Soft Pretzels With Mustard

I watched Brenner a few times on TV growing up and I thought he was pretty funny. However, I have no idea why I picked up this book. I'm usually quite selective about books---so many books, so little time. However, I'm glad I read it. I didn't grow up anywhere near Philly, and residents would probably find the book even more poignant. I've noticed that many comedians who are funny onstage cannot write funny. However, Brenner is a pleasant surprise. The stuff he writes is genuinely amusing and you can't help but laugh. This is humble fare; Brenner doesn't sugar coat his life or sensationalize it at all. He tells it the way it really was and tries to see the brighter side of even the failures and disasters of life. I'm surprised that there aren't more reviews; it's not like he's an unknown. Just the same, if you need something to cheer you up a bit, pick up the book.

I picked this up from a used book store the other day and couldn't put it down. When did David Brenner switch his parents for mine? I felt like David was writing about my folks, with their idiosyncracies, love, family squabbles, and striving for success. This is an intimate autobiography, filled with laughs, about growing up poor and Jewish in West Philly. David has never forgot his friends from that period, his family, or his values and concern for the poor and disadvantaged. "Kingy" achieved lofty success beyond his wildest dreams, but one foot has always been firmly planted on the ground. His anecdotes and recollections of life on the streets of West Philly are touching, poignant, and very funny. I had no idea he was such a gifted writer, it's a shame (as usual) this book is long out of print.

This is my favorite of the David Brenner books. There are numerous hilarious passages in it, like his other books. Unlike his other books, none of it is stuff he made up. It's a genuine autobiography, and it has a depth and a poignancy that raises it well beyond the usual joke book. This is David Brenner, being real, talking about poverty, injustice, how hard it can be to succeed, experiences that enraged him--and also talking about all the love and wonderful experiences that kept him going. He was a little hooligan--but he loves Philadelphia and the people he knew there and it shows in his writing. Oh yeah--it's funny, too.

This book is funny from page 1. I didn't expect it to be so funny. There was a chapter written about my cousin who was a friend of David's and also a chapter on my bosses grandparets who owned a deli in Phila where I lived as a child. If you're from Phila it's a MUST read. If you're from anywhere else it will have you laughing out loud anyway. The true stories in this book are nothing short of halarious.