The Michigan Daily - Friday, May 4, 1984 - Page 9
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Jerry Mathers, still near and dear to millions as "the Beaver," writes the in-
troduction to 'The World According to Beaver,' but that's where most of the
good stuff ends.
Beaver book heads
up trio of new titles
By Mark Kulkis
T HREE'S COMPANY, as the saying
goes. Seeing as how most people
will have more time to read over the
summer, I've decided to start out with a
triple review .. .
The World According to Beaver
by Irwyn Applebaum
Bantam Books 328 pp.
$7.95
The World According to Beaver, by
Irwyn Applebaum (The Twilight Zone
Companion), is a book that falls far
short of being a "fun-filled celebration
of one of the best-loved TV series of all
time." The dialogue and photos from
hundreds of famous scenes from the
show lack both the spontaneity and fun
of the original. In fact, some of the
scenes Applebaum has chosen to
represent the "best" lines from the
series are not funny at all. While
reading, you get the impression that
Applebaum was under pressure to fill
up a lot of space with humorous
dialogue from the shows, and just in-
discriminantly picked any lines after
which the laugh-track was played.
Of course, the book is not all bad.
Jerry Mathers wrote the introduction,
in which he relates how he got picked to
do the show and describes memorable
moments both on and off the set. Also
interesting is the background given on
the show. Applebaum tells how the
show first got its start, where the
famous team of Bob Mosher and Joe
Connelly got their ideas, and why
"Leave it to Beaver" is still one of the
most popular syndicated reruns on
television.
The last half of the book is a collection
of synopses of every single "Beaver"
episode. Again, these lack much of the
enjoyment of the original shows,
because it was not as much the plots as
the interactions of the various charac-
ters that made the show great. I also
could have done without the "extras"
that Applebaum threw in between
dialogues, such as "How to talk like the
Beaver" or "Eddie Haskell's dating
tips." The "Beaver IQ Test" was rather
fun, though. It tests your knowledge of
Beaver trivia, including such questions
as: "Who's the first girl whose bedroom
Beaver was in?" (Answer: Larry
Mondello's sister.)
At the end of the book, Applebaum
gives an interesting update on the lives
of all the Beaver actors, from Tony
Dow to Barbara Billingsley, and gives a
brief list of the numerous Beaver
tributes, songs, and memorabilia of
past and present.
As a longtime Beaver fan, I cannot
recommend this book, but it's still fun
to browse through, if you have an hour
to blow-off at Border's.
Issac Asimov presents
Super-Quiz II
by Ken Fisher
Dembner Books 191 pp.
$7.95
Anyone who enjoys playing Trivial
Pursuit is sure to like Issac Asimov
presents Super-Quiz II. Actually, the
book is written by Ken Fisher - the
only reason Asimov has his name on the
book is because he wrote the three-page
introduction, "examined and ap-
proved" all the questions, and because
his name makes the book seem more
impressive. Super-Quiz II is chock full
of 5,000 questions, the categories of
which range from geography and
history to sports and entertainment.
The questions are rated at three levels
of difficulty: freshmen, graduate, and
Ph.D. Forget the freshmen questions -
they're meant for grade-schoolers. But
the graduate and Ph.D.'s will really
give your brain a workout. There's not
much more that can be said for this
book, except that it is recommended,
but overpriced.
1984 Internships
edited by Joan L. Bloss
Writer's Digest Books 377 pp.
$10.95
Lastly, and unfortunately, a bit too
late for the summer, is 1984 Inter-
nships. Containing 16,000 listings of
possible internships in every field from
business and industry to advertising or
radio, this book is a fantastic guide for
finding and applying for internships at
companies and organizations across
the country. If you're interested, it's
still worth your while to pick up a copy,
because many of the places listed offer
internships year-round. The price is
also fair for a reference book of this
type.
Take some time out to read what you
want to read this term!