Dick Cavett

Long time Cavett fan here, so I was very happy to receive this book! (Thank you, ER.) Husband and I were in the vast TV audience for his famous disposal of the obnoxious Norman Mailer: "Why don't you fold it 5 ways and put it where the moon don't shine?) and earlier offer of an extra 2 chairs to accommodate his giant intellect. These columns are pure Cavett. Nobody else could have written them, and I was hoping to begin my review with a tribute to his voice when I read his own tribute to show more Groucho's writing. Certainly Cavett isn't Groucho, but the words are equally true for these columns: "As you read them, it's almost like having him present. So tone-perfect are these pieces that you can't help hearing the famous voice and its witty inflections in your mind's ear. It's a wonder." He alludes to his own voice again in a piece about speaking to Muhammad Ali when he was long lost in Parkinson's. "I kept talking in hopes of some sign.... But then... my mixed-blessingly recognizable voice seemed suddenly to have gotten through. It was not to be. But I honestly think - or maybe I just need to think - that a bell rang."
That's Cavett. I'd advise reading only one or two at a time so that the mix of sophisticated Yale-educated wit combined with the Nebraska-reared outrageous bad boy doesn't pall. I'll also note in passing his comments about giving offense in this suddenly PC, offense-taking world.
"Brief dialogue:
Network executive: 'We're afraid some viewers might be offended.'
D.C. 'So?'"
There follows an incisive column.
And finally, when the network fellow told him he'd have to do another first Dick Cavett Show because "Nobody gives a goddamn what Muhammad Ali and Gore Vidal think about the Vietnam War, Cavett replied in "as polite a tone as I could muster, 'And at what point will you stop being chickenshit?'"
That's Cavett too. Read and enjoy. show less

It's hard to go wrong with Dick Cavett's wry wit, style and love of a good joke (on himself or anyone else). This book, scheduled for publication in November, 2014, is a compilation of some of Cavett's New York Times columns from recent days, consisting primarily of delightful anecdotes about people he met in his comedy writing days, or his much too brief career as a talk show host. (Why don't we have anyone doing what he did anymore? Why isnt HE doing it? As Dick might say....you tell me.) show more When he and a guest hit it off, the exchanges were so often sharp-witted and funny; even better, when he didn't cotton to someone's remarks or behavior, the flint in his tongue could send sparks into the flies and someone might have to yell "Fire" in the crowded theater, as when he famously got tired of Norman Mailer's supercilious attitude and suggested that Mailer take Cavett's question sheet, "fold it sideways and stick it where the moon don't shine". Despite his cool Yalie demeanor, Cavett has never lost his boy-from-the-Midwest awe at being in the presence of what he considers greatness, whether in the person of Muhammad Ali, John Lennon, Marlene Dietrich or Stan Laurel. His tributes to the loss of such talents make some of the best reading in Brief Encounters. But the prize selections, in my opinion, are two on the subject sex and young people in today's world. Never one for political correctness, Cavett makes some potentially unpopular suggestions on the subject. You can read them by googling "Dick Cavett NYTimes", which will take you to his columns. But don't do that. Buy the book instead. show less

The other night watching TV, we caught a clip of Cavett exhibiting his sparkling wit and cris enunciation. Neither of us could place his name, so impressed with his performance and seeking to make amends, I took in this audiobook expertly narrated (with impressions), a collection of his New York Times postings. Really an early blog, Cavett comes across as amused by "comments" and "emails" coming in reaction to his observations on the 2008 McCain - Obama election race, depression, and more show more being mostly recollections of interviews on his show. This includes the semi-apocryphal Jerome Rodale episode and the onscreen death more remembered than seen. In these recollection, Cavette reveals himself to be very well read, very broad in interest and in awe of such varied contacts as Bobby Fischer and John Wayne. The poignant recollections of the troubled chess Grandmaster make nice commentary to Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall - from America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness.

To anyone else that has read this: Is it just me, or does is seem Cavett has an easy, casual distaste for Detroit? show less

This is a fine collection of columns that Dick Cavett wrote for the New York Times from 2007 to 2010. As erudite, witty, and urbane as ever, his writing focuses largely on his nostalgic and humorous reminiscences of his Nebraska boyhood, college days at Yale, working as a copy boy at Time magazine, his early years in show business as a comedy writer for Johnny Carson, and, of course, his years as a talk show host. The classic stories of his talk show guests - Paul Newman, Groucho Marx, John show more Lennon, Richard Burton, Bette Davis, William F. Buckley, Gore Vidal, Norman Mailer, Katharine Hepburn, and on and on - are particularly entertaining. Of decidedly less interest are the occasional columns on political events, mostly concerning the 2008 presidential campaign and the aftermath of the ill-fated Iraq War, stories whose time has now passed. But all the rest are indeed timeless stories - some of great good humor, and some of touching poignancy - that will never lose their appeal. show less