700 Sundays, by Billy Crystal

Finished 8-18-09, rating 4/5, memoir, pub. 2005

Now you can’t pick the family that you’re born into.  That’s just the roll of the dice.  It’s just luck.  But if I could pick these people, I would pick them over and over again because they were lunatics.  Fun lunatics.  What a crazy group of people, and great characters too.  It was like the Star Wars bar, but everybody had accents.

Chapter 2

Actor and comedian Billy Crystals writes a touching memoir of the 700 Sundays that he had with his father before before his death when Billy was 15.  Although this is a tribute to his parents, it is also a celebration of his family.  He has an impressive and accomplished extended family and his love for them is evident on every page. 

His family owned Commodore Music Shop in midtown Manhattan and because of the connections made there Billy grew up surrounded by artists.  He included snapshots of these meetings and relationships.  My favorite may have been when the great Billie Holiday took him to see his first movie and he watched Shane sitting on her lap.  These stories added to the book, but were not the focus. 

One page I was laughing out loud as he discovered his newfound manhood and on the next I was in tears as I read about the last time Billy saw his father.  There was humor (most of it successful), but it really reached out and touched my heart as I raced to the end. 

I will admit that there were several chapters at the beginning that I found boring, but the second half of the book made up for it.  A man who loves and appreciates his family, like Billy, is one to admire.

It is relatively short and includes photos of the people he’s writing about.  He also performed this book on Broadway in a one man show and I wish I’d had the chance to see it.  I highly recommend this memoir of his memories with his father and mother.

Fave Film #10 – When Harry Met Sally

1989

Cast – Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby

Directed by Rob Reiner

Can a man and woman ever truly be friends or will the sex thing always get in the way?  When recent college graduates drive from Chicago to New York together they despise each other.  When they meet a few years later they are both in happy relationships.  Fast forward a few more years and they run into each other again, both in need of a friend.  They become close and appreciate the friendship and avoid ruining it with sex, mostly.

Why I love it- I thought Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan had such great chemistry and the dialogue was spot on, only more funny.  I liked seeing them get over their initial judgements of each other and see each other as friends.  And it really did make me laugh out loud.  A lot.  The days of the week underpants, Surry with a Fringe on top, and the wagon wheel coffee table are a few that come to mind.

My husband watched it with me last night and he said that it remindind him of a long Seinfeld episode.  Since we both love Seinfeld, this is a good thing.  I hadn’t really thought of the movie like that before…witty New York singles involved in trivial day to day life.  But the comparison is one I like.

Oh, and the sweet old couples telling their stories between scences?  Actors!  I loved thinking of them as older married couples.

And for the record, I do think men and women can be friends.  I had a best friend in college and after who I loved dearly (still do) and somehow we managed not to let sex get in the way 🙂 

This is not my favorite clip from the movie, but it is the most recognizable.  So, if people are around you may want to turn down the volume a little.

My complete list here.