A Fistful of Fig Newtons

by Jean Shepherd

Book Overview

From the wild and wacky world of favorite funnyman Jean Shepherd, a dozen truer-than-life tales of tailgating on the Jersey Tumpike, infuriating infants, and other everyday catastrophes, defeats, and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385188439
• Release Date: November 1987
• Publisher: Crown
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.7" x 5.2"

Customer Reviews

Classic Humor From Someone You Should Discover

Generally, you are either a "Shep fan" who grew up listening to him on WOR or you don't know much about him. Do a search on his name and DL some of his radio shows from the 60's or 70's. You'll be hooked. It will also make reading some of his stories more enjoyable, as you will be able to get a sense of his cadence and delivery.

The great Jean Shepherd -- in full flight

For once, the back cover description is accurate: this is classic Jean Shepherd, telling vaguely autobiographical stories about his earlier life, a hilarious riff on 60's TV advertising, and much more. It's all tied together by an endless passage through the Lincoln Tunnel, something with which many of us transplanted New Yorkers can identify. This paperback is a huge bargain -- both to those who haven't yet discovered Shep's particular brand of humor, and to those who remember...and wish to relive it.

A Fistful of Fig Newtons

Buy all of Jean Shepard's book and settle down to smiling, laughing and rolling around with a belly laugh. Jean Shepard captures pre-television life with all of the hilarious anecdotes of the time and his work brightens even the darkest of days...read them all!

Everybody likes Fig Newtons

12 hilarious stories about common catastrophes, humiliating experiences, picking on toddlers and tailgating on the Jersey Turnpike. A testimonial for virtually every teen growing up in America today. Not as good as Shepherd's first two books, but entertaining nonetheless.

Not his best, but still better than anybody else.

Four stars out of five? By what standard? Well, anything by Shepherd is a five star read, but when judged against "In God We Trust" and "Wanda Hickey", "A Fistful of Fig Newtons" doesn't quite rise to his own very high standards. Still, don't let this turn you off to this fine little book. While the stories (some are really essays) are not as consistantly good as some of his earlier efforts, "Lost at C" is as good (and funny!) a short story as has ever been written. All of us can identify with the poor slobs stuck in the back row of the classroom, (the "alphabetical ghetto") struggling to comprehend algebra. "The Whole Fun Cataloge of 1929" is a brilliant essay which nails American culture better than any Harvard sociologist ever has. Jean illustrated this book with his own excellent and charming line drawings...another talent not many people knew Jean had. So, for dedicated Shep fans, by all means read "Fig Newtons", and for anyone interested in a funny book, you won't be dissapointed.