Complete Prose of Woody Allen

Contains the books: Getting Even, Without Feathers, Side Effects and more. Allen is absurd, satirical, brilliantly incisive although sometimes quite corny and sophomoric. (One must try to use big, academic, intellectual-sounding words when criticising Woody Allen.) Someone once suggested I read Dave Barry. I did and threw the magazine down in disgust at the pale, attempted imitation of prime Woody Allen.

I've always loved Woody's movies but he proves with this collection that he has always been a writer first and foremost. This book is a must for any lover of intelligent comedy. There are so many brilliant stories and essays here--prose you can turn to again and again as if revisiting a favorite album. Possibly the finest, funniest collection of humorous writing ever assembled.

I must admit I'm a sucker for the silly side. The thing with Woody is that he'll have you laughing out loud like a fool one sentence and the next he's got you staring off into space thinking, "Yeah, yeah...that's true." Conversations with Death, the supernatural explained, the story of one man's pathetic attempt at a life of crime, and the single best description of sex I've ever read- "...executing with total emotional commitment the absurd choreography of human passion," it's all in there. I was always afraid of Woody Allen because I thought you'd have to be Jewish to get it. Rather, you'd have to be dead not to.

Woody has said that his prose is influenced by two past masters--Robert Benchley and S.J. Perelman. I believe Woody has surpassed these giants and created laugh out loud prose that will last for ages. Where Perelman often loses his readers in baroque construction, Woody brings his crisp, well-honed stand-up structure to the written word. Benchley is hard to beat, and I suspect he was only beaten here because Benchley had to turn out pieces like a comedic assembly line, and Woody had the advantage of taking each piece and honing it to perfection before submission. Benchley's fingerprints are all over this work--just compare Woody's academic parodies with any of Benchley's. Do yourself a favor and read this book--you will laugh out loud. Satisfaction guaranteed.