Scan barcode
michael5000's review against another edition
2.0
Not a great joke book -- although, does such a thing exist? -- this is kind of interesting if you read it as a character-study novel in which the personality and biography of a vain, flamboyant man are gradually revealed over the course of an undisciplined book-length collection of his stories, anecdotes, and favorite jokes. I checked it out on the recommendation of my dad, who likes the limericks, and found that limericks are almost impossible to enjoy off the page.
astakolafs's review against another edition
5.0
If you’re a fan of Asimov you should definitely read ‘Asimov Laughs Again’. Not because it’s laugh-out-loud funny (it isn’t, but you’ll get a chuckle here and there) but because it’s also an autobiography. It reads like you’re visiting him, sitting down in Asimov’s living room and letting him ramble on about his life and his passion for jokes.
I was already a big fan of Isaac Asimov, the author, but now after reading this book I am also a big fan of Isaac Asimov, the human.
I was already a big fan of Isaac Asimov, the author, but now after reading this book I am also a big fan of Isaac Asimov, the human.
kerveros's review
3.0
I read my first Asimov novel in 2013, when I admitted to knowing very little about the author - since then he has very rapidly become one of my favourite authors and has written one of the best series I have ever read (the Robot series - the Foundation and Galactic Empire novels never really gripped me in the same way). I've rated all of his books (that I have read so far) at least 3 stars which puts him up there when it comes to my favourite authors (LKH got a couple of 2 star and 1 star reviews, Trudi Canavan and Tamora Pierce are the only other authors that come to mind that get consistently higher star ratings from me with similar numbers of books).
Having read (at least) 17 of his novels I felt I had a decent grasp on his writing styles, but I knew very very little about the man himself - barring he was extremely prolific and wrotes hundreds of books in his lifetime, and was highly intelligent (that said generally I don't know a lot about my favourite authors... maybe because the others are still alive and writing whilst most of Asimovs works were written before I was born?). This book has helped with that a bit - I've found out that he was really rather humourous, arguably falsely self-deprecating, seemingly suffered from Hodophobia, was quick-witted and (for someone who doesn't like writing about sex) oddly dirty minded...
I'd say that the title of this book is.. not misleading but perhaps wrongly ordered. I'd argue that this should read "More than 700 Anecdotes, Limericks and Jokes" - either that or I don't have the required sense of humour as not many of these raised a laugh from me. There were a few that did though so I'd suggest checking out numbers 162, 163, 323, and 565. There were others but these ones raised a genuine little chuckle as opposed to a simple smile or roll of the eyes.
There are some anecdotes told here you'll have read/heard elsewhere such as 170 - where a ship and a lighthouse have an argument over who should move out of the others way, or the Churchill anecdotes. Asimov didn't often say where he heard these which is a shame as I'd have been interested to get more insight into when exactly these originated!
Overall I'd say this wasn't the easiest book to read - I did have to keep putting it down and picking it back up, but it was interesting. I can't say I would re-read it as I would one of his series of works, but I am glad to have read it as it gives more insight into the man himself.
Having read (at least) 17 of his novels I felt I had a decent grasp on his writing styles, but I knew very very little about the man himself - barring he was extremely prolific and wrotes hundreds of books in his lifetime, and was highly intelligent (that said generally I don't know a lot about my favourite authors... maybe because the others are still alive and writing whilst most of Asimovs works were written before I was born?). This book has helped with that a bit - I've found out that he was really rather humourous, arguably falsely self-deprecating, seemingly suffered from Hodophobia, was quick-witted and (for someone who doesn't like writing about sex) oddly dirty minded...
I'd say that the title of this book is.. not misleading but perhaps wrongly ordered. I'd argue that this should read "More than 700 Anecdotes, Limericks and Jokes" - either that or I don't have the required sense of humour as not many of these raised a laugh from me. There were a few that did though so I'd suggest checking out numbers 162, 163, 323, and 565. There were others but these ones raised a genuine little chuckle as opposed to a simple smile or roll of the eyes.
There are some anecdotes told here you'll have read/heard elsewhere such as 170 - where a ship and a lighthouse have an argument over who should move out of the others way, or the Churchill anecdotes. Asimov didn't often say where he heard these which is a shame as I'd have been interested to get more insight into when exactly these originated!
Overall I'd say this wasn't the easiest book to read - I did have to keep putting it down and picking it back up, but it was interesting. I can't say I would re-read it as I would one of his series of works, but I am glad to have read it as it gives more insight into the man himself.
More...