Humor Books - Page 12

The Complete Far Side 1980-1994 (2 vol set)

Gary Larson, Steve Martin

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 224 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The Complete Far Side contains every Far Side cartoon ever syndicated - more than 4,000 comic gems, with more than 1,100 that have never previously appeared in book form! Also included is a rare glimpse into the mind of Far Side creator Gary Larson, with his quirky and thoughtful introductions to each of the 14 chapters. Still want more? Complaint letters, fan letters, and queries from puzzled readers round out this eclectic and definitive collection of what many people consider the most side-splitting cartoon of all time. Actor, author, and comedian Steve Martin writes the delightful and pithy foreword, and Larson's former editor describes what it was like to be "the guy who could explain every Far Side cartoon." It's everything you could want from The Far Side - and much, much more!

Revered by fans as the funniest, most original, most "What the ...?" - inspiring cartoon ever, The Far Side last appeared over nine years ago and still boasts millions of rabid devotees. During its 14-year run, the cartoon was syndicated internationally in more than 1,900 daily newspapers, translated into 17 different languages, and spawned 22 Far Side books.

Tao of Pooh and Te of Piglet Boxed Set

Benjamin Hoff

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 217 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Pooh vs. Confucius. 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I'm right to review this book for two reasons, and wrong for one. First, AA Milne was the first book I remember looking for in the school library, as a child. My "inner child" (which is mostly in control of the outer adult, anyway) rejoiced in an excuse to revisit 100 Acre Wood. Second, as a missionary in China (and later author of a book on "How Jesus fulfills the Chinese Culture"), I also learned to love Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi, and learn from them. Third, however, while as Hoff correctly points out, there's a little of each these characters in each of us, the owl usually emerges in me when I start critiquing books.

By and large, this is a pleasant and successful introduction to philosophical Taoism. Sometimes it's confusing which are the bits Pooh said in Milne, and which are the bits Hoff added -- even though the font is different -- but then, Hoff's Pooh sometimes sounds quite different from Milne's Pooh. Sometimes he even comes across as overly clever, which is not in character.

When I asked young people in China, I found that more seemed to admire Confucius than Lao Zi. Let me devote the rest of my review to explaining that, in light of Hoff's depiction of both.

If Pooh disses Owl, you can't blame him because (1) He's a stuffed animal; (2) It's funny; and (3) Hoff is critiquing archeotypes, not individuals. When Zhuang Zi disses Confucius, the second two excuses also apply: there's a bit of sectarian edge, but it's more Saturday Night Live than Inquisition. When Hoff steps out of character to diss "dissicated" intellectual types, there's a bit of humor, but it's harder to draw the line between fair critique and cheap shot.

The truth is, lots of "owls" are reasonable people. Confucius was one: he loved music, took disciples hiking, and admitted when he didn't know something. And lots of "Poohs" can't tell their heads from the hole in a honey jar, making them not cute and wise, but common, ignorant gluttons.

But this is a critique of Taoism in general, not just Hoff, and certainly not Pooh. This is why Taoism was never "the Way" in China. There was a reaction, often a healthy one, to the Lao-Zhuang philosophy. It's the weakness of early Taoist philosophy -- reflected by Hoff's over-generalizations and over-simplicities -- that it did not make the difference clear. Folk Taoism ran off in one diametrically different direction -- as Hoff appears not to know, but probably does -- and Buddhists and Confucius' more proper and stuffy disciples (who often did live down to the caricature) in another. Each had its up side and its down side. Imagine Pooh singing and philosophizing cheerfully at the still-warm grave of Piglet: that's Zhuang Zi, at one point.

The world would be poorer without Pooh, and much poorer without the aphorisms of Lao Zi and the stories of Zhuang Zi. They don't make a full philosophy of life, but they do make part of one; and Hoff's little book is a good, sometimes flawed and sometimes too accurate, but often fun, introduction.

Editorial Review:

Who would have though that Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet, A.A. Milne's beloved storybook characters, would cause such a stir demonstrating the fundamentals of Taoist philosophy? Now, in time for the holiday season, these two phenomenal paperback bestsellers are available for the first time in an elegantly packaged boxed set. Illustrated throughout.

The Alphabet Of Manliness

Maddox

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Total reviews: 224 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

From the publisher:

This is the only sentence in the entire book that will give you a chance to adjust your face; take your time, because it’s about to be rocked off—permanently.

Finally, a book that guarantees your balls will be stomped; a book so manly that it will make even the burliest of men (and in some cases, the burliest of women) feel inadequate. So manly, it needs to be shaved: The Alphabet of Manliness. This collection of sacred writings may very well be the greatest compilation of all things manly throughout history. Here’s a small sample of the ass-kickery found within these revered pages of outright manliness:

People getting drop-kicked in the face

Phallic aggression

Violence in excess of what has come to be known as excessive

Garish disregard for the well-being of children

Contempt for animals, women, and other cultures

Intimidating rhetoric

Obscure penile references

The triumph of flannel over good taste

This book is only for the saltiest, hairiest, most rugged son of a bitch out there. However, it would be selfish to keep it for myself, so feel free to buy a copy. This humble tome of wisdom is a tribute to all men who toil away at work every day, getting their balls busted, or busting balls.

If you can’t handle the punch to the colon I’m about to deliver to you, look on the bright side: you’ll save a fortune on Halloween when kids come to your door to pick apart your candy ass. On the other hand, if you feel comfortable with the risk of having your ass neatly packaged and handed to you with all the trimmings, cut the foreplay and crack the book open already.

The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

Bobby Henderson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 102 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

CAN I GET A “RAMEN” FROM THE CONGREGATION?!

Behold the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM), today’s fastest growing carbohydrate-based religion. According to church founder Bobby Henderson, the universe and all life within it were created by a mystical and divine being: the Flying Spaghetti Monster. What drives the FSM’s devout followers, a.k.a. Pastafarians? Some say it’s the assuring touch from the FSM’s “noodly appendage.” Then there are those who love the worship service, which is conducted in pirate talk and attended by congregants in dashing buccaneer garb. Still others are drawn to the Church’s flimsy moral standards, religious holidays every Friday, or the fact that Pastafarian heaven is way cooler: Does your heaven have a Stripper Factory and a Beer Volcano? Intelligent Design has finally met its match–and it has nothing to do with apes or the Olive Garden of Eden.

Within these pages, Bobby Henderson outlines the true facts– dispelling such malicious myths as evolution (“only a theory”), science (“only a lot of theories”), and whether we’re really descended from apes (fact: Humans share 95 percent of their DNA with chimpanzees, but they share 99.9 percent with pirates!)
See what impressively credentialed top scientists have to say:

“If Intelligent Design is taught in schools, equal time should be given to the FSM theory and the non-FSM theory.”
–Professor Douglas Shaw, Ph.D.

“Do not be hypocritical. Allow equal time for other alternative ‘theories’ like FSMism, which is by far the tastier choice.”
–J. Simon, Ph.D.

“In my scientific opinion, when comparing the two theories, FSM theory seems to be more valid than classic ID theory.”
–Afshin Beheshti, Ph.D.

Read the book and decide for yourself!

I'm a Lebowski, You're a Lebowski: Life, The Big Lebowski, and What Have You

Bill Green, Ben Peskoe, Scott Shuffitt, Will Russell

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Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The ultimate fan’s guide to the Coen Brothers’ cult classic, with an introduction by the Dude himself, Jeff Bridges.
 
To some The Big Lebowski is just a movie, to others it’s THE MOVIE. Over the past several years the movie has developed a massive and passionate cult following, led by the creation of Lebowski Fest, a traveling festival celebrating all things Lebowski. Held in a bowling alley, it features bowling, costume and trivia contests, live music, a screening of the movie, White Russians, and what-have-you. Attendance has grown exponentially and the Fest has been featured in virtually every national media outlet, from NPR to the New York Times. The Associated Press called it “kind of a ‘Star Trek’ convention, but without all the geeks.” SPIN Magazine called it one of the “19 events you can’t miss!” Now, at last, comes the book that the legion of Lebowski fans (aka Achievers) has been waiting for. I’m a Lebowski, You’re a Lebowski is a treasure trove of trivia and commentary, hilarious throughout and illustrated with photos from the film, including dozens taken on the set by Jeff Bridges. It includes interviews with virtually every major and minor cast member including John Goodman, Julianne Moore and John Turturro, as well as the real-life individuals who served as inspiration for the characters such as Jeff Dowd and John Milius. Fellow Achievers Patton Oswalt, Tony Hawk and Powerpuff Girls creator Craig McCracken give their thoughts on the movie and the phenomenon that surrounds it. The book features a handy guide to speaking Achiever, tips on how to Dude-ify your car, office, and living space, Lebowski Fest highlights and so much more.

And You Shall Know Us by the Trail of Our Vinyl: The Jewish Past as Told by the Records We Have Loved and Lost

Roger Bennett, Josh Kun

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

What started out as a mutual affinity for kitschy Jewish album covers–think Neil Diamond baring his chest hair on the cover of Hot August Night or Barbra Streisand in hot pants on the cover of Streisand Superman–soon became a quest for identity, history, and culture between the grooves of LPs.

Together, Roger Bennett and Josh Kun embarked on a thrilling journey, scouring the world to collect thousands of vinyl LPs from attics, garage sales, and dusty archives. Pieced together, these scratched, once-loved and now-forgotten audio gems tell a vibrant tale: the story of Jews in America. And You Shall Know Us by the Trail of Our Vinyl spans the history of Jewish recorded music from the 1940s to the 1980s, weaving an account that begins with sacred songs and ends with the holy trinity of Neil, Barbra, and Barry. The LPs found here are also a love letter to forgotten moments in Jewish American pop history, celebrating well-dressed cantors singing Christmas tunes, Long Island suburbanites dancing the mambo, and Chassidic prog-rockers.

The music, much of which is no longer available in any format, is brought to life through commentary from writers Aimee Bender, Etgar Keret, Michael Wex, and Shalom Auslander; performers Sandra Bernhard and Motown legend Lamont Dozier; music critics Oliver Wang and Anne Powers; and TV pioneer Norman Lear. A gateway to a forgotten kingdom of sound, the good, the bad, and the ugly of Jewish vinyl gives this aspect of Jewish culture the attention it so richly deserves.

Garfield Spills the Beans: His 46th Book (Garfield)

Jim Davis

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

GARFIELD REVIEW 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

GARFIELD BOOKS ARE ALWAYS THE GREATEST, AND AMAZONS SERVICE IN PURCHASING AND RECEIVING WERE EXCELENT AS ALWAYS.
PENNY HERNANDEZ

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier

Alan Moore

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Total reviews: 86 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

worst of the LOEG graphic novels... 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I usually don't write these reviews much, but I had to have my say. I felt bamboozled after reading this graphic novel. The first two had a sense of adventure, imagination and took the reader on a unusual journey that was just plain fun along the way, at least for myself. After reading the Black Dossier I felt that the writers and artists threw this together in a couple of days to receive a hefty paycheck. No imagination or fun, it was like watching a "made for tv" movie. This will probably be my last Alan Moore graphic novel; if the rest of his career he throws up this "dreck" I will wait for more of his stories to be made into movies, at least then I may have only wasted 4 dollars at the video store instead of almost [...] bucks.

Editorial Review:

England in the mid 1950s is not the same as it was. The powers that be have instituted...some changes. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen have been disbanded and disavowed, and the country is under the control of an iron-fisted regime. Now, after many years, the still youthful Mina Murray and a rejuvenated Allan Quatermain return and are in search of some answers. Answers that can only be found in a book buried deep in the vaults of their old headquarters, a book that holds the key to the hidden history of the League throughout the ages: The Black Dossier. As Allan and Mina delve into the details of their precursors, some dating back centuries, they must elude their dangerous pursuers who are Hell-bent on retrieving the lost manuscript... and ending the League once and for all.

If Democrats Had Any Brains, They'd Be Republicans

Ann Coulter

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Total reviews: 367 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

“Uttering lines that send liberals into paroxysms of rage, otherwise known as ‘citing facts,’ is the spice of life. When I see the hot spittle flying from their mouths and the veins bulging and pulsing above their eyes, well, that’s when I feel truly alive.”

So begins If Democrats Had Any Brains, They’d Be Republicans, Ann Coulter’s funniest, most devastating, and, yes, most outrageous book to date.

Coulter has become the brightest star in the conservative firmament thanks to her razor-sharp reasoning and biting wit. Of course, practically any time she opens her mouth, liberal elites denounce Ann, insisting that “She’s gone too far!” and hopefully predicting that this time it will bring a crashing end to her career.

Now you can read all the quotes that have so outraged her enemies and so delighted her legions of fans. More than just the definitive collection of Coulterisms, If Democrats Had Any Brains, They’d Be Republicans includes dozens of brand-new commentaries written by Coulter and hundreds of never-before-published quotations. This is Ann at her best, covering every topic from A to Z. Here you’ll read Coulter’s take on:

• Her politics: “As far as I’m concerned, I’m a middle-of-the-road moderate and the rest of you are crazy.”
• Hillary Clinton: “Hillary wants to be the first woman president, which would also make her the first woman in a Clinton administration to sit behind the desk in the Oval Office instead of under it.”
• The environment: “God gave us the earth. We have dominion over the plants, the animals, the trees. God said, ‘Earth is yours. Take it. Rape it. It’s yours.’”
• Religion: “It’s become increasingly difficult to distinguish the pronouncements of the Episcopal Church from the latest Madonna video.”
• Global warming: “The temperature of the planet has increased about one degree Fahrenheit in the last century. So imagine a summer afternoon when it’s 63 degrees and the next thing you know it’s . . . 64 degrees. Ahhhh!!!! Run for your lives, everybody! Women and children first!”
• Gun control: “Mass murderers apparently can’t read, since they are constantly shooting up ‘gun-free zones.’”
• Bill Clinton: “Bill Clinton’s library is the first one to ever feature an Adults Only section.”
• Illegal aliens: “I am the illegal alien of commentary. I will do the jokes that no one else will do.”

If Democrats Had Any Brains, They’d Be Republicans is a must-have for anyone who loves (or loves to hate) Ann Coulter.


From the Hardcover edition.

The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America

David Hajdu

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Total reviews: 29 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

In the years between World War II and the emergence of television as a mass medium, American popular culture as we know it was first created—in the pulpy, boldly illustrated pages of comic books. No sooner had this new culture emerged than it was beaten down by church groups, community bluestockings, and a McCarthyish Congress—only to resurface with a crooked smile on its face in Mad magazine.

The story of the rise and fall of those comic books has never been fully told—until The Ten-Cent Plague. David Hajdu’s remarkable new book vividly opens up the lost world of comic books, its creativity, irreverence, and suspicion of authority.

When we picture the 1950s, we hear the sound of early rock and roll. The Ten-Cent Plague shows how—years before music—comics brought on a clash between children and their parents, between prewar and postwar standards. Created by outsiders from the tenements, garish, shameless, and often shocking, comics spoke to young people and provided the guardians of mainstream culture with a big target. Parents, teachers, and complicit kids burned comics in public bonfires. Cities passed laws to outlaw comics. Congress took action with televised hearings that nearly destroyed the careers of hundreds of artists and writers.
The Ten-Cent Plague radically revises common notions of popular culture, the generation gap, and the divide between “high” and “low” art. As he did with the lives of Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington (in Lush Life) and Bob Dylan and his circle (in Positively 4th Street), Hajdu brings a place, a time, and a milieu unforgettably back to life.