Parody Books

Funny, it is. This is good light reading. You can put it down easily and pick it again later. However, this is pretty much the same joke, over and over. It gets tiring after a short while.

Molvania is one of series of fake travel guides. This one focusing on the fictitious Eastern European country of Molvania.

In "the land untouched by modern dentistry" you can figure out what hotel to stay at, the wonderous historical sites, and the restauarnts and public transports. In the style of Fodors guide, it attempts to even make this disaster of a country sound wonderful.

It is a bit of a one-joke book and a hair repetitive, but the detail in book is really amazing and gives it the perfect feel.

To the few people who were "offended" by the book and considered it discriminatory, I think "what part of parody don't you understand?" comes into play. If you're so tight you won't get the joke, by all means leave this on the shelf. Otherwise, you'll enjoy the detail and depth of the planning of your Molvanian trip.

A must for all who have experienced in Eastern Europe in the nineties. A sort of mix of experiences from CZ, Poland and the likes. You wonder wether the authors were not sitting at the next door table at Radost.

A friend showed me one of the books in this series (Phaic-Tan) and it was such a riot that I ordered it as well as others in the series the same day. This is a strange planet, where some countries can send people to the moon and back, and other peoples are still living in the Stone Age, with a whole lot of humanity somewhere in between. That makes for a lot of potential sarcastic humor, which is what we see in these guidebooks to countries that do not actually exist. Humanity, laugh at yourself! If you have ever travelled in the Second or Third World much, a lot of these creative sketches will make it possible to grin over what may have been a painful or frustrating experience at the time. The books are fun... although I sometimes wondered if they were not perhaps made up by escaped creative writers from Monty Python's Flying Circus.

"Molvania" is reported by some to be the inspiration for the movie "Borat" - plausible, because there are similarities. Nonetheless, it is clear that "Molvania" itself was inspired as a parody of Fodor's Travel Guides. Included are the usual sections on History, Geography, Religion, How to Get Around, Where to Stay, etc. Every section is replete with jokes, and overall almost makes one want to go to Movania. Unfortunately, Molvania doesn't exist, at least according to my globe and the Internet. (On the other hand, where is the Internet?)

Nate Wilson packs a powerful punch in his small book. He shows in a very compelling way some of the flaws of evangelicalism, of which all of Christendom is a part. He points out the shallowness of the sentimentalism which causes a lot of warm, fuzzy feelings but never really drives anyone to action (James 2:14-17). Throughout the book, he shows that the church today cares almost nothing for the physical realm, only caring for that which is spiritual. Christians often say, "My citizenship is in heaven, so nothing on this earth matters." This is the reason why much of the church today will pray about some need but then never DO anything about it. The church needs both of these if it wants to succeed. Nate Wilson explains in back of the book that we are part of the Evangelical community ourselves and that "In order to mature, Evangelicals need to move beyond the bumper sticker shallowness of the past four decades and long for true wisdom. Parodying our silliness is one small nudge in that direction. To whom much is given, much is expected."

I have been unable to get thru the real Left Behind series. I have tried and TRIED, but the painfully cliched writing is only part of the problem. The events are so ludicrous and bizarre, and what's worse: unbiblical.

I've read the Bible cover to cover a few times and have studied eschatology (end times) extensively. Trust me when I say the Bible says NOTHING about babies disappearing from wombs, Tribulation Forces, a Russian war on Israel...omigosh, I could go on and on (how do they come up with this stuff??). For a real examination of end times, read Steve Gregg's Revelation: Four Views. He lets the reader decide through a dissemination of the four main views of eschatology...because yes, Virginia, there is more than ONE view!

Anyway, Right behind was a blast to read. It's laugh out loud funny and right on the mark. My only complaint is that it wasn't long enough. Maybe if more characters cried themselves to sleep?

This book is EXTREMELY funny. Those who complained about this book making fun of "serious" concepts need to lighten up and take themselves less seriously... making fun of the "Left Behind" series is NOT equivalent to making fun of the book of Revelation, but it certainly DOES make fun of the Left Behind's rather far-fetched interpretation of Revelation. People, using the "Left Behind" approach to interpreting Revelation, you could make the Book of Revelations mean ALMOST ANYTHING YOU WANT IT TO BE and refer to ALMOST ANY EVENT. Books like "Left Behind" have come out every few decades, and guess what - their predictions are ALWAYS wrong!

Anyway, this book does a great job with both the humor and the theology part. He does a great job showing the extreme silliness of the "Left Behind" approach to Revelation.

To those who thought that this book was "making fun of Revelations," I must repeat my objection that this book is NOT making fun of the Bible or the Book of Revelations. The author is definitly making fun of the following:
1. The weak-mindedness that seems to prevail in too many churches.
2. The poor writing style in the "Left Behind" series.
3. The "Left Behind" series' rather far-fetched interpretations of Revelations.
4. Dispensationalism and dispensational eschatology in general.

Definitely recommended.

The good folks at Credenda/Agenda, a journal of Reformed theology and opinion, have issued a line of parodies skewering various forms of silliness that have overtaken the Evangelical Protestant landscape. Any who have read Credenda/Agenda know it is sometimes caustic, usually challenging, and always Calvinist. This series shows they can also be extremely funny - shattering the common image of Reformed folk as people whom God has predestined to be humorless.

Right Behind is a truly cutting satire that joyfully pokes fun at the pretensions, bad theology, and "bunker mentality" of the Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. Normally, a good parody concentrates on a particular trait that in any other context would be amusing and brings it to the forefront. The difficulty here is that the entire series is a ridiculous concoction that can make no sense outside of a narrow and distorted understanding of certain passages of Holy Scripture. An additional hurdle is that many readers of the series have no idea how badly they are written. It is a tribute to Wilson's writing skill (and comedic sense) that he so successfully pulls it off.

Wilson leaves few stones unturned in mining the original series for laughs. The implausible plots, the absurd dialogue, the lack of any sense of historical or cultural understanding exhibited in the Left Behind series all come under a barrage of brilliant satire. The "battle scene" in a Christian bookstore is absolutely hilarious. Even the cover contains pointed jabs with the fact that LaHaye is not actually involved in the writing noted by having a sock puppet (Mr. Sock) as the prophecy expert/co-author. The common practice of authors endorsing books they have not read is also lampooned by including endorsement blurbs by St. Augustine and John Calvin - among others.

The reaction to the book is bound to be mixed. Those who are ardent fans of the Left Behind series will probably not find the suggestion of poor judgment on their part appealing. Those unfamiliar with the Left Behind series will probably not understand some of the allusions. However, those in the Church whom the "prophecy experts" never fooled or who now reject the distortions of God's word in such sensationalistic fare will find it highly entertaining. The latter group, in particular, may laugh heartily at the errors of their youth.

The story is boring. I've read all the real Left Behind books, and did not find this even close in comparison. I couldn't even get through the first twenty pages. I tried to imagine it as funny, but couldn't even fake it. Unimaginative and a waste of money. Not even a good spoof on the original. Spend you hard earned cash elsewhere.
This book is not well-written and not funny. I enjoyed the parody "Kiss My-- Left Behind" a lot more.

Life is meaningless. We are all slugs. We should kill ourselves. Or better yet, hire someone to kill you, but before he does, send a letter to the police, with a description of your killer, and his home address, and let him go to prison for the rest of his life. AHAHAHAHAH!!!
But semi-seriously, folks, this is a very funny book. It is a parody, a satire, a joke, a lark, a laugh, a sarcastic look at the things we should all keep in mind as we go through our daily routine.
It's funny because it's ridiculous. It's funny because life is NOT meaningless, we are NOT worthless, and suicide is a waste. Get this book and do not take it seriously, just laugh at it. Give it to some dooms- day, constantly depressed, miserable indivigual and maybe it will cheer him up
by making him see how silly he is. Get the point?

I found this book just laying out in a parking lot so i picked it up and started reading this funny, so-true book. it's brilliant. At first i just laughed really hard at all the funny little comments but then i actually found that it helped me when i was feeling down. I don't know, it seems like it should just make you feel worse but in some odd way, it makes you feel better. I guess it kind of makes you feel like everyone else in this world is feeling the same and you don't feel weird about everything thats wrong in your life. I'm mad because i gave this book to my boss to read and he lost it so now I'm going to buy it again. I miss having this book around to make me laugh when I'm feeling like crap.

A good way to clean out the ol' system is by laughing really hard.

I am not kidding, this book is a wonderful, hilarious cheerer-upper. Plus, it makes you feel like it's ok to not have to be all "hey look at me I'm having the time of my life living happily after like in Pretty Woman or some other romantic comedy." My only criticism is that it does get repetitive after a while. Otherwise I would have given it 5 stars. Overall, a wonderful book!

I work in a bookstore and came across this book while shelving my humor section. It gave me a refreshing break from some of the books I deal with on a daily basis in my self improvement section. As another reviewer noted, it should make you feel worse if you feel bad, but it doesn't!! It helps you take yourself a little less seriously. Clearly you wouldn't give this book to a person who is clinically depressed. I'm giving it to my nephew for his college graduation. He has a healthy skepticism about the world and will enjoy this tongue-in-cheek look at life. One quote that struck a chord with me: "Your kids are nothing special. They're just like everyone else's kids." Made me laugh and I'll better handle the next person I come in contact with who goes on and on about their 4 year old reading Grapes Of Wrath .... I'll think of that line and smile. One caution: If you do not appreciate jibes taken at religion (ALL religions), don't read that section!

Pollack proves that the only thing necessary to be an artist in this society is the audacity to call oneself such. I've slogged through a couple of his self-indulgent works now, and from what I can see, he's an author because he says so. Unfortunately he's not alone; the people with egos big enough to believe they are something are granted celebrity or at least book contracts just because they have the hutzpah to tell the world what every person's mama made him or her believe for a while: I'm special. Most people grow up and realize that everyone is special but nobody's really THAT special. Pollack seems to still believe that he is not one of the very folk he attempts so weakly to satirize, a pompous bag of air who should be penalized for every tree that dies in the service of his vanity. He's an average writer with average opinions and really should take a breath and realize he's OK without being "special." Then he should give the reading public a break and get a real job.

If you read enough books, especially enough books of a certain sort, and enough literary criticisum, again of a certain sort, you end up with a trove of amusing observations. If you put all of your observations together in a book, though, and your readers have read many of the same sources you have, their observations may be funnier than yours. So, after a while, your book becomes very, very tedious.

This is not post-grad humor, whatever that is (I'll tell you what it is, it's an oxymoron). This is not lacerating satire, nor a vicious attack on self-indulgent journalism, nor on Great White Authors (in whose company Neal Pollack rightly counts himself), nor--least of all is it this--is it a post-modern manifesto (post-modern??? think about how stupid you sound before you indulge your egotistical ear with literary jargon--you might start forgetting that words like "post" and "modern" have real meanings which, like nerds and prom queens, don't congeal when placed side by side)... nor is it anything else you people might come up with in the dark, lonely basements of your profound intellects!!!! Let the rest of the world (those lucky ignorant souls who've seen the sun within the past year) know the truth about Pollack: he's a pretty funny guy... at least he advocates onanism, which makes him totally legit in my eyes.

I loved this book.
This is really post-graduate level humor.

The myth of the Great White Author is fertile ground. He's the king of snarky, needle-sharp pokes.

As it happens, great writers usually have a well-tuned sense of humor and they'd probably all get the joke.

Parts of this book made me collapse with laughter. That doesn't happen often enough.

Neal can be funny. I laughed out loud the first couple of tracks. His humor relies mostly on name dropping and rattling off absurd fads we've indulged. He is fairly astute when satrizing coffeehouse pseudo-intellectuals and vacuous hipsters...but...the joke gets old.

I read a couple of reviews claiming you have to be a grad. student to appreciate his humor. You must be kidding.
The only jokes that lie outside the realm of the average TV sitcom, are references to world authors and poets.
Even then, you're not missing much.

The last CD, his LIVE poetry performance is a session of pain. I was tortured by 27 tracks of egregious poetry. Because, it was recorded live, you could feel the tension in his audience. The nervous silence, couples on the edge of their seats listening for something funny to laugh at, just to make Pollack feel better. You might be wondering why I kept listening, am I a masochist?

No. Well, except for that week I was stuck in a Motel 6 on an acid binge, with two Brazilian soccer players and a tazer. But, not usually. No, I kept listening because I bought the audio CD's purely from their glowing reviews and his affliation with Eggers and gang and all the other current literary intellgentsia. I would be a masochist.... if I listened to it again.

I bought the book after a bunch of people at work kept telling me how i should be a comedian ... And i got to admit this book is great. It take you from the actual being just funny to shape and mold you humour and make it into a busness. A real business ! You have to pledge and all!

Make your dream come true... Or at least learn to make joke with it!

Include comment by the best Comedian the USA have.

Charly

I've bought and read quite a few 'stand up' how-to's, and this book is the one I keep coming back to for material development, stage presence, just all the 'basics' that one needs to keep on touching base with. It's easy to follow, easy to read, and not pretentious. Judy WANTS to help you be the best presenter you can be, and makes you think about other venues and opportunities besides stand up that might be more appropriate for you. A lot of books are 'stand up' related only, but Judy's book explores other ways people can tap into their creativity and use it in many other ways.
WELL worth the money and I won't EVER loan this puppy out!! Thank you, Judy!!

Have other reviewers who rated this so highly really read the other available books? Hillitzer's work may be somewhat old-fashioned in its tone, but it certainly is far more comprehensive than this book. I will admit that this book is better than Mendrino's book, but I felt that this book only had a few useful, novel principles (like the basic joke formula) and a lot of filler/less than enlightening material/general common-sense advice. Somewhat disappointed after reading other's reviews and hoping for more value.

What was I thinking that I thought a book could help me be funny? Might teach the rules of the game, do's and dont's, some anecdotes and funny phrases by established comedians but the funny comes from the individual. Check out comedy central. Sometimes comedians are so funny that my ribs start aching and others just mild laughter, no spark. This book is called the bible and I thought it would lead me into the funnyland but that, it can not do. Was hard to even want to finish it but paid hard earned dollars for it so I did. 3 Stars for the effort it takes to write a book but no more. Funny comes from the very soul of the individual. First make sure that funny exists and try out in crowds, bars, buses. If at a second's notice you can elicit laughter from unsuspecting crowds then you can worry about the rest. What am I going to wear, how to keep the club's owner booking your act, be nice to the staff, etc. That is all fine and dandy but first and foremost you got to make yourself laugh, that's how funny one needs to be to become a comedian in any of the many forms. Without the funny no one gets the money!

I bought this book because of the rave amazon review and was disappointed. this only thing this book succeeds is doing two things: being vain and false. a book which hands out a quiz that determines if you can be a comedian is vain and false. a book which shoots out false truisms such as "all writers get their best work done in the morning" and "moving on stage makes you funnier" is vain and, well, false. not to mention that the book is bloated with room for you answers to exercise. not to mention that it spends more time with instructions on how to live your life when writing jokes than on actually how to write jokes. might work as a cult but not as a writing aid.

I made it to page 130 and threw it back to the end of the stack. up to that point i felt i learned ONE useful thing, which is the structure of the stand up joke: attitude + topic + something i cant remember + act out + mix. there. i just saved you 12$

My first five star review! I recently went on a buying binge for college guides for my kids. I kept this one for myself and read it cover to cover! Eventually I gave it to my son. He loved it too.

I think if you have kids, and you want to give them some street smarts, give them this book and maybe, College 101: The Book Your College Does Not Want You to Read

I think the two books combined say it all about college.

College life planned in a book and mixed with all the drugs you could do.

This is such a funny book and even though things are said in a humorous way, most of what is said is true. I have laughed out loud several times while reading this book. But besides being so funny it also has a lot of useful stuff in it. There are a lot of tips in it like what is important to pack for moving to a dorm, some quick and easy recipes for those that don't cook, the fastest, neatest way to fold a shirt. What can be better than a book that makes you laugh AND help you out? Anyone that is in, has been in, or is planning to go to college will love it. This book is great!

I purchased this book for my little brother who just started his sophomore year in college based on these great reviews. However, he really did not like it, and thought it was really stupid. Not a great gift, apparently.

I am a high school senior, who hates to read. but let me tell you, this book is probably one of the greatest book EVER written. It explains the entire college experience from the last days of high school all the way through college graduation and everything in between. This book is a must have for any high school senior. Hands down. Basically if you are getting ready to go to college, buy this book because it is as important as your freshmen orientation.Hope you enjoy the book as much as i do.

a quick read that is a whimsical spoof of a much beloved classic character. After reading some of the reviews I was afraid I might find it offensive, but I bought it anyway and I'm glad I did. I thought it was funny and lighthearted, and realy enjoyed the way other youth detective classics were referred to in various situations. The illustrations were very funny as they look very similar to the originals but had captions from the text. The only thing I wished that was different about this book is that is was longer. I find it a delightful read if you just want to relax and laugh to yourself for a few minutes.

If you are looking for a more serious hommage to Nancy, try Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her. That book is rich with details about her and is a nice, comprehensive account of the girl detective that was an important part of countless childhoods.

I checked this out of the library, and I'm glad I did -- I wouldn't want it taking up space on my bookshelf. It's pretty funny for the first few chapters, but "pretty funny" seems to be the best Cain can offer here. After the first few chapters, there's nothing new and very little that's at all amusing.

The jokes here are tired and old, and Cain does nothing to follow them up with actual story. The funniest part of the book, the concept that Carolyn Keene was Nancy's real-life college roommate who stole her adventures and then mischaracterized them in fiction, goes nowhere. When I started this book, I wanted to read about Nancy confronting her fictional self, her interactions with Carolyn, anything about that. Aside from one preachy chapter near the end and a failed conversation between the two, the most promising idea in the book is wasted.

By the end of this book, I was thoroughly sick of Nancy Drew -- something that never happened when I read the originals.

This light, short Nancy Drew parody takes Nancy from the 1920s to old age, with timely adventures for her in each chapter including Rudy Vallee-type college pranks and Cold War escapades. The joking criticisms of always-perfect Nancy are right on target; they may be too repetitive, but then humor at this length is hard to sustain. I can't give away the jokes; you'll have to read them for yourself. Also features Cherry Ames, the Hardy Boys, et al., as characters. Highly recommended for fans of the old series (I first read the books 50 years ago).

I haven't laughed so much at a book in a long time. This was a hilarious parody of the Nancy Drew series - I loved everything from the chain smoking Hannah Gruen to the anorexic Bess - just hilarious. If you were a Nancy Drew fan as a kid, you have to read this book.

Chelsea Cain's Confessions of a Teen Sleuth purports to be the posthumously published memoirs of titian-haired teen sleuth Nancy Drew. Nancy wrote the book to correct some popular misconceptions about herself: it seems that Carolyn Keene, Nancy's college roommate-turned-unauthorized biographer, played fast and loose with the facts. Nancy records a different adventure from her life in each of the book's ten chapters. We watch her age--while remaining stylish--against a backdrop of 20th-century history, from internment camps to the Red Scare to hippies and feminists. Along the way we learn some shocking information about Nancy's mother and about the Drew's long-time housekeeper Hannah Gruen, as well as about Nancy herself (hint: the book is dedicated to Frank Hardy, the elder Hardy boy).

Cain writes in the earnest style of the series, with endearingly outdated lingo. And her characters never just say anything: they cry gaily and explain mechanically and muse fretfully. Nancy, meanwhile, though no saint (her early parenting is more reminiscent of Britney Spears than June Cleaver) remains naive enough that her juxtaposition with the real world is amusingly jarring:

"When my plane landed in San Francisco, I collected my old blue suitcase and got in line for a shuttle bus. As you may be aware, at that time San Francisco was a great gathering place for young people from all over the country. These young people grew their hair long and wore untailored, unironed clothing. While I had briefly encountered bohemian types shoplifting at Burk's, I was looking forward to experiencing the counterculture firsthand. I had stood in line only a few minutes when I was approached by one of its representatives."

Nancy still loves a good mystery--maybe a little too much--and she is wont to incorporate a bit of excitement into her otherwise humdrum, post-teen-sleuthing life whenever she can:

"'It seems as if you're avoiding your husband. You don't enjoy cooking. Or cleaning. You barely garden.'"

"'Oh, Hannah,' I smiled. 'That's silly. You're talking about last weekend. I couldn't go to Ned's office party. I had to rescue Ned Junior from the old well in the backyard.'"

"'But how did he get in the well?'"

"'I lowered him. We were playing 'rescue from the old well.''"

Cain plays with the fictional/real-life divide not only by breathing life into Nancy and other literary characters--the Hardy Boys and the Bobbsey Twins and Tom Swift all make appearances, for example. But she also makes Carolyn Keene, the fictional "author" of the Nancy Drew mysteries, a real but untrustworthy reporter. Nancy and Keene cross paths toward the end of the book, and in an interesting scene we see the line between fiction and fact further blurred.

You'd have to be well-steeped in Nancy Drew lore to appreciate all the in-jokes in Chelsea Cain's clever, charming parody. But even if you haven't read a Nancy Drew novel in decades--or at all--you'll enjoy the read.

-- Debra Hamel

Pubescent boys will find the book humorous. This old coot, however, finds it contrived and something of an insult to the fine art of profane conversation.

I have a few friends who can put the lessons from this book to good f*cking use. They don't f*cking know how to f*cking swear properly, Their choice of epithets is for s*it. F*ck if I know if they'll f*cking use it.

one of the best books out there to read. very usefull and insightful

This is a book which has a funny approach on everyday language. Words and sentences that once seemed to have no sense at all are now explained. While the meaning of these expressions might be widely known for native speakers, it is a good reference for foreigners who are willing to excel in English language, even in its weirdest senses.

This book is less than one hundred pages, in large print, with an odd page size. In other words, it's more a pamphlet than a book. For the price, I found the brevity very disappointing.

However, the concent was extremely funny, and did teach me at least one rather delightful phrase I had never heard before.

My suggestion to other readers is - do not waste your time or money on this book! When the big 30 began to approach I ordered the book from Amazon. I couldn't wait to tear into it. Unfortunately, I was very, very disappointed. The best part of this book is the cover, and that's no lie. I ordered this book thinking I would get good information and it would be funny. Instead all I learned was that you can string together pages and pages of drivel. With the constant hysteria about turning 30 in this book, it will make you have a mental breakdown. The book feeds into this false culture of fear. Also, the book reads like a college term paper - a bad college term paper.

I gave this to my major fox babe, SaraJ, for *her* 30th along with the Fruit Bats' "Mouthfuls" CD.

Thanks to Amazon's amazing 'Search Inside the Book' ability, I was able to confirm 29's total suitability and silliness as a gift from sexy Sara's 'Jerk Official Reserve Date' (JORD), which is my discreet rôle when her Davy's not around or when he's committed some adorable gaffe that calls for exile and a strategic pout.

Title apart, which got me a biff round the ear for dubbing Sara a 'chick' (voluptuous vixens are *never* chicks: they spring fully formed from the womb as major babes), the book is humorous enough to read snippets from aloud after the second bottle of Dom Perignon. Or, à deux, over a jug of Bloody Mary in a cosy Badedas-drenched bath.

It also helps if, as does Sara, the recipient looks a sprightly 25, behaves half that age, and has a star-struck chappie in tow oblivious to *how* many candles sputter on the gâteau.

Most of the embittered crones *I* help across the big three-oh threshold have had all humor squeezed from them by constant dumpings or the screams of toy boys as they flee the haggard spectacle. For such crypt-keepers, Ms Tilsner's ace volume will only tip them sooner into the pit of has-been misery and despair.

A splendid oeuvre that I must stock up on, not just for future 30th birthday babes but as the perfect goading gift for mummified creatures already past it.

What this book isn't: 1) something you would take seriously. 2) something to consult if you are a selfhelp fan. 3) something you won't get if you never moved out of your parents' house.

Turning 30 for me was a breeze; it was 31 that freaked me out. As a chronic bargainer (Chapter 3), experiencing the joys of our current economy (Chapter 7), I personally enjoyed this book. I think it's wry, witty, has a touch of Ab-Fab to it, and made me want to have a drink and read it in the tub.

If you are closer in your level of seriousness to some of the reviewers here, don't buy this book. Otherwise, kick back and enjoy the read!

I thought this was going to be a funny book but it was very stupid and neurotic. I seriously don't know this book's target audience - maybe junior high school girls (naw, they're too cool for this ...).

I understand that it is a book of humor.But first, this book assumes that the mayority of women turning 30 is single. Second, it also assumes that if you have a stablished career and a confortable financial position achieved by hard work before turning 30, something's wrong with you.
I agree with some reviewers that the targeted readers are teenagers or those who have not passed yet their teen's years.
Please do not take this book seriously.
Even though it's funny there are much better funny things to do with your time.