The book is forty years old this year and Richard Rosen's writing is still incredibly funny because he managed to create products and services which are just as timely now as they were in the last century. There are four sections: Interpersonal activity enhancer; Life-management accessories; Career facilitators; Leisure and creative aids. Who can live without Small talk agents, The pocket lawyer, The Remex mallfinder, The Datumexx bi-coastal phone system or the Wide world of everything. Rosen's copy describes it all in the stock cliche ridden Madison Avenue style that's been part of the advertising media for decades.
The big drawback with the book is that its been produced on the cheap, its only back and white and none of the pages look like the way products are advertised in consumer magazines. In a way it looks like a very slick publisher's dummy to get approval before the editorial team got down to producing the real book with colored headlines and realistic mock-ups of various products. The sort of thing the National Lampoon did so well back in the 1970s.
It's still really a fun read even though visually it's rather half-hearted.
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