Beating Around the Bush

by Buchwald, Art; Trudeau, Garry

• ISBN13: 9781583227145
• ISBN10: 1583227148
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-09-06
• Publisher: Seven Stories Press

Summary

"Buchwald has single-handedly restored humor to contemporary journalism."- Los Angeles Times "Quite simply, the funniest US newspaper columnist published today and one of the nation's sharpest political satirists."- Newsweek "Buchwald is a pitiless chronicler of human folly, particularly as it manifests itself in public officials; the targets of his satire are pretension, inconsistency, and hypocrisy. He makes his readers laugh out loud, then leaves them wondering whether what they laughed at might not equally well have made them weep."- Library Journal Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post columnist Art Buchwald returns undaunted to examine the ridiculous people and preposterous events that we call our daily reality. With an introduction by Garry Trudeau, Beating Around the Bush collects Buchwald's recent columns, in which his satirical voice darts at politicians, power, corporations, and the media without pause. A self-described troublemaker, Buchwald continues to represent the great American traits of skepticism, humor, and a refusal to compromise in the face of absurdity. Now revised and updated with new columns.

Author Biography

ART BUCHWALD was the writer of some thirty-two books, including two children’s books and two novels. He was the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for "Outstanding Commentary" in 1982, and in 1986 was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Mr. Buchwald, by his own report, was a workaholic and had no hobbies.

Table of Contents

Preface	15	(4)
Introduction	19	(2)
Garry Trudeau
Economics Lesson	21	(2)
Trouble in the Middle East	23	(1)
God Bless	24	(2)
Saving Time	26	(2)
Let's Not Forget the Lobbyists	28	(2)
Which God Is Your God?	30	(1)
Yesterday's Enemy	31	(2)
Dinner at the Darbys'	33	(2)
Book Flogging	35	(2)
Shadow Government	37	(2)
Safe Deposit for Sale	39	(2)
The Young Audience	41	(2)
It's Cherry Blossom Time	43	(2)
Malice on Purpose	45	(1)
Red Alert	46	(1)
The FBI Changes Its Ways	47	(3)
A Declaration	50	(2)
Things in My Attic	52	(2)
Another Icon	54	(2)
Ashes to Ashes	56	(2)
I Spy--You Spy	58	(1)
Between Iraq and a Hard Place	59	(2)
Will the Real Saddam Stand Up?	61	(2)
I Hate Saddam	63	(2)
To Lose One's Center	65	(2)
Games Children Play	67	(1)
Come Fly With Me	68	(2)
Foreign Affairs for Dummies	70	(2)
The Last Pill	72	(2)
Losing Your Identity	74	(1)
Whose Reality Is It?	75	(2)
The Fight for Duct Tape	77	(2)
Yelling at the TV	79	(2)
The Tip of the Iceberg	81	(2)
The War Over Abstinence	83	(2)
Bumper Stickers	85	(2)
Weapons of Mass Destruction	87	(2)
I'll Always Have Paris	89	(1)
Americo-Shaft Airlines	90	(2)
Freedom of Speech	92	(2)
The Political War	94	(2)
Spam the Greatest Generation	96	(2)
James Bond and WMD	98	(2)
The Bookies	100	(2)
The Iraqi Stock Market	102	(2)
Bless the World	104	(2)
I Won't Be Home for Christmas	106	(2)
Who Remembers Watergate?	108	(2)
Three-Letter Word	110	(2)
Poor Rupert Murdoch	112	(2)
Senior Citizens Vote Too	114	(2)
The Ten Commandments	116	(2)
Power Anonymous	118	(2)
A Great American	120	(2)
The Big Leak	122	(2)
Unnecessary Roughness	124	(2)
But Seriously Speaking	126	(2)
Wal-Mart	128	(2)
Talk Show	130	(2)
A Sexual Revolution	132	(2)
Gotcha Saddam	134	(2)
Holiday Greetings	136	(2)
Saving Britney's Marriage	138	(2)
The Opera Isn't Over	140	(2)
Suppose They Were Wrong	142	(2)
War of the Steroids	144	(2)
Four Letter Words and More	146	(2)
Duck Hunting With Scalia	148	(2)
Just Good Friends---Bah	150	(2)
Who Killed Jesus?	152	(2)
The Good Americans	154	(3)
Canada, My Canada	157	(2)
The Blues Brothers	159	(2)
Soldiers of Fortune	161	(2)
Torture 101	163	(3)
The Rich are Different	166	(2)
Michael, Say It Isn't So	168	(2)
The Trial	170	(2)
``Oh Darn''	172	(2)
How Many Wars?	174	(3)
Commissions for Boo-Boos	177	(2)
Image Control	179	(2)
Couch Potatos	181	(2)
Meat Loaf	183	(2)
Husseinku	185	(3)
Compassionate Conservatism	188	(2)
Left Behind	190	(2)
Trial Lawyers---Who Needs Them?	192	(3)
Do It Our Way	195	(2)
Dan Rather Factor	197	(2)
Our Long Nightmare Is Over Once Again	199	(2)
Congressional No Flu Zone	201	(2)
Slam Dunk	203	(2)
Crate and Baghdad	205	(2)
In God We Trust	207	(2)
A Vivid Inauguration	209	(2)
First Junk Call	211	(2)
Making Extra Money	213	(2)
Social Security Blues	215	(1)
Flip-Flop Diplomacy	216	(3)
Harvard, Dear Harvard	219	(2)
Well Hello, Martha	221	(2)
Smoking Guns	223	(2)
A Constitutional Solution	225	(2)
Oil Tasting for Snobs	227	(4)
About the Author	231