Humor Books

any book by Ralph Steadman requires serious and not so serious reading. his perspective on life is truly unique and worthy of consideration.

I'm very pleased with my purchase...It arrived promptly, well packaged, and in stellar condition. A flawless venture.

I love his work, have since he did the cover art and animation for Pink Floyd The Wall. This book is worth grabbing if you respect the artistic value of total insanity and the furthering of freedom of expression.

May the ghost of Hunter S. Thompson come down and become the next President of the United States - and may Ralph Steadman be his Art Director!

Having had, as many people did, my first taste of Ralph via Hunter S Thompson's books, I found this to be a great introduction to the Hyperactive and frantic style of a dude who is probably my favourite artist. This has a forward by Hunter, gives great colour examples of his works in the realm of Gonzo, and also has many written, poetical works, and songs. My fave piece is 'Stand up and be counted.' IE: The maverick beast will ALWAYS raise his head in the crowd. A perfect definition of Gonzo.

Maggie is feeling old. Her kids are out of the house, she's getting hot flashes, and her husband seems to be looking at younger women. Her best friend also seems to be more concern with dating than hanging around Maggie. Maggie is all ready to accept the fate of a mid life crisis when she meets a young woman at a coffee house who seems to need a "motherly" type figure in her life. With true to life descriptions and humor that will make the reader giggle and groan, this grown up chick lit novel is perfect for those who can't wait to get older and those who wish they could stop.

So I'm not a baby boomer. In fact I'm pretty much the same age as the kids of the main characters in this book. You'd think I wouldn't enjoy it because of the generation gap. WRONG. I totally enjoyed this fun and humorous book that women of all ages will enjoy. What I found most interesting about the book was how insecure most women, even Christian women, really are. It seems that everyone is afraid about losing their husband to someone who is younger or who they think looks better than them. Women are always comparing themselves and therefore creating low self esteem. Of course men don't help out with this, as Gordon doesn't really reassure Maggie that he doesn't go for the blond type. The writing is top notch, I felt like I was a part of the story. I also really enjoyed seeing Maggie's relationship grow with Lily. And it was cool to read a mom drinking frappachinos and ending up working behind the counter in a coffee shop. I also love the Chihuahua who pees when nervous! I think it'd be cool to have her as a mom. There are some times where I would get frustrated with her actions, like her getting ticked at her daughter for being friends with her mother in law or when she stalks her best friend while she's dating. But then I realize that Maggie is having empty nest syndrome and is therefore frustrated with her life. It makes me want to learn to make sure to take time to enjoy my own life, and not just focus it on others so that way I know that I am meaningful. Excellent mom/lady lit book that everyone will enjoy.

Author Diann Hunt pens the words of Hot Flashes and Cold Cream with both humor and honesty, as she describes a fifty-something woman in the grip of menopause. Maggie Haydn's world turns upside down into a despairing heap of cellulite, as her search continues to find something that will spare her the pain of life change. Her pursuit accelerates into a full blown rat race.

Sipping her favorite beverage at the new coffee house makes a dent in her meaningless days of waiting for her overworked husband to return home. While the superficial makeovers never touch the deepest longing of her heart, she hardly expects her out-of-style elderly, widowed neighbor to strike a cord within her. Tired of running, Maggie pauses long enough to notice that Elvira, after all, is fashionably dressed in expressing God's love to others. Maggie is ready for a real change!

Maggie's husband Gordon and her best friend Lily nearly go out of their minds trying to help Maggie keep her balance in her topsy-turvy world. Her college age son and newly married daughter love their mom, too, but hope she doesn't go completely over the edge.

I nearly ran out of breath trying to keep up with Maggie's agonizing pace of going everywhere, never really getting anywhere. Finally, she comes to terms with her age, her appearance, and her attitude toward life. At times, I wanted to say, "We've heard this before!" It seems that was the author's creative technique -- to wear out the reader as much as it exhausted her main character, so that, in the end, we could all breathe a huge sigh of relief.

I commend this book to the Maggie Haydens who are struggling with an empty stage of life. Hunt's character Elvira will point the reader to Jesus Christ, at center stage in her own life. - Cheryl Cecil, Christian Book Previews.com

This book was funny and relaxing and I enjoyed reading it. The author kept me laughing while at the same time wondering what was coming next for Maggie. I can't wait to read another book by D. Hunt.

Great book, if you are close to menopause it's a must read.

Diann Hunt uses humor and zany situations to make us laugh at aging. Maggie Hayden gets herself into one scrape after another with her misguided caring. Hunt drew me into this story so well, Maggie became real. I cared about her. So much that there were times I wanted to slap her. She drove me nuts with her inability to get a grip, yet I laughed all the way.

Besides having a wonderfully intriguing title, Hot Flashes and Cold Cream is a page-turner of a book. You can't wait to see what Maggie gets herself into next. Thanks you, Diann, for this hilarious romp through aging.

Dr Lee hit the nail on the head. This is the first book dog book that answers the questions you ask yourself about the four legged family member. Its not re-hashed info you see in other books. Yet She makes the book so easy and laugh out loud funny to ready. This is a must have for any dog lover.

This book answered questions I didn't even think of! It's very informative and so easy to read since it's entertaining too. The book gives you a whole new perspective on dogs. It helps you enjoy your dog's companionship even more. The book makes a great gift. Or even a refresher on what you've forgotten or been lax about in doggie care to things you never knew.

This is the most entertaining book on dogs I have ever read. The author covers everything I could think of (most that is not in other books). There were also things I never would have thought to ask covered that were just amazing little facts. On top of being full of great information, the book is really funny. Several times I had to stop reading, look over at my dog, and just laugh. I hope to see more from this author. A second book by her will be purchased without a second thought.

humorous and well written. I am a dog lover, thought I have known enough about how to take care of dogs, but still I learned a lot from this book. I wish more dog lovers or friends of dog lovers would have owned this book or shared this book to othrs.

Anita L

This is an engaging and fun read. It's easy to just pick it up and flip to an interesting question. The humor is for adults only though!

Reading Rauch's book reminded me of Alvin Kernan's book Crossing the Line. If you found either compelling, then I'd recommend you read the other. They are vitally different, but powerfully similar in their very real, personal and detailed personal history of WWII. They ought to be required reading. Not since I read Stalingrad have I felt this way about a book on WWII.

This true story of Georg's perilous, horrific term as a soldier in WW 11 includes loving letters home to his mother and the realities of the war he spared her. His style reveals his intelligence and humor in the face of starvation, frozen conditions, illness, and battle. There is a bittersweet charm in his voice which captivates the reader from beginnng to end.

I am an old man and I read a lot of books and always have. I just finished The Jew With the Iron Cross and remember no book that I have enjoyed more. We go with this author as he goes reluctantly into war and go step by step with him to it's end. We see much of the inhumanity to man and the unbelievable depravity into which some fall. We also see a spirit in a young, normal, intelligent man that cannot be broken. This is an outstanding true account of three years of the life of an incredible individual. I remember no other book that I finished with tears running down my cheeks. This is a story that will remain with the reader forever.

Georg Raush's memoir of his experiences during WWII is a powerful and moving story of how an individual can get caught up in a conflict not of his own making. His honesty, humanity and wit shine through at almost every turn of the page. I was particulary impressed with his strength of mind and perserverence in dealing with a continually and worsening horrible situation. His strong ties to his mother and family were, in my mind, a large part of how and why he survived. I believe he was destined to survive, in part, in order to share his story. I had the priviledge and pleasure of meeting the author a couple of years ago in the course of a trip to Mexico. I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to understand what war is like and what it does to its participants.

Georg Rauch powerfully fills a void that has been missing from WWII history. His experience as a German soldier is a human one, not only in terms of being a German soldier in general, but also in his own unique experience. The use of the humanizing letters home is a brilliant contrast to the grim robotic realities at the front, a progressively dehumanizing environment.

Rauch's Jewishness becomes all the more powerful through his restraint from making it an overriding theme. Instead, he imparts a universal message, to which his ethnic history contributes an important added element. I could not help but think of American black soldiers drafted into fighting in Vietnam, for a country that at the time showed no great love for them.

The author makes his story a universal experience by his unsparing honesty, his unbreakable integrity. He could have skipped his agreement to become a spy for the Soviet Union. But he knew the reader would relate to the moral dilemma and that he was acting in all our names when he decided to cooperate. Rauch, unlike Bill Clinton, could never be guilty of smoking without inhaling.

This book combines astonishing incidents with frequent suspense and tragedy. Its matter-of-fact language draws us into the experience. The author's wife Phyllis has done such a superb job of translating from the German that it reads like original English. Nobody can read this book without a change in attitude toward war and life itself.

If you can read French and if you grew up heaaring Mother Goose rhymes (in English) this book is a MUST HAVE. It presents an almost credible scholarly work about some fragments (in French) from an old civilization. If you will read those fragments aloud, you"ll be able to hear (in English) well known nursery rhymes. Truly fascinating, and soetimes challenging! (Especially if you had never known THIS rhyme in English!)
--And the "scholaraly" footnotes are great!

Zebu qui se regrette: there's no question about that, and I _am_ grateful that it's back in print. BUT, buyers beware: the print in this edition looks like it came out of a cheap photocopier. Van Rooten deserved better.

This is a wonderful book - I laughed myself silly the first time I encountered it (even though my French comprehension is NOT wonderful). Will give this one to a friend to whom I know it will give hours of pleasure.

Mots D'Heures: Gousses, Rames is one of the greatest literary entertainments ever written. It runs the gamut from touchingly nostalgic to raucous. Above all, it is howlingly funny. It makes me laugh so hard it hurts.
You need two things to enjoy Mots D'Heures: Gousses, Rames. You should know some French, and you should know some nursery rhymes. With that, the book will hit you from line to line with waves of jaw-dropping hilarity, endless wit, and moments of poignant reminiscence.

There is nothing more to say except: bah, six boucs! [The author apparently thinks you should pay six goats---or a sheep?]

PS -- Having unguardedly purchased a copy of the paperback edition listed above, I must agree with a recent reviewer that the production is dreadful. A reader interested in this masterwork would do well to seek out a copy of the original 1967 edition (long out of print), even at considerable cost. But not from me, though. I wouldn't part with mine for less than tartines fortunes.

With the spurious title "The D'Antin Manuscript", suspicions are immediately alerted. D'Antin = "downtown", maybe? More than likely.

The book purports to be a rediscovery of a mediaeval French manuscript and is presented with appropriate introduction, notes, etc., the usual machinery of scholars. However, upon reading the poems, the arcane nature of the French renders the lines meaningless. What kind of manuscript is this, anyway? You go with the flow - you chuck "meaning" out the window.

Read them phonetically, and suddenly the poems take shape in a Proustian way, as the nursery rhymes of your youth. Not only is the book great fun to return to a) for a laugh and b) to practise your French accent (you'll need the fluency for, e.g. "Un petit d'un petit" - Humpty Dumpty). It's also great to fake your friends out with this handy little tome.

Bring it back into print!

Great book, worth the price a hundred times. Great to read more exploits of Bean! Just like the TV show! Recomended! Some parts will laugh you to death such as:

Smashed bugs in the book

Police reports

Much much more!

Funny, but I expected it to be like a book, and there were just some andom notes for every day.

This book is hilarious and makes for simple, entertaining reading. It consists of a diary in which Mr. Bean records his various escapades (in his untidy scrawl) and keeps his letters and newspaper clippings. It contains quite a few references to the episodes themselves, and it's necessary to read it more than once to appreciate the full humour value. I recommend this book to all fans of Mr. Bean.

Even Mr. Bean's most enthusiastic fans will have to agree that he can be really gross sometimes. For those of us who wish we'd never seen him try to stop his ears with someone else's used chewing gum, he's a lot easier to take in print than on video, just as weird but much less nauseating. I think he's funnier, too. It's kind of like a radio play: What you fill in with your imagination can be funnier than what they show you.

Mr Bean aka Rowan Atkinson is one of my favorite comedian. He manages to crack you up without resorting to low down slapstick humor. The book is a must-read for Mr Bean fans, and for those of you who have yet to see his TV shows (way better than the movie), I highly recommend this book. It is guaranteed to give me tummyaches from laughing too hard.

We love all the Mutts material. We've bought every Mutts book there is. Great to have around for a quick laugh. Too much is never enough!

A whole series of wonderful Sunday comic strips all gathered together! It was a real treat. I highly recommend this and the rest of the Mutts Sundays series ...

Patrick McDonnell's "Mutts" comic strip is quite an achievement: it's sweet without being cloying, heartwarming without being manipulative, and nostalgic yet always original. His simple yet eloquent artwork achieves a range of emotions; he may be today's most economical cartoonist. Even more remarkably, he earns laughs without resorting to the gross-out humour so prevalent in today's comic world.

This collection includes possibly my favorite "Mutts" strip: Guard Dog asks Earl "How's your old man?" Earl imagines his Ozzie in a cape performing all sorts of heroic tasks, and answers, "He's Super!"

I never tire of the adventures of Earl and Mooch. Of course, it helps to be a dog owner and animal lover! But I can't imagine anyone not being won over by McDonnell's lovable gang of "Mutts."

If you are 5 or 95 you will love Mutts. It is wonderfully drawn, funny, and sweet.

This book, the first of the Sunday collections, has great art, good humor, and an abundance of the charm and warmth that makes McDonnell's work so special. Plus it's in color, beautifully printed, and given an interesting presentation. Who could ask for anything more?

This is very funny stuff. I remember getting this book in college. It's still just as funny or perhaps more funny today!!

Kliban was definitely one of the best. I discovered his work in used book stores and was hooked the moment I saw it. What started was a manic tour to find all of his books. Next was convincing everyone I knew at the time that Kliban was a genius. Some bought, some flinched.

Kliban's work would have no home in today's "funny pages." It's entertainment for adults (he began his career with Playboy magazine) and his work is scattered with obscenity and nudity. None of it is gratuitous. One thing that heavily separates Kliban's work from other cartoonists' is its depth. Social commentary mixed with metaphysics mixed with surrealism. When he's funny he's gut-wrenchingly funny. When he's profound he's deeply profound (not many cartoonists' work can be called 'profound'). He also uses the pun in a way I've never seen before. He either goes over the top and makes you gag(e.g., "Why do you hang out with that sadist?" "Beats me!"), or is very subtle and hilarious (e.g., A buffalo saying "I never met an Indian I didn't like, with the possible exception of Kahlil Gibran"). His work is nonsensical, absurd and funny.

This book includes classics such as "The Birth of Advertising", "Patron Saint of Crullers", "Contaminated Pork Bldg", "The Hairy Family Singers", "Continuous Eye Persons", "Philosophers Looting a Small Town", and many others that defy description.

Kliban's closest equivalent in cartooning must be Argentina's Quino. If you're a fan of Kliban, most likely you'll appreciate Quino's work (though some knowledge of Spanish is helpful).

Sadly, a lot of Kliban's work is difficult to find these days. His "safer" books like "Cat" are readily available, but his more edgy work seems to have nearly vanished. Perhaps someday if mainstream humor revisits off-the-wall absurdism Kliban's work will be appreciated for what it was.

B. Kliban is a pre-Larson cartoonist with some similar traits. Kliban is much more cerebral, however. My college roommate had this book and "Tiny Footprints" and I was hooked. "Soup to Nuts" is a classic.

The B. Kliban book, "Never Eat Anything Bigger Than Your Head," was the most original, funniest and thought-provoking cartoon series that I've ever seen. For humor value I also like New Yorker cartoons, but they are locked in a kind of workplace suburban conventionality that seems less original than Kliban, and anyway they use multiple authors for their body of work.

A "predecessor" of Gary Larsen? Having had Kliban's book and then seeing Gary Larsen's series, Larsen's work is clearly derivative of Kliban, sort of like J.K. Rowling coming after J.R.R. Tolkein.

The book is still funny and mind-stretching, and my original 70s paperback copy is falling apart, so I'm taking the trouble to track down another copy.

Anyway, as far as I'm concerned this book is at the top of the heap of original cartoon humor and actually represents a new way of looking at everything in terms of parody from the early 70s on. Buy it if you dare.

This was my roommate's book and I read it back in the 70's. It was so hysterical we used to laugh until we thought we'd wet ourselves. I sometimes think about funny cartons/sayings and I'm still laughing about it 20+ years later. I'm amazed I remembered the name of the book, but I did, so here I am. I'm ordering it today. I'm going to keep it at work, and when things get me down, I'll look at the picture of the "Wonder Weiner Works" and I know it'll put a smile on my face.

In this alternate reality Slider-like adventure, once again the underdog finds that he isn't a total loser after all. This is a fantasy that teen and junior high boys can enjoy as well as girls, filled with themes that appeal to Young Adult readers. Just about everyone can identify with the characters, even though Tonya comes from a world where magic is a commonplace commodity and they study it in school. Simon, an orphan who knows nothing of his mother, is a really sad case who is seriously bullied by some nasty classmates. It seems like he is always running away from them. Then Tonya suddenly pops in and blows the bullies away with her magic skills. Unfotunately, she also demolishes some buildings and cars in the process. Somehow Tonya had gotten separated from her classmates, who were going on their first field trip. Everything she does makes matters worse until they finally manage to get into the jet stream, if you will, the superhighway between alternative worlds. But Butch, the worst of the bullies plaguing Simon, manages to get in with them and even steal the paratransmitter that is used to pass from one world to another. They end up in a world neither knows anything about, Simon nearly dying in the process.

From that point, everything is foreign to Simon, and Tonya finds herself frustrated by things she is no longer able to do. They are taken in by a family and go to school, where Tonya is embarrassed because the younger Simon is faring better than she is. She hates the world they are stuck on.

I will say that they eventually leave this world of Pudo, but there are some major changes in both characters before that happens. In the meanwhile there are some spies, assassins, traitors, rulers of various worlds, and Tonya's parents that enter into the story. More than once demons are summoned by the bad guys. These guys are a lot meaner than I expected at the beginning, and it was soon obvious that no one was safe from their evil deeds and murders. Simon and Tonya are pulled into the intrigues in some unsuspecting ways, leading to a rather tense and exciting tale.

Matthew Peterson has a sense of humor that teen and pre-teen guys will really appreciate. I like the detail that Tonya's hair changes color depending on her mood. Some scenes are a bit reminiscent of Harry Potter, like the car that flies (by magic) up the side of a high building when they are escaping the police on earth. A lot of the dialog between Tonya, Simon, and their Pudan friend Thornapple is full of kid sarcasm.

This book is quite moral, built on high values and a definite God-view of the universe. The magic is not of 'real' magic, but has to do with electro-magical waves that are in the air. God is constantly brought into the story, quite naturally, although not everyone believes or gives him control of their lives.

I definitely recommend this as a good read for Young Adults, both girls and boys. Full of action, humor, moral values, suspense, and some mystery.

After reading Paraworld Zero, by Matthew Peterson, I am impressed. Matthew Peterson resides in Arizona with his wife and five sons. He has a degree in Business Management, an Eagle Scout award, and a second degree black belt in karate. Paraworld Zero is his first title.
Simon Kent thought he was just an ordinary twelve year old. He may be a bit of a weakling, have asthma, chased by bullies, and live in a foster home- but he does have his video games. That is, until he stumbles upon Tonya, a girl who can perform magic and whose hair can change colors with her passing moods. Somehow he is swept into a futuristic world where nothing is as he knows it. Together, with Tonya, they unravel an ancient mystery, brawl with mystical creatures, and attempt to save the universe from impending doom.
On the cover of this book it has this listed as Book One in Parallel Worlds. I am not entirely sure if this implies this is a series, or if there will be more, but Matthew Peterson sure leaves it open to do so.
Now, if I'm being perfectly honest, the sci-fi genre is completely out of my element and I have very little to compare this to. Typically I find myself bored with this genre. I found a few grammatical errors with commas, but there were very few and it was not distracting nor did it deter me from reading.
After saying that, I found this to be an original, creative, and engaging story. This young-adult sci-fi book is filled with demonic dumpsters, cat-like women, hideous villains, magic, wild chases, dragons, gigantic spiders and worms, ravenous creature devouring trees, giants, dwarves... you name it! It packs you with one adventure after another. This is a cross between Harry Potter and Star Trek, with characters right out of Lord of the Rings! I am utterly amazed at how engrossed I was by this book. The characters, from the Puds, to the royalty, to Marmasuelian, to Simon and Tonya are believable and endearing. It made me want to jump to a parallel dimension, too! This book makes you feel the magic and imagination of childhood all over again. Something I think we all lose after we grow up, and what a shame. To experience the prospect that anything is possible again was a real delight, even if only cover to cover. I would very much like to see this adapted on screen. Matthew Peterson will be edging his way through the writing community with this one, no doubt about that! I hope to see more from these characters in the future.

Kelly Moran,
Author and Reviewer

The chases - gripping; the characters - well developed; the plot - compelling and seamless with the action; the cliffhanger - first rate! What else could you ask for? There is even a first kiss! Oh, and did I mention the humor? This book was FUNNY!

It wasn't a flawless book (it was a little heavy handed sometimes and maybe could have used a better editor), but I was really surprised at how much the author was able to bring me into this world (or should I say "paraworld"). When I finished the book, all I could think of is, "I don't want to wait until the next one comes out... I want to read it now!"

Wonderful read. Sci Fi and Harry Potter all in one. Great book that held my interest from beginning to end. Waiting for book two. Love the characters, including HAR. Great reading for any age....Thanks for such a surprize.

Living in Mrs. Trimble's orphanage after having been left alone at birth, Simon Kent still has a life filled with love. However, it's also filled with lots of medication, older bullies, and an aversion to math. One afternoon, a strange girl named Tonya seemingly comes out of nowhere, but in fact, she's from a parallel universe. This starts Simon's race against time to help save magic being eliminated from the paraworlds.

This sci-fi/fantasy adventure pulls the reader in from the first sentence and keeps the pages turning. Filled with humor, cool new gadgets and spells, and an extremely original premise, this is one book you do not want to miss out on. As the start to a six-book series, the narration is fast-paced and already filled with well-drawn characters. Two thumbs up (and perhaps I'll throw in a set of jazz hands- that's how good this book is!)!!

This is my favorite book of all five books I have.You see it starts out with a couple skating competition that Ranma and Akane are in. Exept not only are they doing this to prove that Ranma can do any materials arts (even skating!) they also compete for the cute pig side of Ryoga who was captured by this new character (I forgot what her name was) during the time Akane was skating in the ice rink in volume 2.The new girl (who when ever finds something cute picks it up and names it)is also competing for what she calls the cute pig side of Ryoga Charrelote! Akane being mad at the fact gets into the competition. But during the competition there is a black out! I don't want to ruin the surprise and tell you the rest so i geuss you will have to figure out yourself buy it I'm sure you will love it . Oh! and it also has the first apperence of Shampoo! The kick butt chinese chick!

Just when it seems that things are going right for Ranma Saotome, they promptly go wrong again.

That's the way it is with the entrance of one of Rumiko Takahashi's most popular characters, the won't-take-no-for-an-answer Amazon Shampoo. The third volume of "Ranma 1/2" has Ranma and Akane reaching a new level of interest in each other.... only to have Shampoo shatter it.

The day dawns for the martial-arts skating competition, and Ranma is more determined than ever to beat womanizing Mikado Sanzenin (who gave him his first kiss in the previous volume). But Ranma is given a savage beating that almost kills him -- and soon Ryoga/P-chan/Charlotte has entered the rink, determined to beat the figure skaters as well.

No sooner have Ranma and Akane gotten off the rink than a new problem arises: A Chinese girl batters through a wall, announcing "Ranma, I kill!" She's Shampoo, a Chinese Amazon whom Ranma defeated in one-on-one combat in China. Now Shampoo won't be satisfied until (female) Ranma is dead.

But when she encounters Ranma in his male form, and he accidently defeats her, Shampoo falls in love with him. Now Akane is seething with jealousy, and Ranma is trying to evade a new fiancee who wants him as a guy -- and wants him dead as a girl. Even worse, Shampoo's devotion to her new "groom" extends to giving Akane selective amnesia -- she remembers everything except Ranma.

Before this volume of "Ranma 1/2," the romantic problems were pretty straightforward, and the only rival was a guy who is too shy to say how he feels. But with the arrival of Shampoo, the tangled web of love starts to form -- and poor Ranma is stuck right in the middle of it.

There's more romance than martial-arts in this volume, despite the long-awaited skating match. Poor Ranma is being pursued romantically by a womanizing skater and a deranged Amazon, and it's rapidly becoming a lot more than his limited skills can handle. And only Ranma could pull off a little frilly skating dress.

Romantics will get a few thrills in this volume: Ranma threatens Mikado for saying that he'll kiss Akane, and later vows that he will make sure Akane remembers him. And when Akane takes her jealous frustrations about Ranma out on a straw dummy, she remembers his threat, and them gently hugs the dummy.

Romantic problems get more intense in the third volume of "Ranma 1/2," with the arrival of Shampoo, Fiancee No. 2. And things only get more complex later on....

I was having dinner with my boyfriend at his parents house and after dinner i noticed his sister had this book sitting out. As an avid book lover who devotes her entire being into reading a book, i naturaly inquired about it. My boyfriend and his dad gave it rave reviews and his sister was so far very amused and impressed. Such high ratings from non-book lovers! The sarcasm and humor (yes on every page) are a riot! What can i say - I'M HOOKED! :D

Living in Japan comes with numerous perks. First off, I can brush up on my marginally acceptable Japanese-speaking skills, but I also have access to some things that I just couldn't get enough of anywhere else. Well, Ranma 1/2 lurks near the top of that list.

Rumiko Takahashi, arguably one of the best and most creative writers of manga in history, presents us with the longest-running series of her impressive resume - the story of a teenaged martial arts master, Ranma Saotome, and his irresponsible trainer and father, Genma. Genma takes him to Jusenkyo, a collection of hot springs in China. If only Genma had known how to read Chinese, he would have known that the springs afflict those who fall into them with evil and seemingly irreversible curses - as Ranma and Genma unwittingly duel it out atop bamboo poles high over the springs, Ranma kicks his father into "The Spring of Drowned Giant Panda" ... surprise, out jumps a Giant Panda, ready to resume fighting. Bewildered, Ranma is hit by the panda into "The Spring of Drowned Young Girl", and meets the surface with the curse that haunts his life - you see, once Genma and Ranma make contact with cold water, Genma becomes a panda, and Ranma becomes a female version of himself. Not to completely worry though, because hot water will bring them back to normal every time. But that's only the beginning of the story. Genma trained with a man called Soun Tendo, the father of three teenage girls - Genma and Soun agreed to marry Ranma with one of his girls. The money-grabbing Nabiki and the impossibly-kind Kasumi, the elder sisters, elect the unwilling boy-hating Akane to become fiancees with this "hentai otoko", and this is the rocky start to the relationship that the series revolves around.

Having already read the entire Ranma 1/2 series, I can honestly say that the third book (fourth in Japan, somehow) was one of the best. It begins with the continuation of the ice-skating competition, with not only one, but TWO of the cutest scenes you'll ever see, plus a great appearance by Ryoga, who is lovestruck with Akane. It's after the competition ends that we're introduced to the sexy Chinese Amazon warrior girl, Shampoo. Female Ranma defeated Shampoo in a tournament of sorts while he was back in China. That's wonderful and all, but the only problem is that Shampoo gives "The Kiss of Death" to all females who defeat her - it's the vow that she'll hunt them down and kill them, whatever it takes. Well, she's followed Ranma into Japan, and now he's on the run again. Just one thing - she has never seen the male-version Ranma. He ends up defeating her as well. Expecting the worst, the terrified Ranma is pushed into another "Kiss of Death", but, somehow, this one is a bit different: Shampoo kisses him on the lips, and means it. The other half of Shampoo's vows are that if a male defeats her, she vows to marry him. And with that, Shampoo is trying to kill one half of Ranma, while trying desperately to seduce the other half. The irony here is obvious and hilarious, and it's situations like these that Rumiko Takahashi has the ability to work with flawlessly.

As you can imagine, Akane (although she won't admit it) is quite jealous and annoyed by Shampoo's advances towards her fiancee - and although Ranma and Akane would rather die than admit any sort of more-than-platonic feelings for each other, we can start to see the sweet silhouette of some sort of attraction between them when Akane meets her first rival suitor for Ranma. Akane, being the violent tomboy, picks a fight with Shampoo. Ranma realizes that Akane is no match for Shampoo, so he comes to her rescue to find her lying on the ground - she wakes up with part of her memory gone - the part of her memory that has anything to do with Ranma, that is. Of course it's Shampoo's wily tricks that did this to her, and Ranma is determined to find the '911' formula shampoo that will bring her memory back. He ends up successful in bringing Akane's memory back, and all is well for everyone. Well, except for Shampoo. It's then that she discovers the shocking secret that Ranma keeps, and is devastated. She leaves (presumably for China) with tears in her eyes ... but distance makes the heart grow fonder, as they say.

If you're as in love with this series as I am, you must read on, it's definitely worth it. The beginning is all about introducing main characters and building the foundations of their relationship with everyone else, but as we progress through the story, the relationships start to develop and Rumiko Takahashi can leave us all with endearing smiles on our faces at this very sweet, hilarious, and exciting action-packed romantic-comedy.

Just when it seems that things are going right for Ranma Saotome, they promptly go wrong again.

That's the way it is with the entrance of one of Rumiko Takahashi's most popular characters, the won't-take-no-for-an-answer Amazon Shampoo. The third volume of "Ranma 1/2" has Ranma and Akane reaching a new level of interest in each other.... only to have Shampoo shatter it.

The day dawns for the martial-arts skating competition, and Ranma is more determined than ever to beat womanizing Mikado Sanzenin (who gave him his first kiss in the previous volume). But Ranma is given a savage beating that almost kills him -- and soon Ryoga/P-chan/Charlotte has entered the rink, determined to beat the figure skaters as well.

No sooner have Ranma and Akane gotten off the rink than a new problem arises: A Chinese girl batters through a wall, announcing "Ranma, I kill!" She's Shampoo, a Chinese Amazon whom Ranma defeated in one-on-one combat in China. Now Shampoo won't be satisfied until (female) Ranma is dead.

But when she encounters Ranma in his male form, and he accidently defeats her, Shampoo falls in love with him. Now Akane is seething with jealousy, and Ranma is trying to evade a new fiancee who wants him as a guy -- and wants him dead as a girl. Even worse, Shampoo's devotion to her new "groom" extends to giving Akane selective amnesia -- she remembers everything except Ranma.

Before this volume of "Ranma 1/2," the romantic problems were pretty straightforward, and the only rival was a guy who is too shy to say how he feels. But with the arrival of Shampoo, the tangled web of love starts to form -- and poor Ranma is stuck right in the middle of it.

There's more romance than martial-arts in this volume, despite the long-awaited skating match. Poor Ranma is being pursued romantically by a womanizing skater and a deranged Amazon, and it's rapidly becoming a lot more than his limited skills can handle. And only Ranma could pull off a little frilly skating dress.

Romantics will get a few thrills in this volume: Ranma threatens Mikado for saying that he'll kiss Akane, and later vows that he will make sure Akane remembers him. And when Akane takes her jealous frustrations about Ranma out on a straw dummy, she remembers his threat, and them gently hugs the dummy.

Romantic problems get more intense in the third volume of "Ranma 1/2," with the arrival of Shampoo, Fiancee No. 2. And things only get more complex later on....