Satire Books

How can this book say so much about us and society with so few words? It's an amazing book that only takes 15 minutes to read, but will make you want to share it with countless others. It's a book that will make you think about what is important in life and where some of life's little aggravations come from. Recommend it, or loan it, to your friends, family, and your boss (I did).

Kaplan's book is a small wonder, a wittily observant tale about two people who discover that the world we live in is Hell itself. Kaplan's wry humor gives us reason to believe things are about as bad as they can get: from the pointlessness of the arts to the garishness of McMansions, the bankruptcy of government to the spoils of Wal-Mart.

Yet in the midst of such decline, Edmund and Rosemary find solace in small pleasures, the simple things that give us comfort in our daily lives: listening to the rain outside, caring for a pet, having a confidante. Ultimately, then, Kaplan's book is a modest call to appreciate those small pleasures and to put our worries, faults, foibles into some perspective.

Kaplan's spare artistry works to great effect here, and his book will hopefully remind you that there's much to take comfort in, even feel good about, when the world around us seems irrevocably damned. It's a welcome parable for our times.

"Eight Bells is the story of Gallery's life in the Navy. The things that happened were enough for three careers. With his brash and breezy writing style, his rapid-fire quips and his irreverent comments, he has produced a book which will not disappoint those who have come to expect high-spirited rollicking, entertainment from him." -- Navy News

"As exciting as fiction... his book is witty, improbable and outrageous." -- St. Louis Globe Democrat

On almost every page the author induces a smile, a grin and sometimes a downright belly laugh... The reader will find this really down to earth story a real treat." -- Virginia Pilot

"DAN GALLERY IS AN ADMIRABLE ADMIRAL.." -- Cleveland Plain Dealer

Eight Bells (Original title: Eight Bells and All's Well)

"Eight Bells is the story of Gallery's life in the Navy. The things that happened were enough for three careers. With his brash and breezy writing style, his rapid-fire quips and his irreverent comments, he has produced a book which will not disappoint those who have come to expect high-spirited rollicking, entertainment from him." -- Navy News

"As exciting as fiction... his book is witty, improbable and outrageous." -- St. Louis Globe Democrat

On almost every page the author induces a smile, a grin and sometimes a downright belly laugh... The reader will find this really down to earth story a real treat." -- Virginia Pilot

"DAN GALLERY IS AN ADMIRABLE ADMIRAL.." -- Cleveland Plain Dealer

Calvin Trillin is a delightfully funny writer, somewhat reminiscent of Dave Barry with a touch of Mike Royko thrown in. This book was written around the end of the 1980s, so some of the topics are a bit dated. This is no problem for those of us not only old enough to remember the late '80s, but old enough to find it hard to believe that they were really almost 20 years ago (wasn't all of that just the other day?) but younger readers might wonder what some of the columns were actually about. This makes it not only funny, but educational. Good for the young whippersnappers to discover that the world was already darned silly back in the dark ages. Maybe some of them will actually look up some of the topics and learn something. Maybe pigs will fly.

Have you heard about the Retentive family of Canada? That's not their real name,it's just what Calvin Trillin dubbed them after reading somewhere that there was a family of four that produced only three bags of garbage a year.Trillin seems to excell in writing about the obvious,odd and ponderable. If he didn't display (quietly)such a sense of humor,I would
suspect he was the neighborhood "Hey you kids, get off my lawn",guy. Every neighborhood has one, the guy who vigilantly guards his lawnagainst attacks by footballs, frisbees and the damages caused by 42 pound children cutting across the corner). Actually, Mr. Trillin is a sane voice in these times when we are bombarded with information and seem to have lost the ability to sort through the drivel think for ourselves. When asked about childcrearing advice he opines "get one that doesn't spit up." This collection of his syndicated columns is sure to delight,amuse,irritate and to make you think.

A great book. Sad how child and family have to suffer

You would think this book is for specialists: family therapists, psychologists, social workers and so on. But is not. Or at least not only. Specialists will enjoy a book that is literature and still challenges your perspectives so deeply, but non-specialists will be especially amazed.
As a matter of fact, we all can be labeled "specialist", when it comes to FAMILY. We all know a big deal about our family and its structures, and its sorrows and its joys, don't we? Mr. Minuchin explains how families work in a way that will change your ideas about it forever and, accordingly, he challenges the way specialists have been working with families in the last years.

I particularly liked the observation of "normal" families who are dealing with divorce or remarriage of its members. I must admit I had never thought of divorce in a historical perspective, as Minuchin succeeds in putting it.
The description of the families with anorectic members are very interesting. Anorexia is treated by specialists as a very difficult issue to cure, and it is amazing to see how focusing on the family it becomes easier to understand and possibly to overcome.
In another section of the book, Mr. Minuchin describes how The Law takes decision about problematic families, completely ignoring their situation of "being a whole" and causing spirals of unresolved problems. He describes some extremely interesting cases of child murder and parent murder and analyses them, to convince us that our actual system of justice is absolutely biased when it comes to families.

What makes the book particularly enjoyable is the use of scripts of real session with families to explain the author's theories. If you are one of those readers, who-like me- love books filled up with dialogues, you'll love this! In a couple of cases, Minuchin writes himself a fictional dialogue, based on his expertise of families. And it is beautiful fiction too!

If you're new of Minuchin theories and techniques this is the book to read!
For further reading about Anorexia Nervosa, get Psychosomatic Families, anorexia nervosa in context, by S.Minuchin et Al.
If you're amazed by Minuchin healing power, get Family Therapy Techniques, by S.Minuchin

this book IS the second book i turn to when i am in need of advice. the 1st ofcourse is the bible. he seems to be an amazing man.After you read the book your outlook changes. p.s. it is not a book you can read chapter after chapter. if something is bothering you , the pages just come and the word speak to your soul. PEACE.

Highly relevant to today's political situation, it directly referrs to characters we are forced to endure and listen to in Congress, the evening news, and religious programs.

Some of my favorites?...Assholius Trentlottius (p.23), The Weeping Goddwit- "Assholius Religious" (p.19) and the Starr-Eyed Smirker- "Assholier Thanthousis" (p.69)

If you need a good laugh, you will deffinately find it here. I am surprised this one isn't a National Bestsleller! Has America lost its sense of humor or are we getting sensitive?

My last piece of advice: The Politically Correct crowd should deffinately avoid this one!

Leslie Carbaga is a big fan of Fliescher cartoons and this book shows it.I loved so many of them when i had the chance to see them on TV in my younger days.(Color Classics,Popeye,Sing-Alongs, and the movies Gulliver and Hoppity.)This tells the story of Max Fliescher,who made many worthy but largely unknown contributions to the art of animation.I recommend this to any fan of the vintage cartoons of the 20s/30s/40s

Rarely I have seen a biography with so much interesting details.Not a single page is wasted.As a Fleischer cartoon fan,it's la creme de la creme for me.Congratulations Cabarga.You wrote a book with love and admiration.

Love all the cartoons and the topics are great. A funny look into our bold new world. I will be needing to buy another copy because the one at this house is constantly read/mauled here by family and vistors alike. This would make a great gift for anyone.

Glenn and Gary McCoy's THE FLYING MCCOYS: HIGH MOM! COMICS FOR A BOLD NEW WORLD offers many hilarious moments which take the form of black and white panels of social commentary and humor. From vampires to yard sales and funny bullet-proof vests, THE FLYING MCCOYS holds something for everyone.

"Hitler and Goering were once out driving. Passing through a village, they ran over a pig. Goering thought he should find the farmer and apologize for what had happened. He was gone a very long time and received very fine hospitality. When he returned, Hitler asked why he had stayed so long. 'Well, there was so much celebration in the house over what I told them,' Goering replied, 'and finally I had to join in.' 'What did you tell them?' 'That the pig was dead.' This was one of hundreds of jokes told by the Norwegians from 1940 until 1945. While the phenomenom of occupation humor has certainly not been ignored, the role it played in developing a resistance mentality among the Norwegian people has until now been largely unexamined. This humor was expressed in overtly anti-Hitler and anti-Nazi jokes, but it was also found in snide replies, double-entendres, insinuating newspaper advertisements that were not understood by the occupying forces, children's stories, and even Christmas cards. Kathleen Stokker, extending an earlier study by Magne Skodvin, observes that "wartime humor granted a voice to those deprived of free speech, discouraged the undecided from hasty attachment to Nazism, and helped the initially amorphus group of individuals opposed to Nazism to develop a sense of solidarity." Norway was a neutral country in 1940, and just as it had done during World War One, it hoped to remain neutral. Geopolitical realities, however, including the German desire to control access to Swedish iron mines, made Norway and Denmark Hitler's first victims following the end of the Phony War in April of 1940. The Norwegians did not surrender. King Haakon VII established a government in exile in England, and the Norwegian people would wage one of the bravest and most effective resistance campaigns of the war. The popular image of Norwegian resistance has been created by films such as "The Heroes of Telemark," but there were tens of thousands of ordinary Norwegians who resisted in more subtle ways, even if it were only to wear a red cap in defiance of their occupiers. Stokker points out, however, that the image of a people united against oppression is only partly true. There were many Norwgians who did acccept and serve the new National Government headed by Vidkun Quisling, the leader of the Norwegian Nazi Party. But these people were for the most part shunned, and Stokker points out with brillliant originality the way the resisters used humor to debase the collaborators. Stokker, a professor of Norwegian at Luther College, is the author of the most widely used Norwegian-language textbook in America. She draws upon a large number of interviews with survivors of the Occupation, archives in the Norwegian Resistance Museum and the University of Oslo, and "joke notebooks" kept by women who experienced the event. It is a delightful book,well-crafted and historically meticulous. As other societies have discovered, oppression can be endured with humor, for it is a valuable form of psychological warfare. The Norwegians developed that humor, as Stokker so aptly proves, and in the process maintained the spirit that was necessary to prevail. As one reads the book, and looks at the drawings, posters, and cartoons, one gains a deep appreciation for the courage of a people. One also gets a good laugh! Dr. Gerald D. Anderson Department of History North Dakota State University

"Hitler and Goering were once out driving. Passing through a village, they ran over a pig. Goering thought he should find the farmer and apologize for what had happened. He was gone a very long time and received very fine hospitality. When he returned, Hitler asked why he had stayed so long. 'Well, there was so much celebration in the house over what I told them,' Goering replied, 'and finally I had to join in.' 'What did you tell them?' 'That the pig was dead.'" This was one of hundreds of jokes told by the Norwegians during German occupation from 1940 until 1945. While the phenomenon of occupation humor has certainly not been ignored, the role it played in developing a resistance mentality among the Norwegian people has until now been largely unexamined. This humor was expressed in overtly anti-Hitler and anti-Nazi jokes, but it was also found in snide replies, double-entendres, insinuating newspaper advertisements that were not understood by the occupying forces, children's stories, and even Christmas cards. Kathleen Stokker, extending an earlier study by Magne Skodvin, observes that "wartime humor granted a voice to those deprived of free speech, discouraged the undecided from a hasty attachment to Nazism, and helped the initially amorphous group of individuals opposed to Nazism to develop a sense of solidarity." Norway was a neutral country in 1940, and just as it had done during World War One, it hoped to remain neutral. Geopolitical realities, however, including the German desire to control access to Swedish iron mines, made Norway and Denmark Hitler's first victims following the end of the Phony War in April of 1940. The Norwegians did not surrender. King Haakon VII established a government in exile in England, and the Norwegian people would wage one of the bravest and most effective resistance campaigns of the war. The popular image of Norwegian resistance has been created by such films as "The Heroes of Telemark," but there were also tens of thousands of Norwegians who resisted in more subtle ways, even if it were only to wear a red cap in defiance of their oppressors. Stokker points out, however, that the image of a people united against oppression is only partly true. There were many Norwegians who did accept and serve the new National Government headed by Vidkun Quisling, the leader of the Norwegian Nazi Party. But these people were for the most part shunned, and Stokker points out with brilliant originality the way the resisters used humor to debase the collaborators. Stokker, a professor of Norwegian at Luther College, is the author of the most widely used Norwegian-language textbook in America. She draws upon a large number of interviews with survivors of the Occupation, archives in the Norwegian Resistance Museum and the University of Oslo, and "joke notebooks" kept by women who experienced the event. It is a delightful book, well crafted and historically meticulous. As other societies have discovered, oppression can be met with humor, for it is a valuable form of psychological warfare. The Norwegians were able to develop that humor, as Stokker so aptly proves, and in thr process maintained the spirit necessary to prevail. As one reads the book, and looks at the drawings, posters, children's books, and cartoons, one gains a deep appreciation for the courage of a people. One also gets a good laugh! Dr. Gerald D. Anderso Department of History North Dakota State University

Eventhough our children are in their teen years, the Baby Blues comic strips still make me laugh until my belly hurts which is ironically healing! Laughter is good medicine!

Laughing Out Loud is not something I am known for, but I got Lots Of Laughs form this book and am having to resist buying more of the series - and will probably end up caving to the temptation to L O L more.Framed!: a Baby Blues TreasurySomething Chocolate This Way Comes: A Baby Blues Collection (Baby Blues Scrapbook #21)

I enthusiastically second Judith Thomas's opinion about how good this book is, and Heifitz's goofily inspired lyrics fit the rhythm perfectly, and hilariously, in each case. I'm thrilled to find copies in the marketplace here, since friends borrowed and kept both of mine many years ago (grrr), and for some unfathomable reason it's no longer in print, and I can't remember all of these gems. A wonderful gift for musicians, music students (a fun way for them to practice sight-singing), and classical music fans. (I gave about a dozen as gifts when it first came out, and in each case the recipient would spend the next half hour minimum nodding his/her head, singing quietly, giggling manically, and going to the next piece, while fending off with elbows all the people who wanted to look at the book too. Each time.) Check out the irreverently bombastic "Take out the Trash" lyrics to Beetohoven's 5th symphony, or the recipe for Plato's favorite sandwich to a famous Brahms symphony's theme. Or the bizarrely rhythmic lyrics to the "Golliwog's Cakewalk."

For those who enjoy silly turns of corner in humor, coupled with main themes of music, you will enjoy this compilation immensely. Not always obvious, we learn during a Beethoven Concerto theme, "Don't play chess with your daugh - ter...she knows more than you taught.....her." The great Sigmund Freud is not safe in this collection either..paired with the chorale theme from Beethoven's 9th, "Sigmund Freude never hoid a concert due to chronic slouch, All his ritzy, somewhat schitzy patients tied him to his couch." You get the idea. A delicous gift for people who get the giggles over zaney stuff.