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David Kamp

Goodreads Author

Born

in glorious central New Jersey, The United States

June 18

Website

http://davidkamp.com/

Twitter

mrkamp

Genre

Nonfiction, History, Music

Member Since

November 2019

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David Kamp is an author, journalist, lyricist, and humorist. Among his books are the national bestseller The United States of Arugula (Broadway Books, 2006), a chronicle of America’s foodways; the critically lauded Sunny Days (Simon & Schuster, May 2020), a history of the Sesame Street-Mister Rogers era of enlightened children’s television; and, as collaborator, Martin Short’s bestselling memoir, I Must Say (HarperCollins, 2014), Ron Howard and Clint Howard’s joint memoir, The Boys (William Morrow, 2021), and A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever: The Story of Spinal Tap (Gallery Books, 2025), with Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer.

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Popular Answered Questions

How do you deal with writer’s block?

David Kamp By having the common sense to say “Sitting here trying to force things won’t help.” My friend Ben Schott, who wrote the “Schott’s Miscellany” books an…moreBy having the common sense to say “Sitting here trying to force things won’t help.” My friend Ben Schott, who wrote the “Schott’s Miscellany” books and also dared to revive Bertie Wooster for the novel “Jeeves and the King of Clubs,” imparted some good advice: take in some quiet, contemplative culture... a wall-full of paintings in an art museum, a photo exhibition, a walk through the woods, or a botanical garden, or a park. That may sound unbearably twee, but I assure you: it’s *helpfully* twee. And restorative.(less)

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What’s the best thing about being a writer?

David Kamp This will sound like a tautology, but: Writing for a living! Growing up middle-class in central New Jersey, I believed “writer” to be a path unavailab…moreThis will sound like a tautology, but: Writing for a living! Growing up middle-class in central New Jersey, I believed “writer” to be a path unavailable to me—something for smarter, wealthier, more interesting people. But I basically stumbled, by feel and instinct, into a writing career. And I’ve never taken it for granted. It’s amazing to write for a living, to skitter along the edges of 9-to-5 society, doing one’s own thing: nonfiction, fiction, lyrics for a musical. What you didn’t ask, Goodreads, is what the downside is, which is that there’s never truly a day off, and one lives with a constant nagging voice that says, “You should be working on that book/article/song, not watching old Roosevelt Franklin clips on YouTube.” But this is a good life, and I know it.(less)

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David Kamp’s books

Average rating: 3.7 · 5,941 ratings · 757 reviews · 12 distinct works • Similar authors

	I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend by Martin Short, David Kamp (Goodreads Author) (Co-Author) 4.12 avg rating — 18,045 ratings — published 2014	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The United States of Arugula: How We Became a Gourmet Nation 3.63 avg rating — 3,705 ratings — published 2006 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sunny Days: The Children's Television Revolution That Changed America 3.92 avg rating — 1,187 ratings — published 2020 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Rock Snob's Dictionary: An Essential Lexicon of Rockological Knowledge by David Kamp (Goodreads Author), Steven Daly 3.75 avg rating — 454 ratings — published 2005 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Film Snob*s Dictionary: An Essential Lexicon of Filmological Knowledge by David Kamp (Goodreads Author), Lawrence Levi 3.62 avg rating — 260 ratings — published 2006 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Best of Vanity Fair ELIZABETH TAYLOR: Eight Remarkable Stories About Hollywood’s Most Beautiful, Most Controversial Star by Dominick Dunne, George Hamliton, Sam Kashner 3.94 avg rating — 195 ratings — published 2011 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Food Snob's Dictionary: An Essential Lexicon of Gastronomical Knowledge by David Kamp (Goodreads Author), Marion Rosenfeld, Ross MacDonald (Illustrator) 3.62 avg rating — 87 ratings — published 2007 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Wine Snob's Dictionary: An Essential Lexicon of Oenological Knowledge by David Kamp (Goodreads Author), David Lynch 3.63 avg rating — 52 ratings — published 2008 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Wide Angle Volume 5 No. 3 Cinema 16: 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Nature, Design, and Health: Explorations of a Landscape Architect 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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David Kamp's Blog

RON & CLINT HOWARD’S “THE BOYS” IS OUT ON OCTOBER 12...

...and I helped! One of my main projects during lockdown was collaborating with the brothers Ron Howard and Clint Howard on their joint memoir of growing up as child actors in the 1960s and 70s. I am so pleased with how it has come out, and I suspect you will be, too. Beyond the frissons of nostalgia you might feel about “The Andy Griffith Show,” “Gentle Ben,” ”Star Trek,” “American Graffiti,” and Read more of this blog post »

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Published on September 14, 2021 11:04 • Tags: americana, cultural-history, hollywood, memoir

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David Kamp is now friends with Chip Fisher
Aug 24, 2025 05:26AM · like

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Quotes by David Kamp (?)

“Indeed, in the early 1970s, as the first crop of Sesame “graduates” entered the school system, kindergarten and first-grade teachers noticed a palpable difference in how knowledgeable their newest pupils were. Some teachers even complained that their lesson plans had been upset by their students’ unforeseen preparedness.”
― David Kamp, Sunny Days: The Children's Television Revolution That Changed America

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“Rogers exulted in his choice to work in television. “I’m more convinced than ever that ‘Children’s Corner’ is God’s program,” he wrote. “There’s no doubt about it now in my mind that we are being well guided: whatever happens from now on I know will be for the best. Just too many factors have come together today for it to be ‘man-planned.”
― David Kamp, Sunny Days: The Children's Television Revolution That Changed America

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