Parody Books

Lots of humor books out there but most aren't funny. This one is hilarious -- and the humor is sustained throughout. This is the sort of book you keep quoting to someone ("hey, listen to this") while they're reading their newspaper and ready to kill you. I enjoyed it so much I found it difficult to put it down so I could return to checking my mail on AOL. Paulette Cooper

One word can describe this book, Hilarous.

This book is a great book for those who are expecting. The author is very funny in the way she describes pregnancy and is the perfect baby shower gift. She could be the next Erma Bombeck! Highly recommend!

I love Randy Glasbergen's cartoons! These cartoons are witty and ingenious!! And the best thing is that they are clean! This book is one that I highly recommend. Also Check out his other books for more great Laughs!!! I love this Guy!!!!

In "The Art of Office War," Simon Drake combines the teachings of Sun-Tzu with the environment of "The Office." The result is a hilarious satire about what it takes to get ahead in the cubicle-lined battlefields of the 21st century.

"The Art of Office War" is both insightful and funny. "Everyone has their price, and if you don't believe it just look at your pay cheque." Yeah, that line hurt to read.

I'm a sole proprietor, but having read "The Art of Office War" I almost want to work in an office so I can test Simon Drake's advice. Almost.

There are those who speak of the "anxiety" of poetry, but there is a case to be made for poetry that results not from agony or a confessional impulse but out of pleasure, the desire to communicate pleasure to an audience hungry for it. Koch generates as much pleasure as any poet, and it is not only the comic value of his poetry that recommends it but the spirit of creativity itself. In "The Art of Poetry" you get a kind of guide to poetics, an "ars poetica" in the Horatian manner with an American accent. You also get "Fresh Air," his memorable 1950s diatribe against academic poetry, still pertinent today. A necessary antidote to the New York Times.

We've been reading and re-reading arty dogs since last Christmas. Just couldn't give it away. Delightful humor, delightful art. Especially recommend for artistic dog lovers.

It is, as The Four Tops had it, the same old song. A hot new band, achingly-hip, generating a buzz across the nation, with some you-so-should-have-been-there gigs and a couple of must-hear MP3s. The debut album strides purposefully into every end-of-year top 10, perhaps a front cover of Spin, and then a national tour that finds the band in bigger venues. But they don't quite live up to expectations, and reports splutter out that our charismatic frontman - the one with the haircut that everyone's wearing - is indulging a little too much. The bassist leaves citing `nervous exhaustion' and is quietly replaced, although no-one really notices. Then eerie silence, punctuated by the occasional reports of `epic intentions in the studio', the guitarist yo-yoing between Hollywood and rehab, and perhaps a shaky demo somewhere on MySpace. Six months down the line, an enthusiastic press release heralds an `incredible return to form'. The nation listens to the exclusive playback of the new single. And shrugs.

This, in outline, is Bandalism - the wasteful destruction of potential musical glory. The details may vary, but it's been happening for decades. You would think - so well-versed (usually) are they in pop/rock-lore - that aspiring popsters would be savvy to this and act upon it. Well, now they have no excuse. Through extensive research of other bands' foibles and fripperies (and no small taste of those bittersweet fruits himself) Julian Ridgway has written the essential manual to survival and success (and dealing with drummers).

Really, it's all about choosing the right people. All bands are based on types -the cool one, the quiet one, and so on - and a questionnaire allows the reader to assess where he or she fits in - and where his or her bandmates do. Working this out at an early stage saves a lot of hassle down the line, translating into what instrument each band member should play, and how they will endure on the choppy seas of pop stardom. Once the band is correctly assembled, excited about the music they're playing, and wearing the right clothes, it's necessary to construct a music industry igloo. In here, insulated from the chill winds of the business, the band can write the tunes that'll change the world. With analysis of effective bonding techniques (for the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, we learn, not altogether surprisingly, that this involves getting naked), where to practice, how to deal with the drummer and how to stay sane on the tour-bus (each member of the English pop combo The Animals drew a face with double-sided tape above the top lip. A pubic hair from each sexual conquest constituted the moustache), Bandalism deals with every stage of a band's career, through the recording of the debut record, the international tour, the tired return home and the horrors of what to write about for the second album.

More than an idiots' guide (although, judging from the endless disasters that bands appear to construct for themselves, idiots will fall among this book's target audience), Bandalism is interspersed with Venn diagrams and flowcharts, and Ridgway writes with a wry eye. In discussing band member types, the very name of Black Sabbath's bassist provides the perfect summary of the qualities of the typical quiet one/bassist:
"Geezer - the all round decent, solid bloke, and Butler - the honest manservant inhabiting the world of the rich and famous by virtue of an endless capacity to serve uncomplainingly in the shadows".

Bandalism is the key to avoiding the train-wreck that most bands find themselves in. It should be given to anyone buying a guitar.

Probably not to drummers, though. They're a lost cause.

One lady I know told me that reading THE CLASSICS RECLASSIFIED helped her get a good score on the GRE. Armour presents, in each chapter, an accurate but hilarious synopsis of a book that often appears on required reading lists for English classes. At the end of each chapter are questions on the book, but probably not the questions most English teachers would ask.

For example, among the questions on IVANHOE was one that I had asked myself when I read IVANHOE, "Honestly, how could Ivanhoe have married that dumb blond Rowena, instead of Rebecca?" (In another (alternate) historical novel, 1632, the hero was smarter: he did marry Rebecca)

Or consider the following question on Charles Dickens' DAVID COPPERFIELD: "How do you feel after reading DAVID COPPERFIELD? Full of the Dickens?"

If you are going to take the GRE soon, an excellent way to study for it is to read THE CLASSICS RECLASSIFIED, and Armour's other books, especially:
Twisted Tales from Shakespeare and
American lit relit,: A short history of American literature for long-suffering students, for teachers who manage to keep one chapter ahead of the class, ... can happily sink back into illiteracy,

Or if you just want a lot of good belly laughs, read:
It All Started With Columbus and
It All Started With Stones and Clubs: Being a Short History of War and Weaponry from Earliest Times to the Present, Noting the Gratifying Progress mad

watziznaym@gmail.com

A fun book, great for irritating bar conversation. Really does have useful information presented in a humorous manner. Entertaining reading.