Dear George

The public's enthusiasm for Burns continues unflagged, and this book should be as successful as his How to Live to Be 100or More and Dr. Burns' Prescription for Happiness. But relatively few of the jokes are funny. Using the device of letters ostensibly sent by readers requesting his wisdom, the comedian comments on sex, old age, sex in old age, sex with young people in old age. There are stories about great vaudevilleans, some amusing, some merely sentimental tributes. Burns has an appealingly informal style: if he can't fit an anecdote into his response he simply appends an aside to the reader, which lends the book some of the rhythm of a stand-up act. But one misses his wonderful vocal delivery, which during his long career has undoubtedly saved many jokes no better than most of these. Photos. 200,000 first printing; BOMC alternate. October