Review of Driving on the Wrong Side of the Road: Humorous Views on Love, Lust, and Lawn Care (Paperback)

Driving on the Wrong Side of the Road by Diana Estill is a sparkling collection of humorous vignettes that range from the anecdotal to the philosophical--and almost everything in between.

Drawing mainly from her own experiences, from youth right through to Grandma-hood, and with her tongue lodged firmly in her cheek, Diana Estill provides guidance and advice on such wide-ranging topics as wedding anniversary gifts, handling jalapeno peppers, and football terminology for dummies. Interspersed with such ruminations are hilarious anecdotes such as the Christmas Monopoly game that did not become a 'family tradition,' and the testosterone-fuelled Texas Chain Saw Adventure.

Refreshingly, political correctness is thrown out of the window. The foibles and peculiarities particular to the male and female varieties of our species are brilliantly portrayed. As a man, I heartily endorse her theories on the problems of mall navigation for men, and the ingenious solution of a male drop-off zone complete with vibrating chairs, televised sports, and attendant grannies missing their grown-up sons. Brilliant.

Unlike many humor writers, Estill does not usually laugh at other people. By and large, she pokes fun at herself, her husband, and her family, in an affectionate way that is very appealing. Occasionally, the tone becomes more reflective and serious, with a couple of particularly lyrical and touching accounts of her relationship with her father.

At a fundamental level, this is an account of ordinary incidents in the everyday lives of normal people, and this is what makes it so accessible. Painting such events in her whimsical and quirky manner, Diana Estill infuses them with a sense of outrageous craziness that helps one to chuckle at the annoyances of life. After a tiring, stressful day this is a great book to pick up.

Armchair Interviews says: This book is a reminder that laughter is indeed the best medicine.

Product Description
Texas humor columnist Diana Estill shares her outrageous views on everything from foreign rental cars to designer dogs and toilet repairs. In this romp of a read, she explains why men grill when they need love, what really happens to lost luggage, and how to use mouthwash to green a lawn.

Follow this failed dieter and flawed philosopher as she steers an unconventional and humorous course through chaos.

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Review of Two cents worth: -thoughts of an old Georgia boy (Unknown Binding)

It was with great pleasure that I worked with Charlie on finalizg "Two Cents Worth".Time spent proofing the book brought back many of my own "all but forgotten" memories of being born and raised in LaGrange, GA.I never considered my family poor, but in reading the book I realize just how far in life we have all moved on.Two Cents Worth is an extremely unique collection of those "good ole times" that will force your mind to travel back in time seeking some of your on!A wonderful collection to add to the coffee table and for conversation during family gatherings, parties, etc!



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Review of May Contain Nuts: A Very Loose Canon of American Humor (Paperback)

I flipped though it and bought it on a whim.It is the best thing I have ever done for myself.This book is amazing!!! It's not just wonderful because it is a great pick-me-up... but it's also brilliant in the writing.Many of the things could be performance pieces or hit a wide audiance. Just read it you won't go wrong! Highly recommended

Product Description
Nutritiousness aside, May Contain Nuts provides 100% of the daily recommended amount of that essential life-enhancer, laughter. With more than 70 contributors and 150 shots from the loose canon of American humor, it's a stellar edition with plenty of real stars from stage and screen(writing):

Seinfeld's Peter Mehlman, Hairspray's Mark O'Donnell, Ed's Michael Ian Black and the world's most famous drive-in movie critic, Joe Bob Briggs

Plus, there's Roy Blount Jr. on how to travel "Southern" outside the South; summer recipes from our man in the kitchen, Henry Alford; Firesign Theatre's Phil Austin's yuletide "Tale of the Old Detective"; P. J. O'Rourke's not-so-intimate "Diary of a Country Gentleman"; Daniel Radosh's "PowerPoint Anthology of Literature"; and Tom Gliatto's helpful overview of today's thriving cabaret scene. With umpteen illustrations, many perplexing charts, and our first centerfold ever, this volume is party-sized for your reading pleasure.

New in This Issue

• a comprehensive teacher's guide
• a food section (including a transcript from Van Gogh's early cooking show)
• up-to-the-minute newscrawl
• a preview of the new all Law & Order Network
• "Blues for Advanced Beginners"
• Ingenious and iffy tributes to Orson Welles, Dale Earnhardt, Beck, John Edwards, and Celine Dion

About the Author
The editor of More Mirth of a Nation: The Best Contemporary Humor, Michael J. Rosen has been called the unofficial organizer of the National Humor Writer's Union, a pretty good idea for an organization that could offer all kinds of benefits to its struggling members (currently numbering more than 300 who have never been published in The New Yorker or aired on NPR). He has been called other things as well, like in third grade, and then in seventh grade especially, by certain older kids known as "hoods," who made his life miserable, specifically during gym class, lunch period and after school. Later, much later, the Washington Post called him a "fidosopher" because of his extensive publications on dogs, dog training, and dog-besotted people. The New York Times called him an example of creative philanthropy in their special "Giving" section for persuading "writers, artists, photographers and illustrators to contribute their time and talents to books" that benefit Share Our Strength's anti-hunger efforts and animal-welfare causes. As an author of a couple dozen books for children, he's been called...okay, enough with the calling business.

For nearly twenty years, he served as literary director at the Thurber House, a cultural center in the restored home of James Thurber. Garrison Keillor, bless his heart, called it (sorry) "the capital of American humor." While there, Rosen helped to create The Thurber Prize for American Humor, a national book award for humor writing, and edited four anthologies of Thurber's previously unpublished and uncollected work, most recently The Dog Department: James Thurber on Hounds, Scotties and Talking Poodles, happily published by HarperCollins as well.

In his capacity as editor for this biennial, Rosen reads manuscripts year round, beseeching and beleaguering the nation's most renowned and well-published authors, and fending off the rants and screeds from folks who've discovered the ease of self-publishing on the web. Last summer, Rosen edited a lovely book, 101 Damnations: The Humorists' Tour of Personal Hells; while some critics (all right, one rather outspoken friend) considered this a book of complaints, Rosen has argued that humor, like voting and picketing and returning an appliance that "worked" all of four months before requiring a repair that costs twice the purchase price, humor is about the desire for change. It's responding to the way things are compared to the way you'd like things to be. And it's a much more convivial response than pouting or cornering unsuspecting guests at dinner parties.

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Review of Uncle John's Ahh-Inspiring Bathroom Reader (Paperback)

I got this book for Christmas and have literally made unnecessary trips to the restroom just to read some more. It is filled with thousands of pieces of useful and not-so-useful information. For example, did you know that a penny, because of the extra weight on "heads" will come up "heads" just a little more often than "tails"? Some of Cliff Claven's best quotes from Cheers? That the first videogame was created in 1958? How about the legend of Lincoln's ghost at the Whitehouse? There are also articles on the JFK and Priness Diana conspiracies as well. The author is good at not preaching or putting in his own opinions and the info covers the entire gamut from politics, to true crime, funny stories, strange facts and everything else.
OK, time to end this review and get back to reading more of this book. Alright, one more fact, Did you know that until 1965 pennies were legal tender only up to 25cents? A creditor did not have to accepts more than 25 pennies or more than $10 in coins? Crazy huh?

Product Description
Flush those boring old gifts and give your friends and family something they can really sit down and digest! The Uncle John's Bathroom Reader series is one of the longest-running, most popular humor collections in the publishing industry. It taps into a vast resource of forgotten readers -- the 66 percent of North Americans who admit to reading in the bathroom. It's our 15th year and we're still going strong!

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