Alan King (1) (1927–2004)

Alan King is a comedian who can put on a lively show, and this somewhat fictional autobiography doubles as a witty satire on suburban life in America in the 1960s.

The title had to be explained to me--the Foreword by author provides the explanation: we all harbor the secret belief the future will be revealed in a fortune cookie, and when his family dines out they each read their Fortune cookie messages. His children all know that, again, Alan King will come up with the SAME line.

Now he expands it. "We're all prisoners of the new society..." the system and its institutions. This book is his attempt to get a laugh at "the system", and provide a bit of hope for us all.

The sense of hope in the crumbling cookie. Jewish humor. Also, the slapstick perspective of life in the Little League and PTA suburbs of 1960s. Reading this book of his really fun complaints about his life makes me yearn for the past when compared to today's post-Bush destruction of the middle class.

For example, our First Lady made a few statements about the importance of physical exercise and healthy lunches in schools and suddenly the Fox News network was screaming about "Government control over our lives". Well...in the 60s the President set up a new Department for Physical Fitness, and Allen's children were bringing pamphlets from school on home exercise challenges. [56] "Did you know the number-one health problem in the United States is obesity? [64] No one screamed about Big Government then. The entire lifestyle he satirizes -- one-earner households, public schools with full programs 5 days a week, access to medical care, lawyers, and comfortable airlines -- is unavailable today.

politics, social studies, suburban life, American, 1960s… (more)

This humor book was written in 1964, a simpler time than now, apparently, when all a wife had to do was steal money from her husband's wallet, learn to golf, play tennis and do yoga, go to the beauty parlor and talk on the phone. When every suburban housewife had a cleaning lady, a nurse for the kids, and a laundry service. The grocery store, butcher, milk man, and drug store all delivered. Doctors, lawyers, airlines and banks were just starting to get commercialized and people were still complaining about it instead of just accepting things the way they were.
This book was actually just depressing. However, I have to add a disclaimer: I don't generally enjoy Ben Stiller movies. "Humor" that stems from people getting hurt or being embarrassed is not funny to me, so if you like that kind of thing, this may be more to your taste.… (more)