Synopses & Reviews
In letters to stars, dignitaries, and chairmen of the country's most powerful organizations, Don Novello's alter ego Lazlo Toth pestered his victims for photographs, offered outlandish advice, fired off strange inquiries, and more. The strangest part? Practically everyone answered, leaving Toth with a hilarious collection of outlandish correspondence unmatched in the history of American letters.
The Lazlo Letters contains nearly 100 notes to public figures, including then-President Nixon, Vice President Ford ("I've been Vice President of a lot of organizations myself, so I know how you feel."), Bebe Rebozo, Lester Maddox, Earl Butz, and America's top business leaders. The replies, says the author, "classic examples of American politeness."
In an on-going correspondence with the White House, Toth suggests everything from ridiculously corny jokes for the President to use, to a campaign song sung to the tune of "Tea for Two." He asks the president of a bubble bath company just how to use the product, as the packaging instructions specifically state to "keep dry."
"No matter how absurd my letter was, no matter how much I ranted and raved, they always answered," reports the author. "Many of these replies are beautiful examples of pure public relations nonsense." One is not: columnist James Kilpatrick has a lone sentiment for Toth-"Nuts to You!" 247,000 copies in print.
Synopsis
Lazlo Toth is my new hero! I don't know of anyone who has tried harder than he has to pull his own weight in the greatest of all democracies! Keep it up!
Lean to your left-Lean to your right-
Stand up, sit down-Fight! Fight! Fight!
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
The Lazlo Letters is a very funny book." -Chevy Chase
"The Novello-Toth combination is pure genius." -Tommy Smothers
About the Author
Don Novello, aka Lazlo Toth, is also known as Fr. Guido Sarducci, gossip columnist for the official Vatican newspaper.