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With All Disrespect
non fiction
- GenresHumorEssaysNonfiction
230 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1985
1 person is currently reading
33 people want to read
About the author
Calvin Trillin
87 books278 followersCalvin (Bud) Marshall Trillin is an American journalist, humorist, and novelist. He is best known for his humorous writings about food and eating, but he has also written much serious journalism, comic verse, and several books of fiction.
Trillin attended public schools in Kansas City and went on to Yale University, where he served as chairman of the Yale Daily News and became a member of Scroll and Key before graduating in 1957; he later served as a trustee of the university. After a stint in the U.S. Army, he worked as a reporter for Time magazine before joining the staff of The New Yorker in 1963. His reporting for The New Yorker on the racial integration of the University of Georgia was published in his first book, An Education in Georgia. He wrote the magazine's "U.S. Journal" series from 1967 to 1982, covering local events both serious and quirky throughout the United States.
Trillin attended public schools in Kansas City and went on to Yale University, where he served as chairman of the Yale Daily News and became a member of Scroll and Key before graduating in 1957; he later served as a trustee of the university. After a stint in the U.S. Army, he worked as a reporter for Time magazine before joining the staff of The New Yorker in 1963. His reporting for The New Yorker on the racial integration of the University of Georgia was published in his first book, An Education in Georgia. He wrote the magazine's "U.S. Journal" series from 1967 to 1982, covering local events both serious and quirky throughout the United States.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 27, 2009
Ah, the used racks at booksmart have provided another gem! I loved these, and am startled at how timeless his humor is. I'm going to snatch up everything I can get hands on!
16/52/2009
16/52/2009
November 22, 2008
More fun and games from Calvin Trillin! Exactly the right reading for gloomy November days. My favorite things about this book:
1. It contains the phrase "unreconstructed old anarcho-syndicalist".
2. The essay about the tuxedo. The bit about Joe LeBeau & he ending up with one another's tuxes was classic. Joe LeBeau - "for whom the phrase 'not vulnerable to reason' was invented."
3. "Deity Overload." Enough said.
4. His description of surfnturf as "a tiny, aquatic Hereford that has horns & a shell - a beast that moves through the depths slowly, in herds, & can both moo & draw flies under water."
5. The Margaret Thatcher jokes in the essay "Disengagement". You can never go wrong with a Maggie Thatch joke.
6. The whole essay "Low Visibility", about not being able to see mountains. That has always happened to me too! The bit about constellations - Orion(or O'Ryan), and Athena's dirndl - so hilarious!
7. The whole essay "I Say" about English people ending their sentences with questions - "it's up to you, isn't it?" - this is what I love about Trillin now that I've read him, he comes up with stuff that I've always thought but never written down!
8. There's an essay in this book about grant-writing! I am going to read it out loud to my boss! Gotta run, gotta find the forms.
9. The essay "Foreign Relations" was written in 1984, all about how you can tell the difference between the french & americans because americans don't carry dogs around under our arms. This is the only essay that has now gone "out of date" - because we do carry dogs under our arms nowadays! It must be part of our new global society!
10. The fact that the book ends with an essay about presliced bananas! Banana-Phone!!
1. It contains the phrase "unreconstructed old anarcho-syndicalist".
2. The essay about the tuxedo. The bit about Joe LeBeau & he ending up with one another's tuxes was classic. Joe LeBeau - "for whom the phrase 'not vulnerable to reason' was invented."
3. "Deity Overload." Enough said.
4. His description of surfnturf as "a tiny, aquatic Hereford that has horns & a shell - a beast that moves through the depths slowly, in herds, & can both moo & draw flies under water."
5. The Margaret Thatcher jokes in the essay "Disengagement". You can never go wrong with a Maggie Thatch joke.
6. The whole essay "Low Visibility", about not being able to see mountains. That has always happened to me too! The bit about constellations - Orion(or O'Ryan), and Athena's dirndl - so hilarious!
7. The whole essay "I Say" about English people ending their sentences with questions - "it's up to you, isn't it?" - this is what I love about Trillin now that I've read him, he comes up with stuff that I've always thought but never written down!
8. There's an essay in this book about grant-writing! I am going to read it out loud to my boss! Gotta run, gotta find the forms.
9. The essay "Foreign Relations" was written in 1984, all about how you can tell the difference between the french & americans because americans don't carry dogs around under our arms. This is the only essay that has now gone "out of date" - because we do carry dogs under our arms nowadays! It must be part of our new global society!
10. The fact that the book ends with an essay about presliced bananas! Banana-Phone!!
August 7, 2016
This book consists of humor columns written by Calvin Trillin and published in the Nation from 1982 to 1984. It was a trip down Memory Lane; I would have enjoyed those years a little more if I could have laughed at them along with the author. I forgot the absurdities of the Reagan presidency, and how much it foreshadowed the incompetencies and ignorance of the later Bush/Cheney one. And I'm glad that I wasn't the only one who saw that Reagan's mental capabilities, never very strong, were already noticeably deteriorating before the 1984 election. I laughed out loud at some of the columns, and they were all entertaining.
August 22, 2007
He's brilliant and funny, the perfect combination.
May 4, 2010
About forty short, uber-humorous pieces that Trillen wrote for 'The Nation,' under the general title, "Uncivil Liberties." Most are dated, but still smart, insightful, well-done.
June 7, 2025
An amusing and entertaining book! Very readable. Makes me want to read more books of humor - none of that modern "Amy Schumer" type comedy, but stuff with more of a literary and political bent like this. Maybe I'll look at what other books are "Penguin Books" categorized within the genre "humor"? After all, Penguin seems to have standards.* Anyway, a good book to read to pass the time and amuse oneself! I do recommend.
*Edit: Nevermind. Seems there is a lot of nonsense on there. I'll have to instead look for pre-2000 humor.
*Edit: Nevermind. Seems there is a lot of nonsense on there. I'll have to instead look for pre-2000 humor.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews