After breezing through the David Wong books, it seemed a natural next step to check out his Cracked colleague, Wayne Gladstone. I can’t say I came away from this book with near the excitement or sense of joy. There’s something lacking, here. Specifically, the first three quarters of the book leave much to be desired. In the world of Notes from the Internet Apocalypse, the internet has mysteriously disappeared, leaving the world in, well, pretty much the same state it’s currently in. Ignore the “apocalypse” […]
Let’s Give It Up For America’s Favorite Fighting Frenchman!
*This review is for the audiobook version of Lafayette in the Somewhat United States* This book was really fun to listen to. The actors were well chosen, (someone should put Nick Offerman in a Washington biopic immediately) but it doesn’t hold up well on reflection. She begins by talking about Lafayette’s return to the United States in 1824 and I got excited. I’d never heard about this! After a few anecdotes from his trip the book takes a turn into Revolutionary War history, which is […]
Insert fart joke here
Only Mary Roach would start a book with a story about diarrhea. I absolutely loved “Stiff,” so I had high expectations for “Gulp.” Also, I read “Stiff” over 6 six years ago, so her tone and style were a nice surprise all over again. I absolutely love the way she writes. It makes me laugh, makes me comfortable with uncomfortable, “taboo” subjects, and draws me in on the joke, making me a co-conspirator. That said, “Gulp” is a slight misfire in kind of a fundamental […]
A woman like me in at least one way
I’ve had I Can Barely Take Care of Myself: Tales From a Happy Life Without Kids (2013) on my to-read list for quite a while. But with so many other books to read, I never got around to it. That is, until I finally picked up the audio version and started listening on my, lately, significantly increased drive time. The subject of this memoir by stand-up comedian Jen Kirkman is pretty obvious from the title. Kirkman shortly describes her life, from right after college, deciding to […]