By Nancy Thorner -
It was on Monday, February 20, 2017, that I introduced Illinois Review readers to California-based Burt Prelutsky, a conservative commentator and writer with a sense of humor. Although, as a writer, Burt Prelutsky lacks the fame of other conservative authors such as Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, Dinesh D'Souza, etc., his writing is certainly on a par with theirs. I would suggest it's superior because it's so richly leavened with humor.
As a freelancer, Burt Prelutsky has written for the New York Times, Washington Times, TV Guide, Modern Maturity, Emmy, Holiday, American Film, and Sports Illustrated.
For television, he has written for Dragnet, McMillan & Wife, MASH, Mary Tyler Moore, Rhoda, Bob Newhart, Family Ties, Dr. Quinn and Diagnosis Murder. In addition, he has written a batch of terrific TV movies. View Burt’s IMDB profile.
Mr. Prelutsky's recently published book, Angels on Tap, is undoubtedly unlike any book you have ever read in your life. Its sixteen short chapters weave together a wonderful story that is overflowing with humor, with an equal number of "food for thought" moments. Each chapter has its own story to tell.
And it is soon to be a major motion picture with a heavenly cast, including Ed Asner, Marion Ross, Jamie Farr, Alan Rachins and Ron Masak.
About Angels on Tap
The book starts out simply enough. A newspaper reporter's car breaks down. Noticing a bar close by, he decides to call the auto club and have a beer while waiting. Now imagine the reporter's surprise when he discovers that all the customers in the bar are angels, complete with wings, and that the bartender is a guy named Gabriel. It doesn't take long for the reporter to discover that these are angels with attitude and are only too willing to vent about all the ways that the human race falls short.
The book should appeal to a wide breadth of readers, whether young or old. Within Angels on Tap you'll discover religious overtones; social norms; historical knowledge; accounts of ancient philosophers; wisdom; and extremely witty dialogue. I'll make a wager that after reading Angels on Tap once, you'll re-read it again in order to be able to quote from it.
You will become acquainted with sixteen angels, each of whom is responsible for overseeing some specific aspect of human life, ranging from the fine arts to politics, from entertainment to psychiatry.
Their one-on-one interviews with the stranded reporter are filled with misgivings and disappointments over what has evolved through the years. Sadness, regret and a sense of failure, is expressed as the angels find themselves unable to fulfill their individual assignments. What the angels do impart is wisdom, truth, and common sense with a heavy dose of humor to make reality easier to recognize, if not always to accept. It is, in fact, Burt Prelutsky's mission to make his points humorously, while at the same time being deadly serious about those things he and the angels think important.
Upon finishing the last page of the 98-page Angels on Tap book, I was left desiring more pages to read and enjoy, as many of the angels spoke to me in ways that I could relate to. Readers will likewise find themselves reflected in whole or in part with many of the angels, all of which represent aspects of life which are common to most. Humor, however, does require brevity and can't be stretched out the same way that drama can. Can you imagine a funny book running on the way that "War and Peace" or "Gone With the Wind" do? One thing Angels on Tap isn't is a romantic comedy! Hopefully, Mr. Prelutsky will write a sequel to Angels on Tap.
I made the mistake of trying to read too much into the rather surprise ending of Angels on Tap. When speculating to Burt Prelutsky about my response to the book's ending, he responded accordingly:
I'm reminded of a story I once heard about F. Scott Fitzgerald attending a class at the invitation of his friend, the English professor. The class assignment was to interpret The Great Gatsby. At the end of the session the professor asked Fitzgerald what he thought of their interpretations. The author admitted he was flabbergasted; he hadn't intended to write any of the things the class insisted they discovered in its pages.
While ordering Angels on Tap book at Amazon, why not check out seven other outstanding books published by Mr. Prelutsky? All in all, a rather amazing output for someone who didn’t get around to writing his first book until he was 66-years-old!
Before I forget, in Sixty Seven Conservatives You Should Meet Before You Die, published in 2012, among those interviewed by Burt were Kellyanne Conway and Tucker Carlson.
Subscribing to Weekly Doses of Burt’s Humorous Political Commentary
Burt Prelutsky started writing humorous political commentary in 2001. For years, Burt’s commentaries were carried by Breitbart, WorldNetDaily, the Patriot Post, Bernard Goldberg.com and on his own website. But, as he came to realize, even maintaining a website costs money. So, as of Sept., 2015, he began a subscription service.
Presently, Burt writes 3-5 commentaries every week that are generously leavened with humor. As he says, “If you take politics too seriously, you’ll soon go mad.” Anyone who might be interested in reading the man Bernard Goldberg refers to as the modern Mark Twain can contact him at Burtprelutsky@aol.com for guidelines to subscribing.
To whet your appetite, consider these four samples:
- Ron Paul Is Dating Cassandra — Saturday, March 25, 2017
- The Lunacy Persists — Monday, March 20, 2017
- The Meddling Media — Saturday, March 18, 2017
- The Kremlin Connection — Monday, March 13, 2017
Angels on Tap, produced by Burt Prelutsky, is soon to be a major motion picture with a heavenly cast, including Ed Asner, Marion Ross, Jamie Farr, Alan Rachins and Ron Masak.
