The Neighbors Are Scaring My Wolf

by Jack Douglas

Jack Douglas is a kook of the TV comic world who reports his surprise and distress in adjusting to "Old New Litchridge" after living in Manhattan's canyons. The wolf of title is a family pet who is intimidated by the wild behavior of the Douglas neighbors.

Around the wolf problem Douglas scatters the usual suburban ones of drunken neighbors, capitalist plumbers, quaint local politicians, quaint storekeepers, quaint architecture, and brash children

Genres: Humor, Nonfiction, Animals

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Jack Douglas (born Douglas Linley Crickard , July 17, 1908 - January 31, 1989) was an American comedy writer who wrote for radio and television while additionally writing a series of humor books.

On radio, he was a writer for Red Skelton, Bob Hope and the situation comedy, Tommy Riggs and Betty Lou (1938–46), in which Riggs switched back and forth from his natural baritone to the voice of a seven-year-old girl.

Continuing to write for Skelton and Hope as he moved into television, Douglas also wrote for Jimmy Durante, Bing Crosby, Woody Allen, Johnny Carson, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet , The Jack Paar Show , The George Gobel Show, and Laugh-In .

The producer of Laugh-In , George Schlatter, said, "He saw the world from a different angle than the rest of us. He was not only funny, he was nice." Douglas won an Emmy Award in 1954 for best-written comedy material.

He was best known for his frequent guest appearances on Jack Paar's shows of the late 1950s and early 1960s. On one such appearance, when Douglas was well established as a Paar guest, he was chastised by Paar for holding a stack of file cards with his jokes while talking with Paar.

When Paar returned to television in 1973 and was confronted by unexpected low ratings, he engaged Douglas to contribute monologue material by mail. One week, there was no mail from Douglas; but his next package contained a "Sorry I didn't send anything last week. I forgot you were on."

Douglas and his third wife Reiko, a Japanese-born singer and comedian, were regular guests on shows hosted by Merv Griffin, Dick Cavett, and Johnny Carson.

Reviews

[KennyO · Rating 3 out of 5]

It helps to read Jack Douglas' books in light of the decades they were written in. This is a volume of goofy tales based on his city-guy-fish-out-of-water experience as a neo-suburbanite. His humor isn't for everyone but it's G-rated, if a bit politically incorrect here in the twenty-first century.

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

The humour is dated and quite racist. The author does not have much nice to say about his environment, nor the people that live near him, and although this makes for a very satirical and supposedly funny take on suburbia, it is just not very kind. It is an old book, but worryingly, not as old as i might have hoped given the very off colour remarks about people not from america.
Lastly, the titular 'wolf' does not feature very much, which was disappointing.

[Ginny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unless you remember and appreciate the sixties this book won’t be quite as funny. Reading it was a nice flashback experience. Life was so different back then, both good and bad, just like any era.
You really can’t judge a book or any part of history by current norms, so keep that in mind while reading.

[Toni Wyatt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comedy book about living in the country and dealing with wacky neighbors. It's autobiographical in that Jack Douglas talks about his family and friends.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this years ago when I was in high school and thought it was hilariously funny (although I no longer remember any details of the book.) One day my mom saw this book on my shelf, and looked through it and discovered it had some cuss words in it. Shortly after that, the book mysteriously disappeared from my bookshelf.

[Valerie]

I found this book very funny. I could understand why the wolf was frightened. But I really picked up the book in the first place because I loved the title.

[Debra B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reminded me of Erma Bombeck. Entertaining.

[Caleb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good stuff!