Never Have Your Dog Stuffed by Alan Alda

And other things I've learned
5 Stars

HYSTERICAL!

I mean, okay, it's Alan Alda, so it had to be funny, right? And with a title like that? (Why that title, you ask? Well, because he tried it. Had his dog stuffed by a taxidermist. It didn't work out quite as planned. Maybe it was the glass eyes.)

Anyway, this hilarious memoir is highly recommended, especially to fans of MASH or Alda in general. Great Father's Day gift. (Which I can say, 'cause I'm pretty sure my dad doesn't pop over here regularly.)

Here are the opening lines:
"My mother didn't try to stab my father until I was six, but she must have shown signs of oddness before that. Her detached gaze, the secret smile. Something."

Needless to say, he had an interesting childhood. Then again, I'm not sure having a father who does burlesque gives you any chance of a normal childhood.

My favorite part may be in the chapter "Down in Chile", when the doctor about to do surgery on Alda is explaining it in layman's terms and Alda responds with:
"Oh... you're going to do an end-to-end anastomosis."
"Yes, how do you know that."
"I did many of them on MASH."

Makes me giggle.

And can I just say, this book is very very worth rereading! And his second book Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself is also fabulous.

Maybe it's just me, but I cannot separate Alan Alda from Hawkeye Pierce in my mind. And I honestly have no desire to. I kind of grew up on MASH-- reruns to an extent but more than that just hearing my dad and grandpa quoting it. Now I join in. (While my mother rolls her eyes and my siblings just kind of look lost.)

I've seen every single episode, all 11 seasons. I own 7 of them. When Boo was little, she recognized the opening music and would come running.

Obsession? Yeah, maybe. Okay, probably.

But you can't beat an episode of MASH.