Andersen has also published a book of humorous essays, "The Real Thing" (Doubleday, 1980; Holt, 1982; Bison Press, 2008), about "quintessentialism", and co-authored two humor books, "Tools of Power" (Viking, 1980), a parody of self-help books on becoming successful, and "Loose Lips" (Simon & Schuster, 1995), an anthology of edited transcripts of real-life conversations involving celebrated people. Along with Carter and George Kalogerakis he assembled a history and greatest-hits anthology of "Spy" called "Spy: The Funny Years", published in 2006 by Miramax Books.