A heartwarming tale "700 Sundays" combines grief with humor. Billy Crystal's father, Jack, died when Billy Crystal was fifteen years old. The book relates to spending roughly 700 Sundays with his father, yet Jack is a subordinate character amongst a family of characters, humor, memorabilia and quick one-liners.
Several passages are perfect for humorous monologues. As being a person who lost family members during the teen years, this book is not appropriate for coping with grieving as much as it is a combination of stories reminiscing a death after accepting a loss.
The book was copyrighted in 2005, the same year Crystal won a Tony Award for the Broadway Play "700 Sundays." As a monologue he performed regularly, it was probably easy to transfer the script into a manuscript format. It has flare with regular speech and comic appeal. With a greater amount of poetic license in areas of grammar, he accentuates lists by repeating "and." It is playful and reads naturally. The tone is similar to listening to his live act though it is difficult to imagine him as a young man.
Pictures assist in imagining scenes between him, his relatives and popular entertainers he met through his Dad's record company. Born in 1948, Billy Crystal was born during the Baby Boom. There are several references to Jazz and Americana. It is an ensemble of happy memories and influences that shaped his life. The line between marketing and sharing influences to enrich other people's lives is blurry at times.
I enjoy the combination of sentiment and humor. It never felt rude or out-of-place. It never felt like cheerless nostalgia even though some reflections were more sincere, gloomy or shocking. Relying heavily on a roller coaster of feeling, almost everyone will enjoy "700 Sundays" especially Comedians and Broadway Enthusiasts.
