The Last Laugh is the first and only book to take readers deep into the bizarre universe of the standup comic, from the classic years of Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, and Shecky Greene, to today's comedy superstars. Phil Berger shows how styles and trends in standup have changed over the past fifty years, but how taking the stage in a comedy club is as tough as it's always been. Performers profiled in the book include Woody Allen, Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, Elaine Boosler, Robert Klein, Bill Cosby, Billy Crystal, Dick Gregory, Andy Kaufman, Steve Martin, Cheech and Chong, Eddie Murphy, and a host of others. Filled with comics' hilarious routines and anecdotes, this substantially updated edition also chronicles the lives and careers of more recent artists, including Richard Lewis and Jay Leno.

Punch Lines: Berger on Boxing By Phil Berger. Foreword by Bert Sugar. Profiles of Riddick Bowe, Mike Tyson, Sugar Ray Leonard, George Foreman, and many more, by the former boxing correspondent for the New York Times. illustrated/index ISBN: 0-941423-95-6

The timeless classic updated for a new generation of sports fans

When it was first published in 1970, Miracle on 33^rd Street pushed the envelope of sports journalism and created a story that had never been told in any previous book about basketball. In his enthralling account of the Knicks first NBA championship, from preseason to play-offs, Phil Berger doesnt just cover the baseline jumpers and backdoor passes; he takes readers out of bounds to capture the whole story in all its gritty details-from the anguished cries of legendary coach Red Holzman shouting at his team to See the ball, to the beer-swilling fans shouting at the players and spitting on the court, to life on the road, in and out of hotels.

This Contemporary Sports Classic includes an introduction by Marv Albert, longtime voice of the Knicks.

A brilliant, moody, tricky book that shifts from quick description to fascinating chunks of self-revealing monologues . . . to clear and nontechnical explanations of how Bill Bradley and Walt Frazier executed the backdoor play, and how the Knicks won the world championship. --Robert Lipsyte, New York Times