"700 Sundays" by Billy Crystal, a Book Review

Billy Crystal plays the part of Miracle Max in the movie "The Princess Bride". After helping the Prince recover from death with a magic pill, he and his wife happily wave goodbye. Speaking together under their breath, she asks: "Is he going to make it". "Hasn't got a chance", he replies all the while smiling encouragingly at the departing prince.That little cinematic moment might sum up Billy Crystal's comedy style. The characters in the long ago, far away fairy tale land could be a steretypical long-married Jewish couple from 1950s USA. In his book, "700 Sundays", Billy Crystal shares short narratives showing how his sense of humor was shaped by his fun and funny family.

Billy's father died suddenly of a heart attack when he was 15 years old. At one time, he tells us in the book, he calculated how many Sundays he had spent with his father, hence the books title, "700 Sundays". It was during Shiva, a traditional Hebrew mourning time, when he learned that, sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying. It was for this reason I grabbed "700 Sundays" off the library shelf. Billy Crystal is a laugh a minute and I was in need of some light hearted fun. I especially enjoyed reading about his Aunt in Florida and telephone calls. Some of the teenage guy humor, is guy humor.

"700 Sundays" starts with the purchase of a new car and a visit from a real life Mafia man that plowed into it the first day his father proudly drove it home. Like a stand up comic routine the book proceeds rapid fire from his birth in 1948 continuing until September 11, 2001, when people flew planes into tall buildings. He grew up in Long Beach, Long Island and moved to Los Angeles California. Just days before the attack in NYC, he had moved a beloved Aunt and Uncle into an assisted-living facility building two blocks from the World Trade Center buildings. Living 3,000 miles away from loved ones when phone service dies is a scary feeling. Billy was able to communicate via instant-messaging on computers with his daughter who resides in the City.