Rickles' Book

Why you need to buy RICKLES' Book immediately:

RICKLES' BOOK will help you win friends and influence people.

RICKLES' BOOK will introduce you to all of his famous friends, from Frank Sinatra to Johnny Carson.

RICKLES' BOOK will help you lose weight.

RICKLES' BOOK will help you gain weight.

RICKLES' BOOK will improve your love life.

RICKLES' BOOK will make you cry. (If your love life doesn't improve.)

RICKLES' BOOK will make you laugh. (If your love life does improve.)

RICKLES' BOOK will make you love one of the great Americans of our time, Don Rickles.

RICKLES' BOOK will give you something to talk about at parties. (If you're ever invited to parties.)

RICKLES' BOOK, along with the Bible and War and Peace, will grace your bookshelf and upgrade your literary status.

RICKLES' BOOK will keep you up at night.

RICKLES' BOOK will put you to sleep at night.

RICKLES' BOOK will make you rich. (If you treasure great humor.)

Publishers Weekly

Insult comic Rickles has written a feel-good memoir that's loaded with photos and sentiment. The only son of loving parents, today he's an 80-year-old grandfather who still performs nationwide. The most interesting bits—his climb to the top—are told only in broad strokes. The tone is friendly and conversational, however, as he describes, among other things, his style: "I found a distinct sense of sarcasm and humorous exaggeration." Rickles wanted to be a serious actor, but he started as a comic in strip clubs and worked his way up. His break came when Sinatra heard him—and he used Sinatra's influence to get him better gigs. Yet for a guy famous for calling others a "hockey puck," Rickles's story is Hollywood lite. There's no backstage drama, no sex, no gossip. When he name-drops celebrities, it's always in glowing terms. We learn of his short-lived TV shows, CPO Sharkeyand The Don Rickles Show, and how voicing Mr. Potato Head in Toy Storyjump-started his later career. Those looking for a sardonic autobiography will be disappointed; Rickles accentuates the positive. If he has a bad word to say about anyone, he'll probably save it for his act. (June)

Don Rickles is looking for his first big break in show business. If you have a gig for him, contact his agent (as soon as he gets one).

David Ritz has collaborated on the autobiographies of everyone from Aretha Franklin to Ray Charles. This is his first attempt at sacred writing.