Humor Books

My son in-law LOVES this book. It was a gift to him from myself and my husband. He can't get enough of this author and absolutely LOVES these books.

Baxter has done it again. He manages to mix humor with social commentary, kind'a makes you think and belly laugh at the same time. Some of this book is politically incorrect--well, good for it! this country takes itself far too seriously, and it needs a good makin'-fun-of, and Baxter is the man for the job. You don't have to be a buckaroo or farmer, or vet to "get" these poems and short stories. It helps to be human, and not one encased in a shell of narrow-minded political correctness! One story in particular, about the frozen septic tank lid, had me laughing so hard I thought I was going to have a conniption. Moments of side-splitting laughter are intertwined with real stories of real people that are touchingly poignant. Bax hits the mark here. Great job!

A few years ago I awoke to National Public Radio's Morning Edition and to the voice of some easy going, homespun cowboy reading a poem that had me in stitches by the third verse. As I read "Cactus Trails..." I could hear Black's easy voice utter each word. While his departure from veterinary medicine is a loss to that community, it is a clear gain for easy going, common sense, sanity seeking people caught in the cross hairs of our cell phone, pager, eEVERYTHING society. Thanks to Baxter Black's commentary and writings we have an excuse to slow down a bit each day and get in touch with the basics. Will Rogers would love this guy!

Back to basics, the way life IS in America, without all of the Political poles, lies, and propiganda as spread by the media. should be classed as "Must Read"

My husband can't put this book down! Baxter Black's clean and side-splitting "talk" is entertaining for all audiences. My mother, my husband, and my best friend have all loved this book.

This is my favorite book of all time because it has a great amount of adventure and laughs. Marco and Polo are so cute and since I am a cat lover that gave me a plus in rating this book 5 stars.

The things I like about Carlotta`s Kittens are that it has passion, drama and the kittens are so cute you're going to love it. I think that Carlotta`s Kittens is for all ages especially grades 2 through 5. The things I dislike about the book is the cat named Steak Knife. I did not like him because he was going to chew off one of the character's (Catnip`s) tail. The other thing is I don't know why I didn't mention this before but he has a tail collection! The two things about Carlotta`s Kittens is 1:The Neal Family adopted Jumper and Spinner.2:I also enjoyed when Carlotta said, "You may be big and you may be strong but you've all got the brains of a banana!"

Carlottas kittens are here! 5 little adorable kittens! When they come to the club of mysteries the he casts know there is going to be trouble. Like they could get eaten up by this do bertrem the bad. Od steak knife a cat who collects tails from his victims. And worst of all Carlotta's Owner who will take them to the pound if he finds them. They msut find a home and fast before it's to late.

There are more books in this trilogy. If you have ever read or seen shiloh this is by the author. If you like long hard books you will still like this.

Carlotta's Kittens is an awesome book! It's exciting, adventurous, and hilarious! I rented it from the library and once I started reading the first and second chapters, I started loving it! I haven't read the first two books of the "Club Of Mysteries" series, but I still think it is one of the greatest books I've ever read! My favorite characters are Carlotta, Polo, Catnip, and Elvis. I loved all the characters, actually...but anyways, why don't YOU read it? I think you'll love it too!

Carlotta's Kittens by Phyllis Reynolds Nichols

Read this book. It's a mystery about cats and kittens and tails. This book is about a girl cat who has kittens and her friends from the alley. When she got back with her kittens her friends taught the kittens to do cat stuff, until one of the kittens got kidnapped by a one-eye cat. And some of Carlotta's friends go rescue the kitten by tricking the one eye cat.

I liked this book because it was funny. This book kept making me laugh. When I was reading this book it reminded me of a cat that fell off a tree and landed in my dad's arms.

I think the author wrote this book so that kids should find baby animals a home so they could know some animals are in danger.

I am from England and have bought all of Deric Longden's books there. I am surpries to find that they are all out of print here - he has an amazing way with words that left me laughing out loud. The tale of a small white kitten called Thermal (for reasons which I will not go into here) is one that as well being incredibly funny also has moments of sadness init as well. The books "Diana's story" and "Lost for words" are also not to be missed, although I can guarentee tears as well as laughter with these books.

American readers who enjoy authors such as Cleveland Armory are really deprived of the British author Derick Longden's classics. "The Cat Who Came In From the Cold" was the first of his books I read, but was able to read more only because I have a friend who orders them from the UK. Longden imparts personality and (imagined) dialogues and thoughts from his cats, which will have you chuckling and nodding in agreement with his knowledge of our feline favorites. GET HIS BOOKS!

I first picked up the audio version of "The Cat Who Came in From the Cold" from our library while preparing for a marathon car trip with my husband (not a man who thinks highly of cats) and sons (ages 23, 20 and 14). I was pretty skeptical that the male majority would really 'let' me listen to a book with a cute little kitten on the cover, but I added it to my stack anyway (it's good to be Queen!). After having had my fill of "Tom Clancy" and his friends, I plugged in "The Cat Who Came in From the Cold" and soon ALL of us were all laughing the miles away. On our return leg of our trip, all these big guys (and their mom AND DAD) wanted to hear the "Thermal" tapes again (listening to a story a second time through is unheard of around here!) Along with most of Deric Longden's other books, we now own our own set of tapes to share with family, and the book version (which my 14 year old son, who hates to read, read cover to cover in about a day). Cheeky Thermal is an oft quoted cat around here. It is also nice to find a book that appeals to everyone in the family without any objectionable material. This is just great, light-hearted fare.

I listened to this book on audio cassette while I cleaned my barn. It was so much fun to listen to, I cleaned more and more each day because I didn't want to turn off the tape. My barn is now immaculate, and I was sorry to come to the end of the story!

Having read Deric Longden's first five books (the others include Diana's Story, Lost For Words, I'm a Stranger Here Myself & Enough to Make a Cat Laugh), I can confidentally say that this is when the author is at his best. He delivers enough comedy (something to be expanded upon in subsequent books), but mixed with a subtle version of his own blend of tragedy (already established in previous books). Whilst many thought that his characterization of his mother's mental decline in Lost For Words was distasteful, I would think that even the harshest of critics would fail not to find the story of a lost kitten a least a little endearing.

Although it may be easy enough to dismiss this as simply a children's novel, I would say that, given enough suspension of disbelief & a little imagination, this can be a thoroughly enjoying read, and (cliche) a book that you will want to keep coming back to, time & again, even if only for some of the amusing anecdottes presented by Thermal.

This book is so catchy we borrowed this from our local library cause my daughter is just crazy for cats and so is Mrs. Brown! Her house is simply overflowing with cats in all shapes and sizes and she wouldn't want it any other way shes got cats purling in the parlor and cats cooking in the kitchen and shes more than happy to clean up after them even if the neighbors say shes batty Mrs. Brown just thinks shes catty!
Great Play on words! And definitely more entertaining than "Pigs, Pigs, Pigs".

This book was given to me by my niece who knows what a cat lover I am. Being an artist and illustrator myself, I am very critical of art work...especially of portrayal of cats. It is a BEAUTIFULLY illustrated and charming book. I have given this book to other cat lovers.

This is a great story for a wide age range--purchased for my Granddaughter's 3rd birthday--the illustrations are so much fun

We were given this book as a gift for my daughters second birthday and she absolutely loves it. It is requested at least once a day. I will definitely check out the others (Dogs... and Pigs) for ourselves and as gifts too!

I thought this was a book about the Broadway play 'CATS' anyway it was a great read, and it has good pictures. Buy it!

JIM, who ran away from his nurse and was eaten by a lion.

It's small wonder that Edward Gorey chose to illustrate Belloc's verses, written nearly a century ago - in fact, they were such a clear and strong influence on his work, it's hard to believe he didn't write them himself. 'Cautionary Tales' is a literary work that was years ahead of its time, parodying the overtly-strict educational children's verses of the time with tales of children whose punishment is wholly disproportioned to their crime. Gorey's illustrations, published only after his death in 2000, complete the ghoulish verses with his trademark naïve and refined black and white crosshatching. Already in his seventies, Gorey has lost none of his charm and style and these illustrations are as nasty and sarcastic as anything he's done, perfectly complimenting the ironic text.

'Cautionary Tales' is the first work of Gorey's published after his death, and it's a perfect conclusion to his illustrious career, and one of his finest works. It's an essential to any fan of this great artist.

This was one of the loved books of my childhood in the original edition, of course.

I hadn't seen it for a very long time and was anxious to haev a copy for my younger grandchildren. Though old people can enjoy it as well.

Now plesed to have it on my own shelves

I got this to read to my nephews, and it did not disappoint when the time came to pick a story to read. I highly recommend this and the Gashlycrumb Tinies to anyone with children or nephews....

I just gave this to a friends' one year old for her birthday. In the inscription I wrote that she ought to read and learn, as whatever she does in life will come back to haunt her. My friend thought the book hysterical. Her husband thinks we're both odd...

One can imagine Edward Gorey mulling over these "Cautionary Tales",subsequently creating succinct Goreyesque illustrations for them. Then years later after presenting his family to us in "The Willowdale Handcar" he undoubtedbly mulled over ideas about families & children and came up with my personal favorite Gorey: The Gashleycrumb Tinies. If you like Gorey & you like the Tinies, you'll enjoy "Cautionary Tales".

4 stars only because I happen to like the devilishly wonderful "Tinies" better.

This was without reserve the best Christmas music and movie review book I have ever read. The comments were both intelligent and funny. The whole book was both well researched and entertaining. The world is a better place because of this book.

Once you get this book, you may not want to have another Christmas without it.

In more than 280 pages, the authors discuss all things Christmas as they pick their "Top 10" in categories ranging from mistletoe to carols, from rangifer tarandus (reindeer) to animated cartoons. The choices are necessarily subjective, and much of the text is funny, filled with references to pop culture, music, TV and film. Pick your idea of the 10 worst Christmas songs on the radio, and see if your list compares with theirs.

The authors include scads of trivia and the inside scoop on holiday history and traditions you may never have heard of.

As you enjoy the nostalgia you'll also find useless but fascinating stuff like this: Somebody figured out that Santa has to visit 91.8 million homes in 31 hours, which means he has to make 822.6 visits per second and travel at 650 miles per second. Whew!

This would be the perfect book to have on hand for guests at Christmas, and it would make a great conversation-starter. It's fully indexed, and the bibliography includes quite a few Web sites for follow-up.

CHRISTMAS'S MOST WANTED is a reference book about Christmas customs, traditions, songs, films, evergreen trees, music, cards, foods, and a lot more.

Do you associate a certain film with Christmas? Well, this book gives detailed information in the chapter called Holiday Movie Classics. Some of the old movies mentioned are: Holiday Inn (1942), Christmas in Connecticut (1945), It's A Wonderful Life (1946), The Bishop's Wife (1947), Miracle on 34th Street (1947) and White Christmas (1954). With each film, a brief summary of the storyline is given and all of the actors are named. I have to say that was my favorite chapter.

You can also learn about the tradition of mistletoe, sending cards, singing carols, how Santa's reindeer were named and questions you never even thought to ask!

The book answers a lot of questions and I thought it was well researched, but this is primarily a secular book so don't expect many religious topics. Most of the religious references are in the chapter called Nollaig Shona which is Merry Christmas in Irish. The two references that I found to the Magi (Wise Men or Three Kings) was in a paragraph about the song, "Twelve Days of Christmas." In the song, the Twelfth Day is the Epiphany, the day that the Three Kings brought gifts for the Baby Jesus. (That's the reason that many of us leave our Christmas trees up until, January 6, which is the twelfth day of Christmas). The other reference was about a piece that was done by Dave Brubeck.

The word Christmas comes from two words put together. They are Christ's Mass.

This book will definitely put you in the Christmas spirit as you learn everything you wanted to know about Christmas but are afraid to ask! I highly recommend this as a read for yourself and a stocking stuffer for others.

This book is a real treat. It's a lot of fun to read about all the different kinds of trivia in here. I love holiday music, and it talks about all the great ones, and some new ones I haven't heard of before! And the movies and cartoons, brings back a lot of childhood memories.

Tons of short, fun, interesting snippets of holiday information. Just perfect to pick and read for a few minutes. This book is the perfect holiday "bathroom" book, and I don't mean that in a bad way. There's something in here for everyone, and tons of short, fun, and interesting trivia about Christmas. As the other review said, you can read a chapter or two then come back to it later.

Leave it out for guests to read, too. It makes Christmas more fun!

I have a real problem with this book. It is trying to decide which one of the vignettes/characters is my favorite. For characters, I tend to oscillate between the "I, Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of War for the United States, killed this hippy", notarized, signed and dated DoD stationary affixing Rumsfeld Strangler ("described by DC police as 'a teenaged latina with one
wooden leg'"), the Finland-nuking, military coup plotting, giant robot with Gatling guns for arms obssessed Condoleeza Rice, or the kung-fu wielding, demolition-derby winning, child-reading Laura Bush. On consideration, I think the episode where Condoleeza Rice launches a military coup against the US government from her DC suburb volcano headquarters because George Bush calls her a sissy girl is the best. To further her evil plans, she hires Jenna and Barbara as her henchpersons ( the girls need to do SOMETHING for summer spending money). However, it all starts to come apart after the girls make the mistake of trying to snipe at their mother as she is approaching the secret volcano headquarters. Boy, does THAT get them in trouble!

Read it, buy it, enjoy it, and wish that we too could live in a world like Frank Js.

...and one of the funniest. This kind of humor is hard to pull off; it tends to get mean, stupid, lame, and/or repetitive. Instead, Frank J. manages to keep it funny, entry after entry:

========================

Rumsfeld laughed heartily, striking fear in the hearts of all the reporters. "After Iraq is obliterated, we will turn our vengeance on the UN and all those unfaithful to America. Most of Europe will be strip-mined and Canada changed into a prison camp."

"So all those protesters who said that America has imperialistic intentions..."

"Were absolutely right...and will be killed."


========================

"...Now, Mr. Daschle, what does one have to do to become a senator?"

"I think it's a good idea to first become a lawyer. That helps erode away your soul, which is an obstacle in politics. Then I say you need to act concerned about a lot of things and talk down to people. And it's good to have a believable smile." Daschle then smiled, causing the class to cry.

"Make the scary man go away!" cried one girl.

========================

[French President Jacques Chirac] turned back to the press. "Now, where was I? Oh yes... Silly little nations! How dare you defy France, the pinnacle of humanity?! We're too smart and sophisticated to fight in any wars. We just surrender and wait for everything to turn out all right in the end. America and their infantile talk about good and evil, morality, and justice will mess up the sophisticated business ventures we have with Saddam."

=======================

"Anyway, on to the tech demos." On a screen behind [National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice] appeared a picture of a small electronic device with a drill. "This is a special projectile that homes onto a target's head, slowly drills into his skull, and then explodes. Honestly, it offers no tactical advantage over just shooting a target with normal bullets, but we all thought it was pretty cool and can't wait to see it work on some actual enemy combatants. By the way, if someone has a use for a dozen headless monkeys, talk to me after the press conference."

"Wouldn't a weapon like that violate the Geneva Conventions?" asked a disgusted-looking reporter.

"The what?" Rice asked, appearing confused....


========================

"So there is nothing that the Democrats can do to keep us from getting our tax cuts," Ari [Fleischer] announced to the press. "Nothing can stop us."

"Nothing at all?" asked a reporter.

"Well, nothing...unless they fled to Canada," Ari said. "But that would be a bold move, and they would never do it. Instead, they'll stay here in DC, where there is soon going to be a big march of the AAGO, the Association of Angry Gun Owners."

"But isn't it illegal for people to march around DC carrying guns?"

"Bah! Laws are for those who don't have guns!"

"Is this all a trick so that you can slaughter the Democrats en masse after they have left US soil?" asked a reporter. Suddenly darkness surrounded him, and he burst into flames.

"New rule," Ari announced. "If you spontaneously combust, I don't have to answer your question."

"Why is it that when it seems a reporter is getting close to the truth," one reporter asked, "he is then killed by some demonic force and...?" A thought struck the reporter, and he suddenly became frightened. "Forget what I was just saying; I have a different question. Uh...does the president like kittens?"

"Yes, he finds them cute and easy to throw."


========================

And so on. Buy it. ..bruce..

Frank J. Fleming provides a perspective on the Bush Administration and its efforts in Iraq that no one else could. From the humanizing touches - in-depth explorations of the motivations of Donald Rumsfeld ("the Rumsfeld Strangler) - to its investigations of new war-making technology ("Happy Bombs"), this masterwork makes it clear just how much the mainstream media has failed to tell us about the real story of the start of the Iraq war up to the capture of Saddam.

I offer a rating of 5 stars with one reservation: The back cover makes the patently false assertion that this is "the dumbest book ever written about the Bush administration." The publishers have clearly not encountered the writings of Molly Ivins or Calvin Trillin.

Frank J. Fleming's IMWs were funny the first time around, and they're even funnier now that they've been edited for spelling mistakes!

I'm awaiting the second installation with much anticipation. Or something like that.

I had read the posts that make up the book as they were being written over the last three years and I waited eagerly for each and every installment of "In My World". They're laugh out loud funny.

FrankJ pokes fun at every political figure using the caricatures that their detractors believe. So for instance, Bush just wants to play Mario Kart, Rumsfeld wants to strangle hippies, Chirac wants to surrender to anybody and Daschle cries while Karl Rove is the mysterious, hooded figure who emerges from the shadows to foretell what has been prophesied.

And, as FrankJ says in the first review, it's absolutely hysterical re-reading those old posts.


One word of warning, don't read this book in public as it creeps people out when strangers are sitting by themselves laughing uncontrollably. I'm a little depressed because I was planning on reading it on the bus, but I didn't want to get kicked off so I just read it at home and laughed my head off.
Again.

As a Hillary supporter from New York, I bought this book with every intention to pick it apart... But then it started to make me laugh. The funny thing is I actually finished the book understanding more about Bill and Hillary's rise to power. I often take my politics too seriously, and this humorous account was a welcome change of pace. I consider Clintonisms to be essential subway reading.

One of the most polarizing political families in American politics today is that of the husband and wife team of former President Bill Clinton and his wife, the current Illinois Senator Hillary Clinton. The notoriety of these Democratic Party icons has been exacerbated with Hillary's current pitched political battle for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency being waged against fellow Democratic Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama. All that the Obama (and the Republican McCain) campaign personnel need by way of background research material to point out past foibles, follies, and questionable conduct of Hillary Clinton and her husband/political partner Bill, is to be found within the 130 pages of "Clintonisms: the Amusing, Confusing, And Suspect Musings Of Billary". Compiled by Julia Gorgin, readers are treated to a wealth of such infobits as Hillary's observations regarding the Whitewater scandal, "If we did something improper, ;then how come we lost money?", or Bill 'I did not have sex with that woman' opining that "The road to tyranny, we must remember, begins with the destruction of the truth.". While Bill and Hillary's direct quotations are plentiful, "Clintonisms" also features a wealth of comments by other concerning this American couple such as the comment by Jim McDougal (deceased former Clinton business partner) that "I just got sick and tired of lying for the fella. "Clintonisms" is especially recommended reading for anyone, Democrat, Republican, or Independent, not wanting to relive the turmoil and torment of the Clinton White House years with 'Billary" back in charge.

To read Julia Gorin's "Clintonisms. The Amusing, Confusing, and Suspect Musings of Billary" is to be transported back to the time of the Clinton presidency. With no time off for good behavior.

In those days, anyone still able to make bail camped out by their mailbox for the next edition of "The American Spectator." Month after month, we could read there the most amazing stories of people who had by some cosmic joke come to control the civil and military power of the federal government of the United States. Though two highly intelligent people with law degrees from Yale, no less, Bill and Hillary Clinton were, it became clear, individuals suited instead to careers as Demolition Derby drivers. For eight years, we reveled in the spectacle of their going after ideological and legal enemies as they would have had they been behind the wheel, respectively, of a 1963 Studebaker Wagonaire and a 4-door 1959 DeSoto Sportsman Friday evenings in Conway, Arkansas.

Julia Gorin has made a careful compilation of the Clintons' own words with her own witty commentary and some great lines from Saturday Night Live, Dennis Miller, and Jay Leno, among others. It is a crystal clear a picture of two limited people whose inner compasses were so bent they should have gotten no closer to the White House than the second window of the Hot Springs McDonalds.

Our natural temptation is to think that any resident of the White House and his wife are pretty much like the previous ones. Probably, we hope that the electoral process winnows out poseurs, flaneurs, gamblers, climbers, and others living principle-free lives. Maybe we even think that that process identifies and disqualifies people who seek the office of Commander in Chief but who have actual contempt for the nation's armed forces. Perhaps, too, we are tempted to believe that even if the scrutinizing powers of the electorate are inadequate to the task of choosing the national leaders, a glib sex addict taking a seat in the Oval Office would somehow be elevated to a higher level of conduct and consciousness by the enormity of the privilege bestowed and responsibility encountered.

Little prepared the nation for a man who viewed being president as great way to get laid.

Gorin reminds us of the reigning spirit of the Age of Clinton -- astonishment. How, we could only wonder, could two such people have risen to the top of American politics when their only motivation was to advance their private interests by any expedient means? If there had been anything noble in their thinking in Arkansas times, it must surely have been confiscated by Customs at the Tennessee border.

It is hard to describe a vacuum. How many different ways can you say "not much there"? Gorin's solution has been to present the Clintons in their own words, rather like searching for a ghost in the attic by using neon spray paint. Page after page, we are immersed in iteration of and variants on Bill's now-immortal scholastic musings upon the verb "to be," conduct that would embarrass Al Sharpton, and interspousal communication that would blister paint.

Gorin fails only in that she sheds no light at all on the 1992-2000 suspension of the laws of physics that allowed (a) law firm billing records to materialize in the Clinton bungalow, (b) Vince Foster to float from the parking lot of Ft. Marcy Park to his nearby "locus terminatio," and (c) and female breasts spontaneously to spring from their place of confinement into the presidential hand. Surely experts could have been consulted.

If we overlook this omission, Gorin's keen intelligence, dry wit, and comedienne's gift for language conspire to bring us a great book. "Clintonisms" is an instructive read -- however bereft of inspiration and uplift it might be -- that is best savored four or five pages at a time or produced at dinner parties to refresh fading memories of truly bizarre times.

As Hillary's hopes revive in the wake of the revelations about Obama's 20-year power nap in the pews of the Church of the Holy Fever, it's also something to peruse on the eve of the general election in November. It will re-alert you to (a) her modest but "burning desire to do what I can" in aid of "remaking . . . the American way of politics, government, indeed life" and (b) what a crazy mistake it would be to give her an opportunity to try.

A good collection of amusing quotes and anecdotes. Living somewhat near them just adds to the spice.

"Clintonisms: The Amusing, Confusing, and Suspect Musing of Billary" (edited by Julia Gorin) is a book meant to amuse you, and yet it somehow also manages to make you wet yourself in nervousness at the prospect of Hillary Clinton becoming the next president of the United States.

Indeed, the nervous laughter emanating from my and other Republicans' mouths is not because Hillary Clinton could very well be cantering herself toward the White House as we speak, but rather because she and her husband could both be cantering toward the most powerful position on Earth.

"Clintonisms" is a collection of quotes by the being known as "Billary" as well as their friends, acquaintances, staff and people who randomly met them, with a wonderfully hilarious forward by Julia. And it will make your skin crawl thinking of Hillary entering the White House.

In the forward, Julia asks the tough questions: "If Bill Clinton was the first black president, would that make Hillary Clinton the second black president? Or is Bill Clinton a self-loathing brother who married a white woman and is a traitor to his race?" These are simply questions that must be answered, and Julia is not afraid to go there.

Quick Snippets:

HIS VIVID AND PAINFUL IMAGINATION
"I have vivid and painful memories of black churches being burned in my own state when I was a child." --Bill Clinton, about his childhood in Arkansas, where there weren't any church burnings in that time period, June 8, 1996...

...CAN BE LIKE CUBA?
"I pledge allegiance to the America that can be." --Hillary Clinton, as recalled by Chris Matthews, "Hardball", November 2001...

VIVA LA REVOLUCIÓN!
"We just can't trust the American people to make those types of choices. Government has to make those choices for people." --Hillary Clinton, to Illinois Rep. Dennis Hastert about health care, 1993

One particularly interesting chapter was entitled "A Note of Thanks for All You Do", in which we are exposed to the treatment of Hillary's immediate staff throughout the years. She would often use profanity toward them, demand that they do things that were prohibited by their job descriptions and just be a general grump. One Arkansas State Trooper said, "We all got used to her screaming, 'Just get the hell away from me.'", and a secret service agent got a book in the back of the head thanks to Hillary. I'm sure that temper of hers won't flair up when she becomes president, right? Perhaps we can count on her to throw books at the terrorists rather than using manly weapons.

We also get a view of the laws the Clintons have broken, the lies they have told, and the language they use to try to get around tough questions about their sketchy past actions.

I have recently been interested in the scandal involving Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky because only in recent years have I realized how strong of a case it really is. Liberals would have us believe it was "all about sex", but no, it wasn't. The president was a felon, and he lied under oath. With liberals proclaiming that we should all just "mind our own business", the fact remains that any question can be asked of you when you are under oath. You cannot lie, even if the question is "not the business" of the jury and judge.

LIAR OR PHILOSOPHER?
"Q: Do you agree with me that the statement, 'I was never alone with her,' is incorrect? You were alone with Monica Lewinsky, weren't you?
A: Well again...it depends on how you define alone."

Classic.

Maybe it was just me, but when I purchased this book on line I assumed it was going to be a book, you know the type with chapters and well thought out paragraphs. What I got was a book that is made up of day by day humorous quotes from the news sources of the time. So I was a little disappointed at the start just because my expectation was not met. With that out of the way I dug in and found the book provided a number of laughs and brought back a number of memories. The author picked up on mostly political issues to populate the book, but he does toss in a few pop culture items that usually show the ridiculous side of American life. The humor the author uses is rather dry and sarcastic, which fit very well with the news reporting style blurbs.

Overall the book is an easy to read, fun review of the 1980's that brought back a lot of memories for me. The author does tend to focus on a small group of topics, Geraldo Rivera, his dislike of popular music and Michael Jackson all seem to get repeated mentions. The book is the type you can have around and pick up every now and then and read a few pages. It is light fair and shows a 10,000 feet view of the 80's.

If I owned a time machine, I'd go back to the late seventies when Reagan was starting his campaign and drop copies of this book all over the country.

Perhaps it could have helped.

The idea that someone so incompetant and clueless could become PRESIDENT is a sobering thought.

Paul Slanksy evidently hates everyone, and the 80's supplied him with more than enough material to nail them all. Obviously, Republicans take far more abuse because the book IS about the Reagan era. This book is funny and really cuts through the nostalgia many (GOP in particular) hold about the 80's. Great Read.

The cover has been crudely taped on backwards, the cover laminate is gone, the pages are dog eared, but my copy still holds together after countless re-readings.
Chronological, exhaustive coverage of the gaffes and shocking lies told to the american public that made reagan so memorable (or should have), combined with gems of pop culture, entertainment, crime, and so on. An illustrated, cynical diary of soundbites and factoids. If you were under the general impression that reagan wasn't that bad of a president, you will walk away from this a changed person: he WAS'NT the president! The ascerbic commentary may seem occasionally unfair, (more so if your a republican), but 9 times out of 10 it hits straight on, attacking both democrats and republicans with their own quotes and foolishness. But mostly reagan.

I've lent this book to countless friends who all regarded former President Ronald Reagan as "a great man." Few of them adhere to that opinion today. It's astonishing to think that anyone so out of touch with reality could have been elected to two terms as President. Slansky's brilliant book combines seemingly unrelated pieces of information into a cohesive whole that reveals, once and for all, the astonishing incompetence of the Reagan administration. As a bonus, Slansky also manages to skewer virtually all aspects of popular culture of the 1980's. Since those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it, this book should be required reading for all, lest we get another presidency like Reagan's. My copy has been read so many times that it is literally falling apart. One of the great books of the last fifty years.

I've seen "Monty Python's Flying Circus" so many times that I can recite long stretches of it. But those guys are always using weird accents and manic deliveries ("My neeples explode with delight!"), and sometimes they're hard to understad.

Fortunately for those times, Python fans have "The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus: All the Words," a series from the second half of the classic comedy skit show. These are only trascripts (a bit lacking in details), but still enormous fun and full of delightfully quotable lines ("And now my lords, my ladies... your LUPINS!").

It opes with the weird "Conquistador Coffee" sketch, in which a boss berates his employee for changing the brand's name to Conquistador Instant Leprosy. ("The tingling fresh coffee that brings you exciting new cholera, mange, dropsy, the clap, hard pad, and athlete's foot." "It was a soft sell, sir.")

And then it contains plenty of others: the cheese shop with no cheese, films with giant teeth, spam spam spam, cannibal undertakers, Njorl's it's-not-that-terrible saga, the BBC's financial troubles, the Money Programme, the pantomime horse, hairdressers climbing Everest, the war against pornography, Gumbys, Dennis Moore, kamikaze highlanders, and the golden age of ballooning ("I am so excited I can hardly wash!").

The dialogue to each one is carefully outlined, with each character identified as being played by one of the guys (like "Interviewer (JOHN)"), although we usually don't get to hear much about Terry Gilliam's mad animations. Most of these episodes are one long continuing sketch that spills from one scenario to the next, but occasionally we'll have different ones patched together.

These guys had a rare, crazy talent -- these sketches are crammed with glorious dialogue ("Drop your panties, Sir William. I cannot wait till lunchtime") and bizarre insults ("you cloth-eared heap of anteater's catarrh"). Not much description of the action in places, although in a few we get plenty of detail when it's called for (such as the weirdness convention).

The problem is that this should only be read after you've seen the series. If you don't, it all seems like a befuddling string of of stream-of-consciousness comedy numbers, full of in-jokes and surreal twists. You have a better chance of finding Ilchester in a cheese shop than understanding this without seeing the skits first.

In case you couldn't understand what Eric Idle was bibbling in one episode, or John Cleese was screaming in another, "The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus: All the Words Volume 2" will tell you what is going on. No time to lose!

This item was purchased for my daughter and she absolutely loved it. It was received in good order and in a timely manner

The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus: All the Words, Volume 2 is the second half of a set containing the scripts of the entire series (45 episodes). This book, volume 2, contains scripts for episode 24: "How not to be seen" through episode 45: "Party Political Broadcast". This book is more fun than an endless supply of "lupins". Both volumes make great companions to the MPFC video/dvd collection ("There you go, can't be bad.") and also unlike the DVDs, there are no edits, these are the original words. So that horrible "m" word that Graham said in episode 31: "The All England Summarize Proust Competition" is in this book. Enjoy!

Yours etc., Brigadier Mainwaring Smith Smith Smith etc., Deceased etc.

FYI-This is the same as the review of Volume 1. There was no real sense in distinguishing the two.

As a fan of MPFC since it first aired on PBS in 1973, these two volumes sort of put a cap on a 30 year fascination with the team. Maybe like me, you've watched every Python-Marathon or taped every show, but having these scripts really is the icing on the cake.

What's striking to me is the simplicity of the scripts. When you watch the episodes, the gags seem so complicated. Then to see The Dead Parrot sketch reduced to just a few pages, you realize how brilliant those guys were in terms of compression, and in terms of acting. An added plus, for me at least, was to finally see the words and phrases that I never quite "got" because they were unique to British English. From there, I logged on to a few websites on British slang and, boy, I realized what MPFC got away with...some of it was pretty raunchy. Anyway, this is two-volume set is priceless for any fan.

"It's satire."
"No, it isn't. This is zany madcap humour."

With that immortal exchange, nearly everything Pythonian is summed up. For those who haven't memorized every single Python skit (or for those who have and who are looking to free up some short-term memory), this book and its companion volume ("All The Words, Volume I") are must-haves. Every single word from every single bit ever done on "Monty Python's Flying Circus" is in here. It's a joy and a treasure and a non-stap laff riot.

Every Python nut is familiar with the "wink, wink, nudge, nudge" tale, the dead parrot sketch, the Ministry of Silly Walks and so on. But even beyond these justly famed classics, there is wonderfully silly stuff herein. I never realized until buying this and the companion Volume I how utterly the Python crew had mastered the gorgeously silly non-sequiter. To wit:

"Would Albert Einstein ever have hit upon the theory of relativity if he hadn't been clever?"

"Don't call me señor! I'm not a Spanish person. You must call me Mr. Biggles, or Group Captain Biggles, or Mary Biggles if I'm dressed as my wife, but never señor."

"I'm afraid we are unable to show you any more of that letter. We continue with a man with a stoat through his head."

"Were you worried when his head started to come loose?"

It just doesn't get any better than this, and being able to sit and peruse the scripts without watching the frenetic activity on the screen only goes to strengthen the generally accepted view that these guys were genius writers. As the book back states, these volumes are the winners of "the 1989 PYTHON PRIZE for their own books." ARE there higher honors than this?