Rating: 
Summary: special delivery
Review: Novello's "From Bush to Bush" goes from funny to hysterical. It's probably one of the most outragious collaborations of political humor i've ever had the pleasure to read.
Rating:
Summary: Stand up for our president! Fight! Fight! Fight!
Review: Such an amazing & hilarious compilation of letters and responses! My sister-in-law had these books for years, and I always pulled them out to re-read every time I visited. She finally gave them to me for a recent birthday. You can re-read this book (and its companion volume "Citizen Lazlo") over and over and they never lose their edge.To truly appreciate this book, it needs to be placed into perspective. It was originally published in 1977, and the letters span late 1973 through November 1976. The main (although not sole) thread is Watergate and its various actors. You need to remember the mood of the country at the time, and then understand the methods of Don Novello - liberal comic - posing as Lazlo Toth - uber-patriotic & unreconstructed Nixon man. In this book (unlike some of the second), the respondents - not in the joke - reply (mostly) with heartfelt thanks to whom they assume is a true believer. One can only imagine their reactions when they see their earnest repsonses in print and placed in this hilarious context.
Rating:
Summary: Stand up for our president! Fight! Fight! Fight!
Review: Such an amazing & hilarious compilation of letters and responses! My sister-in-law had these books for years, and I always pulled them out to re-read every time I visited. She finally gave them to me for a recent birthday. You can re-read this book (and its companion volume "Citizen Lazlo") over and over and they never lose their edge. To truly appreciate this book, it needs to be placed into perspective. It was originally published in 1977, and the letters span late 1973 through November 1976. The main (although not sole) thread is Watergate and its various actors. You need to remember the mood of the country at the time, and then understand the methods of Don Novello - liberal comic - posing as Lazlo Toth - uber-patriotic & unreconstructed Nixon man. In this book (unlike some of the second), the respondents - not in the joke - reply (mostly) with heartfelt thanks to whom they assume is a true believer. One can only imagine their reactions when they see their earnest repsonses in print and placed in this hilarious context.
Rating:
Summary: Stand up for our president! Fight! Fight! Fight!
Review: Such an amazing & hilarious compilation of letters and responses! My sister-in-law had these books for years, and I always pulled them out to re-read every time I visited. She finally gave them to me for a recent birthday. You can re-read this book (and its companion volume "Citizen Lazlo") over and over and they never lose their edge. To truly appreciate this book, it needs to be placed into perspective. It was originally published in 1977, and the letters span late 1973 through November 1976. The main (although not sole) thread is Watergate and its various actors. You need to remember the mood of the country at the time, and then understand the methods of Don Novello - liberal comic - posing as Lazlo Toth - uber-patriotic & unreconstructed Nixon man. In this book (unlike some of the second), the respondents - not in the joke - reply (mostly) with heartfelt thanks to whom they assume is a true believer. One can only imagine their reactions when they see their earnest repsonses in print and placed in this hilarious context.
Rating:
Summary: defines the genre of satirical letter writing
Review: The thing I like so much about these letters is how Lazlo apes a certain type of person (a bigot, a child, a patriot) and how the companies and politicians respond to the letters under that assumption. Sometimes the results of this misunderstanding are the cause of laughter. It is a bit unfair to poke fun in letters that will be answered by secretaries or pr underlings. I have reread this book many times and actually thought that the replies to the letters were most of the time appropriate responses and appropriately bland. Lazlo is not really engaging in conversation with the letter writers. He is making monologues and incorporating corporate incoherence into his monologues. This is not a criticism, but it needs to be said that most of these letters are thus not very meaningful. They are purely for comic effect.Light-hearted, fun, zany and off-the-wall, but the correspondence puts the respondent in an unflattering light. The sequel to this book is interesting though not as absolutely entertaining as this volume. Also, the "letter from a nut" promoted by jerry seinfeld was basically a ripoff of this book, and not really as wonderful. Because honestly, anyone with a decent humor could write a book like this. The letter writer has the power to say anything outrageous and funny, while the recipient can merely give a polite response. I'm not saying this book isn't that funny, but keep in mind that it's pretty easy to be funny with these kinds of letters. This book and his sequel make you release how hard it must be for corporations to respond to people with unusual concerns or questions. In this book, my favorite series of letters has to do with putting jelly on your breakfast sausage at MacDonalds. In the sequel, the best part was the frozen dinner of famous politicians, and entering the Rice Krispies recipe contest.
Rating:
Summary: defines the genre of satirical letter writing
Review: The thing I like so much about these letters is how Lazlo apes a certain type of person (a bigot, a child, a patriot) and how the companies and politicians respond to the letters under that assumption. Sometimes the results of this misunderstanding are the cause of laughter. It is a bit unfair to poke fun in letters that will be answered by secretaries or pr underlings. I have reread this book many times and actually thought that the replies to the letters were most of the time appropriate responses and appropriately bland. Lazlo is not really engaging in conversation with the letter writers. He is making monologues and incorporating corporate incoherence into his monologues. This is not a criticism, but it needs to be said that most of these letters are thus not very meaningful. They are purely for comic effect.Light-hearted, fun, zany and off-the-wall, but the correspondence puts the respondent in an unflattering light. The sequel to this book is interesting though not as absolutely entertaining as this volume. Also, the "letter from a nut" promoted by jerry seinfeld was basically a ripoff of this book, and not really as wonderful. Because honestly, anyone with a decent humor could write a book like this. The letter writer has the power to say anything outrageous and funny, while the recipient can merely give a polite response. I'm not saying this book isn't that funny, but keep in mind that it's pretty easy to be funny with these kinds of letters. This book and his sequel make you release how hard it must be for corporations to respond to people with unusual concerns or questions. In this book, my favorite series of letters has to do with putting jelly on your breakfast sausage at MacDonalds. In the sequel, the best part was the frozen dinner of famous politicians, and entering the Rice Krispies recipe contest.
Rating:
Summary: A milestone of written comedy
Review: The very idea of writing crank letters and publishing the responses is funny enough, but Novello's wit takes it to a nearly unimaginable level of humor. It's true, as another reviewer suggests, that some of the humor will fly over the head of those unknowing of 1970's politics and popular culture. But that's only part of the book. Most of it is comprehendable to anyone who reads carefully and thinks about the subtext of ridiculousness with which the author toys. Perhaps most impressive are the series of letters, in which Lazlo's fictional voice gets more and more exasperated at the replies fail to comprehend his point. The identify of who is playing the fool becomes blurrier and blurrier as corporate drones try to answer his often ridiculous queries. Truly a milestone of American comedy.
Rating:
Summary: THE original
Review: This is the one I gave my father, who laughed endlessly, even though he was a republican!
Don't go for the derivative copy wannabe's.
this is the real thing! Do you think Lazlo likes California Roll? Grazie.
Rating:
Summary: It was the first of it's kind and still the funniest.
Review: This was one of the first prank letter books ever published. Several books have tried to follow the originality of Lazlo Letters but pretty much fail, with two exceptions: Letters From a Nut - by Ted Nancy (possibly Jerry Seinfeld) and Hire Me Dumbass by Joe Mozian. Own all three and you have the best of this hilariously underrated genre. But Lazlo Letters especially is a must have.
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