A review by dodgson
A Futile and Stupid Gesture: How Doug Kenney and National Lampoon Changed Comedy Forever by Josh Karp

3.0

Infinitely more satisfying than its film adaptation, it still ends up strangely divided between a personal story and a catalog of an important era in comedy. Karp spends a lot of time repeating the same handful of thoughts about Doug Kenney’s personality, humor, and outlook—searching in vain for an explanation that will never be certain. The decline of the magazine as it hired contributors who began as its fans is a fascinating element of the story, and familiar to any "Simpsons" fan.