She puts salt in the pepper shaker and pepper in the salt shaker because then if she gets mixed up, she’s right. She shortens the electric cords in the house to save electricity. That’s the character Gracie Allen has played for years. And for all that time people have asked George Burns, “How do you stand it? Why do you put up with it?” And for twenty-eight years George has been answering, “I love her, that’s why!”

This story of the life George Burns has led, both B.G. and A.G. (before and after Gracie), is genuinely funny and genuinely moving. Nobody knows more jokes than he—he’s used only his best here; nobody knows so well how far down down can be, while very few have been at the top so long. He tells it all, and he tells it well (he admits unblushingly that he has the best collaborator in the business). And he has succeeded in making this love letter to Gracie a letter that will delight anyone lucky enough to read it.