Out of My Mind - Hardcover

Known to millions for his regular commentary on the television newsmagazine 60 Minutes, and his weekly syndicated newspaper column, Andy Rooney is also the author of numerous bestselling books. He has published four previous books with PublicAffairs: My War, Sincerely, Andy Rooney, Common Nonsense, and Years of Minutes.

The reader can almost hear Rooney's meandering delivery of his 60 Minutes commentaries in this essay collection. In his inimitable rambling but cogent style, Rooney delivers probing questions, sound observations, and occasional whimsy. Rooney concedes that he is no great writer, but he has a wry sense of the everyday life that puts both the large issues and the small stuff into perspective. The essays focus on philosophy, food and drink, work, politics, war, sports, money, his life, and the English language. In an essay on the enormous amount of trash Americans generate each day, he notes that when we speak of throwing things away, "there's really no such place as 'away.'" Rooney riffs on marriage statistics and adds some of his own "homemade statistics" as observations of the likelihood of lasting unions. Rooney also defends the profession of journalism, questions Tom Brokaw's assertion that Rooney's generation--who fought World War II--was the greatest, and wonders why so many Americans speak English so poorly. Rooney's observation on war: Americans learned more firsthand in a day about the progress of World War II than we will learn in a year about the current war as long as the military controls information. Responding to inquiries about when he will retire, Rooney declares: Never. "I am never happier than when I am working." Fans will adore this collection. Vanessa Bush
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