Satire Books

This is an example of what a good book should be: timeless, very ironic, and funny. It's hard for a description of a social group to be accurate 25 years after it was written, but this book does that easily. By the way, I'm not a Prep, but have gained greater understanding of their behavior. Interesting.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this book. It's so great. I laughed, I related- it's just awesome. I wanted a copy and got one. I went to ebay! They actually have a first edition hardcover copy of the Handbook for a pretty decent price. Check it out! Every true preppy at heart needs this!

I adore this book. I grew up preppy, was a preppy at university, turned my back on preppyhood for a while but went back to my roots and are raising two preppy's now myself. Preppy's are the same all over the world (I live in the Netherlands. Let's hope they never change.

I heard that the preppy look was coming back into style, and was told to find a copy of this book. I read this book and laughed so hard I cried. I grew up with these people, I was one of these people... I am still one of these people. I even wrote to an old pal from prep school... and told her she had to read it too! If this ever comes back into print, I will buy a case to hand it out to everyone I know.

Two years ago I found this book is a small shop in Morro Bay, I read it and loved it. This is a Bible for me and I now realize that all my life I have been a prep. I found another copy at the same store this year and gave it to my sister. The book is timeless and absolutely hilarious. I recommend it to anyone who wants a great laugh and also to those who want to live the "preppy" lifestyle. It is a wonderful book that makes a great gift. I am sad that it is out of print.

From even the front cover, you can tell this is a hilarious book. The short newspaper articles and art projects make the book an easy read. The authors have certainly outdone themselves with their creativity and use of pop culture. There's an entire yearbook that features Peeps in a high school environment-- participating in sports, get voted for Homecoming's Royal Court, and much more. Another one of my favorite parts is the Peeple weekly magazine. This book is a fun read, but also has the capability of pulling in some reluctant readers. Check it out, and maybe it will be in someone's Easter basket soon!

This book is so funny...my husband and I loved it and have now given it
as gifts!! It makes a great book for bathroom reading..you can look through it again and again with great amusement! Enjoy!

FUN BOOK FOR MY 56 YEAR OLD PEEP LOVER! THE PART ABOUT MAKING PEEP S'MORES WAS CUTE.

This is a great book. I found an advertisement for it in a Magazine, and I asked for it for Easter. I got it, and I thought it was HILARIOUS! I like how they changed actors names, such as Peeper Sutherland and Brad Peep .
The only thing I didn't like about it was the section about Runyoun Peep Jones. I found it a bit inapropriate. Over All, I give it five stars. It was a very good book.

I've always ragged on my sister for her Eastertime peep-cravings as I've never enjoyed the candy myself (although they are really cute). So I had to buy her this witty, wacky, sweet book.

Not only is it full of hilarious pictures (like a rendering of the painting "The Scream" with a yellow peep doing the screaming) but it has plenty of text to keep you engaged with the book for a while. Although perusing the book for its photos is a riot in itself. Also, there are several storylines--the peeps' field trip to the museum, Father peep having to pull himself together for work after slightly melting in his cup of coffee, and of course the mystery at the center of the book--so you always wonder what's on the next page.

One of my faves is a pictures of two peeps with a (human-sized) yearbook. One of them says something like, "I love old yearbooks." The other replies, "Dang, how do we open it?"

Why is this so funny? I don't know, it just is!

---I'm sorry to do thid to you, but the previous review was actually meant for a book of the same title. (Pose File volume 1). I do not own this particular book you are researching, but If I get a copy, I will be sure to get back to you on this.--I am not saying that this book is good or bad, just that I cannot speak for it personally...

Cobalt

This book has one unusual strength: most poses are shown from many angles, up to about two dozen in some cases. This gives extra insight into unusual foreshortening and into how the figure articulates.

The weakness of this book is that, in order to show so many different views on a page, each figure photo is relatively small. This is especially disappointing because the models are all Japanese, where most pose books show only European features and figures. This book never meant to document details of faces, though, so I really can't complain,

From moderate shadow to deep chiascuro effects this is a beautiful addition to the Pose File series. The other books excellently describe the figure, in proportion, motion and moving through space, but mostly in an even tonal scale. This volume emphasizes the extremes of that scale, making it a necessary addition to the set.

---You may be wary of the idea of buying a japanese book, where 99% of the text is in Kanjii. Rest assured that this book is as useful in the states as it is in Japan, because the main body of these books are beautiful photographs of female models taking every pose one could imagine in any studio.--Being a fellow who works in cartooning and graphic novels more than any fine art. I find this series endlessly useful as an excersise in my spare time.--Just pick a page and draw all it's figures until your arm is sore, and you will be all the better than trying to glean useful practice from old Playboy Magazines.--Pose File books are for, and will always be about fine artists who have a passion for the ultimate machine.

Cobalt

PS. THIS is the right review for the right book Sorry about any confusion

I'm trying to learn how to draw, and the books in this and similar series would be really helpful--if I could afford any of them. I found this book in a store where I live and decided to buy it until I checked the price tag that the store had stuck onto it. because I lived in Japan for a while, I'm used to the printed price that appears on all books, so I had just looked there. I have decided to wait until Christmas when I can buy it myself for a decent price. Blah.

I bought it as a gift for my doctor thinking he'd be able to appreciate it, but my quick skim turned into a full-read. I laughed so hard I thought I'd really need to see my doctor!

I don't care what the cover says, this book is not just for healthcare professionals...Can be enjoyed by everyone. I highly recommend!

Very, very funny!! I also sent a copy to my cousin who's doing her residency in Ohio - she can't stop talking about it! If there were any issues I had with the book it's that they should have more nursing topics. Also why don't they update their website more often?? Otherwise, highly recommended if you or someone you know is in the medical field.

This book is awesome! I'm a third year medical student and have been following Qfever for the past couple of years. They used to have a lot of issues but now it's like three or four a year. Sigh. The book keeps me company during those long nights on Surgery. I also gave it as a gift to some friends and they love it! Crazy stuff. Get it!

To describe Qfever is to tell you that it is better than AWESOME! This book is exactly what people need to spark their lives and bring some humor and levity to it.

Hilarious! I can't stop laughing! Q Fever has a big following on the web, now it's finally in a book form to be enjoyed. GET IT!

I'd like to point out that the two stories in this book are not all of the Shmoo stories; there were at least a half dozen more.

Pity no one thought to put all of them in a book.

The book does justice to combine two previous books THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE SHMOO and RETURN OF THE SHMOO. Both have been out of print for decades.

Pity about Harlan Ellison's over blown introduction. He can't stick to the subject.

It's good to see this great part of the Li'l Abner comic strip is once again available. I takes me back to when I was 14 and in High School.Not only did Al Capp give us the wonderful Shmoos;but also Sadie Hawkins Day and all the fun we had with that.
This story of the Shmoo came out in the daily Comic Strips but it also was published in Paperbook form in 1948 and 1949.I still have my copy from those days and wrote a review on it on November 27,2007.
It has the title,"The Life and Times of the Shmoo",by Al Capp.
One thing worth mentioning is the high level of artwork that the cartoonists like Al Capp,Walt Kelley and Chester Gould gave us,and it was so good that it still remains the standard for cartoon art to aspire even today.

Grew up reading this series. Now I have a permanent copy of my own. Good price and great product for comics junkies.

When I was 5 I would love to have my father read Pogo, Dagwood and Blondie, and Li'l Abner to me from the daily and Sunday newspapers. When I was 7 years old, I loved reading them by myself and about this time, 1958, the Shmoo became a major theme in the Li'l Abner series. I could not wait for the paper to arrive so I could read the latest adventures of these Shmmos that were so accommodating to meet almost all human needs. Yet even then, at age 7, I began to "get" the message behind the series. This is wonderful social commentary on the limits of capitalism and the limits government will go to ensure that capitalism remains our economic model. However for captitalism to work, there has to be need or the threat of need which creates demand which stimulates supply, and I am sure you know the rest of this formula. If the basic needs of labor are met, they won't work, and thus the costs of labor goes up and the profits go down. Al Capp was brilliant to bring this message into America's homes soon after the McCarthy Anti-American hearings in Washington. Capp, like the Shmoo, is subversive in such a clever endearing entertaining way that when I saw this book I had to re-read the scripts to see what I may have remembered from so many years ago.

The book contains the original Shmoo characters and script from 1948-49 and the return of the Shmoo in 1958. If I was ever to teach High School Seniors in an Economics class, I would have them read this book along with their text, maybe not to strengthen the neurons but to lighten them.

Capp's other Dogpatch hillbilly characters and story lines are also delightful. Li'l Abner, Daisy Mae, Ma and Pa Yokum, and Sadie Hawkings are all here!

This was more amusing that I expected. I hadn't read much of "Li'l Abner" and was surprised. However, I have two objections to this book. First, the original strips seem a bit truncated. Surely, they could have gotten more of the dailies in this book than they did. And second, the awful introduction by Harlan Ellison. He seems to be in love with the sound of his voice and not necessarily a Li'l Abner fan. The Schmoo seems to have been a craze like the "Pet Rock." More information about that and less about Ellison's advertures in New York City would have been welcomed.

Obsessions are either understood by those around us or they are not. Addictions are the same, but to love anything too much is more danger than it is worth. Not for Damien, the main man in this book, Skunk: A Love Story. Damien is unhealthily obsessed with the smell of skunks, their "musk" and anything skunk related, this novel is about how his life goes and flows because of it. A tale of life with an addiction that is not understood by anyone, and ridiculed by everyone. Witty, fun, silly and mostly just insane this is a book unlike anything I have enjoyed.

My relationship with Skunk was a stop and go type of time. I loved it, then it seemed to move too slowly, then I loved it, then I didn't then.., well you get the idea, yeah? Much of the time it felt like there was a little something missing, and I cannot put a finger on it. The voice of the narrator reminded me (for all you TV folk) of that of Dwight Schrute off of the splendid show The Office. He is similar in the way he speaks, in his weirdness and just too much to mention. I enjoyed the voice, but sometimes I felt like I needed to be told the same story from the perspective of a more balanced individual.

No matter what, this was one of the most entertaining books I have read so far this year. It held tons of laughs, tons of weirdness and the feeling of too many salami sandwiches much too late at night.

Justin Courter's debut novel is in a class all its own. My library had it labeled romance, but it seems anything but that to me. It's one of the hipper reads I've found lately, and it takes your senses to a new level.

I was thrown a bit by the subtitle, A Love Story, and I'm sure the library labeled it romance because of that; however, this novel is more concerned with the informal education, social development, and maturing of its protagonist. It's truly one of a kind.

If you're a seasoned reader looking for something fresh, this is definitely the book for you.

(this review originally appeared in a slightly varying form at ThirdEyeMag[DOT]com)

Skunk: A Love Story feels familiar. I've read this before. I can smell, if you will, a trace of recognition. Our antisocial yet romantic protagonist falls in love, suffers betrayal, adopts a "simpler life equates greater happiness" mentality, and learns a few lessons along the way, all while dealing with substance addition. These broad events, I've tasted them before, but Skunk does offer something distinctive. The story of Damien Youngquist, an intelligent and socially crippled middle-aged office worker, explores themes common with addiction literature--substance abuse, relationship deterioration, relationship rebuilding--with one unique angle: Damien Youngquist is addicted to skunk musk.

Though this may initially seem like a forced concept the absurdity of Damien's addiction allows the reader to approach the situation with a near-zero level of personal baggage. Damien's story is one we can relate to but at the same time is one we can distance ourselves from judgmentally due simply to our ignorance of the specific vice. Unless of course you are a musk addict yourself, in which case you may have found your kindred with our protagonist.

Underlying every one of Damien's motives, and driving the story, is an Oedipal connection to the skunk musk:

"My mother drank quite a lot of beer when I was growing up. She always drank McDougal's--and imported brand that comes in a green bottle and has a slightly skunky aroma. This was the first scent to greet my nostrils in the morning and the last whiff I sniffed before falling asleep at night. I awoke each morning to the clinking of beer bottles as my mother opened and shut the door of the refrigerator to get out her first McDougal's before starting my breakfast" [pg. 24].

Though our narrator denies these connections ("While my mother was slow and languid, [Pearl] was quick and energetic. So I could dispense with the nagging notion that I was committing an Oedipal offense" [pg. 46]) the simple acknowledgement is enough to encourage the reader's close examination of Damien's every decision. His attraction to a specific type of woman, for example ("...gray hair, linked-chain horn rims, and floral print sundress..." [pg. 221]) oozes obsession with the motherly character. Pearl, the constant referent for all of Damien's Oedipal urges, has her own unique addiction, that being to fish--the smell, the taste, and at times, the lifestyle (in one early scene Pearl convinces Damien to swim with her in a giant aquarium in her garage). This shared love of generally off-putting smells instigates their relationship, but Damien's attraction to her motherly characteristics is the impetus to their long lasting bond. Deny it all you want Damien, but you really are just a lost little boy in need of guidance.

Damien's love of skunk musk epitomizes his role as the counterpoint to the accepted norm, a position explored consistently throughout Skunk's entire 347 pages. Where most characters are repulsed by the skunk smell and embrace the traditional goals of a culture--a nice home, a steady job, friends--Damien embraces the stench and dismisses the traditional comforts. Ultimately, after meeting Pearl's supposed fiancé (a relationship Damien never knew about) he embarks on a Thoreauean escape attempt to rural Highbridge in effort to not so much find himself but to find himself completely alone and self-sustaining because, as he says, "freedom is not to have to smell other people" [pg. 176].

The story gains momentum in the small town of Highbridge. Though Damien as a character experiences and becomes representative of many country bumpkin stereotypes during his journey into uncivilization (one Highbridge resident, Jud, Owner of the laughably named Jud's Country Store is described as sitting with "thumbs hooked in the straps of this overalls" [pg.117]) author Justin Courter is able to craft believable enough relationships with these residents which helps to drive the remaining story. Robby Krauthammer, for example, an anti-consumerism, late-breed hippy who freely expresses his dissatisfaction with the "establishment"--a term he uses liberally but doesn't quite grasp--is ultimately the keystone to the novel's courtroom climax. Robby and Damien's relationship is an interesting one of constant tension.

Unfortunately, the Damien Youngquist we know at the beginning of the novel--the stubborn, antisocial, know-it-all Damien with Oedipal issues--is the same Damien we know at the end of the novel. His attempts to be truly alone and self-sustaining are continually interrupted, and the reader is left believing that if Damien were ever to succeed in living a life of solidarity then he would be truly happy. But we never know.

Here is a Damien at his happiest. This is the Damien we want to love, but this is not the Damien we're left with:

"The night I got to the site of my future farm, I was so happy I leapt out of the car and ran to the middle of the field. The cabin, the clearing, and the surrounding woods were all mine. And best of all, there was nothing in sight that suggested the presence of human beings--nothing but the cabin, which was acceptable, since it only suggested my own presence, which though unpleasant was as close as I could hope to come to nothing. Nothing is a form of completion, I believe. And infinity can be found in a black hole" [pg. 114].

This lack of character change, however, doesn't belie the fact that Skunk: A Love Story is a worthy read. While I would not call Skunk a high-concept novel it is the concept that pulls us through. A strange addiction guarantees a strange man with a strange story.

Where else will you find the anal-retentive yoked to the sensualist? The human fascination for filth hand-in-hand with affirmations of what's best in our natures? But what else is love, if not a force that overcomes all divisions -- and what else is a dandy, deep, odd lot of a novel like SKUNK? Justin Courter starts with one of the most isolated outsiders imaginable and then winds up rooting him wonderfully. His fecund and witty imagination delights us with the journey of Damien and Pearl, unlikely bedfellows indeed, who arrive at last at a permanent bond and a productive, earth-safe farm, where each of them have shaken off their most destructive compulsions. The effect is at once iconoclastic, breaking from the usual subjects of an American nature story, more especially a romance, and yet classic, offering the eternal pleasures of getting your hands dirty and your heart massaged.

Grab this book while it is still available. It is a quirky love story that will leave you in tears. Daiman negotiates life's troubles with a steadfast determination to overcome obstacles that keep popping up. Courter writes with breathtaking audacity and clarity.

this is a funny book full of ideas to get even, and revenge is fun ;)
recommended

This is one of the funniest books that I have ever read in my life. I think that Alison should have a TV show based on the situations described in this book. It would be a huge hit. I wish her all the luck in the world and I'm waiting for her next book.

Really liked this book. Full disclosure: I'm a 26 year old guy who, um, has some experience with back-stabbing friends, awful office experiences (i.e. I have a girlfriend). But reading this book actually made some sense of it all. It was funny, sharp, all in all a great read. It also gave me some more constructive things to say and suggest to my girlfriend instead of "I told you that girl was crazy" and "Just pee on her desk." Great book (but man, I'm glad I haven't been the recipient of these techniques ... uh oh, I already lent it to my lady).

I think it was RFK who uttered those infamous words. But I know this book can teach you how to live them. This book is hilarious! Five Stars! A must read for any girl looking to inject a little perspective into life's ups and downs. So don't get mad, get this book!

I bought this book for my sister thinking she could use it. She totally loved it and recommended that I also read it. This book is hilarious and every woman should own it. So don't mess with my sister, she knows how to get even!

Prgressive political commentary plus wicked sense of humor equals a thought-provoking and entertaining read. Even years after the publication, Bob Harris's observations on politicians, big business, oil, and the environment are just as prescient and dead-on as ever. Plus, you'll laugh harder than you have in weeks.

This is a really, really funny book. And you can see it's very, very well written because it gets a 5 star review from every single person who has ever read it. Bob Harris is really, really smart, as most of the earlier reviews have attested, and it shows in this very, very funny and very, very clever book. He really should have his own TV talk show, because this book is much funnier than David Letterman. Or maybe he should be a movie actor, and then maybe a movie director, the world would be much better place, and funnier too! :)

I got this book as a gift, and to be honest I had never heard of the guy, but I found myself laughing out loud in a lot of places. The essays are all short and bounce around between subjects, so it's an easy book to have around and read in short stretches. I don't always agree with everything, and if you like Molly Ivins or Will Durst maybe it's a fun read.

I really liked the chapter about the stock market, and how you can tell which way stocks will go by using very sophisticated ratios like that put-call ratio. I also thought that I should add a review since no one seems to have written one since September, and that's a shame for a book with so many incindiary insights.

For too long political humor was synonymous with cranky old men complaining that the audience stank. Bob Harris is young and full of piss and vinegar (organic) and not content to merely whine from afar. He tells you what Alex Trebek is really like and he's not afraid to get his hands dirty. He goes into the trenches to show how campaign financing really works and under the President's desk to show.... No one is spared. Doctors are dealt with appropiately (like self centered over indulged children) Pols are afforded as much respect as they deserve and no one or nothing that could possibly hurt you (science, media, economists, world leaders,oncologists etc.) escapes the cocked eyebrow of Bob Harris. What a tasty read.

Ok, so I don't even usually read for "fun." But, I my sister had this book so I read it a while back, and it was HILarious! THen, luckily, she still had it. So I just read it again yesterday. It made me laugh just as much as it did the first time I read it! PLus, it's easy enough to breeze through in just one sitting because it's so good. Even though I'm only 20 and not necessarily in the age range that this book seems to target, I can definitely still relate to certain parts. I rate "The Moe Chronicles" the best book I've read so far when it comes to humor! It's the type of book you just can't stop to put down the first, second, or even third time you read it! I don't have one bad thing to say about it....

This was given to me a gift recently, with a short explanation of how it was decided that was for me. That was judged by the cover: a crudely drawn man sitting on a couch, clutching a beer in one hand saying somewhat jocularly "I should write a screenplay." Needless to say, though I'm only 18, I enjoyed this book immensely, and look forward to having similar experiences to draw experiences from. Yes, I was kidding, but when Erik Moe looks back on them, even the most horrible of all the mundane catastrophies abound in urban life seem funny.

I grabbed this book right off the sale rack and flipped through exactly one page and went up and bought it. I'm not what you'd call an 'impulse buyer' (read cheap). This book is for anyone who is 25-35. In that age group this book is nearly autobiographical! For anyone who's ever spent more on a case of beer than they have on that week's groceries. Read this. There are only about 5 books that are truly funny in my opinion- this is one of them.

Woo-hoo! Go you crazy Moe! You rocking, sleazing, bad-copywriter-drawing, carnivorous creative director-dream-having crazy piece of wordboy. You're an inspiration, Moe, to anyone who ever got laid off from an ad agency, watched bad TV with his pixel-monkey, went without for more days than any man should and really truly believes three chords and a Mexican-built Stratocaster makes for an instant ticket to Credville. Why'd they stop printing your book Moe? Why? Whyyyyyyyyyyyy!

(I know this review is already here under another @ress, but I wanted to put it on my member's page...)

A friend and I stumbled across this book in a Barnes & Noble three years ago, and though we opened our copies to different pages, we both started laughing so hard we were doubled over, and we couldn't get to the cash register fast enough. I let people borrow my copy occasionally, but only for short times and after extracting a promise to care for it. Erik Moe captures *everything* about the awkwardness of transitioning from kid to adult in your 20s, watching your friends get married, being stuck in the lame dues-paying job with jerk coworkers, struggling to become a grownup while still enjoying the things you loved in college. I can't do this book justice with mere words. Find yourself a copy!

Farrell & Morrow have created a rich, imaginary circus that puts all our preconceptions and interpretations of life (especially college) on stage. UPF turns many of the beliefs we live by mindlessly into elephant men, the fat lady, and half-cocked clarivoyant gypsies for us to ridicule and humiliate. Challenging topics as serious as racism, aneorexia, homosexuality or human disconnectedness is not easy but the book is brilliant in bringing them to the audience dressed in disguise, which makes us think differently about them.
My favorite aspect is the way they pull the blanket off of marketing schemes. Every transaction we make using the Dollar is riddled with business and capitalist strategies; paying tuition is no exception!

Farrell & Morrow have created a rich, imaginary circus that puts all our preconceptions and interpretations of life (especially college) on stage. UPF turns many of the beliefs we live by mindlessly into elephant men, the fat lady, and half-cocked clarivoyant gypsies for us to ridicule and humiliate. Challenging topics as serious as racism, aneorexia, homosexuality or human disconnectedness is not easy but the book is brilliant in bringing them to the audience dressed in disguise, which makes us think differently about them.
My favorite aspect is the way they pull the blanket off of marketing schemes. Every transaction we make using the Dollar is riddled with business and capitalist strategies; paying tuition is no exception!

Farrell & Morrow have created a rich, imaginary circus that puts all our preconceptions and interpretations of life (especially college) on stage. UPF turns many of the beliefs we live by mindlessly into elephant men, the fat lady, and half-cocked clarivoyant gypsies for us to ridicule and humiliate. Challenging topics as serious as racism, aneorexia, homosexuality or human disconnectedness is not easy but the book is brilliant in bringing them to the audience dressed in disguise, which makes us think differently about them.
My favorite aspect is the way they pull the blanket off of marketing schemes. Every transaction we make using the Dollar is riddled with business and capitalist strategies; paying tuition is no exception!

I heard about UPF from a friend's recommendation, and have to say this book is hilarious! It's sharp, biting, dark, and laugh-out-loud funny. My friends and I read sections out loud to one another and it is such a great time. The authors manage to lampoon so many aspects of college life and American culture and they are SO right on about their observations. It's easy to read and can be read in any order since it's all written in short sections; the scholarships and clubs are my favorite and there are 100s of them. Really, I haven't enjoyed a book this much in a long time. Very unique new idea.

Anyone who has attended college or looked at a college catalog will laugh out loud as they browse through the course catalog for the "University of Psychogenic Fugue". A totally fictitious university the satirical catalog includes a history of the college, course listings and descriptions, clubs, awards, crime statistics, admissions information and everything else that you would expect in a real college catalog.

A good example of the strength of the satirical style would be the Hysterical Blindness Award. A student scholarship, it is awarded to two students who "simply convince themselves that the world doesn't have any problems. Award is very similar to how the United States of America refuses to officially recognize the nuclear capabilities of countries it doesn't like." Or perhaps a little information on one of the clubs would be a better illustration. How about the Future Corporate Raiders of America? They "conduct hostile take-overs of other campus groups, fire all the old members and sell their club equipment back to the University. Predatory instinct and lack of humanity required."

A thoroughly enjoyable read it is highly recommended for those that enjoy satire and parody. Pick up a copy today and have a good laugh at a course catalog for real life.