Brief Encounters

September 22, 2014
A collection of work previously published as a part of Cavett’s New York Times online opinion column, these articles could easily fall under the heading of musings were they not so varied in content, topic, theme, and style. Some are
biography, like Cavett’s account of a prank pulled when he was in high school (“I Owe William Jennings Bryan an Apology”). Others are pieces on such
celebrities as Stan Laurel, Muhammad Ali, and John Lennon, told as only Cavett, both as a journalist and a celebrity himself, can. Still others are commentary, told with wit, such as “Should News Come with a Warning Label?” Given
Cavett’s background hosting talk shows and doing TV interviews, it comes as no surprise that what holds these varied
vignettes together is his conversational style. In fact, in many of these short works (some no more than five pages), like “Can You Stand Some More Stan?” about Stan Laurel, he seems to be carrying on a discussion with Laurel’s fans and
detractors alike. Cavett’s showing off of his chops from the golden age of late night TV, focusing on people like Groucho Marx, Marlene Dietrich, Jonathan Winters, Tony Curtis, and Mel Brooks, gives everyone a chance to remember or to be introduced to these influential Hollywood and comedy stars.

September 15, 2014
TV's once-reigning, smarty-pants talk show host presents his thoughts on some problems, performers and a few civilians he's known. The very model of a quick-witted interviewer, Cavett follows Talk Show: Confrontations, Points of Commentary, and Off-Screen Secrets (2010) with more of his New York Times online columns. The author remembers working as a gag writer for famed comedians and recalls the Broadway badinage and smart repartee that marked the well-regarded Dick Cavett Show. There's much ado about Groucho, Carson and the Burtons, Jonathan Winters, Mel Brooks and Stan Laurel, not forgetting the great Fat Jack Leonard. The author's standard description of the truly talented is "great." Often with good reason, Cavett liberally applies the encomium to renowned folk like Dietrich, Tracy, Kaufman, the portrayer of "Uncle Junior," his own agent and Yale's famed a cappella group, the Whiffenpoofs. The author uses the jester's shtick of a muttered one-liner wrapped in parentheses. Then there's the overly frequent mention of Cavett's alma mater-Yale, of course, a fact readers won't be allowed to forget, even as the text may wander off topic while the author digs into his archives and ruminates. Revelations include a rare adventure with booze and a monumental hangover. Cavett also confesses, as a lad in Nebraska, to a bit of mischievous rascality and a healthy interest in sex. More shocking: He was a fan of Nancy Drew. Naturally, the author on the small screen was more winning than Cavett is on the printed page. Though not exactly the great Alistair Cooke or Garrison Keillor, this light entertainment will please the many Cavett and Yale fans. Lifelong fan Jimmy Fallon provides the foreword. A skilled second banana still works the crowd effectively.

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September 1, 2014

Cavett may not be a household name these days but in the late 1960s to mid-1970s the Dick Cavett Show was a late-night TV destination. He was known as a literate, erudite interviewer who loved wordplay, but who didn't take any guff from his guests, as the now famous show in 1971 with Norman Mailer and Gore Vidal demonstrates. Mailer, drunk, belligerent, and trading insults with Vidal, finally said to Cavett, "Why don't you look at your question sheet and ask your question?" to which Cavett responded, "Why don't you fold it five ways and put it where the moon don't shine?" The author wrote about his life in Cavett (1974) and his career in Talk Show (2011). Currently Cavett writes an online opinion column for the New York Times and here he reprises some of those with varying success. Most notable are his anecdotal stories about such people as Groucho Marx, Nora Ephron, and Muhammad Ali; his stints on the game show $25,000 Pyramid; and what it was like writing jokes for comedians. Jimmy Fallon writes a thoughtful and admiring foreword. VERDICT Baby boomers, Cavett fans, and those interested in the history of television will enjoy this book.--Rosellen Brewer, Sno-Isle Libs., Marysville, WA

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2014
With his signature wit, writer and comic Cavett shares brief encounters from his early childhood in Nebraska on through his career in show business. He offers memories of network skittishness at the waywardness of some of his most memorable talk shows; performing magic acts, including on one notable occasion when Liz Taylor extemporaneously assisted; and his famously contentious relationship with the Nixon administration. He reprises visiting with Stan Laurel at his apartment and Muhammad Ali at his training camp and meeting the young Steve Jobs before agreeing to do Apple's first commercials. He also recalls working with an assortment of famous names, including Groucho Marx, Jerry Lewis, and Mel Brooks. Of dreams, he ponders that the complexity of the human brain is too, well, complex for that same brain to understand. He draws on his days as a young writer learning the ropes from more experienced comedians and from a long career as talk-show host on an assortment of television and cable networks, expounding on life, American culture, and politics with obvious love of magic, entertainment, and words.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)