Reviews (5)

What a Great Gift!
Finally here is a book that will appeal to almost everybody.I bought 20 of these to give a gifts and so far, everyone has loved it!The writer knows two things: how to eat and how to laugh. I am so tired of reading about how I dont eat right, I dont exercise right, I am going to get cancer from practically every move I make.This book just brings back fat, carbs, and
Hoping that Teddy Bear on the Back Cover is Real!
If that was a picture of the author of this book, who decided to finally let himself eat ... and eat ... and not try to exercise his monumental weight gain off ...
Finally,A Diet Book We Can Enjoy!
This book is pure genius!Mr. Bailey does a masterful job of turning the entire diet craze inside out and he does so in such an entertaining way.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Agatston, Arthur    2. Dieting    3. Form - Parodies    4. General    5. Humor    6. Parodies, imitations, etc    7. Humor / Parodies   

Subjects:  1. American Satire And Humor    2. Form - Parodies    3. General    4. Humor    5. Non-Classifiable    6. Nonfiction - General    7. English    8. Humor / General    9. Humour    10. Popular culture    11. USA   

Reviews (5)

Much better than Uncle John's
This book is so much better than Uncle John's -- most of it is about sex and celebrities and a lot of the small stuff you find on each page is very funny.It's also cheaper than John's and there's a lot more to read -- I wish Greta (woman? secretly a man?) would write one every year like Uncle John does but I looked it up and only found that she (he) has written one other book titled "That's Disgusting"

Not as Good as the Bathroom Readers, but Good in a Pinch
I was a bit disappointed in this book, but I've been spoiled by the depth of info to be found in the "Uncle John's" series of Bathroom Books, which I have to say are a lot more interesting, funnier, and a far better deal for the money than is this somewhat slight volume (by comparison).Taken by itself, though, this is a pretty amusing little read--but if you like this, trust me, try the "Uncle John" series too.

Excellent book
All throughout reading this book I was entertained and fascinated at the same time.The first few chapters (on celebrities and sex) has some of the most interesting facts and trivial bits I've ever read.It's also quite funny in how the bits are presented, as Greta Garbage has a wicked sense of humor.Read more

Subjects:  1. Celebrities    2. Curiosities & Wonders    3. Curiosities and wonders    4. Entertainers    5. General    6. Humor    7. Miscellanea    8. Reference    9. Parodies & spoofs   

Reviews (1)

Left on!
James T. deKay's delightful book is a wonderful read for both left-handers and those who live with them. It contains amusing facts and anecdotes about the joys and troubles of living left-handedly in a right-handed world, withamusing illustrations on nearly every page. This is the perfect book for asmile or two, but it is far from substantial. Left-handers will lovefinding out just how unique - and wonderful - they are, and right-handerswill enjoy the insight into a backwards world.James T. deKay has alsowritten "The Natural Superiority of the Left-Hander", "TheWorld's Greatest Left-Handers", and "Left-Handed Kids", ifyou are interested in further reading. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Caricatures and cartoons    2. Form - Parodies    3. General    4. Humor    5. Left- and right-handedness    6. Coping with personal problems    7. Humor / General   

Reviews (3)

a must have for new parents
hilarious book, a great break from the serious parenting books.we laugh so hard we were crying.

My New Favorite Parenting Book
I just read this book at a friend's house and ordered several copies to give as gifts for new parents.I laughed to the point of crying, just the thing new parents need to lighten the load of a new baby.

hilarious!
I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard!Wasson's parody of parenting strikes at the truth so many times -- I saw reality written all through this satire.Plus, a thought I will often ponder:My parents could have spared me the problem of encountering multiple other Carlies in school by naming me Carlee or, for that matter, Carleeeee.I mean, seriously.Why didn't they think of it?=)Read this book, you just might laugh so hard that people will think you're sobbing. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Child rearing    2. Form - Parodies    3. Humor    4. Infants    5. Topic - Family    6. Humor / Parodies   

Reviews (4)

its a hoot
I am from England but this is one of the first truly American books that has tickled my sense of humour. I laughed out loud in many places in the book and my wife keeps looking strangely at me. I sent it to one of my relations in the U.S.A. but have not recieved any comments yet, it is early days. Best regards . Ron Pearson.

This book is laugh-outloud funny; Geist captures 50 A-OK
Geist's book had me laughing on each page; I couldn't read excerpts to my wife without breaking up -- in laughter, not the marriage.She, however, found him less funny than I did.DON'T waste time reading this, get Geist's "Big Five-Oh" and enjoy it.

This book kept me laughing from the first to the last page.
Bill Geist tickled my aging funny bone with his no-holds barred look at reaching the milestone of 50.Approaching that milestone in September 1998, I was comforted in knowing that all of the parts of my body that are failing or getting bigger are not part of some conspiracy known only to me.Geist has written a laugh out loud expose of the horrors of reaching AARP age qualification.Ron Reich ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Form - Parodies    2. General    3. Humor    4. Middle age    5. Middle aged persons    6. Midlife crisis    7. Sociology - General    8. Humor / General   

Editorial Review

Chances are probably infinitesimal that you are currently the head of a major corporation. But you can dramatically increase the probability that you will end up where you belong in the corporate hierarchy by following choice bits of wisdom such as the following: Read more

Reviews (8)

Mostly smiles rather than laughs
This is not the funniest book written by Dave Barry, although it is funny in spots. He lampoons the current business world, the absurdities and incongruities that are a daily part of the life of so many people. As is the case with the best satire, there is a great deal of truth in the exaggerated nonsense that Barry writes. Meetings do dull the mind to the point where you flap your lips with your fingers, the terminology used in corporate America is often the lowest quality double-speak and resumes and press releases are often works of fiction.
Corporate Comic Relief
I'm in the middle of reading the Enron story, "The Smartest Guys in the Room", and decided to take a brief intermission. And what should I find on the shelf but "Claw Your Way to the Top" by Dave Barry. It's one of the few Barry books that I've missed, and very appropriate while I'm in "Let's Try to Dissect the Corporation" mode. Except that maybe I shouldn't have sat down to read it right there in the Public Library, since it was work trying to stifle my laughter and not disturb other patrons.
Early Barry. . .
Though not as good as his later works, definitely worth buying, though 'Dave Barry's Guide To Life' is also availiable on Amazon.com and contains this and three other works of similiar quality and length by the same author, while being slightly cheaper than this edition alone.Read more

Subjects:  1. Business    2. Form - Parodies    3. General    4. Humor    5. Success    6. Success in business    7. Topic - Business and Professional    8. Humour   

Reviews (6)

A Bob and Ray fanatic says: Long live Bob and Ray!
In my opinion, Bob and Ray's stuff from the 1950's is by far their best. Then they were young, fresh - and oftenimprovisatory! CLASSIC BOB AND RAY VOLUME 1 includes four episodes of "Matt Neffer, Boy Spotwelder", which has to be the most surreal, dream-like, (and utterly pointless) series ever conceived. There are also episodes of "One Fella's Family", another of B & R's great pieces. The bits with "Arthur Sturdley" A Bob and Ray fanatic says: Long live Bob and Ray!
In my opinion, Bob and Ray's stuff from the 1950's is by far their best. Then they were young, fresh - and oftenimprovisatory! Classic Bob and Ray Volume 1 includes four episodes of "Matt Neffer, Boy Spotwelder", which has to be the most surreal, dream-like, (and utterly pointless) series ever conceived. There are also episodes of "One Fella's Family", another of B & R's great pieces. The bits with "Arthur Sturdley" A Bob and Ray fanatic says: Long live Bob and Ray!
In my opinion, Bob and Ray's stuff from the 1950's is by far their best. Then they were young, fresh - and oftenimprovisatory! Classic Bob and Ray Volume 1 includes four episodes of "Matt Neffer, Boy Spotwelder", which has to be the most surreal, dream-like, (and utterly pointless) series ever conceived. There are also episodes of "One Fella's Family", another of B & R's great pieces. The bits with "Arthur Sturdley" Read more

Subjects:  1. Audio Adult: Other    2. Fiction    3. Form - Parodies    4. General    5. Radio - General    6. Unabridged Audio - Humor    7. Modern fiction   

Reviews (7)

A Watershed Moment in Literary History.
Once in a great while a book is authored that is so profound, so intellectually stunning, so spiritually affirming, and so sexually stimulating, that it becomes part of our shared heritage.
When Words Fail
We've all been there. Somebody pisses you off by something they did or said. You're left standing there, mumbling, murmuring, stuttering, your lips unable to produce that perfect reply that will completely devastate your opponent, making him or her whither so that they're the one who's speechless. The essential comeback usually arrives too late, after the incident has long since passed, and you shuffle on with life cursing your slow-reaction time, vowing not to let it happen ever again. But of course it'll happen again....
funny AND useful
If you're stuck in a rut--weakly lifting your middle finger only when you've been cut off in traffic and otherwise resorting to lackluster verbal retorts, you need this book! We have so much in this world to get mad about and so few gestures for expressing that anger...until now. Blank, Blank and Moore offer a lavishly illustrated, thoroughly researched compendium of insults that will leave you (and your middle finger)itching for a conflict! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Form - Parodies    2. Humor    3. Middle-finger gesture    4. Ornithology    5. Satire And Humor    6. Topic - Adult    7. Humour   

Reviews (3)

The usual gang of idiots take on Clinton, O.J., and the rest of the 1990s
Well, I guess it is a good thing that they downsized "MAD About the '90s: The Best of the Decade," because otherwise there would be little to complain about.It is not like the result is a conventionally sized paperback.Besides, if you put this up on the shelf with "MAD About the '80s," "MAD About Superheroes," and the like, it would nice if this one did not look like a poor relation.
Small Size Ruins Book
The publishers have ruined this book by making it in a small format instead of maintaining the size used for the previous books in this series. I didn't realize that they had changed the size or I probably would not have ordered the book. The content is OK but not the size.

What's with the size?
If I don't rank this book with 5 stars it's only because of the size. I don't know why the publishers who made an excellent work on Mad about the fifties trough mad about the eighties, didn't follow the same pattern and for this jewel they decided to make it short. I don't mean the number of pages; I mean the size, the height, the weight. But anyway, it is a very good compilation. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Comics & Cartoons    2. Form - Parodies    3. Graphic Satire And Humor    4. Humor    5. Mad (New York, N.Y. : 1958)    6. Nineteen nineties    7. Fiction / Graphic Novels   

Features

• Bargain Price

Reviews (1)

Fun...good gift for mothers
I got this book for my mother, along with the other one recommended by Amazon to buy together, and it's very funny.I was looking for something that would give her a lift and it definitely did; she enjoys them quite a bit. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Form - Parodies    2. Humor    3. Topic - Family    4. Bargain   

Reviews (9)

A real head-scratcher...
And it's not even a mystery novel!But if you've ever lived in Japan or even visited, this book is like an inside joke for anyone who loves Japan and their twisted take on the English language.Having lived there for a year and being a regular visitor since, seeing the pictures of shirts, bags or products with "engrish" really brings back memories.In fact, I've seen a few of the things photographed in the book, and I even owned one or two!
Neat, but maybe the website is better.
I went "WHAT" when i opened the package to see a tiny little book.As I paged through I recognized some pictures I had seen on Engrish.com as well as some new ones.The more edgier pictures seemed to be on the website, while the ones in the book seemed mostly tame.The book will give you a chuckle but is over before you know it as it's a small book.

From Engrish.Com...
Well, kind of.Not all the photos in the book can be found on the website and the website has some photos which can get very mature.But the book is fun, something to give as a gift or to have among one's humor books.
Read more

Subjects:  1. English Language (Specific Aspects)    2. English language    3. Errors of usage    4. General    5. Humor    6. Japan    7. Pictorial works    8. Satire And Humor    9. Humor / Parodies   

Reviews (6)

A Great Snoopy Book Review
"Being A Dog Is A Full-Time Job", strips from 1989, was very funny! Join the Peanuts characters on tons of new zany adventures! For, example we met another one of Snoopy's brothers Olaf!!! Lucy enters him in an "ugly dog" contest(Isn't that just like her?). Peppermint Patty goes to summer school!! She's so mad Marcie and Charlie Brown go to camp, she sneaks away to camp!!And plus, an "old friend" of Charlie Brown's calls and wants to meet him at the mall!! Could this girl have really been an "old friend"??!! To reveal more in this delightful book would be crazy!! It's funny, because I was born in 1989!! Have fun with this one!

Dogs are Worth It... Most of the Time
This comic strips from 1993 are in my opinion... really funny! For an example of some strips, Peppermint Patty always taunts Charlie Brown to ask him if he loves her! Another year of Peanuts!

its not 5 stars!!!!!! its 50000000000000000000000 stars!!!
this book is the best book simply because charles shultz wrote it ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Form - Parodies    2. General    3. Humor    4. Humor / General   

Reviews (3)

Mad Just Before the Decline.
Mad as a magazine hit its pinacle in the mid 1960s and then began a decline away from the adult readership to the aimed atkids pap it is today. When MAD was at its best!
Reading this book shows you MAD Magazine as it once was, the only place where anyone and anything can be slammed without stirring contrversy. I am a MAD subscriber and the issues I get have a lot of sexual innuendo or white trash humor or stereotypes of young adult life. (But it's still funny) MAD was great in the 70s, and am I glad to own a copy of this!

hysterically funny remembrances of the seventies
If you lived through the seventies, and watched t.v. and movies during that period, this will bring all of the fun memories back to you!The satires of the movies and t.v. shows are, in particular, HILARIOUS!!! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Form - Parodies    2. General    3. Graphic Satire And Humor    4. Humor    5. Mad (New York, N.Y. : 1958)    6. Nineteen seventies    7. Satire And Humor    8. Humor / General    9. Modern fiction   

Reviews (65)

It's pretty good.
I laughed at this book..it has the biting sarcasm that Jimmy Fallon is really good at, that not everyone understands. I liked a lot of the phrases in here..but I wish it was longer. The pages have about one sentence per page..so the price is kind of high for it. (I still bought it...but..) this is a book mainly for the fans-or someone who wants a quick laugh. If you don't like Jimmy..save your money.

Totally not worth the money
Totally not worth the money. The book is marginally amusing and not worth even the two minutes it takes to read through it. Save your money or buy it for a dime at my next garage sale.

Save your money
Seriously, somebody is padding these reviews, because there is no way that anybody in their right mind would be happy about paying $8+ for this book.
Read more

Subjects:  1. American Satire And Humor    2. Conduct of life    3. Form - Parodies    4. Humor    5. Pessimism    6. Humor / Parodies   

Reviews (1)

Outrageously Funny!
My husband and I read this one together and that NEVER happens.The sketches are a riot.A great gift for a brother or sister who know how the "Coots" in the family operate.We were delighted.I'm going after"Biddys" so I can have a matched set.Gettin up there myself.Buy it Now! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Aging - General    2. Family & Relationships    3. Family/Marriage    4. Form - Parodies    5. Humor    6. Topic - Adult   

Subjects:  1. American - General    2. Art    3. Art & Art Instruction    4. History - Contemporary (1945- )    5. Individual Artist    6. Sculpture    7. Individual artists   

Reviews (7)

Comedy changes but it's all the same.
I just finished Gene's book and I have to say I came back impressed. You certainly learn a lot about how comedy is truly thought out and there isn't as much 'ad-lib' as you think out there. The only thing I found wrong with this book was how dated it was. The book is abound with references to late 70 and early 80's comedians like Bob Hope and Phyllis Diller, and Gene writes the book from a joke writer's stand-point - somebody who writes jokes to sell to the big-time performers, a practice that is hardly utilized today; therefore, some of the advice on how to sell you jokes can be skipped over. However, as dated as the book is, the method of comedy writing really doesn't change, whether writing for someone else or writing for your own stand-up act (like me). Sure, styles may change - Bob Hope and Dane Cook are FAR from similar - but the method behind the madness really doesn't change that much. Gene very seriously goes into what makes a joke funny and gets you to actually THINK about a joke instead of waiting for it to come to you, which is impossible. Definitely a good read from a master.

Step by Step Writing Comedy
This book generates good ideas...but you have to do the exercise to be creative. Published in 1982 but it still provides basic principles of comedy writing in year 2002 and beyond.

Don't be fooled
Don't be fooled by the release date of December 1990. The actual date of the book is 1982. He talks about Happy Days and MASH and comedians we don't here of any more such as Phillis Diller. If you can handle comedic examples from past TV shows etc. then the book is good. The actual exercises are first class and he does have good advice for the beginner. May you be funny! (or June) ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Authorship    2. Composition & Creative Writing - General    3. Film & Video - Screenwriting    4. Form - Parodies    5. Performing Arts    6. Performing Arts/Dance    7. Pop Arts / Pop Culture    8. Television - Screenwriting    9. Wit and humor    10. Rhetoric    11. Writing & editing guides   

Reviews (2)

Negative Five Stars
I cannot believe Amazon recommended this book.This book is less a parody than it is pornography.If you want to read a book that treats the sexual molestation of children as commonplace and benign, with descriptions of sex that would make the most vile pornographers blush, then this might be just the tale for you.
Chris Kent Does It Again
Frankly, I am amazed that Chris Kent gets away with it but I'm glad he does. In the real Tom Brown's School Days, Kent has taken a timeless, classic English novel, which is frankly second-rate twaddle, and has reworked it into a page-turning experience that leaves you as breathless as most of the boys who appear in the book. Some readers will be put off and other turned on by the o-so-graphic sex, but there's far more to the book than sexual titillation - it's tale that manages to be poignant, moving, realistic, fantastical, incredible, unbelievable, and hugely entertaining. If the full-in-your-face sex is repreentative of life in English boarding schools then and now, I for one am sorry I went to a state day school! All I can say is that Chris Kent devotees will love Tom Brown, and new-comers to his work will be converted or disgusted in equal methods.Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Form - Parodies    3. Humor    4. Erotic fiction    5. General & Literary Fiction    6. Literature of special Gay interest   

Reviews (6)

Greater than Great! Better than Best!
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!

Brings back fond memories
What a funny book.It reminds me of being a kid and reading my older brothers mad magazines.I laughed til I cried..

OK, so I read Number two first
Since this is Mad Magazine, why not read the books out of sequence? I never read the original book but Number two I have read. I bought this for my son and I must confess that I ended up reading these old Mad pieces from the days when sideburns were long and lapels were wide. Thus, the illustrations date the book as do some of the issues being parodied. Rememebr the Old days when the "On the Lighter Side" series dealt with a single subject? This book goes back to those days. All in all, this is a great trip down Memory Lane as I recall some of the hilarious older issues of Mad. There is one problem with this book: my son left it where it belongs, in the barthroom, and some guests mistook it for toilet paper. Oh well!!! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Comics & Cartoons    2. Form - Parodies    3. Graphic Satire And Humor    4. Humor    5. Fiction / Graphic Novels