What do you think?
Rate this book
Bigger Than a Breadbox
A collection of the humor of Steve Allen.
- GenresNonfictionHumor
261 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1967
27 people want to read
About the author
Steve Allen
101 books43 followersStephen Valentine Patrick William "Steve" Allen was an American television personality, musician, actor, comedian, and writer. Though he got his start in radio, Allen is best-known for his television career. He first gained national attention as a guest host on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. He graduated to become the first host of The Tonight Show, where he was instrumental in innovating the concept of the television talk show. Thereafter, he hosted numerous game and variety shows, including The Steve Allen Show, I've Got a Secret, The New Steve Allen Show, and was a regular panel member on CBS' What's My Line?
Allen was a "creditable" pianist, and a prolific composer, having penned over 14,000 songs, one of which was recorded by Perry Como and Margaret Whiting, others by Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, Les Brown, and Gloria Lynne. Allen won a Grammy award in 1963 for best jazz composition, with his song The Gravy Waltz. Allen wrote more than 50 books and has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Allen was a "creditable" pianist, and a prolific composer, having penned over 14,000 songs, one of which was recorded by Perry Como and Margaret Whiting, others by Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, Les Brown, and Gloria Lynne. Allen won a Grammy award in 1963 for best jazz composition, with his song The Gravy Waltz. Allen wrote more than 50 books and has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 1, 2016
This is not so much a book by Allen, but a compilation by Leonard Feather with his commentary. Some pieces may be provided by Allen, but this is really an olio of notes, quotes, transcripts, and correspondence somewhat chronological so that it makes up for in biography what it lacks in cohesion. The jotted remembrances or transcripts are documents lacking zing, but some prepared texts are laugh-out-loud funny. This includes an old radio bit satirizing recaps for serials, which starts, "Yesterday, you'll remember, Agatha paled when Boger entered the library. It seemed as if only days before he had gone out of her life, vowing never to return. And now, here they were strolling along the beach, arm in arm. As they climbed the flagpole David spoke to her, softly..."
There is also some critical, even self-critical bits that are interesting, like this this musing on foul language for effect and humor (both as overdone today, IMO), which is also from Mark It and Strike It:
"...someday I may write a piece about women who employ foul language and tell off-color stories in mixed company. Offhand I can think of few things more disgusting than hearing a scatological story or a vulgar oath from a beautiful woman. It is a small tragedy that more women in our society are not aware that many men share this opinion, and it is doubly a pity for the girls involved since some of them use gutter language because they think it puts men at ease or even has a certain stimulating effect. The use of plain Anglo-Saxon dictionary language between lover is one thing, but foul and supposedly comic talk between casual acquaintances of opposite sexes is a universe away.
However, the study of sexual or scatological humor itself is a fascinating one that should offer rich veins of ore to the psychological investigator. One day, when I was about twelve years old, it occurred to me to wonder where dirty jokes come from. Although I have conducted haphazard research into the question ever since I know no more than I did at twelve. I have theories, of course. A number of men to whom I have put this question have said that they have heard that most sexual humor originates in prisons. The supposition is that thousands of men all over the world, suffering constant sexual frustration by reason of their imprisonment, talk out their desires by making them the all-important subject of daily conversation.
...Those who have superior senses of humor, it is thought, will in most cases create sex jokes, and the many witticisms so conceived eventually filter to the outside where they are distributed, sometimes in mere days, all over the world..."
There is also some critical, even self-critical bits that are interesting, like this this musing on foul language for effect and humor (both as overdone today, IMO), which is also from Mark It and Strike It:
"...someday I may write a piece about women who employ foul language and tell off-color stories in mixed company. Offhand I can think of few things more disgusting than hearing a scatological story or a vulgar oath from a beautiful woman. It is a small tragedy that more women in our society are not aware that many men share this opinion, and it is doubly a pity for the girls involved since some of them use gutter language because they think it puts men at ease or even has a certain stimulating effect. The use of plain Anglo-Saxon dictionary language between lover is one thing, but foul and supposedly comic talk between casual acquaintances of opposite sexes is a universe away.
However, the study of sexual or scatological humor itself is a fascinating one that should offer rich veins of ore to the psychological investigator. One day, when I was about twelve years old, it occurred to me to wonder where dirty jokes come from. Although I have conducted haphazard research into the question ever since I know no more than I did at twelve. I have theories, of course. A number of men to whom I have put this question have said that they have heard that most sexual humor originates in prisons. The supposition is that thousands of men all over the world, suffering constant sexual frustration by reason of their imprisonment, talk out their desires by making them the all-important subject of daily conversation.
...Those who have superior senses of humor, it is thought, will in most cases create sex jokes, and the many witticisms so conceived eventually filter to the outside where they are distributed, sometimes in mere days, all over the world..."
July 20, 2015
When you purchase a book thinking it is written by one author and find that the book is actually some of that person's words strung together and annotated by someone else. it diminishes the enjoyment of the book a bit.
This is a book more a jumble of slices from of Steve Allen's radio and TV career prior to the 1965 compiled by Leonard Feather. If you are new to the work of Steve Allen, you may enjoy reading this book. If you are a long time devotee of this genius, there is not a lot of new material to be found here.
I have immensely enjoyed books that were actually written by Allen whether fiction or non-fiction. I waded through this volume solely because it was about the early days of Steve Allen's career.
This is a book more a jumble of slices from of Steve Allen's radio and TV career prior to the 1965 compiled by Leonard Feather. If you are new to the work of Steve Allen, you may enjoy reading this book. If you are a long time devotee of this genius, there is not a lot of new material to be found here.
I have immensely enjoyed books that were actually written by Allen whether fiction or non-fiction. I waded through this volume solely because it was about the early days of Steve Allen's career.
December 8, 2011
A wonderful hodge podge of the humor of Steve Allen. From his TV exchanges to his Tonight Show television audiences to his speeches to gatherings to a ton of one liners this book covers so much of Allen's work up to the publication date of 1967. A must for those who love humor. The down side is that it's out of print and hard to find.
May 3, 2016
read SOMETIME in 2005
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews