Ten Thousand Years in the Suburbs [Paperback]

Twice weekly for 10 years, Jack Zimmerman has penned a bittersweet life-in-the-burbs column called "Loose Change" for the Elmhurst, Ill., Press. Fans of Dave Barry will recognize the Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist's tone in this compilation of columns that cast a caustic glance at family life, career struggles and personal growth. While Zimmerman, a man for whom "success is owning all new underwear," shares Barry's charming wit and celebration of the mundane, he's not quite as likable. Here is a man who worries not about whether the glass is half empty or half full but "about washing it when those idiots are done with their stupid philosophical discussions." His comparisons of Orlando to "a large, moist boil in central Florida" and rap artists' gestures as "the Hunchback of Notre Dame dialing a telephone" produce laughs, but after a while Zimmerman's middle-age whining grows tiresome. He extols old movie theaters, marching bands and other things of the past, while vacillating between self-deprecation and self-congratulation. Lost in the conversion from newspaper columns to chapter-book format are spontaneity and continuity, while a tendency to recycle jokes becomes apparent. There are many far less competent writers than Zimmerman, and Elmhurst is fortunate to have "Loose Change," but that's about all this collection adds up to.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Collected from Zimmerman's twice-weekly column in the Elmhurst Press, these pieces ring with the humor and pathos of life in a Chicago suburb. He reminisces about the family's move from the city to Elmhurst and his own start in journalism, as the bulletin editor for the local Lions club (a post he accepted only because Tail-Twister was already taken). Zimmerman reports on, or whines amusingly about, how a family pledge of no TV for a week is hard on a work-at-home dad, as is a wife's business trip. More sensitive than Dave Barry, and just as funny. Denise Perry Donavin --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

"Read this book-you'll die laughing!" -- Tony Fitzpatrick, Artist and WLUP Chicago talk radio host

"A literate, caustic voice." -- Eric Zorn, Chicago Tribune columnist

"More sensitive than Dave Barry and just as funny." -- Booklist

"A literate, caustic voice."-Eric Zorn, Chicago Tribune columnist, from the foreword.

Jack Zimmerman has won the Illinois Press Association Best Original Column Award three times.

Jack Zimmerman lives in the suburbs of Chicago. He also lives in his newspaper column, "Loose Change."

In 10 years of newspaper writing, he's shared with readers:

reminiscences of youth: "My mother's idea of a good time was to hit two wakes in one night."

Plenty of love and affection: "I was having a recurring dream in which I removed parts of his body with a belt sander."

and warm family relationships: "Your mother is gone, and I have a malignant brain tumor. No sleepovers."

Between these covers you'll meet Zimmerman's kids, the mouthbreathers; his mother, who left $200 for drinks at her funeral; and a cast of characters you won't soon forget.

And there's more-Zimmerman the househusband, the unemployed writer, and most of all, Zimmerman the teller of stories. Read this book and get 10,000 laughs from 10,000 years of suburban living.