My Lucky Life in and Out of Show Business

From Goodreads:    Dick Van Dyke, indisputably one of the greats of the golden age of television, is admired and beloved by audiences the world over for his beaming smile, his physical dexterity, his impeccable comic timing, his ridiculous stunts, and his unforgettable screen roles. 
            
His trailblazing television program, The Dick Van Dyke Show (produced by Carl Reiner, who has written the foreword to this memoir), was one of the most popular sitcoms of the 1960s and introduced another major television star, Mary Tyler Moore. But Dick Van Dyke was also an enormously engaging movie star whose films, including Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, have been discovered by a new generation of fans and are as beloved today as they were when they first appeared. Who doesn’t know the word supercalifragilisticexpialidocious? 
            
A colorful, loving, richly detailed look at the decades of a multilayered life, My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business, will enthrall every generation of reader, from baby-boomers who recall when Rob Petrie became a household name, to all those still enchanted by Bert’s “Chim Chim Cher-ee.” This is a lively, heartwarming memoir of a performer who still thinks of himself as a “simple song-and-dance man,” but who is, in every sense of the word, a classic entertainer.

My Thoughts:

-    Dick Van Dyke is one of my favorite entertainers. He is a joy to watch, and I appreciate that he is a kind and family oriented guy on and off the screen. 

-    It was fun to read about his career. I loved when he talked about The Dick Van Dyke Show. It was fun to get back story to some of the episodes. I never knew the show's theme song had lyrics. I also enjoyed learning more about his role in Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. 

-    I really loved his honesty about his smoking and drinking problems. They never got bad enough that it was debilitating, but he knew it was a problem and sought help.

-    I really adore Dick Van Dyke for sticking to a higher standard of entertainment. He said he never wanted to do anything he would be uncomfortable for his family to watch. I love that!

-    This book went by too quickly. It was packed full of stuff, but it was easy and pleasant to read. I enjoyed learning more about Mr. Van Dyke, and I'm SO excited to see him next month!