Alan King's Great Jewish Joke Book

Organizing jokes by all the crucial categories-women, men, mothers, grandmothers, and rabbis-this book, as Billy Crystal puts it in his foreword, is ""a big, bubbling pot of borscht."" King, currently starring as MGM's big boss in the off-broadway production Mr. Goldwyn, casts new and familiar material in his own mold; as one of the ""Rules for Jewish Living"" notes: ""a good kugel sinks in mercury."" While he parses the differences between ""Traditional vs. Reform Observance"" or listing the ""Top Ten Reasons Why God Created Eve"" (""7. God knew Adam would never make a doctor's appointment for himself""), King's forte is storytelling and caricature, which he does with gusto, and strong build-ups to punchlines that don't overplay their hands. While some may object to the appearance of the word 'goyim' in the text, King's intention is to warmly entertain in old school Catskills style, and in that he succeeds terrifically. As another of the ""Rules"" asks: ""And what's wrong with dry turkey?""