Don't Be a Leaf

by Jean Shepherd

In Don't Be a Leaf, Jean Shepherd muses on the impact of dirty glasses, shopping for cars with the old man, flyswatters, growing up with the White Sox and the great divide between Southside and Northside baseball fans. Shepherd asks the questions: Are you the rider or the ridden? What is the Master Plan Illusion and what is your Master Plan? So, friends, sit back and enjoy this collection. Keep smiling, keep your knees loose, and don't give them a sitting target! Includes liner notes with excerpts from the biography EXCELSIOR, YOU FATHEAD! The Art and Enigma of JEAN SHEPHERDBy Eugene B. Bergmann. CD 1: Hero of the Great Drama of Life; CD 2: Southside Chicago Baseball; CD 3: The Master Plan Illusion; CD 4: Don't Be a Leaf

4 pages, Audio CD

First published February 15, 2006

About the author

Jean Parker "Shep" Shepherd Jr. was an American storyteller, humorist, radio and TV personality, writer, and actor. With a career that spanned decades, Shepherd is known for the film A Christmas Story (1983), which he narrated and co-scripted on the basis of his own semi-autobiographical stories.

Reviews

[Mayda · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are expecting this audio of Jean Shepherd’s radio show to be similar to the very popular movie, A Christmas Story, you may be surprised at its content and variety. Jean expounds on various subjects, including his family and growing up in northwest Indiana. We are privy to Jean’s thoughts and opinions on cars and his “old man,” the best flyswatter, and of course, south-side baseball, namely, the White Sox. Complete with Jean’s sound effects, these stories are entertaining and amusing.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a Shepherd fan I really wanted to love this. But the radio personality monologue didn't really work for me--even though that's the way this material was created to be consumed. Maybe it's just outdated. Clearly Garrison Keillor owes much to Shepherd, but I prefer listening to him. I'll stick to reading Shepherd.