Product Description

Tim Russert's #1 New York Times bestseller -- now in paperback.

Now in paperback -- the #1 best-selling Father’s Day book of 2004, with over half a million copies sold in hardcover. Tim Russert, one of America’s most watched and trusted news anchors‚ connected with readers across the nation with his critically acclaimed memoir about growing up in the 1950s and the special bond between fathers and sons.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12047 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-11
• Released on: 2005-05-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Amazon.com Review
Veteran newsman and Meet the Press moderator Tim Russert is known for his direct and unpretentious style and in this charming memoir he explains why. Russert's father is profiled as a plainspoken World War II veteran who worked two blue-collar jobs while raising four kids in South Buffalo but the elder Russert's lessons on how to live an honest, disciplined, and ethical life are shown to be universal. Big Russ and Me, a sort of Greatest Generation meets Tuesdays with Morrie, could easily have become a sentimental pile of mush with a son wistfully recalling the wisdom of his beloved dad. But both Russerts are far too down-to-earth to let that happen and the emotional content of the book is made more direct, accessible, and palatable because of it. The relationship between father and son, contrary to what one would think of as essential to a riveting memoir, seems completely healthy and positive as Tim, the academically gifted kid and later the esteemed TV star and political operative relies on his old man, a career sanitation worker and newspaper truck driver, for advice. Big Russ and Me also traces Russert's life from working-class kid to one of broadcast journalism's top interviewers by introducing various influential figures who guided him along the way, including Jesuit teachers, nuns, his dad's drinking buddies, and, most notably, the late New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, whom Russert helped get elected in 1976. Plenty of entertaining anecdotes are served up along the way from schoolyard pranks to an attempt to book Pope John Paul II on the Today Show. Though not likely to revolutionize modern thought, Big Russ and Me will provide fathers and sons a chance to reflect on lessons learned between generations. --Charlie Williams

From Publishers Weekly
Meet the newsman's father in this stupendously entertaining book. The senior Tim Russert served in WWII, married and settled in South Buffalo, N.Y., worked days for the Sanitation Department, drove a night truck for the local evening paper and raised four kids. The younger Russert's memoir begins as a tribute to his dad and the lessons he taught through the years, but also takes ample time to tell how Russert junior grew up and became the moderator of Meet the Press. His neighborhood in the 1950s was tightly knit, Irish Catholic and anchored by the institutions of marriage, family, church and school. Nuns and Legionnaires shaped young Russert's character; in high school, his Jesuit instructors strengthened and solidified it. John Kennedy's short life and career still resonated when Russert began law school in 1970. He worked on Daniel Patrick Moynihan's 1976 campaign, then on the senator's staff. A friend of Moynihan provided the link that brought Russert to NBC and the Today show. He first appeared as a panelist on Meet the Press in 1990, becoming moderator in 1991. Throughout his private and public life, Russert continually turned to his father for advice, and the older man's common sense served the younger pretty much without fail. The memoir is candid and generous, so warm-hearted that readers should forgive the occasional didactic touch (and it's a soft touch). There are hard ways to learn life lessons; fortunately, readers have Russert to thank for sharing his with them. 16 pages of b&w photos not seen by PW.
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From Bookmarks Magazine
Russert tackles many issues and ideas in this memoir, including blue-collar ethics and the belief that success comes from hard work and discipline. Not only does Russert explore his relationship with his father, but he also discusses the workings of a tight Irish-American community back in the days when the Kennedys ruled Camelot. It’s hardly a surprise that The Weekly Standard called Big Russ & Me “part autobiography, part sociological study, [and] part political history.” An added note: reviewers didn’t seem to mind Russert’s frank sentimentality. Perhaps that’s because the genuine thread underlying Russert’s memoir made at least one grown male reviewer cry.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

Customer Reviews

best audio book
This is one of the best audio books I've listened to. Tim Russert is an excellent narrator and he has an interesting story to tell. I promise you'll not be bored and if you grew up in the 40's and 50's you'll most certainly be able to relate to his growing up years.

Excellent
Item was a gift, so have not actually read, but recipient has said book is an excellent read. Book very interesting and hard to put down. Recipient has expressed interest in other books of the same nature including Tom Brokaw's "The Next Generation."

A good read
My daughter, now in her 20s, bought this book for me to pass the time during a long trip that we recently took to visit my mother. It's a book that I had heard about before but had never once considered reading. What a pleasant surprise it turned out to be! "Big Russ and Me" probably will appeal to all generations for all the reasons that Tim Russert intended it to, but Baby Boomers, i.e., Russert's generation, probably will enjoy the book even more on account of the memories it evokes, intentionally or not, of growing up in the '50s and early '60s. That's what hooked me, more than the story of the relationship between Russert and his father, although this too, which is the book's primary theme, is indeed interesting and Russert writes about it skillfully and engagingly. If you are a Baby Boomer, this book's for you. Even if you're not, it's still a good read.