Getting Even (1971)

My favorite: "Death Knocks" ( )

A few years ago, I found a copy of Woody Allen's "Getting Even" at a used bookstore, and thought it would be something funny to read. After all, the movies "The Purple Rose of Cairo", "Zelig", "Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex (But Were Afraid To Ask)", and many others are considered classic movie comedies. His forays into short stories would be just as much fun.

You'd think that, wouldn't you?

I know that I'm not very good at telling a joke, but the ideas and the telling of these tales quite often fell flat. A study of someone's laundry lists? The memoirs of Hitler's barber? A class schedule for adult education classes? Most came across as a rambling series of sentences that threw ideas onto the page hoping to make something worthwhile and funny. For example, taken from the story "A Little Louder, Please":

"Also, laddies, as one whose spate of insights first placed Godot in proper perspective for the many confused playgoers who milled sluggishly in the lobby during intermission, miffed at ponying up scalper's money for argle-bargle bereft of one up-tune or a single spangled bimbo, I would have to say my rapport with the seven livelies is pretty solid. Add to this the fact that eight radios conducted simultaneously at Town Hall killed me, and that I still occasionally sit in with my own Philco, after hours, in a Harlem basement where we blow some late weather and news, and where once a laconic field hand named Jess, who had never studied in his life, played the closing Dow-Jones averages with great feeling."

I re-read that (and the entire paragraph containing it) two or three more times, without understanding what it had to do with the story. And not really getting story, either. Most felt like that to me, that no matter how many times I may read them, they left me scratching my head. And I wasn't sure if Allen were trying too hard to be funny or not trying at all.

There were a few tales in the book, however, that made this one to skim through: "Death Knocks", a one-act concerning a game of gin between Death and his next victim; "Count Dracula", a clever tale about Dracula during an eclipse; and possibly the best of the collection, "The Gossage-Vardebedian Papers", a series of scathing chess-by-mail letters between two players.

If you're a Woody Allen fan, you may enjoy this selection of tales. As for me, not so much. ( )

Having thoroughly enjoyed his two other collections, Getting Even disappointed me. Some of the pieces have funny, even hilarious, bits in them, but this is written at a time when Woody Allen derived his humor mostly from intellectual life, and a lot of the humor just isn't funny anymore - if it ever was. Too bad. ( )

Getting Even: If your a fan of Allen's work than you'll enjoy this book. Otherwise you may not like it. If you're not familiar with his work than I highly recommend his prose for their witty, bizzare, and humorus content.

In, "The Gossage-Vardebedian Papers," you'll find humor in the trials and tribulations of chess, via letter writing.

In, "Mr. Big," I question if the beautiful existentialist really killed God. Yeah, she probably did. (GOD that's too bad.)

awkward, funny, weird, smart, read...

A collection of short humor pieces by Woody Allen, who I had a lot more respect for at the time. Most are prey to his frequent failing of confusing meaningless absurdity with humor. But one piece about two unscrupulous opponents in a chess match by mail, "The Gossage-Vardebedian Papers", is a masterpiece of comic writing. ( )