Peter starts off by saying that this is not an autobiography. I would say to some degree it is a skeletal one.

To Laura and YM who have raised many questions in a previous thread, I would have to say that it is minimally about Columbo.

Yes there are many references, and some with perhaps new tidbits of information.

Cassa was somewhat descriptive in a recent thread...but...I would define it more as a collection of folksy reminiscences written in a conversational style.

I have long enjoyed many of the different films Peter has been in from Mad Mad World to the Brinks Job to the Great Race, etc.

I am also an osessive Columbo fan.

Cassa is correct in that you can here Peter's voice speaking to you, but it is not "Columbo's" voice or speech patterns in my opinion.

The book has 280 numbered pages. Of 60 plus chapters (more like little stories or vignettes), each little one runs from one and a half to maybe 2 and a half or 3 and a half pages.

25 numbered pages are fully blank.

21 numbered pages are pictures.

10 plus pages are mostly blank with only maybe 4-5 lines of double spaced printing..these being the end of each chapter.

About another 15 (plus) pages have a back and forth running dialogue being quoted but they have a printing style that in effect only transmits about 2 sentences on a page.

There are 16 unnumbered pages of inserted pictures over and above the 21 numbered above.

There are about 7 0r 8 pages of Peter's drawings.

The back cover jacket has a nice picture, but it's repeated twice in the book itself..both times with the image reversed.

Paul Galesko himself couln't be more disappointed in the image. I have learned from Graphic Designers that this is not necessarily an error but a "choice" because they think the image is better facing out depending on the left or right page position. This really irks me.
It's like seeing Ronald Reagan looking funny or different because his hair is parted on the wrong side. We were used to seeing Reagan and Bobby Kennedy with their hair REALLY parted on the opposite side. wHEN THEIR IMAGES ARE REVERSED, IT JUST DOESN'T LOOK LIKE THEM. So also with Columbo.

I am not sorry I bought the book, but it was more fluff and pictures than anything of an "insider" commentary.

His history of acting, his path in life, his roles in many notable films, his first and second wife, his parents all make for an interesting read...but this is not a Columbo book.

None of us can believe anyone else could play Columbo, just like no-one else could be seen by us as Archie Bunker except for Carroll O'Connor.

Peter has been a good actor and an artist to the degree known. He should stick to those two. The book is easy to read and interesting to hear his little folksy stories..but that's what it is...a little fireside-let's-have-a-couple-of-drinks chit chat.

Thanks, Bob. Chit-chat and folksy reminiscences are pretty much what I expected. And, while I am a primary "Columbo" fan who does not find it necessary to watch all of Peter Falk's movies, I think that his book is a special enough event that it's a "must read", and I look forward to (AHEM!) possibly receiving it on my birthday from my wife (that's Mrs Kerin).

Anyone:

Don't mistake my lenghty review.

I agree with Ted. For the dollars involved, you either want it or it's a crap shoot. You might like it, you might not.

But for anyone who specifically asks...it is not substantially a "Columbo" book.

it seems from above the title Just one more thing is misleading. I guess if Jack Webb from Dragnet tv show wrote a book it could be called Just the Facts Ma'am, or if Carrol Oconnor wrote one it would be called Hey Meathead or Life with a Dingbat.

its unfortunate the actors are so indentified with the role. I suppose in their minds the one defining role for the fans is not exactly how they see their own life.

Peter Falk obviously did a lot of other things, but it sounds like all the items in the book are rather lightly referenced.

I probably will get the book but thanks for the notice. I imagine the Columbophile book even if it were readily available ( is it anywhere ? ) would be far short of all the info on this web site.

well..i enjoyed it. but i will say again that i am not only a columbo fan but a peter falk fan.

Look anyone, I'm not disagreeing with Cassa either.

She was the first to report here that she had it in hand.

For me, like Ted, it was a "must read".

I don't think it should take a detective here....find it in a bookstore...peruse a few pages here and there....decide if it's what you like or expected.

Oh, and just one more thing...Mrs. Columbo would get it at the library....probably the first in line to reserve it.

That way there is money left for Holy Name Society raffle tickets and free cruises.

bob!!! who is this 'anyone' poster that you're speaking to???????

Thanks, Bob, for the review. It's very helpful.

Peter had said, in an interview not very long ago, that he had other ideas for the book's title (I don't remember if he said what the other possible title(s) might have been) -- then he added that he had a feeling the publisher would want him to call it "Just One More Thing".

Which is understandable, and believable.

Seems to me the title is a good fit with the book's format, as a series of collected anecdotes and thoughts, one after another without an overall narrative plot. But the marketing purpose is pretty clear, as with the cover-photo of Columbo. Who can blame them.

I'm not surprised at the book's title either.

Obviously the title has a twofold interpretation. One: it was a catch-phrase from his defining role; Two; it really is descriptive of the essence of the book.

I bought a book several years ago by Clayton Moore. It had a lot of things in the book other than The Lone Ranger. Of course it was truly interesting and informative, but he didn't go into feelings and real behind the scenes riveting data. Of course I wasn't on a Lone Ranger website either where I got a lot of info. His info was therefore new to me.

His book was aptly entitled: "I Was That Masked Man". (For those of you who never saw the show...every episode ended with someone asking: "Who was that masked man?"...and someone replying "Why that's the Lone Ranger".

That was quite a detailed review, and I thank you very much.