It's not often that I feel compelled to shout from the rooftops about a new book. This is one of those rare times when I've found a book I want to recommend to absolutely everyone who loves films, who loves the history of films.

"The Wicked Wit of the West" is the story of the last of the Golden-Age screenwriters. Irving Brecher is responsible for more wonderful moments of film, television and radio than most people are aware. The title comes from the nickname bestowed upon him by Groucho Marx. Brecher has added catch-phrases to the American Lexicon. It was Brecher who created "The Life of Riley," first on radio and then on television and Riley's famous, "What a revoltin' development this is," was quickly adopted by people for generations.

Brecher's life story, as told to Hank Rosenfeld, is the stuff of which dreams are made. Rosenfeld not only chronicled Brecher's life and career but became a dear friend to the man as they regularly shared a pastrami sandwich, attended various events together and shared time in Brecher's apartment. 

Brecher, a New Yorker by birth who began his career by writing for Milton Berle when Berle was in vaudeville and then radio, was the only person ever to write two  Marx Brothers movies by himself, developing a friendship with Groucho in the process. His recollections of times shared with Groucho are worth the price of admission but so are the anecdotes about his having punched up "The Wizard of Oz," convinced Judy Garland to appear in "Meet Me in St. Louis," and the creation of the television series, "The People's Choice," starring Jackie Cooper and Pat Breslin and, for many of us, the real star, Cleo the Bassett Hound. 

Brecher was the last of the MGM roundtable of screenwriters. This is where I learned the real stories behind such Hollywood luminaries as L.B. Mayer, John Wayne, Jack Benny, George Burns and many, many more, all told with humor, love and complete candor.

Brecher went on to produce and direct as well as write. His films included, "Bye, Bye Birdie," "Shadow of the Thin Man," and "Sail a Crooked Ship."

Do you want to know how Jackie Gleason got his teeth? Look no further. Share the pastrami and the laughs. Learn the true history of vaudeville, radio, television and film, the good, the bad and the ugly, from the master. The man who was there. 

Sadly, Brecher died a couple of months before the book was published. He was 94 and sharp as ever right to the end, often doing stand-up and garnering more than enough laughs to be the envy of any professional stand-up comedian.

Published by Ben Yehuda Press, this is a book to read, savor and reread. Do yourself a favor and order it from any online or brick and mortar bookstore. If you love film, television and radio when radio was special, you owe it to yourself to read, "The Wicked Wit of the West."