Andy Rooney’s Sunday evening observations on 60 Minutes are an American institution, shaping the way people see everything from coffee percolators to the state of the nation. Rooney’s books, most recently the bestselling My War and Sincerely, Andy Rooney, offer his fans the chance to dig deeper into his life and views. Now, Rooney offers up another extended look at the country he loves…enough to criticize.

Shouldn’t a family of four be able to afford a night at the baseball stadium? Why do political conservatives often preempt the term “Christian” for themselves when the Democratic philosophy comes closer to biblical advice on how we should conduct our lives? And why do some of our heroes keep disappointing us by turning out to be dishonest, corrupt, attracted to sexual perversion or in some other way wanting in the virtues we admire?

Common Nonsense is Andy Rooney at his best–acerbic, teasing, witty, insightful, and wise. Each chapter is devoted to a topic close to his heart–food, morality, money, sports, home and work life, government, politics, health, doctors, and the English language. And we get an inside peek at Rooney as a person, including a whole raft of contradictions. A chronic procrastinator, he’ll clean the garage to avoid sitting in front of the typewriter (yet he still makes the weekly deadline for his newspaper columns). Even when there’s a major world crisis, he turns first to the sports page (but then he’ll support U.S. intervention in Bosnia). If you like Andy Rooney, you’ve got to read Common Nonsense. It’s that simple.