Parody Books

I loved this little book. It was light hearted and fun to read. The cover intrigued me. I laughed outloud and that says to me it is a good book. I suppose I related to some of it. It was entertaining.

It is best to chose wisely when deciding where to read this book. I started in a restaurant, with starched linen tableclothes. I laughed so much that I spat tomato and basil soup over a good proportion of it. Ms Eisenbach manages to be funny whilst also giving good advice on such difficult subjects as: When to phone a woman after you have had sex with her. Her account of naming a lesbian pet is wonderful but may cause you to have fits of the giggles next time you hear a friend call her dog. She advised aspirant lesbians to "lighten up" This is just the book to do it!

I know this book was not aimed at guys. I found it in the humor section and even though it was not what I expected, I read it from cover to cover. Fellas, you could do a lot worse than getting tips on picking up chicks from a lesbian. Ladies, read the list of things not to do the day after a hot date (show up with "a few things.")
It will be a long time before society at large is ready to accept gay people. Regardless of your politics, you have to respect the courage of those who live their lives in the open and even offer insight and benefit of wisdom to others.

I happened to pick up this book at a time when I was feeling particularly depressed, almost suicidal, about my life as a lesbian. Within a few minutes after starting to read it I was laughing out loud, and by the time I was halfway through I was literally rolling on the floor. There is something on every single page of this book that struck home in a way that made me not only laugh, but to begin to love myself and my life again. Reading this book was a turning point for me, I look at myself and my friends with compassion and affection and I realize how liberating it is to have a built-in opportunity to exit from the main road of society's expecations for women. I HIGHLY recommend it!

I happened to pick up this book at a time when I was feeling particularly depressed, almost suicidal, about my life as a lesbian. Within a few minutes after starting to read it I was laughing out loud, and by the time I was halfway through I was literally rolling on the floor. There is something on every single page of this book that struck home in a way that made me not only laugh, but to begin to love myself and my life again. Reading this book was a turning point for me, I look at myself and my friends with compassion and affection and I realize how liberating it is to have a built-in opportunity to exit from the main road of society's expecations for women. I HIGHLY recommend it!

So much of what is in here has been so readily available over the years since the 1950's ended that the novelty is a little bit lost. I actually wish Mad had made these earlier 50's issues accessable to late 20th and early 21st century readers but a little less than they actually do. Still the great comic book satires are imaginative and alot of fun to read (even for the fifth or sixth time or more).

As soon as i received Vol 1 of Mad Archives and went through it , I immediately ordered Vol 2, the reason being the first edition of Vol 1 was out of print and I had to wait 12 ( that's TWELVE ) whole months to receive the second edition. Both volumes are a comic lovers delight, especially from a historical perspective. The artwork and coloring is so fresh and eye catching; good job of restoration, not to mention the layout and binding... all for only USD50. Will definitely become a collectors item very soon, if it hasn't already. What you waiting for? GO FOR IT !

If you're reading this review, then you're probably already a MAD fan and are wondering if you should buy this book. If so, then rest assured that if you do, you won't be disappointed. Contained within these pages is a priceless slice of comic book history from the 1950s when a humor magazine that took the mickey out of other popular titles was a novelty and when legends like Bill Elder, Jack Davis and Harvey Kurtzman cut their teeth and in the process, forged the template for hundreds of followers in the decades since. The best part of this vol (and Vol 1) is that you can re-read the stories again and again and still find something funny you'd have missed in previous readings. The humor is straightforward funny - whacky, zany and maybe even slapstick at times. But I'm sure that almost every MAD fan will find them all entertaining. Well worth the investment.

Well, at long last...Volume Two !!!
The Mad Archives: Volume 2. This One contains Issues 7 thro 12 of Mad Magazine. Almost everything here was written by the Creator of this American Instution of Lampoons: Harvey Kurtzman. The Artists featured are Bill Elder, Jack Davis, Basil Wolverton, John Severin and The Great: Wally Wood.

For me, Mad really hits it's stride here with Great Spoofs on Comic Books: "Bat Boy & Rubin", "Starchie", Newspaper Strips: "Little Orphan Melvin", "Flesh Garden", Movies: "From Eternity Back To Here", "Sane", and TV Shows: "Dragged Net", and even a Stab into the Heart of Edgar Allan Poe, with: "The Raven".

Born into the EC Comics Company run By Bill Gaines, Mad was the only Comic Book Title to Survive the great Comic Book Witch-Hunt of 1953, when Senate hearings labeled Gaines', Horror Comics as corrupting America's Youth and he had to cancel all of them.

But, Bill Gaines had a Winner on his Hands with "Mad", and an Publishing Empire was Built around this Little Comic Book. The Influence of Mad Magazine is HUGE, and along with: "Playboy" it is considered One of The Fore-Runners of Sixties Pop Culture that would change the way America viewed her Values & Morals. Sex and Humor got us out of The Nuclear Cold-War Years and everything was about to be very Different.

Right here in these pages, it is Hard not to Laugh at loud at: "Woman Wonder" and "the Lone Stranger". These Stories hold up as American Folk-Tales more than Fifty Years on, the Art is too Good to be believed. from those Weird Creatures of Basil Wolverton: "The Mad Reader" to the Sexy Broads, drawn by the Fantastic, Wally Wood in "Flesh Garden", this is a Feast for the Eyes.

Again, this is The Comic Book that CHANGED America, and let us Laugh at ourselves....My Highest Recommendation.
Let's hope we don't have to wait another ten years, for Volume Three !!!

Sure, I read New Yorker and with a Martini in my hand can picture myself in John Cheever's 50s. I've read Time. I learned to read, and ended up employed for a while as a television programmer, because of TV Guide. In terms of cultural significance, they are all piffles next this giant mountain of cultural commentary.

The issues in this volume are where its original creative team caught their wind and set sail for the very heart of satire and deconstruction. The earlier volume is great, but this one is a molotov cocktail handed to the young and open-minded of post-war America to assault complacency. The roots of nearly anything great the baby-boomers did (the Beatles read Beano, Zimmy read this) lie here.

If you read MAD Magazine at all whatsoever, you will love the bathroom companion series. These books collect the best pieces of MAD mag. including Spy vs. Spy, The Lighter Side Of, A MAD Look At, among many others. The sheer amount of reading content in these books is amazing for how small they are! Also, the absence of color also reminds veteran MAD readers of how the magazine originally was. These books will keep you chuckling for hours! Hilarious stuff that never gets old! Buy the whole series and you will never want to leave the toilet again!

It's a real funny book. It makes me go back to the old days when I bought my first issue of MAD magazine. Actually, no, because I pretty much have alot of Bathroom Companions and this is one of 'em. Very Entertaining or your money back! It's so funny, you feel like you don't have to "go" anymore!

ha ha. Mad is good

Greate idea for a book. Apart from burning it. You can read some of Mad's greatest articles in shortened form! It rocks! I can't think of anyone better to write an introduction than the man who brought life to Canibal!the musical, Orgazmo and BASEketball (Ignoring South Park) to life! Yes, trey parker! Buy it

This isn't one of those books that focuses on one style of writing like TV, Movies, Dogs, or MAD covers, but it gives you the whole SHABANG! This book, correction, work of art, is a combination of tha best articles from tha best MAD writers of all time! Not only did I read it while on the pot like I was supposed too, I read it over and over everywhere I possibly was! I couldn't help myself! Another must have from the Usual Gang of Idiots!

If this book doesn't start WW III, nothing will. The irreverence, the doctored photos, the paper doll, ...we are doomed. Too funny and clever. Loved every page, and want more. You go Saddam! I'm one of your many MySpace friends thanks to this little paperback, and proud of it! Strength IS power, and The Saddam Dump is some powerful humor!! The pictures alone are worth the price...Hilarious!!!

this book is hilarious. this book had me entertained from front to back. great stuff for all you saddam lovers out there like myself.

O.k. I don't have much to say other than this book is awesome!! lol. Seriously everybody needs to get this book, it's not only funny, but it's totally entertaining!!!!

After reading Saddamdump (I bought it for my commute and couldn't stop reading it), I realized that going after Saddam has just been proven to be more than a squandering of treaure and lives, it was the catalyst for funny. Read the book and laugh, I know Osama will!

If you're highly concerned with appearances, you may think twice about reading this book in public. Not one to "giggle" normally, I found myself (along with the people surrounding me on the plane) having difficulty holding back the giggles. I received a lot of raised eyebrows and cold stares! People on planes are really much too serious. Anyway, besides the giggles, I found myself being educated (with a small "e") about the history of Saddam and his situation he finds himself in. I also found myself having a bit of compassion for the guy. How is that possible?! Go ahead, live dangerously... buy the book already!!!

Like all over reviews of this book, it was the funniest western humor book i have ever read. Just find myself wishing Sederwall would put out another one just good as this one, but that would be a hard thing to do since this is as good as it gets.

Michael Humphries

This is one of the funniest books I have ever read. Coming from the Southwest, I almost feel like I know these characters. I read a story anytime I need my spirits lifted. My thanks to the author.

What a terrific book! This is a great book full of BULLoney. The book is written just like you were sitting there with the boys around the campfire. I swore I about busted a gut laughing...

Sederwall's great sense of humor, and ability to tie short stories into one big hoorah, is incredible. If you like Jeff Foxworthy's style of jokes, you'll love "Puncher Pie & Cowboy Lies." You don't even have to be a cowboy to enjoy the chuckling humor of this book. You almost feel like your in a comedic Louie Lamour! A definite must read!

As one of the characters in this book, I can assure you that the campfire quibble was all true (at least in our minds, such as they are). And since you weren't there it really doesn't matter much. A bunch of us cowboys just sat around the campfire for several days and told bold stories as only we could remember them. Being a personal acquaintance of all those folks ( I would never admit to anyone that they were friends) I can only say, never let them hold your money for you! The book was definitely a major dose of "Puncher Pie" served up with a hearty plate of sarcasm and obnoxious behavior; stories which probably meant something to someone but certainly not to any of us. Read the book during those times you don't want any intellectual stimulation. It will definitely help you pass the time and put many a grins on ya'.

Item arrived in condition as described.
Delivered on time.
No problems!

What mommy and/or wife doesn't wish sometimes that Calgon would REALLY take her away?

The Rebel Housewife Rules by Sherri Caldwell and Vicki Todd is a compilation of delightful personal anecdotes that most wives and mothers (except the Stepford variety) will relate to. It will not only keep you smiling from start to finish; but it will remind you that you don't have to be perfect, like the Kool Aid mom on TV. Your family will love you, even if you aren't June Cleaver.

This amusing, lighthearted book frees women from the myths many of us grew up believing, such as:

* You can turn a frog into a prince (i.e. change your husband),

* A Normal Rockwell Christmas is possible (without fist fights under the tree and mashed potatoes flying at the table).

* If I'm a good mom, I'll produce perfect children

Rebel Housewife Rules is an enjoyable read that reminds women to keep things in perspective, remember what's most important, and take one day at a time. Most of all it reinforces what we all know deep down: we should just relax and enjoy our families. This delightful book will help you to do all that you really CAN do: live, love, and laugh.

~ Marsha Jordan ~
Author of Hugs, Hope, and Peanut Butter
www.hugsandhope.org

This book is hilarious! The writing style is fun and familiar and the book is hard to put down. Sherri and Vikki did a great job of making the every day job of being a wife and mother hysterically funny. I have to admit, this book also made me feel better about all of my shortcomings. Who knew that other mothers and wives felt the same way? It is a great read and I highly recommend it!

I'm a stay at home mother of 2. This book helps you laugh at yourself especially when you have those crazy days!! This is a good book for any woman who is married or not, w/kids or not and working or staying at home. We can all have a laugh with this book and learn tidbits of info on how to make it better!

I had the grand privilege to meet Sherri this summer. She was a warm delightful woman. Consequently, it came as no surprise when I read " Rebel Housewife Rules..." to find it equally delightful and upbeat. (I get the sense that the other half of the dynamic duo, Vicki Todd, also ranks high on the delight-o-meter scale.)

The book is fun, warm and very real. It deals with women's core life issues of husbands, children, family, friends, sex, house repairs, and nurturing one's self. It talks about how to have an affair...with your husband. You get helpful advice for real women in the real world, i.e., when you find yourself near the breaking point with your husband, kids and chaos, put a little Kahlua in your coffee. (Yea!)

Although the book is chock full of funny moments and clever humor, there are creative practical suggestions on how to cope with being a woman, mother, wife, daughter-in-law, and yes, an actual person. One particular suggestion I love is that we pay our children to do their chores and if they fail to complete their chores, leaving us to do them, we take money out of their account. They pay us to do their chores! Great idea. (Dr. Phil would be proud.)

Each chapter exposes a myth, for example: The Myth, "Honesty is the best policy in marriage, family and life," then offers The Reality, "We all need `little white lies' to get by...." Then we get The Rule, "Learn to keep your mouth shut so your foot can't get in," and then the Rebel RX: "If you can't say something nice... make something up." (I love that line!)

There wasn't one of the thirty-eight busted myths that I couldn't relate to in a big way. It praises the human spirit and lets us chuckle at ourselves. The book exposes our human foibles and reinforces that all important wisdom we sometimes forget: to be perfect...well, just doesn't happen.

With tasty tidbits for women in their everyday lives, "Rebel Housewife Rules..." is a fun, upbeat book for fun, upbeat women.

Carmen Richardson Rutlen - Author, Dancing Naked...in fuzzy red slippers

this may be the most amusing gift i've ever received
i know it will cheer me up in the future

This is about the funniest book I've seen any time lately. I haven't yet bought it but got the gist of it in a recent visit to a local bookstore; I have to get it, on further reflection. The back cover of the Magritte...well, let's just say I am an engineer, and this one has got to go on my wall at work. I think at least maybe one of the guys I work with will get it...

Ursus Wehrli got there first with this wonderful idea but I was rather disappointed that there are only nineteen examples of his artistic tidiness and really less than ten are worth a second look. Seurat's 'Models' is the best example I think, the painting is on the left-hand page and opposite is a photo of a big plastic bag of colored chocolate buttons, just brilliant!

Mondrain, Klee, Picasso, Heering and Lichenstein all get fascinating tidy versions and the Van Gogh (see the book cover above) is another winner. I was though, expecting to see many more like the Van Gogh, that is keeping the basic painting and moving objects within it. Too many of the examples are just moving one or two items, like the three apples in Magritte's 'Young love', placed in a triangular shape in the original with Wehrli's version just having the apples in a straight line. Why are there no examples of tidy sculpture?

'Tidying up art' is a great idea and the book is well printed and designed but I wish there were lots more examples of Wehrli's creative fun. Maybe a second edition is on the way.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

For any one who has ever taken an art history class or spent hours at a museum studying fine art, this book is for you. The author takes familiar, iconagraphic works and rearranges the elements in surprising and unexpected ways. Wonderful!

Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest. What thrills me about this book is that I or anyone could have done it if only I'd thought of it.

His tidying up of abstract art is particularly hilarious.

This book is a wonderful compilation of small essay's written by a commentator concerning life and living in the South. It's small, each essay takes only a minute or two to read, and its a joy to read. Take a little bit of Southern Comfort from this book as it will warm your heart and lighten your heart. Highly recommended.

What a treat to be able to pick up a book and read with a laugh in your heart. It is a book that can be read under the hairdryer, while waiting in the doctor's office, waiting for your tennis lesson,before you fall asleep and all the while wishing someone was reading it with you so you could laugh and smile together. The stories are short and if you are from the South characters, places, traits, superstitions, and family hit that familiar nerve with unabashed humor. If you are not from the South, "looking in on the Southerner" is like sneeking a look into a secret society and giving you a jolt of joy. This book is recommended for everyone. If you are a Garrison Keillor fan, you will find the portraits in Livingston, Al as real as those in Lake Wobegon. I am sorry the stories ended. Maybe there will be another soon.

Nan Graham reads like a fresher, funnier Bailey White. Hilarious insight and observations from a new Southern voice. Passages detailing the eccentricities of her hard-headed husband and his curious family made me laugh out loud. Not too shabby for a first book. Two thumbs up from this jaded cynic. I will send a copy to all my Southern friends and to some sympathetic Yankees who I also count as friends.

Southerner Nan Graham catches the essence of the South in her delightful book. While we "yankee's" chuckle, the book is truly enlightning about the South and it's culture. The demistification of the southern "way's" are humerously recanted while enjoying an insight on her "Southern" husband but more importantly her "Southern" West Highland terrier and of course a cat named Sumter. (Don't read the book until you know what Sumter is.)

What a treat to be able to pick up a book and read with a laugh in your heart. It is a book that can be read under the hairdryer, while waiting in the doctor's office, waiting for your tennis lesson,before you fall asleep and all the while wishing someone was reading it with you so you could laugh and smile together. The stories are short and if you are from the South characters, places, traits, superstitions, and family hit that familiar nerve with unabashed humor. If you are not from the South, "looking in on the Southerner" is like sneeking a look into a secret society and giving you a jolt of joy. This book is recommended for everyone. If you are a Garrison Keillor fan, you will find the portraits in Livingston, Al as real as those in Lake Wobegon. I am sorry the stories ended. Maybe there will be another soon.

This book is a hilarious spoof on our president's first 3 months in office. I can just picture this as a SNL skit. It's great airplane reading - funny and quick.

One hundred days worth of George "W." Bush's secret, innermost thoughts. If anything, I thought it would be scary, not funny, but "W." made me laugh out loud on almost every page. I give "W." an "A."

This book is awesome! I found the book extremely funny and entertaining not because the writers were trying to be funny (they are damn good at it too), but because they were telling as it really is. Buy the book, it's money well spent.

I spotted this highly satirical masterpiece on accident, and loved every page of it. I tried reading it to curb bordem, and kept laughing out loud so much that everyone one had to know what was so funny. All of my freinds, right and left alike, thought it was utterly hilarious. I have lent it out to everyone; My Goverment teacher read it aloud to the class; it even had a bit of a waiting list from time to time.

The scariest element- it is all too true! The book is filled with mispellings, childish handwriting, and mis-informations that sound as if they came from the mind of a 3 year old. Therefore perfectly accurate for the 42nd, er, 43rd President of the United States. ("I wonder if Trent Lott is related to that guy in the Bible whose wife turned to salt?"). Bravo, and encore!

In this book, you will find out why? This is easily one of the funniest books that I have read in a long time.

Yes, it is very easy to poke fun at our president, no matter who that may be, but President Bush sure makes it simple. In this diary-style book, the president's innermost thoughts are scribbled out in 3rd-grade penmanship.

The book is outright hilarious. We get an in-depth look at the president's IRS audit list, his thoughts on making a movie about his "poppy," his feelings about Dick Cheney, and his outright fear of Hillary Clinton. The mental notes are also hilarious, and the added illustrations make for a complete funny experience.

This book was a really fast read, and it was extremely humorous. It is definately for anyone with a mere pulse of a sense of humor.

I didn't understand before buying this book that it was just a collection of short quotes - but it's hilarious! If you've ever felt frustrated dealing with men, you need this!

A wonderful and funny collection of women's quotations.

certainly this book is a great collection of the thoughts of women regarding the oxymoron knownn as men. i found my self laughing outloud & unable to stop reading.

With such a witty and insightful book, woul you expect any less from the website? Check it out, you can even buy Men Are From Hell T-Shirts and other various things... http://www.menarefromhell.com

This book is histerically funny! If you have ever had a relationship with a man, good or bad, you will enjoy the insightful quotes in this book. I am sending copies to all my women friends.