I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This -- Bob Newhart

This isn't the kind of book I usually read, but it was a Christmas gift, it's short, and I've liked Newhart ever since his first album was released. So I figured, what the heck.

The book's not an autobiography. I guess you could call it sort of a memoir. It gives Newhart a chance to tell you a little about how his career got started, tell a few of his favorite stories about himself and his friends, relate a couple of his favorite jokes, and pad out the rest with lengthy quotations from his stand-up routines. There's not much inside scoop on his various TV shows, though he does put in some of this favorite scenes from a couple of them.

It's depressing to learn that Newhart's had to shorten his old routines for current audiences because they have (he thinks) much shorter attention spans that the groups he peformed for at the beginning of his career. It's also depressing to hear that when he does his Sir Walter Raleigh routine, nobody these days gets the bit about Raleigh putting his coat in the puddle.

This is light entertainment, a quick and easy read. Check it out when you're in the mood for that kind of thing.