There is no tragedy in this book, unless you count the deaths of Rickle's parents, which might have gotten heavier treatment from a funeral home director. There is no drams and there is barely any comedy. If Rickles every felt anguish, jealousy, bitterness, anger, or outrage, you would not know it. What you get is a lot of vignetes along the lines of I met such-and-such famous person, he helped my career, and we became great friends and hung out ever after. You also get to hear how lovely his parents, wife, and kids were. Maybe Rickle's got all his vitrole out on the stage. Whatever the case, the book is thin stuff. It's not hard to read, but short and tepid.

I would guess that if I had read Don's book on a flight from NYC to LA, I would have finished it by the time we flew over the Mississipi. It's a fun book but unfortunately a short one (double-spaced, large print and plenty of wasted "white space"). But I still recommend it for Rickles' fans (I'm one of those) and I would buy it again for my personal show biz collection.

On the plus side, having followed Don's career since his early 30 Rock appearances in the mid-sixties with Johnny, I had a checklist of things I had hoped he would cover and--wouldn't you know it--he covered them all: his life-long obsession and multi-faceted relationship with Frank Sinatra (who nicknamed Don, "Bullethead"), his interactions with three of my all-time favorites--Jack Benny, Bob Hope and Milton Berle--his relationship with Johnny, his long friendships with Don Adams and Bob Newhart, how he met his wife and lastly, how his career surged forward after his success as a night club comic at the Slate Brothers in LA. We learn a little about Don's mother and father (his mother had Sandra Berlinger qualities). I did not know that Don was an only child.

But I just wish the book was three times longer than it was because I would have had three time the enjoyment. Any Don Rickles fan with a laptop could have sat with Don and fleshed out this great material into a deeper read but we should be thankful that he at least wrote what he did. HIs co-author was successful in capturing Don's voice throughout the entire book.

There are a few things that will surprise even the most dedicated Rickles' fan, one being his relationship with George and Barbara Bush and Barbara's joshful disdain of Don's appearances in the Frankie Avalon/Annette Funicello "Beach" movies.

Isn't it interesting that Don is really the last comedian of his era that is still working night clubs in Las Vegas? What a survivor!

The first time I saw Don Rickles was at the Boulevard nightclub on Queen Boulevard in Queens a hundred or so years ago. I was 15 and was there to celebrate a friend's sweet sixteen party. It was one of the first times I had ever been on a date and the evening was sweet. Then the entertainment started. A very young, balding bullet headed man came on stage and though he looked benign, in a minute he proceeded to rip into and destroy anyone and everyone in sight. The sweet sixteen girl was his main target and everyone in the place roared and no one more than the guest of honor herself. The man was hilarious. I don't recall how long his set was (a half hour? longer?)but I do remember it was so irreverent and hilarious that, when later, I saw him sitting at the bar, I got my courage up, walked up to him, shook his hand and asked if I could buy him a drink. He smiled and let me! My date and I sat with him and a warmer, kinder man you would not want to meet. Thus began my love affair with Don Rickles, a love affair that has not dwindled over the years. I have made special trips to Vegas just to see him and even ventured to the wastelands of Westbury to see him and Joan Rivers in concert. I have seen all of his movies, and even bought his LP...now I have bought his book and I loved it.Don, you are the best. May you go on forever...and if you do, you can be sure that I'll be there slipping the maitre 'd a few bucks to get a ringside seat. A great comedian, a great man and a great book. Thanks for all of it, Don.

Don't get me wrong. I love Don Rickles, have seen him peform various times and just cringed in hopes that he didn't pick on me. But that is half the fun. He really is a funny, funny man who has a heart of gold. The best thing about this book is the preface. Rickles just does not go into that much interesting information. Just a few little stories. Better luck next time you "hockey puck."

I remember seeing Don Rickles for the first time as a kid while watching re-runs of Get Smart. I instantly liked him, although I didn't know why. His book is great, which is a bit of a mystery to me, because his stories are so short and jump around all over the place, with no method to the madness. Usually that kind of writing annoys me. But in his case, it just seems like his personality. He jumps all over the place all the time. What makes Rickles such a great story and comedian is that he didn't perform comedy; he lived it. Everything he did in everyday life he did like he was on stage. It's like he says all along in the book, to places like the navy, "I'm an entertainer", even though he wasn't a professional entertainer at all. But he was truly an entertainer in his everyday life. For instance, he asks SInatra to stop at his table while he's talking to a girl, to impress her. Sinatra does and says "Hi". Don yells at him "Frank, can't you see I'm busy here! Go away!" That is H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S. Hilarious. See wha I mean? He lives comedy. Those are the stories in this book, him living comedy in his everyday life. Two other autobiographical great reads by stand-up comedians are I Killed: True Stories of the Road from America's Top Comics and God Is a Woman: Dating Disasters. All three books are hilariously funny.