Humor Books

What a great book! I can hardly wait for the next Dodie Cross book to be released. In the meantime, I will reread A Broad Abroad in Thailand. Dodies writing style reminds me of Erma Brombeck stories which I so loved. When I read Dodies book, I felt as if I was making the journey to Thailand with her. I feel anyone purchasing this book will be looking for more of Dodie Cross and her
journeys.

I purchased this book because, as an expat who lives in thailand, it seemed like a great idea. Overall, it's an easy read and certainly has quite a few shares of laughs. However, quite a large portion of the book is devoted to her doomed marriage to a horny jerk- something I really didn't sign up to hear about! Her adventures, although I feel for her, were also not quite as adventurous as I expected- and while I commend her for making a trip to the mall to buy underwear interesting, it's still just that. Same thing goes for eating in reataurants, taking public transportation, and getting a massage. Her bad experience with the hospitals make me grimace as well- I have had fabulous healthcare in bangkok and would hate for anyone to confuse Pattaya a few years back with modern hospitals in thailand.
All in all, I would love to sit down with her and have a few drinks and relive the quirks of living here, but can't say I would reread the book.

Dodie is my friend and I learned many things I never knew about her.
I knew she was fun, a great story teller and a wonderful person.
Her book made me laugh, it made me cry, but most of all I have an even
deeper appreciation for who she truly is. I read the entire book on a plane flight from coast to coast and believe me the flight went quickly.
I even caught my husband reading it. No one can take a serious situation
and make you enjoy reading about it like Dodie. Thailand was not a place I
wanted to go, but the trip was worth it with Dodie.
Nancy Metty

Nancy Metty

Living abroad in Thailand is not always all it is said to be as author Dodie Cross quickly realized. The result of her near year-long adventure? A "laugh out loud must-read memoir" called A Broad Aboard in Thailand An Expat's Misadventures in the Land of Smiles.

When newly widowed Dodie first met and became involved with Dick, she had no idea what lay in store for her. When Dick is offered an incredible job opportunity in Thailand, there is no question that Dodie wanted to go along. Pushed into a quick marriage, the two soon set off for lands unknown.

Their first experiences in Thailand were luxurious. If only the same could be said for the rest of her stay. Dick and Dodie are soon moved into a new company-owned home and begin to realize very quickly that this wonderful opportunity came with some serious strings attached.

Dodie is fortunate to find many allies and friends. Faithful Pon, Dodie's live-in housekeeper and friend very quickly earned a place in Dodie's heart, as did the "beautiful orphans" Dodie considered herself fortunate to work with at the Pattaya Orphanage. The ladies from the Pattaya International Ladies' Club (PILC) also played a large part in comforting Dodie and helping her to keep her sanity but at the same time were part of an on-going problem Dodie had with the boss' wife, Mrs. Anorexia or Mrs. A for short (named changed to protect the guilty).

While the area and the friends Dodie made would endear Thailand to her forever, problems followed her almost from the beginning of this fateful journey. The primary problem Dodie faced was Dick. Dick suffered from an addiction and had, at times some extreme issues. This would be a large part of their undoing. Competing with Dick for "problem of the trip" was the insufferable control freak Mrs. A. While not an employee of The Company, Mrs. A issued many rules regarding nearly every aspect of the lives - both public and private - of the employees and their wives. To cross Mrs. A or to break one of her and her husband's rules was to earn an instant trip back to the States. Unfortunately for Dodie, she and Mrs. A were at cross purposes almost constantly. Medical problems, a near fatal accident and probably countless blunders in dealing with the Thai people all plague Dodie as well.

This memoir, though thick, is very difficult to put down. Dodie Cross has achieved a great accomplishment: her readers will feel an almost immediate connection to her. They will feel her anxiety, her stresses, her amusement and most certainly with groan along with her at the mere thought of Mrs. A. Mrs. Cross is to be applauded for this outstanding book.

Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (12/07)

"A Broad Abroad in Thailand" promised to be a book that I could relate to in several ways. Being an expat myself, I always find what other expats have to say about their new countries fascinating; I've always considered myself a broad and I absolutely adore Thailand. So at a first glance I found it hard to imagine that the book could live up to my expectations...

Having read a fair number of books about expat life and experiences, I mostly found them quite imbalanced and superficial. Granted, most of the authors were rather young, but in the majority of cases I was just not overly impressed by them. Dodie Cross' "A Broad Abroad in Thailand" is definitely an exception. The author never tries to hide the fact that she was no spring chicken when she headed to the Land of Smiles, which certainly gives an interesting spin to her observations. We get to learn more about orphanages and healthcare than we do about beach parties and bars, which in my opinion is a nice improvement. Ms. Cross also nicely balances the funny-to-hilarious misadventures with more serious issues and her `who-could-ever-understand-those-habits' moments with her obvious admiration and respect of Thailand, its culture and its people.

Ms. Cross' memoir begins with a hasty marriage to a golf instructor, which is needed in order for her to be able to accompany him to his new position in Thailand. Although she is not totally certain that marrying Dick (and oh, what an appropriate name for him!) is such a great idea, she decides to go forward with it. Their move to a new country is very eventful - as those moves tend to be... Very soon she is battling not only a badly cracking marriage to a sex addict, but also countless rules and regulations imposed by the wife of Dick's boss, the overpowering Ms. Anorexia. Ms. Cross would rather get to know her new country and meet the people, but all such attempts are considered by Ms. Anorexia as against the rules. Then along comes the near-fatal accident on the infamous Sukhumvit Highway - which truly is at least as bad as described by Ms. Cross as well as a bladder surgery with unexpected results. Dick is not thrilled by Dodie's restored virginity, the boss is not thrilled by Dick and Ms. Anorexia is just generally not thrilled with anything, particularly not with Dodie. Such is the sorry state of affairs overall, which will only lead to more trouble. You will, however, have to read the book for yourself to learn how Dodie resolves the situation.

Having seen that Ms. Cross has also lived in New Orleans among other places, I will definitely keep an eye out for a book about those experiences. According to the little addendum, she is already working on one about her life in Iran, so I can only hope that the New Orleans one will be next. As for "A Broad Abroad in Thailand," I found it well written and very enjoyable. If you need something to brighten your day, just read one of the funnier chapters, maybe the one about mastering the use of Thai toilets or the joys of buying underwear in a strange country. You will feel so grateful that you do not have to deal with any of this that your day will immediately improve. Great read for expats, expats-to-be, wanna-be- expats, travelers and just about anybody else with a sense of humor.

My husband and I have listened to Baxter for years and I resently purchased a book and a CD for his birthday .The order was easy to get thru Amazon , the price was good and the merchandise was delivered on time. Thanks Amazon, Jean

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.

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 a great book. It's a nice mix of the ones we remember as children and a few more we wouldn't readily remember.
This is for the child who has a healthy appreciation for the art of Edward Gorey and the humor for Monty Python and love Lon Chaney. Trust me, there are these children out there, they really are under the age of 8 and they are very hard to buy books for.
What's really wonderful, for the adults who are finding their lives now revolve around reading stories to small children who remain illiterate, this book offers a lovely change from the norm. Honest to god, If I have to read one more Pretty pony story I am going to hunt that pony down....
I recommend it for children of all ages, even if you dont' have your own, it's just so worth having.

With the recent publication of Random House's, "Charles Addams: A Cartoonist's Life", by Linda H. Davis, rival publishers appear to be looking to their own overstocked warehouses to take advantage of this newest Addams literary craze. At least, that's how I'm interpreting the sudden reappearance of books like Simon and Schuster's, "The Charles Addams Mother Goose", which originally made its republished debut back in 2002, onto our bookstore shelves. Not that I mind, of course. Any republication of the Addams repertoire is fine with me, and had S&S not started sending out this book once again I never would have known what a fine complement C.S.A. made to some of the darker nursery rhymes out there. Mother Goose books come and go, but if you want to go for the memorable, the dark, and the amusing then there really is only one title you should even begin to consider. And it sports a Stephen King by-line on the cover.

Told in about 28 different nursery rhymes, "The Charles Addams Mother Goose" is everything you might expect from that most famous of New Yorker cartoonists. Here you can find all your favorites word-for-word, accompanied by the most peculiar of pictures. The mouse from "Hickory Dickory Dock" takes on enormous proportions. Jack Sprat and his wife seem to have eating habits outside of what we might consider the norm. Even the three blind mice are included, though the carving knife is now of the electric variety. The familiar Addams family characters do indeed make an appearance in some of these poems, and always in a fashion that seems tailor made for them. Plus it takes a kind of genius to be the illustrator who decides that the reason all the kings horses and all the kings men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again was because out of Humpty hatched a baby dragon/dinosaur/scaly creature. Certainly the unique Addams brand is clear and present in every pic.

Kids who read this book, and there will be quite a few, may find themselves in later years wholly unable to separate Addams' vision from certain peculiar rhymes. Take, for example, that old chestnut "Solomon Grundy". Entirely apart from the fact that his name is now synonymous with a Batman villain, his story here is told in seven/eight panels. "Solomon Grundy, Born on Monday, Christened on Tuesday, Married on Wednesday, Took ill on Thursday, Worse on Friday, Died on Saturday, Buried on Sunday. This is the end of Solomon Grundy." Addams really takes the poem even further, though. His Grundy resembles a slightly undersized and grumpy Uncle Fester. And once he's, "Died on Saturday", his body resembles nothing so much as a cloud of dirty air. Then, wonderfully inexplicably, that same dirty air is put into a corked bottle and thrown into the sea with the line, "Buried on Sunday." It's this kind of random twist on old stand-bys that gives this collection just the right burst of original peculiarity. I'm not even gonna go into the eyedropper of holy water on the second panel or the mysterious mushrooms that grow out of Solomon's head on Thursday.

So which poem wins the Most Likely To Disturb Already Wary Adults Award? It's a toss-up, to my mind, between "Mistress Mary, quite contrary" and "Wee Willie Winkie". On the outset, neither poem seems particularly dark. In "Mistress Mary" however, an unhealthy waif of a woman with dark-lidded eyes and a lifeless expression waters mushrooms in a darkened basement. Lit only by a single bare lightbulb, the mushrooms have begun to sprout feminine heads, each with the creepy cheer of a babydoll's face. The picture looks almost institutional, what with the pale blond's stare into nothingness and the mushrooms' eerie plastered smiles. Compare that, however, to "Wee Willie Winkie". In that picture a boy and girl stare aghast at a window where a ghoul in a nightcap stares unblinkingly at them, his right hand ah-rapping at the pane. The whole picture is tinted a sickly green and blue and you've the feeling that the little boy who is not in bed could be in for some trouble soon.

When you get right down to it, however, maybe the most disturbing part of this book is the Foreword written in 2001 by "Mrs. Charles Addams". In this section, the woman gives a bit of context to the original publication. It came out in the midst of Vietnam. It could be credited to two equally possible sources. But Mrs. Addams goes even further and finds in Charles's work an odd source of, of all things, comfort. "How wonderful to find a dinosaur inside Humpty Dumpty, rather than worrying that he had fallen and couldn't be repaired. Or being reassured that the old woman who lived under the hill had all the comforts of a real home and was better for it." You'll note that she makes no mention of the vampiric Doctor Fell who's poem reads, "I do not like thee, Doctor Fell" or the leather-clad specter of death that shakes hand with a little girl by a graveyard. Countering such an Intro, however, is the remarkable "Mother Goose Scrapbook" compiled at the end of the book. In it we see a poem that "for reasons unknown" was pulled from the original book moments before publication. In it, a worried shepherd holds open the doors of a fallout shelter as his lambs pelt past him into the darkness. A mushroom cloud erupts in the distance. Says the poem, "A red sky at night is a shepherd's delight. A red sky in the morning is a shepherd's warning." Since we've already determined that the book came out in 1967, I doubt the reason for the deletion is all that mysterious at all. Other choice details include New Yorker covers, photographs, book jackets, and even a drawing Charles made at the age of four.

Charles Addams has a following not too dissimilar to the Edward Gorey fans out there. This collection, however, demands to be owned by people outside of the regular obsessives. You can't say that Addams' visions of these nursery rhymes are anything but logical extrapolations. What's more, after repeated viewings they insinuate themselves into your unconscious. I'll never hear "This is the house that Jack built" without visions of knives, bulldogs, and dirty rats again. And I'm okay with that. A must-have purchase for anyone with a penchant for the peculiar.

In 1973 I was in second grade, and this was my favorite book to check out of the library. The only problem was, it was also a lot of other kids favorite too! I was always on the waiting list for it!!! The illustrations have been in my mind for over 30 years, and several years ago I tried to purchase it, only to find it out of print. I was so excited to find it recently rereleased. I now have my own copy, and am as fascinated by it today, as I was in second grade. The pictures are awesome, and show the true stories at the dark heart of nursery rhymes!!!It's a creepy little safe scare for adults and children alike. A really great book!

As only Chas Addams can do, the innocent nursery rhymes take on new meaning with these wonderfully ghoulish illustrations proving that a picture is worth more than a thousand words. I first read this book in the bookstore when I was 9 and purchased it with my saved allowance. I still have it and re-read it once per year. Sometimes I wonder if Chas Addams succeeded in capturing the soul of these well known verses better than any illustrator ever has. I recommend you purchase this book, light a fire on a stormy autumn evening and enjoy this book by candlelight with your own little fiends.

I was so pleased to find a re-print of this, the Mother Goose of my childhood. Yep, my parents gave me this Charles Addams -- and I've never been quite right since.
The hours I spent poring over pictures of the cadaverous Wee Willie Winkie, the Frankenstein-esque Dr. Fell, and little Wednesday Addams skipping rope alone, under a single streetlight . . . all these wonderful frissons were restored to me with this re-issue. Mother Goose wears Chuck Taylors!
If you love Gorey, Burton, and Lynch, you'll love the "Charles Addams Mother Goose."

My dad and Charlie were in business during their undergraduate days at UPenn. Dad would go out and take orders and Charlie would draw custom Christmas "and other special occasion" cards. I thought this was pretty neat. Nearing his deathbed, my dad finally confessed the he'd go out and take very specific instructions, gather photos, descriptions, etc. and bring other sordid details back to Charlie, who would then draw "pornographic" cards based on those orders. That revelation got me looking at Wednesday in a whole new light! It was enjoyable to read that Charlie was like that all his life.

One of the most commonly asked questions of cartoonists is, "Where do you get your ideas?"

And of course when the cartoonist is Charles Addams, this question leads to unrivaled speculation and disinformation, which over the years created its own brand of peculiar mythology.

Now comes an impressive new biography by Linda H. Davis. In "Charles Addams: A Cartoonist's Life" Davis takes on the stories that Addams slept in a coffin and drank martinis with eyeballs in them. Instead, what emerges is a surprising portrait of an amazing artist who led a full and colorful life.

Yes, Addams certainly had quirks and odd obsessions. But he was also universally loved, and so charming that he dated the likes of such luminaries of his time as Greta Garbo, Joan Fontaine and Jackie Kennedy Onassis (along with untold numbers of others). He drank hard, raced cars, and no party or social gathering was considered complete without him. His fan base ran the gamut from the criminally insane to Sean Connery and Alfred Hitchcock.

In this first ever biography of the subject, Davis charts Addams' meteoric rise and more than 50-year career as the most esteemed cartoonist at The New Yorker. With his cartoons, Addams became a significant cultural force by combining horror and humor, a genre that continues to flourish today. His impact and influence on generations of cartoonists is impossible to calculate, but it's fair to say that Gary Larson's Far Side would not have existed without him.

Addams' own unique creation of The Addams Family began as print cartoons which went on to inspire a popular TV series, animated cartoons and two Hollywood feature films. With these characters, Addams provided role models for eccentrics and nonconformists everywhere. The message of the Addams Family was simple: Namely that love and laughter can--and does-- flourish everywhere, even within families and social groups that seem outside society's norms.

An esteemed biographer whose previous subjects have included Stephen Crane and Katherine White, Davis spent over six years on this book and interviewed more than 130 persons who knew Addams well, or as well as anyone could. Although Addams died in 1988, Davis had exclusive access to his personal effects and papers that had been in the possession of his wife Tee until her death in 2004. Addams' two other wives also participated in helping Davis to define the man nicknamed "Chill" by his friends.

Davis provides a wealth of detail, but wisely avoids drawing hard conclusions or offering up pseudo-psychoanalysis. Instead, the dichotomy between the artist's urbane and cheerful public persona and his morbidly dark humor are presented in a way that leaves the reader, if nothing else, even more appreciative of Addams' depth, genius and mystery.

With this approach Davis reframes the question of "where" Addams got his ideas to that of "why." Addams was unlike anyone else, and so it is only natural that his ideas would be unlike those of others. As for why he was the way he was, that's a question Addams seems to have taken to the grave with him. In "A Cartoonist's Life" we see that just as one question is put to rest, another rises up - a conclusion that Addams himself would have no doubt enjoyed.

Who was Chas (Charles) Adams? While you won't know by the time you finish this revealing biography, you'll certainly expand beyond the line sketch you probably have now of his life. If you are a New Yorker fan, you'll know him from his hundreds of cartoons and dozens of covers that expressed a most unique and other worldly perspective. If you are a fan of celebrities, you may know more about him as someone who drove classic cars, dated high-profile women, and favored allusions to death and dying. If you are a classic television fan, you'll know that his cartoon characters were the foundation for The Addams Family. If you favor camp, you know about his armor collection, his preferences for cross-bows, and other lethal items which he liked to display in public.

The biography also reveals a kindly man who was patient with everyone, including those he didn't particularly like. You'll also learn of his fascination with the Morticia appearance (based on having married two women who met the bill). More surprisingly, you'll find him to have been victimized by his second wife . . . even long after they were no longer married. The book also portrays a heterosexual version of Truman Capote who fascinated many of the most desirable women.

Most pleasingly, Ms. Davis does a delightful job of portraying the development of his cartooning style and art . . . including dozens of prime examples that are well reproduced. Even when there's no reproduction, Ms. Davis is good at capturing the essence of an image in a few words. She also provides a history of 20th century New Yorker cartooning, including how many of the final cartoons represented the influences of many people other than the artist who signed the final version.

While each of those aspects is well and thoroughly portrayed, the core of the man doesn't quite make it through. Addams seems like a case of arrested development in many ways, but his willingness to be kind and considerate of others displays greater maturity than his preferences for self-indulgence and his cartooning approach suggest. In today's world, he would clearly be just another clever self-promoter . . . except that his stunts seemed aimed at creating joy rather than a higher income. Clearly, he didn't take himself too seriously, yet he did take his work seriously. Ms. Davis has, however, done readers and cartoon fans a great service by writing this biography which will undoubtedly stir up other sources and perspectives to flesh out the man who shortened his first name because it looked better that way on a cartoon.

Addams has always been my favorite cartoonist and I snatched a copy of this book as soon as I saw it. Reading this book led me to have even more admiration for this man, who had a rather energetic personal life (although not of the sort some might imagine) and who also served in the Army as, what else, an illustrator.

A must-have for anyone interested in Addams' work and a damn good read even if you aren't. Also, I thought the cartoons picked to illustrate the book were a perfect for this work.

"Charles Addams: A Cartoonist's Life" is a warm and tenderly written biography in which the essence of the man behind the dark side of his cartoons is gently exposed. Author Linda H. Davis has offered a comprehensive look into Charles Addams's life and it has a few surprises.

Addams, born into relative prosperity in Westfield, New Jersey just prior to World War I, could have lived a rarefied life (and in some ways he did) were it not for his penchant for seeing the world in a different way from most of us. Davis points out that Addams, although never admitting to liking children and never having any of his own, nonetheless gravitated toward children at parties and visits to friends' homes. He was wildly popular with the children he got to know and that childlike quality is evident in the cartoons he drew. He disliked the word "macabre" in describing his work and as the author points out there is never any outward blood and gore in his cartoons. The ghoulishness is implied and having been treated to several of Addams's cartoons in this book I would agree with Addams himself....his best cartoons are uncaptioned.

Charles Addams's personal life was another matter. Married three times, his second wife, Barbara Colyton, had the most and longest lasting effect on him. Control and money were her issues and she dominated the cartoonist for years after their divorce. Yet as Davis points out, Addams never had too much of an axe to grind with her or other women in his life. Indeed, he had many women as confidants...something most men eschew.

It is surprising to see how little money Addams made in his life, relatively speaking. He seemed to care about other things and one of the great loves of his life was his dog, Alice. Remarkably, too, Addams lived in an age where, at the New Yorker at least, cartoonists were mostly given ideas from which to draw something. It appears that his originality came later rather than earlier in his career.

Linda Davis has done a fine job in taking us through the life of this wonderfully warm, if complicated man. As his friend, the writer Philip Hamburger remarked on Addams's death in 1988, "Charles Addams was 'sui generis'". Without a doubt he must have been. I think Addams would have been a lovely dinner guest, replete with humor and full of attentive, quiet listening to his fellow guests. I wish I had met him.

I must confess- I didn't follow the chelsea boys saga before I got this Book; Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down!
I caught myself Laughing out loud late at night like a lunatic.
The characters are beautifully illustrated and developed. I feel like my friends and I have traits from all the characters, Which makes it more fun, sometimes scary.
To ME is like a GAY- SEX AND THE CITY.
KUDOS to Glenn and Allan's talent.
I Can't wait for this wonder duo's new book.
Again, this one is a perfect gift for any Occasion (Im getting a few books for those last minute emergency gifts)
Buy this book and give it away, anyone could use a bit of laughter this days.

Chelsea Boys is a very funny tale of 3 main characters that defies the norm we're used to seeing in the gay community. Rather than limit themselves to dating and sex(fun things never the less),the authors have tackled loss of parents, gay parenting and racial issues.This isn't your grandma's strip. Even though this format is known as a comic strip, I like to think of it as a complete story. Every strip follows the characters as they negotiate life with each other and with the greater community at large. Where else do we see such diversity in the gay community. Blonde and buff, short and jewish, black and sassy. On the surface, these may seem like stereotypes but if you read into their stories, they have to face many complex issues in their lives. Even though the story takes place in the neighborhood of Chelsea, it really represents all of Manhattan with it's wit and humanity.

I have been following the Chelsea Boys for years and am thrilled to see that they have finally gotten their stories together in a book. In my opinion, this is the only strip out there in which the characters open themselves enough to expose the reasons for who they are. The boys deal with real issues that face all of us (and I mean all of us - gay or straight) in real life and gives depth and "realness" to gay people.

The writing by Allan Neuwirth is insightful and poignant. And, as always, Glen Hanson's illustrations are brilliant. I look forward to future additions to the Chelsea Boys library.

Neuwirth and Hanson use the lighthearted medium of a comic strip to deliver deeper and more serious messages about the reality of being a modern gay man. Every strip has a lesson to ponder and the authors smash sterotypes wide open. Ironic indeed that the strip is named Chelsea Boys given the author's overwhelming proven point that sterotypes are rather silly given the fact that noone indeed ever lives up to the expected ideal.

Neuwirth and Hanson add a work of great relivance and importance to the cannon of gay literature. This is a must have for every gay man's libray! A great gift for friends too!

Hanson and Neuwirth have created warm, acerbic, witty, and utterly human characters who totally defy the Chelsea Boy stereotype. So don't let the strip's title fool you. These guys are universal-just like gay men from Pasadena to Poughkeepsie. This is a great collection, both for the terrific drawings and the wonderfully inclusive stories about these three gay roommates and people of ages, races, and sexual orientations in their lives.

El buen sentido del humor se encuentra, encerrada entre las cubiertas de este libro !
Nomás abrelo, amigo !

que regula tu estado de ánimo y la que al disminuir te manda derechito al ABISMO DE LA DEPRESION, AUMENTA CON LA RISA...
Y este libro ES UN BUEN PRODUCTOR DE SEROTONINA

PORQUE CON ESTE LIBRO...¡INVIERTES EN LA COMPRA DE ALEGRIA Y CARCAJADAS !

Y LA RISA NOS HACE FALTA...
Aqui está, encerrada entre las cubiertas de este libro !
Nomás abrelo, amigo !

QUINCE DÓLARES POR DOS HORAS DE RISAS CONSTANTES...SE ME HACEN MUY BARATOS !

This is one of the funniest compendiums I have ever read. Gloriously, delightfully, and devastatingly accurate caricatures by the great Ronald Searle bring to life the hysterical adventures of the fearsome, loathsome nigel molesworth, the curse of st. custards, his grate frend peason, the oiks, cads, MASTERS and of course his own bro molesworth II chiz chiz chiz. the late author, Geoff Willans, was an for a short time a schoolmaster, and he obviously recorded EVERYTHING he saw while he was at it.

Maybe it's larking on an esoteric subject you have to have experienced to see the funny side - in which case it would be totally lost on those outside the English grammar school system of twenty years ago and more - but for my money there is no funnier book around. What's more I think JK Rowling owes Willans and Searle a debt - surely it is no coincedence that she named her legendary school of wizardry and witchcraft "Hogwarts" after a fictional Molesworthian Latin play?

Totally, utterly recommended.

The Molesworeth books made me laugh when I was the same age as Molesworth, and they still make me laugh now I ma probably the same age as headmaster GRIMES chizz chizz chizz. Delightful to find all four books in one volume, and encounter again Molesworth himself, and Peason, Fotherington-Thomas who sa hello clouds, hello sky and skip like a girlie, Sigismund the mad Maths master, and all the rest. Willan's hilarious prose and Searle's marvellous drawings complement each other perfectly. Like a previous reviewer, I too would like to knwo what the Mrs Joyful prize looks like, but you can't have everything. As for another reviewer worrying about spelling Willan's name wrong, well, who knows how to spell Willan anyway? For years and years I thought his name was Williams! Spelling is for girlies anyway.

It is uterly wet and weedy, but I sa as long as there are clouds and sky (dere Fotherington-Thomas), and skools and MASTERS and noble brave fearless BOYS - and GURLS as well! chizz chizz, and lat. french, geog. hist. geom. peotry and even swots, bulies, snekes,oiks and greedy guts; then, my deres, there MUST also be the timeless prose encountered in 'The Compleet Molesworth'. This heady reference work is kindness of that worthy scribe, Geoffrey Willans and the unassailable art of Ronald Searle, master of the scratchy pen illustration. Noone else in the world space universe could draw Molesworth 1 & 2, gillibrand, peason, grabber, et al with such fearsome accuracy. As long as we have this rich chronicle on education to dive into, then our future generations of skoolchildren shall be uterly safe.
As any fule kno.

Ol' Nigel is the topp of the whizz Its Jokes are really weird chizz But oh surprise,don't you know whence comes the name of th'school of tooday's top of the show? Read at page 131 or so (Penguin edition) a little piece named ...shiver whit anticipation the Hogwarts!...hem hem,so well, doesn't that ring a little bell?

I am the proud possessor of Down With Skool, How to be Topp, and Molesworth's Guide to the Atomic Age in original bindings. I say "possessor" because I've highjacked them from my mother and brother. Needless to say, knowing that a re-print is out there is proof positive that dere Santa does exist. 'Pon my soul, darling Arabella, but life may not be as tuough as it seems. What I hadn't known until I ran across the factoid some years ago is that Searle began drawing while in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, with burned matches. Since then I've always wondered to what extent that experience informed his views of st custards.
Anyone who enjoys eccentricities and eccentrics simply must have these works in his library, right alongside Wodehouse and Betty McDonald. There is nothing like them.
Just one question: What exactly does the mrs joyful prize actually look like?

From The Rebel Housewife to One Madcap Mom...I felt an instant kinship with Kathryn Mahoney. She writes fast-paced, clever essays on universal truths and embarrassing secrets of motherhood -- and the lady is funny. From totally relate-able riffs on Reality TV, modern-day children's birthday parties, and our eerily number-ized society to WYSIWYG Woman (which I whole-heartedly support!), CRACKED AT BIRTH offers fantastic diversion and out-loud laughs to overwhelmed Moms everywhere -- CRACKED AT BIRTH would be a great gift to those women in your life.

-- Sherri Caldwell, Humor Columnist & Reviewer,
Co-Author, The Rebel Housewife Rules: To Heck With Domestic Bliss!

Kathy was funny in high school and she has gotten funnier! She is a modern Erma Bombeck. My husband picked up the book and started chuckling as he began to read. We need to keep a sense of humor in the midst of the chaos of family life. Kathy has a knack for putting the adventures into words that we all can relate to and laugh at. A great read for Moms (and Dads too!)who are trying to maintain their sanity through the ups and downs of everyday life in the trenches.

This book is just great... true to life stories with a humorous twist! A good read when traveling for any parent!

A friend gave this to me as a "baby #3 gift". It was so nice to just sit and laugh about all the craziness of motherhood. It's nice to know I'm not alone!

Some lives were just made to be made fun of. Some lives are so wacky, so silly, so undeniably cracked up, you just can't help but chuckle. Kathryn S. Mahoney is living one of those lives.

Kathryn Mahoney, who thinks she was CRACKED AT BIRTH, takes time to sit back and good naturedly marvel at the absurdity in her life. And, like the next door neighbor who keeps us in stitches with her zany tales, Mahoney shares the absurdity with us - one laughable story at a time.

CRACKED AT BIRTH is a collection of Mahoney's essays from her humor column, "Sunny Side Up," which has been running in six newspapers published by Nashoba Publishing of Devens, MA, since 2001. In this lighthearted essay collection, Mahoney tackles such hilarities as:

*Attempting yoga with children in the house

*The feeling of being invisible

*How to make your husband leave the room

*Household mishaps

*Valentine's Day romance failures

Mahoney seems to have mastered the art of being funny without being too sarcastic. Her style is refreshing and fun, and nearly all of her essays end with a feeling that, given the choice of any other life and family on the planet, she'd still choose the life and family she has. Her essays are warm and endearing, with just enough silly thrown in to make them irresistible.

While CRACKED AT BIRTH is consistent - none of her essays are weak or boring - Mahoney's funniest work revolves around her husband and the relationship between the two of them. Far be it from Mahoney to engage in man-bashing - she'd rather lovingly poke fun at the things that make her hubby so adorably male. This slant on love, marriage, and romance is a refreshing style for all those women who adore their hubbies but sometimes just can't help but shake their heads and chuckle over something they've said or done. Mahoney should follow CRACKED AT BIRTH with another humor book ("Cracked at Marriage," perhaps?) filled with nothing but marriage and romance-related essays.

Make no mistake, however; CRACKED AT BIRTH points out the sunnier side of so much more than love and marriage. Mahoney has no qualms ribbing her kids, her mother, even herself! It is this quality that gives her work tantalizing breadth.

Good for a light read and perfect for the bookshelf of any aspiring humorist, Kathryn S. Mahoney's CRACKED AT BIRTH will tickle your funny bone and maybe even make you look at your own cracked life in a little sunnier light.

I laughed, I cried, it became a part of me. Take a look at ..... site regarding the first chapter of Crackpot. It is as wild as the book. Many of the links are gone, but many are still there. Loved this book.

First, let me say that this book should have more universal appeal than do his movies. We all know that his movies are just too gross for some people to stomach, but there's nothing here that any adult reader should find offensive. If you enjoy homorous writing, a la Woody Allen, Steve Martin, Joe Queenan, David Sedaris, etc., you should find this little volume right up your alley.

Waters displays an acerbic, eccentric, but highly insightful comic sensibility. There are fifteen short pieces here, which first appeared in various magazines during the mid '80s, primarily NATIONAL LAMPOON (When it was still funny) and AMERICAN FILM.

The book opens with a bang, in one of the funniest pieces, "John Waters tour of L.A." Needless to say, this is not the L.A Chamber of Commerce "official guide." He takes us to some of the seamier sights, including the spot on Hollywood Boulevard where you can catch "the legless, one-armed white guy who break-dances on the street for horrified families as they stroll up the Walk of Fame." He also offers some timely,timeless advice for when you're driving around L.A: "Never look at pedestrians; they're the sad faces of L.A., the ones who had their licenses revoked for driving while impaired."

There really aren't too many weak entries in the collection. He does go a bit over the top in his rhapsodizing of Pia Zadora, perhaps, in an article devoted to that queen of glitz, but one comes to expect "over the top" from Waters. Who would want it any other way? He's also very much the exaggerator when it comes to his likes, "Puff Piece (100 Things I Love)and his dislikes: "Hatchet Piece (100 Things I Hate)." Amongst the things he most admires are Supermarket Tabloids: "Then I gazed at the great LAS VEGAS SUN wire-photo of a giant ostrich, escaped from a zoo chasing a totally bewildered middle-aged woman down the street. Every time I see her horrified expression, the creative juices start to flow." Not content with this passing mention, he writes an entire article entitled WHY I LOVE THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER as a paean to that fine bastion of journalistic integrity.

Some of Waters' images do convey a bit more of the "so banal it's hysterical" quality of his movies, as when he conjures up "a fancy Santa," in a piece called WHY I LOVE CHRISTMAS.
"Why hasn't Bloomingdales or Tiffany's tried a fancy Santa? Deathly pale, this never-too-thin-or-too-rich Kris Kringle, dressed in head-to-toe unstructured, oversize Armani, could pose on a throne, bored and elegant, and every so often deign to let a rich little brat sit NEAR his lap before dismissing his wishes with a condescending 'Oh darling, you dont REALLY want that, do you?" I mean, really, wouldn't you just love to have John Waters' private phone number and be able to shoot the breeze with him about popular culture? No!! you say? Well then this book's not for you. However, if you enjoy mordant, biting wit, and a breezy, conversational style of writing, this book is definitely for you. It was sent me by a friend. I'm going to be sending a few copies out to other friends now. Who knows, maybe we could start a John Waters cult?

BEK

This collection of essays is one of the most compulsively readable, and re-readable, books I have ever owned. I was drawn to it, as you might expect, by my enjoyment of Waters' camp classics. But to be honest, I enjoy Waters the essayist at least as much, if not more, than Waters the filmmaker. Waters' films, and particularly Pecker, Serial Mom, and Hairspray, set the scene for the miscellany of obsessions which animate this book. Crackpot offers a comforting way to understand Waters' recent turn to a more conventional cinematic venue: these films are *also* celebrations of his passionate likes (and dislikes).

Waters writes a witty and acerbic prose, which conveys genuine passion for his obsessions, obsessions which include trials, the National Enquirer, Woody Allen's Interiors, dangerous candy, menthol cigarettes, and Christmas. His preferred methods seem to be the catalogue and the reminiscence: Waters' list of 101 things he hates, and 101 things he loves, are obsessive ruminations on the everyday, and Waters' methodical survey of his everyday touches gives new meaning to the sublime *and* the ridiculous. Most memorable to me, perhaps, is his LA Tour, a pre-OJ intinerary of murder, mayhem, and showbiz, and his loving tribute to the Enquirer. But his celebration of William Castle, or shame-faced coming out as a fan of avant garde, his ritualistic account of Christmas and his loving descriptions of his interests, home, and personal history all make for a case study of obsession that feels both candid and arch, in Waters' inimitable, and paradoxical way. If you read it once, you're going to read it again.

This is absolutely the funniest book that ,Baltimore Bad Boy, John Waters has ever wrote! This book made me laugh out loud several times to the point that I'm sure my significant other may have harbored thoughts about having me committed.

This is the book that piqued my intrest in John Waters over ten years ago before I could even be called a teenager.

For a man with such a reputation for being "filthy, perverse, trashy, etc., etc., etc.", this book ggives the reader a delightful gllimpse into his bouyant and often child like mind. Whether raving over meeting with Pia Zadora, listing the events of a truly hellish day, or giving a guided tour of Los Angeles as only he can, he guides the reader along in a cheerful skip, full of bounce and frolick.

Even for one who's unfamiliar with his films, this book is a light, quick read sure to entertain and provide laughs, crating a vivid and lovable image of the man known to so many as "The Prince Of Puke"

Pastis' work just gets better and better. He is one of the wittiest cartoonists working today. His three comprehensive anthologies, "Lions, Tigers and Crocs, Oh My!" "Sgt. Piggys Lonely Hearts Club Comic," and "The Crass Menagerie," in that order, demonstrate the progressive growth of his command of the form and his inreasingly sure tragi/comic vision. He ranks up there with Walt Kelley and Charles Schultz. Now, if I could only get him to read my novel, "The Cold Dark Heart of the World."

---Wilson Roberts

Pastis's work continues excellent, the treasury contains enough additional information to also give a bit of a view into the artistic process which is entertaining, and a pleasant addition to the strips

Anyone who needs a lot of humor in their lives is in dire need of the work coming out of the disturbed mind of Stephan Pastis. The Crass Menagerie, the third treasury collection of the comic strip Pearls Before Swine, continues the daily "moral" lessons of Rat, Pig, Goat and Zebra ably supported by the ravenous but incompetent crocs, the loyal Guard Duck and a secondary cast of characters who have escaped the mind of Rat as he writes books with questionable life lessons. If you are unfamiliar with PBS, run to Amazon's order form and get all three of these treasuries. The previous treasuries are named "Sgt. Piggy's Lonely Hearts Club Comic" and "Lions and Tigers and Crocs Oh MY!" Pearls Before Swine is THE comic strip for the twenty first century.

Another wonderful book from the warped mind of Stephan Pastis. I love this guy's sense of humour and I own all his books. If you have not yet discovered the weird and wonderful Pearls before Swine, now's your chance.
As with any series it takes a while to know the characters but once you do you're hooked.
If you like "Far Side" by Gary Larson, and "Calvin & Hobbes", by Waterson then you will like Pearls. In fact, as I write this, I realise that Pearls is kinda like what would happen in Calvin and Far Side were to meld together.
Very funny stuff. And, as I've said before, buy this book if even just to keep another lawyer out of circulation. (don't sue me..I have no money)

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE has grown exponentially in just a few years from being a small, West Coast comic strip to becoming a national powerhouse and one of the best comic strips being published. The strips are sometimes edgy, often relevant, and always funny (even at their lamest). THE CRASS MENAGERIE is the latest collection of Pearls strips and includes about a year and a half's worth of strips. I'm not sure of the exact dates, but if my memory doesn't mistake me these strips ran from about the beginning of 2005 to the middle of 2006.

Many of the strips include notes and commentary by Pastis. Even if you own every other collection of PEARLS, this treasury is worth owning for the notes from Pastis alone. PEARLS BEFORE SWINE remains my favorite current running comic strip, but this collection includes some of my favorite strips of all time from the series, including Pig's remote-controlled heart and the short-lived new neighbor the Orca (Killer Whale). Also featured in this volume is the general physical evolution of the crocs; the introduction and evolution of guard duck from being a violent and somewhat psychotic bird to the best guard animal on the planet; Lil' Bear's trip out West to find the one man who could have united the country; the series about Pig's arch nemesis the anemone; the introduction of the miniature Vikings; Rat's adventures babysitting the BABY BLUES kids; and PEARLS attempt to crash Blondie's 75th Anniversary Party.

The end of the book includes a short section entitled "The Not Ready For Prime Time Comic". Featured are several comics that were either rejected and not published before as well as some strips as they were originally submitted before they had to be edited. There's also one strip that Pastis started but was never able to complete.

Overall, this is a great collection of PEARLS BEFORE SWINE strips and an item that any fan of the strip is sure to enjoy. Also recommended for people who just enjoy reading good comic strips.