Ah, Robby. He of the soft voice, the blue, blue eyes, the abs. It’s true, I loved you BIG when I was a teenager and you were on the cover of Tiger Beat. When my friends were lining up to see Annie Hall, I was waiting to see One on One. Again. Robby was a huge star in the 70s (starring in 15 movies!) and I was a moon-eyed teen in the 70s and thus we were a match made in celluloid heaven.

But then Robby grew up and so did I. He went on to a career behind the camera (he’s directed hundreds of sitcom episodes including Ellen and Friends ) and he was the voice of the beast in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, has taught Film Studies at the University of South Carolina and NYU and has written a couple books.

That brings me to my apology. I am sorry to say that Benson’s first novel, Who Stole the Funny? has ended up in my Book Graveyard. I tried, really. Even though when I bought the book – at least three years ago, so you can see that it has languished on my tbr shelf for a while – I didn’t figure it would be my cup of tea, I had to buy it. For old time’s sake.

With a career as long and varied as Robby’s, I have no doubt the novel is authentic (and perhaps even authentically funny), but I just didn’t get it. And yes, it’s true, a handful of pages is probably not a fair shake…but just, no.

That said, Robby has a new book out, I’m Not Dead…Yet. This book seems more my cup of tea – it’s a medical memoir which recounts the story of Robby’s four (count ’em) open heart surgeries. Although this is not a subject with which I have much personal experience, I would be interested in hearing about his journey. So, I am willing to give Robby Benson, author, another try.

In the meantime, there’s always RobbyBenson.com