Make Trouble by John Waters

 

(miniature hb; 2017: humor/inspiration/nonfiction. Illustrated by Eric Hanson.)

 

From the inside flap

“When John Waters delivered his gleefully subversive advice to the graduates of the Rhode Island School of Design, the speech went viral, in part because it was so brilliantly on point about making a living as a creative person. Now we can all enjoy his sly wisdom in a manifesto that reminds us, no matter what field we choose, to embrace chaos, be nosy, and outrage our critics.

“Anyone embarking on a creative path, he tells us, would do well to realize that pragmatism and discipline are as important as talent and that rejection is nothing to fear. Waters advises young people to eavesdrop, listen to their enemies, and horrify us with new ideas. In other words, MAKE TROUBLE!”

 

Review

Trouble is everything you’d hope for from the iconic “Prince of Puke” (one of the many titles the media has bestowed upon him, and of which he’s proud)—a life- and media-pragmatic outlook, flavored with his clever, subversive and sometimes raunchy/icky wit, as well as a strong sense of acceptance (of himself and others) and warmth, all in equal measure. This is a great book, one most (not everyone is open-minded) creative types should read, and one that transcends its art-focus and functions as life-advice work (e.g., “Remember, a ‘no’ is free.”) as well.

The Book of Bunny Suicides by Andy Riley

 

(pb; 2003: humor/cartoon book)

Review

This fifteen-minute, fast-read cartoon collection is a darkly hilarious, goreless and simply illustrated work for those of us with an appreciation of black-but-relatively-gentle wit, suggestive of horrible death but not explicit. (I’m a reader/media viewer who get ticked off at media that kills animals, even “off-camera”, to make an unnecessary plot point, but doesn’t mind a dead bunny joke.) If you share that darkly silly sensibility, then you may be a prime reader for Riley’s Book, which has a sequel Return of the Bunny Suicides.

Attempting Normal by Marc Maron

(hb; 2013: nonfiction, humor)

From the inside flap

“Marc Maron was a parent-scarred, angst-filled, drug-dabbling, love-starved comedian who dreamed of a simple life: a wife, a home, a sitcom to call his own. But instead he woke up one day to find himself fired from his radio job, surrounded by feral cats, and emotionally and financially annihilated by a divorce from a woman he thought he loved. He tried to heal his broken heart through whatever means he could find─minor-league hoarding, Viagra addiction, accidental racial-profiling, cat-fancying, flying airplanes with his mind─but nothing seemed to work. It was only when he was stripped down to nothing that he found his way back.

“Attempting Normal is Marc Maron’s journey through the wilderness of his own mind, a collection of explosively, painfully, addictively funny stories that add up to a moving tale of hope and hopelessness, of failing, flailing, and finding a way. From standup to television to his outrageously popular podcast, WTF with Marc Maron, Mac has always been a genuine original, a disarmingly honest, intensely smart, brutally open comic who finds wisdom in the strangest places. This is his story of the winding, potholed road from madness and obsession and failure to something like normal, the thrillingly comic journey of a sympathetic fuckup who’s trying really hard to do better without making a bigger mess. Most of us will relate.”

Review

The target audience for Attempting are readers who relate to darkly and situationally funny, blunt, existential-hell and ultimately meaningful-in-a-small-way tales told by a smart, well-intentioned and self-admitted (ex-)fuckup. If you’re looking for light, joke-a-minute setups, watch a Jerry Seinfeld standup special. I didn’t laugh as much as I hoped to while reading Attempting but I am not disappointed by this─hearing (imagining) Maron’s well-edited voice as he related stories from his life, imagined and otherwise, made this an even better book. If you’re new to Maron’s work, I’m not sure this is the best introduction to him. Watching one of his standup specials or listening to his WTF podcasts are recommended (his most recent specials are streaming on Netflix), so you can hear, know his voice before committing time and/or money to an excellent, jokes-baked-in-existentialism  and healing-for-fuckups work. Borrow this from the library or buy it used before committing serious cash to it, lest Attempting turns out to not be your idea of smart-minded entertainment.

Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder by John Waters

(hb; 2019: nonfiction)

From the inside flap

“No one knows more about everything─especially rude, clever, and offensively compelling─than John Waters. The man in the pencil-thin mustache, auteur of the transgressive movie classics Pink Flamingos, Polyester, Hairspray, Cry-Baby, and A Dirty Shame, is one of the world’s great sophisticates, and in Mr. Know-It-All he serves it up raw: how to fail upward in Hollywood:; how to develop musical taste, from Nervous Norvus to Maria Callas: how to build a home so ugly and trendy that no one but you would dare live in it; more important, how to tell someone you love them without emotional risk; and, yes, how to cheat death itself. Through it all, Waters swears by one undeniable truth: ‘Whatever you might have heard, there is absolutely no downside to being famous. None at all.’

“Studded with cameos, from Divine and Mink Stole to Johnny Depp, Kathleen Turner, Patricia Hearst, and Tracy Ullman, and illustrated with unseen photos from the author’s personal collection, Mr. Know-It-All is Waters’ most hypnotically readable, upsetting, and revelatory book─another instant Waters classic.”

Review

Know-It-All is an amusing, smart-minded and sometimes laugh-out-loud read from the Pope of Filth, who dispenses advice, anecdotes and observations, gleaned from his years of experience. As one might expect, his advice is sound, his stories sometimes are a bit dirty, and humor laces many of observations. While it is not one of my favorite books by Waters─some of his wilder tangents lost me─it is worth reading, maybe owning for a few bucks.

Henry & Glenn Forever and Ever: The Completely Ridiculous Edition by Tom Neely

(hb; 2017: graphic novel, humor)

From the back cover

“The greatest love story ever told has finally been released in graphic novel form, featuring 20 short stories about the domestic life of ‘Henry’ and ‘Glenn’ and their neighbors ‘Daryl’ and ‘John.’ Glenn deals with issues with his mother while Henry, ‘a loud guy with a good work ethic,’ shows his darker side and indifference to a fan as he drinks black coffee and bonds with Glenn over their distaste for their own bands. These are two men who truly suffer best together.

“This book collects four serialized comics, add even more never-before-published pages than the previous collective edition, and will have a spiffy hardcover. This collection does not include Henry & Glenn Adult Activity and Coloring Book.”

Review

Mature fans of Henry Rollins and Glenn Danzig who have a silly, non-homophobic sense of humor may get a kick out of these true-to-the-title “ridiculous” adventures that the two men embark upon, often with help from their mischievous, satanic neighbors Daryl [Hall] and John [Oates]. A lot of artists submitted work to this anthology, so the artwork varies from really good to really bad, as do some of the brief storylines (for the works that have a storyline). I enjoyed Henry & Glenn a lot, but I would suggest borrowing it from a library or picking it up for a cheap price if you have not read it yet. This is great stuff, if you are open-minded and do not mind being silly about homoerotic, satanic rock stars.

Digging Up Mother: A Love Story by Doug Stanhope

(hb; 2016: memoir)

From the inside flap

“Doug Stanhope is one of the most critically acclaimed and stridently unrepentant comedians of his generation. What will surprise some is that he owes so muchof his dark and sometimes uncomfortably honest sense of humor to his mother, Bonnie. It was the cartoons in her Hustler magazine issues that molded the beginnings of his comedic journey, long before he was old enough to know what to do with the actual pornography. It was Bonnie who recited Monty Python sketches with him, who introduced him to Richard Pryor at nine years old, and who rescued him from a psychologist when he brought the brand of humor to school. And it was Bonnie who took him along to all of her AA meetings, where Doug undoubtedly found inspiration for his own storytelling.

“Bonnie’s own path from bartending to truck driving, massage therapy, elder abuse, stand-up comedy, and acting never stopped her from being Doug’s genuine number one fan. So when her alcoholic, hoarding life came to an end many weird adventures later in Arizona, it was inevitable that Doug and Bonnie would be together for one last excursion.

“Digging Up Mother follows Doug’s absurd, chaotic, and often obscene life as it intersects with that of his best friend, biggest fan, and love of his life─his mother. And it all starts with her death. . .”

Review

Like Stanhope’s often harsh, honest and X-rated humor, Digging is not for those who are easily offended by sex, drugs and human-based darkness. While his jokes─often sourced in real-life experiences─possess such qualities, they also have an underlying sense of decency and compassion that make them truly funny and resonant, even if they are disturbing.

The first hundred pages, about Stanhope’s serial debaucheries and upbringing, are more serious than funny. (He did not get into stand-up until later in life, relatively speaking.) That is not to say it is worth reading, far from it─it is a focused, blunt and engaging read that spares no one, especially Stanhope himself. This is a worthwhile read that effectively interweaves bleak humor, touching dedication and gravitas about our baseline impulses and graces.

Calypso by David Sedaris

(hb; 2018: nonfiction)

Overall review

This is an excellent, hilarious, heartfelt and family- and relationship-themed collection of twenty-one essays. The humor and truths of his stories sometimes run a little dark and occasionally political, but there is always an undercurrent of warmth to the work. Calypso is a book worth owning.

A sampling of standout essays

1.)  “Company Man”: Hilarious and heartfelt essay about behaving around house guests, people’s quirks and the joys of family.

2.)  “Now We Are Five”: Sedaris recounts his family’s reactions to his sibling’s suicide, the youngest of six children─heartfelt and wry work.

3.)  “A House Divided”: Continuing the thematic and narrative thread of “Company Man” and “Now We Are Five,” Sedaris writes about a post-Tiffany-suicide family vacation. He details his kin’s further reactions to her unexpected death, his vacation house [the Sea Section] and gratitude for  what he and his family have.

4.)  “Perfect Fit” details Sedaris’s shopaholic trips with his sisters [Amy and Gretchen] and his boyfriend [Hugh] in Japan. There is an underlying and funny theme of family and other warm bonds to this, as well as other works in this collection.

5.)  “Leviathan” talks about hanging out with family, and his father’s changing perspective over  the years.

6.)  “Your English is So Good”:  Sedaris takes note of overused and past-their-expiration-date words and phrases for his fictional American English for Business Travelers. Hilarious, spot-on.

7.)  “Calypso” is about feeding wildlife─specifically a snapping turtle─and a minor surgery, as well as what might bring those two experiences together.

Most of the essays that follow these pieces are just as excellent.

Vacationland: True Stories from Painful Beaches by John Hodgman

(hb; 2017: nonfiction/humor)

From the inside flap

"Disarmed of falsehood, he was left only with the awful truth: John Hodgman is an older white male monster with bad facial hair, wandering like a privileged Sasquatch through three wildernesses: the hills of Western Massachusetts where he spent much of his youth; the painful beaches of Maine that want to kill him (and some day will); and the metaphoric haunted forest of middle age that connects them.

"Vacationland collects these real life wanderings, and through them you learn of the horror of freshwater clams, the evolutionary purpose of the mustache, and which animals to keep as pets and which to kill with traps and poison. There is also some advice on how to react when the people of coastal Maine try to sacrifice you to their strange god.

"Though wildly, Hodgmaniacally funny as usual, it is also a poignant and sincere account of one human facing his forties, those years when men in particular must stop pretending to be the children of bright potential they were and settle into the failing bodies of the wiser, weird dads that they are."


Review

Vacationland is a funny, clever, profound, succinct, personal and overall excellent book, with Hodgman telling stories about experiences in life, many of them relating to growing up and growing older. If you are a fan of his overall work and persona, there is a good chance you may enjoy this.  This book is a milestone in his oeuvre.

Waiting for the Punch by Marc Maron & Brendan McDonald

(hb; 2017: nonfiction/humor)

From the inside flap

"From the beloved and wildly popular podcast WTF with Marc Maron comes a book of intimate, hilarious and life changing conversations with some of the funniest, and most important people in the world like you’ve never heard them before. Waiting for the Punch features the stories and thoughts of such luminaries as Amy Schumer, Mel Brooks, Will Ferrell, Amy Poehler, Sir Ian McKellen, Lorne Michels, Judd Apatow, Lena Dunham, Jimmy Fallon, RuPaul, Louis CK, David Sedaris, Bruce Springsteen, and President Obama.

"This book is not simply a collection of these interviews, but instead something more wondrous: a running narrative of the world’s most recognizable names working through the problems, doubts, joys, triumphs, and failures we all experience. With each chapter covering a different topic: parenting, childhood, relationships, sexuality, success, failures and others, Punch becomes a sort of everyman’s guide to life. Barack Obama candidly discusses the challenges of the presidency, and the bittersweet moments of seeing your children grow up. Amy Schumer recounts the pain of her parents’ divorce. Molly Shannon uproariously remembers the time she and her best friend hopped a plane from Ohio to New York City when they were twelve on a dare. Amy Poehler dishes on why just because you become a parent doesn’t mean you have to like anybody else’s kids but your own. Bruce Springsteen expounds on the dual nature of desperation to both motivate and devastate.

"Full of stories that are at once laugh-out loud funny, heartbreakingly honest, joyous, tragic and powerful, Waiting for the Punch is a book to be read from cover to cover, but it is also one to return to again and again."


Review

Subtitled Words to live by from the WTF Podcast, this collection of transcripts from Maron’s garage-based Internet show, is laugh-out-loud funny, meaningful and sad in its many interview moments. The guests range from President Barack Obama to Jen Kirkman to Mick Foley to Lena Dunham (and numerous others). The topics include: Childhood, Success, Mental Health, Sex and Failure, and all the accompanying emotions these topics bring about. I did not read all the guest interviews ─ I am not a fan of certain people or otherwise curious about them ─ but I read most of the interviews, and the ones I read this made this a worthwhile, provocative (in a comforting way) book, one worth reading.

Thank You For Coming to Hattiesburg by Todd Barry

(hb; 2017: nonfiction / humor. First Foreword by Jesse Eisenberg. Second Foreword by Doug Stanhope.)

From the inside flap

"Hello. It’s Todd Barry. Yes, the massively famous comedian. I have billions of fans all over the world, so I do my fair share of touring. While I love doing shows in the big cities (New York, Philadelphia), I also enjoy a good secondary market (Ithaca, Bethlehem). Performing in these smaller places can be great because not all entertainers stop there on tour; they don’t expect to see you. They’re appreciative. They say things like “Thank you for coming to Hattiesburg” as much as they say “Nice show.” And almost every town has their version of a hipster coffee shop, so I can get in my comfort zone.

"My original plan was to book one secondary market show in all fifty states, in about a year, but that idea was funnier than anything in my act. So, instead of all fifty states in a year, my agent booked multiple shows in a lot of states, plus Israel and Canada."Thank You For Coming to Hattiesburg is part tour diary, part travel guide, and part memoir (Yes, memoir. Just like the thing presidents and former child stars get to write). Follow me on my journey of small clubs, and the occasional big amphitheater. Watch me make a promoter clean the dressing room toilet in Connecticut, see me stare at beached turtles in Maui, and see how I react when Lars from Metallica shows up to see me at a rec center in Northern California."

Review

Before reading this wry-humored book, I would recommend watching some of Barry's standup routines. If his stage work does not elicit a laugh-out-loud (or otherwise appreciable) response in you, this is probably not a book you will enjoy. If you do enjoy his quietly spoken, sly humor, then you should consider -- at the very least -- checking out this concise and gentle-hearted offering from a comedian who is the top of his game.

I Know What I'm Doing and Other Lies I Tell Myself by Jen Kirkman

(hb; 2016: nonfiction, humor)

From the inside flap:

"Jen Kirkman wants to be the voice in your head that says, Hey, you’re okay. Even if you sometimes think you aren’t! And especially if other people try to tell you you’re not.

"In I Know What I’m Doing—and Other Lies I Tell Myself, Jen offers up all the gory details of a life permanently in progress. She reassures you that it’s okay to not have life completely figured out, even when you reach middle age (and find your first gray pubic hair!). She talks about making unusual or unpopular life decisions (such as cultivating a “friend with benefits” or not going home for the holidays) because you don’t necessarily want for yourself what everyone else seems to think you should. It’s about renting when everyone says you should own, dating around when everyone thinks you should settle down, and traveling alone when everyone pities you for going to Paris without a man.

"From marriage to divorce and sex to mental health, I Know What I’m Doing is about embracing the fact that life is a bit of a sh*t show and it’s definitely more than okay to stay true to yourself."


Review:

I Know What I'm Doing, like her first book (I Can Barely Take Care of Myself), is a wry, dark-humored and excellent read that is worth your time. Unlike her previous book, it feels more personal, more intense, because now she (as she states in the book) was freer to write about closer-to-her-heart, day-to-day subjects. I especially enjoyed her chapter on Joan Rivers, which effectively, nicely encapsulated the book's themes, a great closer for this work. This is worth reading and worth owning, if you are a big Jen Kirkman or looking for a clever, heart-smart take on relationships, society's expectations for women and being an entertainer.

I Can Barely Take Care of Myself: Tales of a Happy Life Without Kids by Jen Kirkman

(hb; 2013: nonfiction, humor)

From the back cover:

" 'You'll change your mind.' 

"That's what everyone says to Jen Kirkman—and countless women like her—when she confesses she doesn't plan to have children. But you know what? It's hard enough to be an adult. You have to dress yourself and pay bills and remember to buy birthday gifts. You have to drive and get annual physicals and tip for good service. Some adults take on the added burden of caring for a tiny human being with no language skills or bladder control. Parenthood can be very rewarding, but let's face it, so are margaritas at the adults-only pool.

"Jen's stand-up routine includes lots of jokes about not having kids (and some about masturbation and Johnny Depp), after which complete strangers constantly approach her and ask, "But who will take care of you when you're old?" (Servants!) Some insist, "You'd be such a great mom!" (Really? You know me so well!)

"Whether living rent-free in her childhood bedroom while trying to break into comedy (the best free birth control around, she says), or taking the stage at major clubs and joining a hit TV show—and along the way getting married, divorced, and attending excruciating afternoon birthday parties for her parent friends—Jen is completely happy and fulfilled by her decision not to procreate."


Review:

Barely is a smart, funny (in a dark-ish, underlying-serious way) book that entertains even as it, with Kirkman's well-articulated arguments and autobiographical bits, lists many of the reasons why she -- like many of us who decide not to have kids -- have made that decision. Her humor and points, sharp and not intended for children and the thin-skinned, are empathetic to those who are parents -- further showing Kirkman's humanity, even when she is making jokes and going against the stated grain.

This is a good read, worth owning for those inclined toward Kirkman's logic and wry, dark-ish sense of humor. If you like this book, you might want to check out her follow-up, I Know What I'm Doing and Other Lies I Tell Myself.

Silver Screen Fiend by Patton Oswalt

(hb; 2014; memoir / humor)

From the inside flap:

"Between 1995 and 1999, Patton Oswalt  lived with an unshakable addiction. It wasn't drugs, alcohol or sex. It was film. After moving to Los Angeles, Oswalt became a huge film buff, absorbing classics and new releases at least three nights a week at the New Beverly Cinema. Silver screen celluloid became Oswalt's life schoolbook, informing his notions of acting, writing, comedy and relationships. Set in the nascent days of the alternative comedy scene, Oswalt's memoir chronicles his journey from fledgling stand-up comedian to self-assured sitcom actor, with the colorful New Beverly collective supporting him all along the way."


Review:

Oswalt's memoir is funny, serious, cinema-geeky, relatable, briefly sad and always a good, focused read. It is relatively light in tone, but this deftly-written book never skimps on substance, its substance being what it's like to get caught up in something -- in this case, dreams, movies and (a lack of) action -- and letting it impede, at least for a little while, one's potential accomplishments, maturation and (other) "could have beens": worth owning, this.

Carsick, by John Waters

(hb; 2014: fiction/nonfiction)


From the inside flap:

"John Waters is putting his life on the line. Armed with wit, a pencil-thin mustache, and a cardboard sign that reads 'I’m Not Psycho', he hitchhikes across America from Baltimore to San Francisco, braving lonely roads and treacherous drivers. But who should we be more worried about, the delicate film director with genteel manners or the unsuspecting travelers transporting the Pope of Trash?

"Along the way, Waters fantasises about the best and worst possible scenarios: a friendly drug dealer hands over piles of cash to finance films with no questions asked, a demolition-derby driver makes a filthy sexual request in the middle of a race, a gun-toting drunk terrorizes and holds him hostage, and a Kansas vice squad entraps and throws him in jail. So what really happens when this cult legend sticks out his thumb and faces the open road?"


Review:

Carsick is hilarious, horrifying, raunchy, pop culture savvy, smart and everything you would expect from a John Waters book.  If you're a fan of Waters, this is worth owning.  If you're not, check this out from the library or buy a used copy instead of purchasing it at its full price.

The Will to Whatevs: A Guide to Modern Life, by Eugene Mirman

(pb; 2009: humor book)


From the back cover:

"No one understands the complexities of modern life better than Eugene Mirman - claims Eugene Mirman - and anyone seeking guidance from the man who has lived through everything (except for the Great Depression, the Spanish-American War, and Jerry Lee Lewis's sex scandal) won't resist this charmingly hysterical guidebook.

" • Become Ultrapopular in High School (Without 'Putting Out' - Whatever That Is)

" • Discover Somewhere Between Four and Two Thousand Ways to Overcome Social Anxiety (Closer to Four)

" • Start a Band, Become an Artist, or Disappoint Your Parents By Getting a Reality Television Show"


Review:

Will is an offbeat, sometimes bizarre and dark, and consistently funny book - just like Mirman's stand-up comedy routines and his work on television (e.g., as "Gene" on the animated show Bob's Burgers). 

If you're not a fan of Mirman's output, know that he regularly riffs on subjects like politics, pop culture, religion and sex with fearless abandon - while he's nowhere near as focused and raw as Doug Stanhope, Bill Hicks or comedians of that ilk, he is still willing to go beyond the norm-pale for a (sometimes) dark punchline. 

For example:

• "There's even a common belief in many countries (mostly Japan and Nigeria) that cats write love poems to each other.  Silly foreigners - no they don't."

•"If you want to go on the street in your torn leather pants and hand a flyer to a slut, you go right ahead - that's metal.  Hiring a girl (even if it's Sigourney Weaver) to send e-mails to random people that mimic the marketing strategy of ringtone companies is not metal, and your band should be put to death (the obvious punishment for betraying the Devil-God of Metal - which on earth is manifested in the physical form of Scott Ian's goatee)."

•"Nobody likes it when a farmer punches a chicken (though punched chickens taste the best), but to insist that chickens have the right to avoid self-incrimination in court?  That's too much, Mr. Hippie.  Plus, drug-dealing chickens shouldn't have an easy way out - they f**ked up; they do the time.  If some chicken molests a little boy (even a bully), you're telling me it should have a fair trial?  F**k that.  Prison, Mr. Chicken."

Worth checking out, this.

Weird Al: The Book, by Nathan Rabin with Al Yankovic

(hb; 2012: humor book / comedian biography)


From the inside flap:

"What do you do when someone's sold more comedy recordings than any other artist in history?  How do you commemorate over three decades' worth of live concerts and ground-breaking music videos?  And what's a fitting way to celebrate a slew of Grammy-award-winning albums and singles of brilliant satire?  You write a book - a big, fat, career retrospective book, that's what!

"This comprehensive illustrated tribute to the undisputed king of pop-culture parody, 'Weird Al' Yankovic, covers his songs, videos, performances, and life story in words and pictures, including photo captions, tweets, lists, and an introduction by the man himself."


Review:

Weird Al: The Book is a breeze-through, engaging and often laugh-out-loud funny media-mixed book that's worth owning, especially if you're a "Weird Al" fan.

The Scream Queen's Survival Guide, by Meredith O'Hayre

(pb; 2010: nonfiction/humor)


From the back cover:

"The Horror Movie Know-How For Every Bloody Situation.

"You've watched enough horror movies to know danger lurks around every corner, locker room, and strange new neighbor.  And inevitably, the last known survivor is always The Scream Queen.

"In The Scream Queen's Survival Guide, you'll learn more than 100 life or death lessons that Jamie Lee [Curtis], Neve [Campbell], and Jennifer Love [Hewitt] learned on screen - without the pain of dismemberment.  You owe it to yourself to master the scream queen's rules of survival, including:

"BE WARY OF DAYS THAT BEING 'MUCH LIKE ANY OTHER'
(it's all downhill from there)

"KEEP THAT PLAYLIST LIGHT
(no one ever got axed while cuttin' Footloose)

"RECONSIDER THAT ROAD TRIP
(or else end up at the mercy of a creepy tow-truck driver)

"KEEP AWAY FROM SMALL-TOWN LAW ENFORCEMENT
(the rent-a-cop always dies)

"Featuring little-known trivia and favorite moments from hundreds of the most well-known and scariest movies of all time, this is one survival guide you are sure to die without."


Review:

A snarky and clever read, Scream Queen is "light" (if you're a horror fan) book that's worth having - particularly if you're waiting in the lobby of a dentist's office (tooth pain generally being less severe than dismemberment) or engaged in a corresponding endeavor.

Scream Queen runs about twenty pages too long, especially near the end, in that some of her survival tips read like reworded versions of previous survival tips.  That said, this smart-minded book is worth checking out, even worth owning, if you get it cheap.

Either way, it's a good time for horror fans with a sense of humor.

I Know I Am, But What Are You?, by Samantha Bee

(hb; 2010: nonfiction/humor book)

From the inside flap:

"Critics have called her 'sweet, adorable and vicious.' But there is so much more to be said about Samantha Bee. For one, she's Canadian. Whatever that means. And now, she opens up for the very first time about her checkered Canadian past. With charming candor, she admits to her Lennie from Of Mice and Men-style love of baby animals, her teenage crime spree as one half of a car-thieving couple (Bonnie and Clyde in Bermuda shorts and braces), and the fact that strangers seem compelled to show her their genitals. She also details her intriguing career history, which includes stints working in a frame store, at a penis clinic, and as a Japanese anime character in a touring children's show.

"Samantha delves into all these topics and many more, in this. . . unabashedly frank collection of personal essays. Whether detailing the creepiness that ensues when your mom is your lesbian lover, or recalling her girlhood crush on Jesus (who looked like Kris Kristofferson and sang like Kenny Loggins), Samantha turns the spotlight on her own imperfect yet highly entertaining life as relentlessly as she skewers hapless interview subjects on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. . ."


Review:

I laughed often and loud at her astute, warm observations and spot-on, quirky wisecracks, as well as her as relatable but strange life.

Excellent, comedic, n0-filler book - I Know is worth checking out, and blasting through in a sitting or three.

I Am a Pole (And So Can You!), by Stephen Colbert

(hb; 2012: humor/nonfiction picture book. Illustrations by Paul Hildebrand)

From the inside flap:

"Can't get enough of Pole? Look for these sequels:

"Pole Learns His ABCs

"Pole in Outer Space

"Pole Has a Bar Mitzvah

"Pole Goes to Bangkok

"Pole Meets Another Pole

"Pole Meets the Other Pole's New Boyfriend.

"Pole Does Something Else

"How the Pole Stole Christmas

"Pole Learns About Copyright Infringement

". . . and many, many more!"

Review:

Silly, satirical children's book that's not quite for children, filtered through Stephen Colbert's Right Wing pundit persona. I haven't chuckled this often at a book in a long time, because of stanza-gems like the following:

"I tried and failed at other things,
That I shouldn't talk about.
Like that summer with the phone poles,
Getting totally strung out."

Paul Hildrebrand's illustrations - children's book-true and clever - are the perfect accompaniment to Pole's verses, which I read several times all the way through - and chuckled at every time.

If you're a Stephen Colbert fan, this is worth owning. Adding to the joy of this quick read is Maurice Sendak's snarky faux-blurbs, and other contributions to the book. (Sendak, a friend of Colbert's, was on The Colbert Report shortly before he died on May 8, 2012.)

I'm Dreaming of a Black Christmas, by Lewis Black

(hb; 2010: non-fiction)

From the inside flap:

"Have yourself a merry little Christmas?

"Not on your life.

"Christmas is supposed to be a time of peace on earth and goodwill toward all. But not for Lewis Black.

"He says humbug to the Christmas traditions and trappings that make the holiday memorable. In. . . I'm Dreaming of a Black Christmas. . . Lewis lets loose on all things Yule. It's a very personal look at what's wrong with Christmas, seen through [Black's] eyes. . .

"From his own Christmas rituals -- which have absolutely nothing to do with presents or the Christmas tree or Rudolph -- to his own eccentric experiences with the holiday (from a USO Christmas tour to playing Santa Claus in full regalia), I'm Dreaming of a Black Christmas is classic Lewis Black: funny, razor-sharp, insightful, and honest.

"You'll never think of Christmas the same way again."

Review:

Black's take on Christmas is less blasphemous than one might expect, given his public persona and other books. Oh sure, there's clever digs and mild sacrilegious statements about "traditional" Christmas beliefs and American society, but Black's trademark outrage is often tempered by thoughtful, humble maturity.

I related strongly to this book, in my own way (for the sake of brevity, let's just say that the bombast, commercialism and hypocrisy of the "holiday season" has made me a non-believer, on so many levels).

Black's closing chapter about his USO comedy tours is a touching, non-sentimental tribute to our troops, currently mired in two money-hemorrhaging wars.

Black Christmas is a pointed, hilarious and relatable book. Worth checking out, this.