January 09, 2007
The Worst Person in the World by Keith Olberman, 3 1/2
Book description: The stinkers, the rascals, the reprobates. . . and the just plain dumb.
(Yes, Bill, he's talking about you.)
Geraldo Rivera. The Coca-Cola Company. Victoria Gotti. Tom Cruise. Various members of the Bush administration. All have earned the dishonor of "Worst Person in the World," awarded by MSNBC's witty and controversial reporter Keith Olbermann on his nightly MSNBC show Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Now, he brings all his bronze, silver, and gold medalists together in this wildly entertaining collection that reveals just how twisted people can be—and how much fun it is to call them out on it.
From tongue-in-cheek observations to truly horrific accounts, Olbermann skewers both the mighty and the meek, the well-known and the anonymous for their misdeeds, including:
Ann Coulter, for, among other things, calling Muslims "ragheads" in a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington
Barbara Bush, for making a generous donation to the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund earmarked exclusively for the purchase of computer software . . . software sold by her son, Neil
The staff of Your World with Neil Cavuto, for the story about the murders of Iraqi civilians that was accompanied by the on-screen graphic: "All-out Civil War in Iraq: Could It Be a Good Thing?"
Olbermann also reports on some of the recent fallout from his awards, such as the controversy with John Gibson and the mysterious disappearance of remarks about Cindy Sheehan on Rush Limbaugh's Web site. Plus, he reveals the winner of the most coveted award of all: "Worst in Show."
Review: I love Keith Olberman’s MSNBC show Countdown. I watch it every chance I get. The Worst Person in the Wold segment recognizes liars, jerks and dumb criminals every day and is one of the funniest parts of the show. This book collects the segment from its beginning. If you’re a person who reads the arrests section of the news paper looking for really dumb criminals like I do then you will like this. What I like best in this book is when Bill O’Reilly’s lies are exposed. It never fails to entertain me when people like Olberman and Al Franken mock O’Reilly. If you love Fox News and the Bush administration, this probably isn’t the book for you, otherwise it’s a fun read.
Category, Humor|
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September 24, 2006
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks, 3 1/2
Book description: The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years.
Ranging from the now infamous village of New Dachang in the United Federation of China, where the epidemiological trail began with the twelve-year-old Patient Zero, to the unnamed northern forests where untold numbers sought a terrible and temporary refuge in the cold, to the United States of Southern Africa, where the Redeker Plan provided hope for humanity at an unspeakable price, to the west-of-the-Rockies redoubt where the North American tide finally started to turn, this invaluable chronicle reflects the full scope and duration of the Zombie War.
Most of all, the book captures with haunting immediacy the human dimension of this epochal event. Facing the often raw and vivid nature of these personal accounts requires a degree of courage on the part of the reader, but the effort is invaluable because, as Mr. Brooks says in his introduction, “By excluding the human factor, aren’t we risking the kind of personal detachment from history that may, heaven forbid, lead us one day to repeat it? And in the end, isn’t the human factor the only true difference between us and the enemy we now refer to as ‘the living dead’?”
Review: World War Z is set in the same world as The Zombie Survival Guide but it stands on its own. This book is written as a series of interviews of people who survived a world wide zombie outbreak. The is great because you get to see many different perspectives on the war. Perspectives I’d never encountered before in zombie fiction like zombie fighting K-9 units and astronauts stuck on a space station watching the war from afar. The drawback to the interview format is that you don’t get a very coherent chronology of events. Also, most of the stories involved the military and these started to all seem the same after a while. The stories that stick out the most were the ones from civilian perspectives. Still, I love a good zombie story and this book gave me my zombie fix.
Category, Humor|
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December 13, 2003
The Quotable Slayer by Micol Ostow and Steven Brezenoff, 7
Fun little book that compiles many of the most memorable quotes for all seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The book covers a wide range of quotes from the hilarious to the touching. I really enjoyed this book but I do have a few complaints. I noticed an error, they have the Xander/Andrew talking about Anya's death quote labeled as coming from "End of Days" instead of "Chosen." I think there may have been a few more mistakes but I'd have to check on those. Also, The book didn't have my favorite quote which is; "For God's sake, man, she's eighteen. And you have the emotional maturity of a blueberry scone. Just have at it, would you, and stop fluttering about." ~ Giles to Wesley (The Prom) Still, If you are a die hard Buffy fan I highly recommend this book. It's good for quick Buffy fixes on the go.
Category, Humor|
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November 03, 2003
The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks, 8
This book tells you everything you need to know to survive the inevitable attack by the zombie hoards. It goes over their strengths and weaknesses. What weapons to use and the best places to hide. There are also historical accounts of past uprisings and other imperative information.
This entire book is a joke. Don't misunderstand, it isn't filled with jokes but the completely serious way the book is written is the joke. You are either going to get it or you aren't. Even if you can appreciate the humor, if you aren't interested in zombies you'll probably get board really quick. But if you do like zombies this book will probably amuse you to no end.
Category, Humor|
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March 13, 2003
Bridget Jones's Guide to Life by Helen Fielding, ***
Don't be fooled! This is not a sequel to The Edge of Reason. It's just a self help book but since this is Bridget Jones it's hardly serious. I liked this book. It was very amusing for the 10 minutes it took to read through it. Unfortunately, a lot of the book just rehashes what happened in the other two books. There is some new material however. I especially enjoyed the instructional photographs. My favorite part of the book is the section on the game "Shag, marry or push off a cliff," which I've become addicted to playing. This book is a must read for Bridget Jones fans but it's not really worth buying.
Category, Humor|
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