I have been binge-listening to memoirs during my daily commute. I chose recently to listen to Dick Van Dyke tell his story, first of all, because I found the CD set in my local library. Secondly, I like him, and I was in the mood to hear about comedy. Curiously, too, I wondered if I had read this book when it first came out in print in 2011. Maybe his history would sound familiar to me as we went along. Literally.

Those of us who grew up in the 1960s might consider Dick to be a friend, since he was so often in our living rooms and in our lives. Obviously, The Dick Van Dyke Show was a must-watch TV show, for the five years that it was on. (Seems like it was on longer, doesn't it?) So were the early movies, especially for us kids: Bye, Bye Birdie, Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Dick soon made a conscious choice to be involved only in projects that were family-friendly, and ones that his own children could watch. This was a key decision that made good professional sense.

Dick and his brother Jerry (who was five years younger) grew up in Danville, Illinois, south of Chicago and next to the Indiana border. Naturally, Dick outlines his early life and how he got into radio first, followed by taking Vaudeville-like performances on the road. (Stories of car problems abound.) Stan Laurel's influence on him is striking. It's wonderful that Dick had chances to impersonate Stan and to interact with him later in real life, too.

Titling a new television series The Dick Van Dyke Show meant that his name would be recognized and that his career would gain momentum. And it wasn't even his idea! The show is now seen as one of those legendary matchups of perfect casting with perfect production personalities. What with writer Carl Reiner, producer Sheldon Leonard and the great characters and actors we all know, it seems as though the shows held just as much fun behind the scenes as they did for the viewing audience. As Dick chats about this one and many of the other shows that he's been involved with, he is frank in his opinions about some of his fellow actors, both the good and the bad. He winds up the book by addressing the eight seasons of Diagnosis Murder. Gee, I'd almost forgotten about that one.

One movie that I was curious to hear him mention was Cold Turkey, a Norman Lear film that was released in 1971. I remember seeing it in the theater with my parents. As a young teenager, I thought it was funny stuff at the time. Every resident of a whole town has to commit to giving up smoking for a month in order to win a contest. My mother still smoked, and maybe I thought seeing such a story would get her to quit. It didn't work. It turns out that Dick was a heavy smoker and was considering quitting at the time of the filming, as were some of the other folks involved. I suppose the movie itself would just seem supremely ridiculous, today. I can still remember Randy Newman's closing theme song, though,"He Gives Us All His Love." It had a dual meaning for the final scene. I guess you'd have to watch it to understand.

His family life is important to Dick. For many years, he was married to Margerie, and they had four children. After they got divorced, his second partner was Michelle. He's honest about the challenges that everyone went through in those relationships. He's also candid about his past addictions to alcohol and cigarettes and how he finally got the better of them.

The audio edition consists of six CDs that translate into eight hours of narration. Dick reads the text well, although we can certainly sense that he now has age in his voice. He was 85 years old when he wrote and narrated this book. As I write this review 10 years later, he is still in the news and going strong at 95, with no plans at all to retire. Why should he?

Dick Van Dyke is one of those individuals who found his perfect niche in life. He is a performer. Period. He has spent decades doing what he's good at and what he loves to do. So there. Was his success because of luck, because of talent, or due to a combination of both? What does it matter? He has indeed had a remarkable life. I'm glad I had this comfortable and casual visit with him. I recommend that others spend some time with Dick Van Dyke, too.