Tag Archives: humor

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain (unabridged audiobook read by the author; 8 hours on MP3): The tagline for this book is something like “sex, drugs, and haute cuisine,” and that about sums it up. Bourdain takes the reader on a journey through his culinary days, from dishwasher to head chef. This is not a good book for vegetarians, those offended by crude language, or anyone grossed out by frank descriptions of animal flesh. I found, in general, that these autobiographical essays entertained me thoroughly but also convinced me that I’d rather not experience such things first hand. Bourdain’s average day makes me tired just thinking about it. While I appreciated the advice about restaurants and tips for would-be chefs, my favorite parts were unquestionably the anecdotes and adventures. Bourdain’s cynical but generally amused and appreciative view of the crazy characters he’s encountered never failed to make me smile. Sure, these are not people I’d want to associate with in person but they’re fun to get to know vicariously. I will definitely have to pick up some of Bourdain’s other books.

A note on the audio: I had to get used to Bourdain’s swift reading, but having enjoyed him on No Reservations for ages, it didn’t take long for me to adapt to his brisk cadence.

Threadbared by Kimberly Wrenn and Mary Watkins

Threadbared by Kimberly Wrenn and Mary Watkins: As a longtime fan of James Lileks’s Institute of Official Cheer, this sort of snarky commentary on vintage items looked right up my alley. And yes, it’s decently funny, but I only chuckled aloud a handful of times. The pictures range from amusing to creepy, but it just seems to be lacking something intangible. Maybe color – several of the pages made references to the (generally godawful) colors in the photos, which of course were printed in black and white, and on a few occasions made the jokes fall a little flat. It doesn’t help that the back cover copy includes quotes that don’t actually appear anywhere in the book. I suppose there may be folks who would find this uproariously funny, but to me it was just kind of meh.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

1,001 Things You Didn’t Know You Wanted to Know by Anna Mantzaris

1,001 Things You Didn’t Know You Wanted to Know by Anna Mantzaris: Most of the factoids in this book I already knew, and a fair majority of the rest were things I didn’t care if I knew, but I did indeed find a solid handful of items I didn’t know I wanted to know, so I’ll call this one a win. I like weird little trivia books. And while I was sad to learn that Crayola retired “raw umber” in 1990, I was amused to learn that both leotard and doily are named after men, and that there is no documentation of when people first started wearing hats. Sure, this isn’t the sort of book you’d want to sit down and read straight through (which, um, I guess is exactly what I did), but it’s reasonably entertaining to page through from time to time.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

The Animal Review by Jacob Lentz and Steve Nash

The Animal Review by Jacob Lentz and Steve Nash: Maybe I’m just jaded, but I’ve found most animal humor books aren’t particularly humorous. They’re like Garfield, recycling the same old jokes and stereotypes. So you can imagine my delighted surprise when I laughed out loud on several occasions while reading this book. Each animal is graded using an admittedly biased (and often ridiculous) methodology, from the A+ King Cobra to the F-rated Alpaca. The ideas of vulture as college roommate, ants as teen girls, and Nature as moody art student are just so absurd and yet so well done that I couldn’t help but giggle. This is one humor book I’d actually recommend. I think I might have to subscribe to the blog now too.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster by Bobby Henderson

The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster by Bobby Henderson: It all began with a letter to the Kansas school board. The basic idea behind the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM) is that religion should not be taught in science class. Intelligent Design Theory, which posits that an intelligent designer (not explicitly stated as God, but it is implied) is responsible for the way life and most other things have developed over time. Since the existence of such a designer can be neither proved nor disproved, it is not a valid hypothesis, but this doesn’t stop the ID advocates. Henderson’s argument is that if we’re going to give students “choices” and “teach the controversy,” they should also include the theory of FSMism, which has “scientific” explanations for everything from gravity to global warming, all of which is just as scientifically valid as ID. It also encourages carbohydrate consumption and non-murderous piracy. The whole thing is utterly ridiculous, of course, but that’s the whole point. If you are at all sensitive about religion, this is not the book for you. I got a couple giggles out of it, but most of the funniest material is already on the FSM website. Now only one question remains: have you been touched by His Noodly Appendage?

Conversations with the Fat Girl by Liza Palmer

Conversations with the Fat Girl by Liza Palmer: Maggie and Olivia were the two fat girls in school, best friends that shared the bond of being misfits. Fast forward a few years: the girls are still (sort of) best friends, but Olivia had gastric bypass surgery and is now a size two and about to be married to a handsome and wealthy man, while Maggie is still the same size, single, and working at a coffee shop despite having a master’s degree. I remember being Maggie not that long ago: negatively self-absorbed, helplessly inarticulate around attractive men, and walked on by my so-called best friend. Though her inner monologue was very funny in places, she would have been a much less compelling character had I not recognized myself in so many of her flaws. This story says a lot about toxic relationships, family bonds, and inner beauty, but most importantly about self-confidence. I enjoyed watching Maggie’s journey, and I look forward to picking up Palmer’s other novels.

I would like to note that I read this while on the stationary bike at the gym. The title just screamed “gym read” to me. :)

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella

Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella: A cute book, but I had a bit of a problem swallowing the premise: a woman on a turbulent plane ride, fearing death, blabs all her secrets to the man next to her. (The man turns out to be the founder of the company where she works, and remembers everything she said.) What kind of nitwit responds to stress by telling a stranger how she finds g-strings uncomfortable? If you can get beyond that, it’s a pretty fun little book. I liked that I didn’t know where it was going, that I didn’t see the Big Drama coming a mile away. I mean, it wasn’t exactly a twist ending or a big mystery or anything, but it was amusing enough to keep me entertained the whole way through. I just wish I’d had a little more sympathy with the main character. I just don’t see the point of lying about your interests in order to impress somebody. If they don’t like you for who you are, what are the odds of having a good relationship with them?

I listened to this on audio, read by the appropriately-named Kate Reading. I’d listen to her read The Host just before this, and hadn’t been very impressed with her, but I think it was the fault of the source material. She was fantastic this time around, deftly switching between characters and accents: American, British, and even a spot-on New Zealander. Very impressive.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher

Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher (unabridged audiobook read by the author): Man oh man, I never expected to fall in love with Carrie Fisher. Aside from Star Wars and a cameo appearance in one of the Austin Powers movies, I’m pretty much completely unfamiliar with her work. I’ve never read any of her novels or seen any of her other movies. But you know, this was really fantastic. She’s brutally honest about her upbringing as a product of “Hollywood inbreeding”, her bipolar disorder, her addictions, and her romantic follies. This is a pretty short book, but it goes a mile a minute, jumping from topic to topic without ever feeling too scatterbrained. There are some sad parts and some touching parts, but most of it is just plain old hilarious. I laughed out loud on a number of occasions and had a big old grin on my face for much of the rest of it. Highly recommended.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

The Nanny Diaries by Nicola Kraus and Emma McLaughlin

The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus (abridged audiobook read by Julia Roberts): College senior Nanny takes a job as – you guessed it – a nanny for Grayer, the son of the extremely wealthy Mr. and Mrs. X. The Xes turn out to be every nanny’s worst nightmare: rich, snobbish, and completely self-absorbed. It’s actually strikingly similar to The Devil Wears Prada, except that I actually had sympathy for the narrator here. There’s a child involved, so she really can’t just quit. Nanny is actually quite graceful and professional in the face of such torment. The use of aliases like “X” and “Nanny” is an interesting device, making it sound more like nonfiction, except that everyone else in the book has a regular name. I don’t know that I’d seek out other books by these authors, but this one was decent.

On the audio version: Roberts is an okay narrator, but it took me a while to get into the groove of her slightly too-fast monotone.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams: As a longtime fan of Adams’s Hitchhiker’s Guide series, I’ve been meaning to read this for quite a while. Unfortunately, it’s clear why this series does not have the cult following of the other. It has the same random humor and just-go-with-it meandering style of plot, but somehow it doesn’t quite gel as a novel. The titular character doesn’t even show up until about halfway through the book. The narration shifts constantly between a computer programmer, his boss, his girlfriend, an Electric Monk, and Bizarre Omniscient. The characters are amusing on their own but one needs more than good characters to make a good novel. Don’t get me wrong: there are some very funny anecdotes and asides, but the main story is so confusing that the humor is nearly overshadowed. I haven’t decided yet if I’m going to read the sequel.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

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