Out of My Mind

I have been a faithful viewer of CBS' "60 Minutes" since it's inception. It is a basic part of my Sunday evening. For many years now - no, not from the beginning - the final piece has been Andy Rooney talking about - well, whatever Andy Rooney feels like talking about. Generally taking between 1 1/2 and 3 minutes (tops, I think), in a casually curmudgeonly way, comments on just about everything from politics, to economics - history to science - magic to silverware - marriage to dogs (no suggestion of direct correlation intended.) I haven't thought that every one of his pieces was wonderful or even worth listening to - but I have been consistently amazed at his ability to earn a VERY good living literally chattering about anything he likes for a couple of minutes a week. Astounding! His success and notoriety on TV is paralleled by his many books of collections of these 'commentaries.' I believe that there are, as of now, at least ten of them. This review is of the most recent, "Out Of My Mind." The title is not about his concerns that he is crazy - it is rather a literal statement about where the material in the book came from! The book is organized into ten parts, each of which contains a plethora of examples of Andy's verbal meanderings about matters large and small - about things of consequence and about what might generously be dubbed as trivia. Andy does both pretty well. Every once in a while, his wry humor is punctuated with comments that jolt the reader back to recalling that Rooney began his career in journalism as a reporter for the Stars and Stripes - the newspaper written for our servicemen while they were fighting their way through World War II. Even when he is being silly, we can feel the force of real life experience, pain and humanity under it all. The Parts of this book are: 1. Daily Life 2. Feeling Philosophical 3. On Food and Drink 4. At Work and in The Newsroom 5. The Nation At War 6. On Politics 7. My Life 8. On Money 9. The English Language, and finally, 10.The Sports Fan. A good deal of this collection of brief pieces, reflect his general concerns about the gradual 'dumbing down' of our society and institutions and about the deceptions created by our fellow human and then foisted onto the rest of us - at times all too easily. Whatever he speaks about has an earnest quality to it. If he's putting you on, you know it. I think the essence of this book, which can be picked up and opened to just about any page randomly to read something brief and possible entertaining (it is a GREAT bathroom reader) is best characterized by Rooney himself when he says, in the Preface, " One thing I know is, you can make an essay out of anything. There are times when I've written about subjects about which I know very little. A writer can do that. He has the advantage of being able to look things up, to ask questions of people more knowledgeable than he. He can sit back and think before writing anything down on paper. This puts the writer on

this was a gift for my husband and he seemed well pleased with it.

If you like Andy Rooney you must read this book. It has something for everyone and along with his humor you will get some good advice on various subjects.

There are 176 essays in this book. I would like to teach a high school class for a year called "Andy". We would read one essay each day, discuss it and have the students write an essay. Imagine a class that taught critical thinking! It would never sell.

I have read most all of Andy Rooney's books and was looking forward to this, his latest. I must be honest, there was a bit of doubt in my mind. I am such a fan of this man via his "60-Minutes" input on CBS, his syndicated columns, and the various books --- all leading to the question, "Does Andy have the fuel for another outstanding collection to share with us on the printed pages?" No, I wasn't questioning his ability because of his age. Mr. Rooney is ageless! He simply gets better with the added years. Since most writers seem to reach a peak and begin to lose some steam after brainstorming for so long, there was some uncalled-for doubt that he could continue on the same level as in the past. Of course, it was idiotic of me to create such needless drab in my mind. After diving into OUT OF MY MIND, I quickly realized Andy Rooney has never been better. When referring to current issues pertaining to world affairs, he presents them with honesty, as if he's simply discussing some serious "happenings" while chatting with you in the living room ... or over cups of coffee in the kitchen. When projecting some of his personal thoughts, he makes you ask, "Why didn't I think of that?" Andy Rooney is needed as never before. He speaks our language! OUT OF MY MIND, like his other works, simply makes the day a lot better.