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The McSweeney's Joke Book of Book Jokes by McSweeney's Publishing, John Hodgman, Jared Young
rld1727's review
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
jonh's review
4.0
What's not to love about McSweeney's? Goofy wit. Absurd premises. And above all, I love their commitment to telling a good story.
We've all seen, read or heard comedy that starts with, "Hey, I wonder what it'd be like if . . . " and does very little to elaborate on that initial premise. That's what turned me off to MadTV for a while. Unlike the magazine, sketches felt very one-joke, catch-phrase heavy.
McSweeney's, by contrast, nine times out of ten takes a premise and runs with it, mining every potential for comedy out of it. Gear all those premises to the foibles of classic and contemporary literature, and you've got yourself a very funny book, my friend. And best of all, you don't need to know the source material in order to appreciate: a good story, after all, is a good story.
My favorite bits were those that mimicked an author's voice in service of an absurd premise. I've never read John Updike, but I would gladly watch any show he wrote for prime-time TV. And bedtime stories by Thom Yorke? I would fall sound asleep every night, listening to those.
Give it a skim, even if you just like "literature" in general. I can't guarantee your favorite author is lovingly mocked herein, but with the plethora of contributors and subjects, there's bound to be something you'll enjoy.
We've all seen, read or heard comedy that starts with, "Hey, I wonder what it'd be like if . . . " and does very little to elaborate on that initial premise. That's what turned me off to MadTV for a while. Unlike the magazine, sketches felt very one-joke, catch-phrase heavy.
McSweeney's, by contrast, nine times out of ten takes a premise and runs with it, mining every potential for comedy out of it. Gear all those premises to the foibles of classic and contemporary literature, and you've got yourself a very funny book, my friend. And best of all, you don't need to know the source material in order to appreciate: a good story, after all, is a good story.
My favorite bits were those that mimicked an author's voice in service of an absurd premise. I've never read John Updike, but I would gladly watch any show he wrote for prime-time TV. And bedtime stories by Thom Yorke? I would fall sound asleep every night, listening to those.
Give it a skim, even if you just like "literature" in general. I can't guarantee your favorite author is lovingly mocked herein, but with the plethora of contributors and subjects, there's bound to be something you'll enjoy.
jenne's review
2.0
Ugh, this was really kind of painful, except the "Gregor Samsa applies for disability" bit, and the one about future titles for the Sue Grafton series (", is Almost for Coma", heh.)
debshelf's review
4.0
A must-have for anyone who loves humor and reading. A customer gave me a dramatic reading of the Bernstein bears section that had me laughing all afternoon.
alexctelander's review
4.0
The McSweeney's Joke Book of Book Jokes by McSweeney's: When [b:Mountain Man Dance Moves|15589|Mountain Man Dance Moves The McSweeney's Book of Lists|McSweeney's Publishing|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166673949s/15589.jpg|17437]: The McSweeney's Book of Lists hit book shelves with the cover of a triumphant, ethereal, blue, rearing unicorn, readers curiously started reading and then found themselves bursting with laughter, buying the book, and entertaining friends with it. The editors of McSweeney's return with The McSweeney's Joke Book of Book Jokes; and if the title doesn't capture your interest, maybe the cover of a plucked headless chicken - with a smoking cigarette in one flabby wing, while smoke effuses from its cylindrical hole of a neck - will.
With an introduction from John Hodgman about the cash cow industry of satire, McSweeney's aims its new book at the intellectual crowd as jokes and humor are procured at the expense of classic works and authors revered in collegiate halls. The first piece, The Recruitment of Harry Potter, is from the viewpoint of a quidditch coach looking to recruit Harry Potter to the team. It warns to stay away from talk about He Who Must Not Be Named and anything involving family. From this we go to George Samsa, currently dealing with his life as a cockroach, having his disability claim denied by Social Security for very specific reasons.
McSweeney's Joke Book of Book Jokes runs the gamut of literature, leaving no book unopened or unmocked. There are short pieces, such as Possible Titles For Future Sue Grafton Novels After She Runs Out of Letters, including: "/" Is for Slash and "Ctrl+X" Is for Cut; and there are longer pieces like Submission Guidelines For Our Refrigerator Door. Then there are plain weird and unusual pieces like Thirteen Writing Prompts, including 'Write a story that ends with the following sentence: Debra brushed the sand from her blouse, took a last, wistful look at the now putrefying horse, and stepped into the hot-air balloon,' and 'Your main character finds a box of scorched human hair. Whose is it? How did it get there?'
Whether it's Jane Eyre Runs for President or Jean-Paul Sartre, 911 Operator, or Klingon Fairy Tales, readers will be laughing out loud and rolling on the floor - or if you prefer LOLing and ROFLing - for hours. And for all those people forced to read long and boring classics, or listen to their teachers verbally worshiping dead writers, McSweeney's Joke of Book Jokes is a restorative tonic, the book you've been waiting for that will make those hours and hours of late night reading of lengthy, overwritten prose worth it, because you'll get all the jokes!
For more book reviews and exclusive author interviews, go to BookBanter.
With an introduction from John Hodgman about the cash cow industry of satire, McSweeney's aims its new book at the intellectual crowd as jokes and humor are procured at the expense of classic works and authors revered in collegiate halls. The first piece, The Recruitment of Harry Potter, is from the viewpoint of a quidditch coach looking to recruit Harry Potter to the team. It warns to stay away from talk about He Who Must Not Be Named and anything involving family. From this we go to George Samsa, currently dealing with his life as a cockroach, having his disability claim denied by Social Security for very specific reasons.
McSweeney's Joke Book of Book Jokes runs the gamut of literature, leaving no book unopened or unmocked. There are short pieces, such as Possible Titles For Future Sue Grafton Novels After She Runs Out of Letters, including: "/" Is for Slash and "Ctrl+X" Is for Cut; and there are longer pieces like Submission Guidelines For Our Refrigerator Door. Then there are plain weird and unusual pieces like Thirteen Writing Prompts, including 'Write a story that ends with the following sentence: Debra brushed the sand from her blouse, took a last, wistful look at the now putrefying horse, and stepped into the hot-air balloon,' and 'Your main character finds a box of scorched human hair. Whose is it? How did it get there?'
Whether it's Jane Eyre Runs for President or Jean-Paul Sartre, 911 Operator, or Klingon Fairy Tales, readers will be laughing out loud and rolling on the floor - or if you prefer LOLing and ROFLing - for hours. And for all those people forced to read long and boring classics, or listen to their teachers verbally worshiping dead writers, McSweeney's Joke of Book Jokes is a restorative tonic, the book you've been waiting for that will make those hours and hours of late night reading of lengthy, overwritten prose worth it, because you'll get all the jokes!
For more book reviews and exclusive author interviews, go to BookBanter.
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