I purchased and sent this to my daughter, teaching in Namibia, Africa as a birthday gift. She and her roommate in college, use to run home, each day after their last class, to be sure and watch a I Love Lucy rerun on television - it was one of their "stress relievers" before they "hit the books". She said it did the same thing in Namibia, after teaching 3 English classes and 3 Environmental Management Classes, monitoring the new Library, and an HIV/AIDs club for her students/"learners" - a 12 hour day (plus class planning for the next day and correcting papers)!!! She's only 28 years old, but I Love Lucy is TIMELESS. She also received the first five year episodes. Thanks to Amazon.com for making this so easy for me to be able to do this for my daughter!!!!

With so many Lucy books out there, you would think the author and publishers would try to make a knockout book to stand apart from the competition. Amazingly, this book "authorized by CBS Broadcasting Inc. and the Estates of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz" is one of the weakest books on Ball and/or LUCY I've ever seen!! Let's start with the photos. As many have mentioned, their reproduction is just awful. They resemble pictures in a vintage tabloid or cheaply printed pulp magazine from years past. The sepia tinting (black and white photos colored one color) might not have been so bad had the images been sharper (despite the fact that "sepia" photos were not in fashion in the 50's but in the 20's and 30's!!!); the photos that are very small here you can barely make out the subject's faces! The publishers/designers may have been going for a vintage look but it's not appropiate to the 1950's and even if it was, it's just not appealing in a 21st century book.

The bulk of the book consists of pages on each "I Love Lucy" episode with a brief paragraph describing the plot and a bunch of trivia questions. "Trivia questions" belong in paperbacks not an expensive book and it's clear they are only here for padding the pages. Anyone who needs to know anything about the I Love Lucy episodes will find everything they need and then some in Bart Andrews "I Love Lucy" book, you certainly won't get any major new information here.

The only nice things in this book are the interviews with Keith Thibodeaux ("Little Ricky") and writers Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, and Bob Carroll Jr. The photos of latterday Lucy memorabilia are ok but nothing special.

Lucy diehards want all the books on her of course but unless you find a copy of it super cheap, make this one close to the bottom of your want list.

Excellent Book. Highly recommended for any "Lucy" fan. A good read!

I received this book as a birthday present, and have enjoyed reading and looking through the numerous amounts of memorable pictures this book has to offer. It takes you through each episode, giving you little known facts about each episode, and provides excellent pictures from each episode. Anyone who is a fan of "I Love Lucy" show strongly consider buying this book!!!