Parody Books

This is a hysterically funny book that in parody actually tells the awful truth about Britain's stupidity in getting involved in the Iraq War in the first Place but it is done in such a way you have to laugh out loud because if you don't you will end up crying instead.

Written very much in the style of Mark Haddon's book "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" we quickly come to the conclusion that dear old Mr Blair and his many friends such as Alistair, Angi and Bill are really not on the planet with the rest of us mere mortals!

Tongue in cheek is given a new name here is all I can say and I had to wipe away many a tear of laughter and desperation as I read each page, and yes, as the front cover says, you can read it in, "forty-five-minutes!"

As with Mark Haddon's book we are treated to little black and white pictures along with clipped precise explanations that make us realise that most of our politicians and their cronies are fools and we are even bigger fools for voting for them in the first place.

A great book that puts the whole sorry state of world on trial and finds everyone guilty as charged!

This tongue in cheek autobiography of Britian's Prime Minister Tony Blair is funny. The humnor is in the caricature of Tony and his close associates. The truth is sad. On the last page is "Who's Not Who" the story of the first casualty (read "dead person") of the present Iraq war. What happened since to his family? Are they alive? Is his widow a prostitute now to make ends meet? Or what?

Te tone of the book is consistent throughout, which must have been rather hard to do as it cannot be this writer's natural writing style. A throughly enjoyable book (I gave it four stars because it is not great literature).

I thought the book was humorous and silly. I enjoyed the creativity. Thanks Gavin Edwards for your sense of humor.

Gavin Edward... who authored two books of misheard lyrics before, penned the funniest Christmas carol book ever!

True Line: Noel, Noel, born is the king of Israel. Misheard Line: Noel, Noel, Barney's the king of Israel.

True Line: Children, go where I send thee. Misheard Line: Children, go warm and sandy.

You get the picture. The book is filled with hilariously misheard lyrics, that weird line in "Silent Night" that never sounded quite right, but you never questioned. Hilarious!

I got my copy of "Digesting the Child Within" as a gift and so thoroughly enjoyed it that I've recommended it to all my family and friends. The satirical, dysfunctional and downright literal but offbeat depictions of modern life appeal to you in the same vein that Gary Larson, Bill Waterson, John McPherson (of "Close to Home" comic strip)and Berke Breathed's works do. I also appreciated the autobiographical section neatly tucked in at the end of the book; it explained where John Callahan is coming from in case you are not familiar with him. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys offbeat, intelligent, frank humor and cartoons. Your day will really be lightened by flipping through this book on occasion, so feel free to find a copy & keep it close at hand throughout this bumpy roadtrip called life.

I loved every page! This is not one you want to leave around for the kids to read, unless they're over thirty. A definite must-read

This is a collection of satires written by Ambrose Bierce. The collection containes a number of lesser known short works by the author, all dealing with political satire. Bierce bills himself as another Voltaire or Swift; however, I don't think the writings in this book compare to the works of those authors. Reading the satires in this book reminds me more of the writings of Lucian and the story of the "Adventures of Baron von Munchausen". These later works are more bizzar and off the wall than the former works. A few of the stories come close to the writings of Swift (e.g., "Ashes of the Beacon, "A Scientific Dream", and "Annals of the Future Historian"); however, I found most of the stories not on par with the stories of Voltaire or Swift. There is a reason these stories are not well known and Bierce had a difficult time finding anyone who would publish these.

The best part of the book is the second half of the writings. There are a collection of essays by Bierce with political topics. These elaborate on many of the ideas touched on in the stories.

I am a huge fan of Bierce (along with Mark Twain), I was hoping to find some rare gems with this collection. I have used Swift for years in my AP European history classes, I was hoping to find something usable from Bierce in my AP U.S. history classes - but in the end, I really found nothing I can use. The collection is interesting and if you are a Bierce fan, you should read these stories, especially the essays.

Overall good collection, but will be of interest most to those individuals who are Bierce fans, or fans of satire. Reminds me more of Lucian rather than Voltaire or Swift.

It seems incredible that much of the work in this volume has not been widely available since the publication of Bierce's Collected Works more than ninety years ago. It seems particularly incredible in the case of the two long satires, "Ashes of the Beacon" and "The Land Beyond the Blow", since these constitute perhaps his most sustained attack on the absurdities of American society, and contain some of his most pointed and iconoclastic writing. Bierce himself seems to have held them in high regard, but until the Collected Works no publisher took an interest. "The Land Beyond the Blow" is a voyage to strange lands, undertaken courtesy of a large hairy fist applied to the narrator's eye; the various customs and other foibles of the peoples encountered serve to parody the government, judiciary, public taste, dog lovers, etc., etc., of Bierce's own time and place. "Ashes of the Beacon" purports to be "An Historical Monograph Written in 4930" and gives a few indications concerning the lamentable failure of "self-government" in America. It is less amusing and more analytical; and while practically everyone will find much in it to disagree with, there is also plenty to think about. Though generally conservative (with some startling exceptions) and frequently pigheaded, Bierce is neither a fool nor a hypocrite, and he makes his points with thoroughgoing clarity. His work as a whole is (among many other things) a lifelong battle against woolly thinking, murky logic and bad writing, and the pieces in The Fall of the Republic are no exception. Besides the long satires, the book includes a number of short essays on such topics as capital punishment (which Bierce favours), insurance (which he does not favour), temperance (which he demolishes completely) and the Decay of the Nose (upon which he is coolly judicious and commendably straight-faced). A further section is devoted to the Annals of the Future Historian, a series of pieces in which the Future Historian's misconceptions and presuppositions serve to point the reader towards uncomfortable questions not only about the present but, by implication, about the possible misconceptions and presuppositions embedded in our own perception of history. There is also a scholarly and sympathetic critical introduction by the editors who, in hunting out this work and making it available to a general readership, have done satire, literature and the rest of us an immense service.

Fun and beautifully illustrated, Forgotten Fashion: An Illustrated Faux History of Outrageous Trends and Their Untimely Demise captures the tone and style of the time periods it describes (from 1903-2005), which helps reinforce the satire but also reflects the author's understanding and interest in popular culture in modern history.

This was an easy book to pick up and flip through. It was created as a series of independent articles and could be read from the beginning or you could skip around. For those searching for a fun book on popular culture that you can pick up and read at your leisure, Forgotten Fashion is a good choice.

Forgotten Fashion celebrates the trends of yesteryear that, mysteriously, didn't make it into any of the textbooks for my fashion history class. Found in the fashion archives of Miss Beatrice P. Fruit, these amazing creations astound and amaze for their beauty, ingenuity, and the bold new directions they took fashion pioneers. How did we forget the Ticker Tape Trim popular at the turn of the century? These beautiful paper ribbons were woven into dainty damsels' dresses and nightgowns, and were printed with secret communications from desperate paramours. And who could fail to recall Fuschette, the 1980s teen band created to sell trendy junior clothing? These carefully calculated performers took famous songs such as "We've Got the Beat" and adapted them to promote their line with songs such as "We've Got the Pleats." Surely you remember Fuschette's mall tours, and the heart-shaped hangtags that hung on every item of Fuschette brand clothing?

Perhaps not. Hahn's tongue-in-cheek faux fashions mock the true trends of the 20th century while creating their own unique mythology. To assist Hahn in her reports are a phalanx of illustrators, one of whom Project Runway fans will recognize as Andrae Gonzalo of Red Lobster fame. The fashion figures, supposedly pulled from old magazines, press releases and trade publications, capture the art styles used in previous decades and are instrumental in adding authenticity to these outrageous designs.

I hate to even think about Christmas so early in the year, but take note, ya'll. This is the perfect gift for the fashion lover in your life. It's witty and funny and beautifully illustrated. Don't miss it!

This book of very, very short stories is delightful and does indeed bring to mind the old saying "the more things change, the more they stay the same". These stories written over eighty years ago are a window into life in the new "Soviet Union" of the 1920's and perhaps a window into life in modern day Russia as well. With black humor Zoshchenko describes the trials of living in an uncertain world which just might not be an improvement on the lost world of the czars. Loved this book.

This book is not well known, and has only recently become available in a current translation. It is not stories like those written by Gogol, in The Galosh each piece is 1-2 pages long. There's really no analog in Russian literature that I can find. A contemporary analog might be a Dave Barry column in a newspaper. The stories have dry humor, but are funny. There is definitely a declension in wit and quality over time, which the editor alludes to in an excellent introduction. This is a must read for lovers of Russian literature, if only to fill out your portfolio, and have some laughs. He gets at the life and personality of Russians, and how they make adjustments to living in the Communist regime; I am suprised this made it to press for so long under Stalin.

This is a fairly humorous collection of hospital antectdotes. The only problem is it's so short!! Some kind of validation would have been nice as well, as the stories are so general sometimes it is hard to believe they are true.

Wonderful compilation, if you are looking for a book to put a smile on your face and make you glad "that wasn't you", this is the book to read!

This book was written by my friend Richard. He's the funniest guy I know. I heard all of these stories and I said "Richard, you should write a book" and the rest is history. This book tells it like it is and is a funny description of what life is really like in the ER. He lets you know just how hard the doctors and nurses laugh at you when you come into the ER with silly problems. If you really want to laugh about nursing "war stories" in the ER, then this is the book for you. If you can't find a copy, ask Richard he has a few thousand. thx WHS

A bunch of academics at the University of Chicago debating the superiority of latkes vs. hamantashen, parodying whatever academic discipline they are in. Some of the debaters' points are quite funny.

Forget the bibles, zohar, and books of kabbalah; bypass Roth and Ozick; for this is the most important Jewish book in 2005, and I have waited over 25 years for its release. I first became an addict of the Great Latke-Hamantash debates in the 1970's. The debate is the sort of event that makes you want to become a Hillel Program Director. In 1946, a debate was started each November at the University of Chicago as a way to foster a sense of community among Jewish students and faculty members, as the December holidays approached. The debates were farces; they attracted the top Jewish professors and students, Nobel laureates, university presidents, and notable scholars together to debate whether the potato pancake or the triangular Purim pastry is the worthier food. They applied their fields of study to these symbolic Jewish foods.

Professor Marvin Mirsky observed that the roundness of the latke suggested Plato's circle of perfection and its flatness emphasized Plato's ultimate truth. Professor Lawrence Sherman reminded his audience that in Romeo and Juliet, "Juliet was a Capulatke, Romeo a Hamantashague" He also showed that the Merchant of Venice had hidden meanings, that Shakespeare was a kosher baker, and Juliet's moon was actually "mohn."

This book collects the best of the debates. It includes Martha Nussbaum's paean to both foods-in the style of Hecuba's Lament-to Nobel laureate Leon Lederman's proclamation on the union of the celebrated dyad. The latke and the hamantash are here revealed as playing a critical role in everything from Chinese history to the Renaissance, the works of Jane Austen to constitutional law. One law professor stunned the audience by breaking the rules, and defending the knish. One professor showed that Jewish foods influenced the roots of rock and roll, including "Good challeh, miss molly" and "Borsht Gudonov"; while another two teachers focused on Darwin and the evolution of bagels, latkes, and hamantaschen. During one satirical symposium in 1961, the Historian Bernard Weisberger discussed the latke in the context of original frontier (frying pan) American history, freedom, and manifest destiny (the latke expands in the oil). The late Allan Bloom explored the foundation of the foods in manna, and expounded on the Jewish Canon, Hegel, Marx, and the latke as Freudan round male thesis, hamantasch as female triad antithesis. Was `Love and Latkes' the sequel to `Pride and Prejudice'? Eminent philosopher and humorist Ted Cohen, supplies a wry foreword and debate, and anthropologist Ruth Fredman Cernea provides a larger context with her overview of the Jewish holidays, recipes, and a glossary of Yiddish and Hebrew terms, making the book accessible even to the uninitiated.

When I Ordered this book via Amazon I had to throw in the one-day shipping because I couldn't wait. I even ordered an extra copy for my pot dealer with the confidence it woudn't let my expectations down. When I first started reading I couldn't stop only to rub the burning sensation out of my eyes from the all the blunt smoke., I was hooked by the way the words flowed so good on paper. The way the writer mixed in the story with everything pot-related made me even more interested on what the plot twist would be. Along with the slick wording comes pictures that simply pop out of the page. The only problem was there was not enough pictures, just enough to leave you wanting more eye candy. After really getting into the story, my interest suddenly started to fade away as I realized I knew exactly what was going to happen.....[[[[[[spoiler]]]]]]]]>>>> The fact of the matter is the author of this book stole the ending from "The Da vinci code" a story that has been told over and over again.<<<<<<<<<<<<<<{{{{{{{Spoiler}}}}}}}}} The Ending of the Hairy Pot-head story was good enough to keep me a fan but, the ending really made me really consider burning the book. I generously gave it 4 stars only because I feel the writers of Hairy Pothead are Pioneers in the Cannabis Culture.

I enjoyed this extremely clever book immensely; it had me laughing out loud at times and I didn't want it to end. Written in the satiric tradition of Jonathan Swift and Paul Krassner, Larsen masterfully blends together the best elements from Harry Potter and The da Vinci Code with Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. Much more than just a hilarious, sidesplitting parody, this wondrous and brilliantly-devised tale teaches young people about the secret culture of cannabis and psychedelics. The delightful analogies between the hidden worlds of magic and cannabis, muggles and squares, are unusually creative and highly insightful. Filled with lots of unexpected twists and turns, this page turner had me savoring every last word. I can't wait for the sequel!

This is Andre's follow-up book to How to Rule the World: A Handbook for the Aspiring Dictator. It's a light-hearted look at the aspiring smarty-pants written in the same fashion as the previous text. There's a decent smattering of tongue-in-cheek humor mixed into the actual history lessons you'll get on past and present geniuses. You get some interesting facts and guidelines on what you need to do to join the ranks of the likes of Plato, Mozart, Curie, Einstein, and Stephen Hawking. You'll take cues on how to dress, act in public, how to date, and which line of genius you want to follow (science, music, philosophy). It's fun and you'll read it in a matter of hours.

Although this book is probably meant to be just harmless fun (and it really is fun!), I can categorically state that reading it has made me at least five times more intelligent. It's funny, witty, entertaining, and it's a great gift for anyone who thinks they're cleverer than they are. Or for anyone who needs help in the brain department. In other words, pretty much everyone.