Not as funny as *The Daily Show* nor as clever as *The Onion*

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (The Book)
Jon Stewart


This book was a gift from one of my die-hard Democrat, old school liberal friends. Like many other coffee table books, it sat unread, gathering dust on my shelf. Something finally possessed me to read it, I read it cover to cover, and now here I am, filing my obligatory report. Suffice it to say that while I found the book mildly amusing, it isn't a keeper.

Sadly, the book is not nearly as funny as The Daily Show itself. Maybe I would have liked this book more if I weren't so spoiled on the really clever, witty, and occasionally brilliant writing of the folks at The Onion. Then there was the realization that, other than being progressive and left-leaning, I don't think I fall into the book's target demographic of young hipsters. Regular jokes about "bling," "mochachina," and "mother f*ckers who love their mother f*ckin' tea" just left me cold. As well, the use of profanity seemed gratuitous and, because it wasn't bleeped out and therefore somehow even more scandalous, just not that funny.

That said, there was one truly exceptional piece of writing in the book--on the introductory page to the chapter on the media, the authors tear the Fourth Estate a new one for their constitutional inability to investigate and report on substantive issues whose open discussion is essential to the health of our democratic republic. Of course, in Monty Python-esque fasion, the next page featured a new, more "acceptable" introduction to the chapter on the media. I got a big kick out of that, in an "oh my god what is happening to my country" sort of way.

As well, the layout of the book, mimicking as it does a public school social studies textbook (down to the stamp inside the front cover for student names), is really well conceived and executed. The sometimes tedious and unfunny text is supplemented by scores of ridiculous timelines, diagrams, textboxes, and quizzes, and it was in these detailed elements that the book redeemed itself. (After all, who doesn't want their own copy of naked Supreme Court justice paper dolls?)

So there you have it: America (The Book Review). There will be a pop quiz on this review next period. Any questions?

(This review was originally written on October 26, 2007.)

If Tom Robbins wrote a Clancy novel under the influence of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Crying of Lot 49, & Silent Spring

Zodiac: The Eco-Thriller
Neal Stephenson
Atlantic Monthly Press, 1988


He considers himself a "Toxic Spiderman," the media refer to him as the "Granola James Bond," and the blurb on the back of the book describes protagonist Sangamon Taylor as a "New Age Sam Spade." One thing he ain't, unfortunately, is a well-developed character with family, friends, etc. Amazingly enough, this lack of character development doesn't hurt the rollicking story one whit. In fact, from the first page, the reader is on a thrilling Zodiac ride around the toxic Boston Harbor, into which something a little nastier than tea is being dumped.

Add regular substance use (typically, but not always, following Sangamon's Principle that "the simpler the molecule, the better the drug"), a Satanic heavy metal band, a handful of bigwig corporate criminals, Taylor's penchant for the media-savvy "invironmintle" spectacle and noir-ish first person narration, and Stephenson's gift for brilliant one liners, and you get an intelligent, fun novel that somehow perfectly captures the transitional period of the late 1980s. Basically, think Tom Robbins writing a Tom Clancy novel under the influence of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Crying of Lot 49, and Silent Spring, and you'll still be way off, but close enough to enjoy the ride.

(This review was originally written on January 18, 2007.)

Absurd. Clever. Satirical. Quirky. And, sadly, just not as funny 17 years later.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Deluxe 25th Anniversary Edition)
Douglas Adams
Harmony Books, 2004

There are books that you should read, re-read, and re-re-read. This, unfortunately, turned out not to be one of those books, at least for me.

When I first read this as a teenager, the whimsical English humor, sudden digressions, metafictional interruptions, and probing satirical questions kept me in stitches. This novel (such as it is), held together by a singular smart-assery, profoundly appealed to my own new found sense of adolescent rebellion. Coincidences, meaningful and otherwise, non sequiturs, and bureaucratic balderdash leavened the side-splitting dialogue and made it impossible to put down.

Alas, upon re-reading the novel at the conclusion of 2006, I was struck by how much of the writing didn't strike me anymore. To say that the plot of the book is thin would be a compliment, and to call the characters, well, characters, would be a stretch. Most of the jokes just weren't as funny this time around, and the few that did crack me up were tinged with the bittersweet recognition that they would never be groundbreaking again.

Because I read the 25th anniversary edition, perhaps it is fitting that it conjured up such mixed emotions. The author, Douglas Adams, had died three years before this edition was published, and so many of the extras in this volume involve tributes from luminaries like Terry Jones and Neil Gaiman. The introductory chapters are also chocked full of reproductions of flyers, book covers, and other such emphemera that will only be important to die-hard fans of the book, radio show, and/or movie.

Remember, though, that this review is just my opinion. Whatever you do, Don't Panic.

(This review was originally written on January 1, 2007.)

Occasionally laugh out loud funny, but definitely a one-trick pony

The Weekend Shaman and Other New Age Types
Gerry Maguire
Thorsons, 1998

This is an overpriced field guide to New Age stereotypes. Each spread endeavors to skewer a different icon by means of a sometimes witty essay and by a badly drawn (think Callahan, except far less funny) full-page comic. Some of the descriptions---including the titular Weekend Shaman, the Celestine Prophet, and the Eco-Warrior---are spot on target and laugh out loud funny. (One image, the Sham Vegetarian, was so familiar that I thought the author had been following me around during my 12-month stint as a vegetarian-when-convenient.) Many of the other caricatures, though, are weak, and the author recycles far too many of his jokes. Those who dabble in New Age ideas and practices and who have a sense of humor (a population that is far too small, in my experience) may find that these little ego-deflators hit the spot. Sadly the humor in this one-trick pony wears thin quickly, and you may find yourself wondering, like this reader did, why you bought the book off that remainder table in the first place.

(This review was originally written on December 28, 2006.)