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Enter Reading

Carl Refiner's conversational romp closes
the Jewish Book Fair with laughter.

BY APPOINTMENT

271 MERRILL
BIRMINGHAM • 48009
(248) 646-0535

The Detroit
Jewish News
speaks to your
interests and
your conce rns

HARRY KI RS BAUM
StaffWriter

a

eorge Cantor didn't have a
chance.
One question from the
Detroit News columnist, and
legend Carl Reiner launched into an
almost stream-of-consciousness shtick.
Reiner entertained Cantor and
about 1,500 other fans for an hour
and a half while plugging his book,
How Paul Robeson Saved My Lift and
Other Mostly Happy Stories (Cliff Street
Books, $20). It is a collection of some
semi-autobiographical and some fic-
tional stories that Reiner claimed is "a
perfect bathroom book, the stories
aren't that long.
The event, which closed the 48th

"

11/19
1999

14

he shouted, "Hey, look — it's a latke!"
annual Jewish Book Fair, packed
Grabbing a copy of his book from a
Handleman Hall and Auditorium in
woman
in the front row, he read
the D. Dan & Betty Kahn Building of
excerpts to the crowd.
the Jewish Community Center in
His expletive-undeleted encounter
West Bloomfield. The spillover crowd
with a racist army sergeant during
watched Reiner talk of his book, his
World War II was an
work in television and movies
event that prompted
on closed-circuit television in
Carl Reiner with
him to use humor tc
two other rooms. The
Detroit News
deflect
hatred — and
improved accommodations
columnist George
name
his
book.
were the JCC's response to
Cantor at the West
"Remember, this is the
having experienced an unantic- Bloomfield JCC.
army," he quipped. "If any
ipated huge turnout at Alan
of these words offend you,
Dershowitz's opening-night
then you're probably too immature."
talk eight days earlier, when not every-
The story also fit well with the
one got the chance to hear the noted
message
of the Anti-Defamation
attorney and author.
League,
the
event's co-sponsor.
The setting for this talk was sparse;
Reiner;
who
has 12 Emmys and a
two chairs and a glass table. When
Grammy Award on his shelf to show
Reiner spotted the flat table microphone,

