R. Ford
- By: Thomas M. DeFrank
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In an extraordinary series of private interviews, conducted over 16 years with the stipulation that they not be released until after Gerald Ford's death, the 38th president of the United States reveals a profoundly different side of himself: funny, reflective, gossipy, strikingly candid, and the stuff of headlines.
-
-
An easy historical listen...
- By Darrell Rupe on 05-26-08
-
Good Day!
- The Paul Harvey Story
- By: Paul J. Batura
- Narrated by: Paul J. Batura
- Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Good Day!: The Paul Harvey Story, author Paul J. Batura follows the remarkable life of one of the founding fathers of the news media. Paul Harvey started his career during the Great Depression and narrated America's story day by day, through wars and peace, the threat of communism and the crumbling of old colonial powers, consumer booms and eventual busts.
-
-
Should have been better
- By Royce Brown on 12-21-09
By: Paul J. Batura
-
Street Gang
- The Complete History of Sesame Street
- By: Michael Davis
- Narrated by: Caroll Spinney
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the first episode aired on Nov. 10, 1969, Sesame Street revolutionized the way education was presented to children on television. It has since become the longest-running children's show in history, and today reaches 8 million pre-schoolers on 350 PBS stations and airs in 120 countries. Street Gang is the compelling and often comical story of the creation and history of this media masterpiece and pop culture landmark.
-
-
An important subject, but hardly gripping
- By Scott T. Hards on 09-24-10
By: Michael Davis
-
America's Queen
- The Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
- By: Sarah Bradford
- Narrated by: Sandra Burr
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Using remarkable new sources, Sarah Bradford has written a timely celebration of a life that was more private than commonly supposed. Revealing new testimony from many of the couple's friends shows the complexities of this apparently very public relationship and of her controversial marriage to Aristotle Onassis. Here is the private Jackie - neglected wife, vigilant mother, and working widow - whose contradictory and fascinating nature is illuminated by all that Bradford has discovered.
-
-
American Royalty
- By Kindle Customer on 06-10-16
By: Sarah Bradford
-
Grace and Power
- The Private World of the Kennedy White House
- By: Sally Bedell Smith
- Narrated by: Lee Adams
- Length: 20 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Grace and Power, New York Times best-selling author Sally Bedell Smith takes us inside the Kennedy White House with unparalleled access and insight. Having interviewed scores of Kennedy intimates, including many who have never spoken before, and drawing on letters and personal papers made available for the first time, Smith paints a richly detailed picture of the personal relationships behind the high purpose and poiltical drama of the 20th century's most storied presidency.
-
-
More detail than I wanted
- By R. Jones on 12-24-05
-
Mark Twain: Man in White
- The Grand Adventure of His Final Years
- By: Michael Shelden
- Narrated by: Andrew Garman
- Length: 17 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pulitzer Prize finalist Michael Shelden illuminates Mark Twain’s twilight years in this brilliant account of the legendary author’s life. Drawing heavily on Twain’s own letters and journals, Mark Twain: Man in White recounts both Twain’s private family experiences and his larger-than-life public image.
-
-
Fantastic book
- By Tad Davis on 08-23-10
By: Michael Shelden
-
Ike and Dick
- Portrait of a Strange Political Marriage
- By: Jeffrey Frank
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Richard Nixon was a young Navy officer when he first saw Dwight D. Eisenhower through a storm of tickertape as Manhattan celebrated the end of the war in Europe. Seven years later, Nixon was Eisenhower's running mate on the Republican presidential ticket-the beginning of a political and personal relationship that lasted for nearly twenty years. Despite a gulf that separated them by age and temperament, their association evolved into a collaboration that helped to shape the nation's political ideology.
-
-
He's against NIxon
- By James A. Bretney on 01-20-14
By: Jeffrey Frank
-
Can I Go Now?
- The Life of Sue Mengers, Hollywood's First Superagent
- By: Brian Kellow
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A lively and colorful biography of Hollywood's first superagent - one of the most outrageous showbiz characters of the 1960s and 1970s, whose clients included Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, Faye Dunaway, Michael Caine, and Candice Bergen. Before Sue Mengers hit the scene in the mid-1960s, talent agents remained quietly in the background. But staying in the background was not possible for Mengers.
-
-
A little long.
- By Doris on 11-29-15
By: Brian Kellow
What listeners say about Funny Business
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sally
- 08-13-22
Entertaining nostalgia
In these extremely polarized times it's nice to be reminded that political commentary does not have to be vicious or nasty to make a point. Politicians on both sides would do well to take themselves a little less seriously. Though Buchwald's political leanings were clear, at least he was able to reject the expectation to keep the gloves on for those on his political side.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kevin
- 12-06-22
Not as funny as I’d hoped
Buckwald lived a fascinating life, and that is captured here. I found this to be the value of the book. Maybe humor has changed over the years, but I didn’t find any of the so-called “humor” amusing.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!