Not That You Asked (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781969063800)

There's a certain kind of person who can't let the world go by unremarked upon. Bill Goldstein is that kind of person. Some people see the world; he notices it - then tells you what he thinks, whether or not you asked.

In the tradition of Andy Rooney's wry, room-rattling commentary comes NOT THAT YOU ASKED...Stories. Observations. Pet Peeves, ninety short, sharp, and disarmingly funny essays about the things that hide just beneath the surface of everyday life, where Goldstein turns ordinary objects and everyday circumstances into small revelations.

Whether explaining why Studio 54 was lightning in a bottle or revealing the one thing you need to live contentedly in Manhattan (and it's not money), nothing is too large or too small. He has opinions on pockets, lawyers, lobsters, tattoos, punctuality, travel, gift certificates, BBQing, boxing, and the quiet tragedy of today's Penn Station. One minute he's decoding the Hamptons; the next he's explaining the upside of being wrong.

Across these pages you'll meet President George H.W. Bush, Henry Kissinger, Gore Vidal, Philip Roth, Billie Jean King, Muhammad Ali - and a stranger on a red-eye who pressed a Claddagh ring into his hand at dawn. Each encounter becomes the seed of a story, and each story lands on something true.

Equal parts memoir, social observation, and good-natured grousing this is a book you can devour whole, or dip into anywhere. Within a page or two you will catch yourself thinking, "Hmmm, I never thought of it that way."

Which, the author would say, is the whole idea.