The Man in the Flying Lawn Chair : And Other Excursions and Observations

Rating:
Summary: We'll miss you, George
Review: I ordered this book after reading an excerpt of the title piece in the New York Times. Like most of us, I was aware of Larry Walters's epic flying lawn chair adventure, and I was happy to hear the full details of the story. Plimpton did a terrific job of painting a sympathetic and poignant picture of Walters. Indeed, throughout the book Plimpton displays a wonderfully breezy, droll, self-effacing writing style, and I enjoyed this book thoroughly.

The title selection is the best in this book, but other highlights include "Inside the playpen of the damned" (a look inside the world of actors in pornographic movies); Plimpton's autobiographical sketch of how he flunked out of Exeter; and "The man who was eaten alive" (a description of Alan Root, a documentary film maker who has had more than his fair share of adventures filming wildlife in Africa).

The only criticism I have of this book is that--like Plimpton's life itself--it is too short. I get the impression that it had originally been intended to be longer, but Plimpton's untimely death no doubt threw a monkey wrench in those plans. As it stands, the book contains only 184 double-spaced pages with large margins, and several of the 18 selections included are only a couple of pages long. They're all highly entertaining, but when I buy a book with a $24.95 cover price, I prefer a little more heft.

In sum, this book is a delightful way to spend an hour or so. Plimpton is obviously a remarkable man and gifted writer who led an extremely interesting life. The world will miss him.