Review of Why Don't Cats Like to Swim?: An Imponderables Book (Imponderables Books) (Paperback)

This is the first of the Imponderables series of books.For people like me who love to accumulate useless but fascinating information it is a wonderful book.It asks the questions (Why do we itch, why are there holes in Swiss cheese, why does an X stand for a kiss, etc....)and then proceeds to answer them.If you ever wanted to be a know-it-all (or want your know-it-all to at least have the right answers) then read this book and become the authority on useless information with your family and friends.Much more fascinating than trivia books (after all you might want to know why cashews are not sold in their shells but who really cares who the runner up for the 1998 Ms America was?).
Each piece is a short question and answer so that you could pick it up and read one in a minute or two, but if you are like me then once you have read one you have to keep on reading the next and then the next until you have consumed an hour or more of fascinating reading.

Product Description

Why does an "X" stand for a kiss?
Which fruits are in Juicy Fruit® gum?
Why do people cry at happy endings?
Why do you never see baby pigeons?

Pop-culture guru David Feldman demystifies these topics and so much more in Why Don't Cats Like to Swim? -- the unchallenged source of answers to civilization's most perplexing questions. Part of the Imponderables® series, Feldman's book arms readers with information about everyday life -- from science, history, and politics to sports, television, and radio -- that encyclopedias, dictionaries, and almanacs just don't have. Where else will you learn what makes women open their mouths when applying mascara?

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Review of Still Hanging In There: Confessions of a Totaled Woman [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

I read this book last month and I am still laughing. Jan handles so many subjects including doctors, exercising, not exercising, football reruns, makeup for men, politics, advertising, television, sex and all family matters including dogs and gophers with great humor and philosophy. While I yell at my kids for not doing their homework, she contemplates an excuse note, since she's run out of excuses, claiming that since her little Boris is an alternate astronaut he needs to be alert and not start his homework if there is a chance he would not be on earth to complete it. Of course she does not really let him get away with it. She believes everyone must be responsible for their own lives including the kid who wet his diapers and claimed his daddy did it. She knows he couldn't have since dad works downtown. She declares that while she became a liberated lady and let everyone do "their own thing" her family and the nation started to fall apart. Now that she is back doing what she does best, "Nagging", everything is back on track, She has advice for the lovesick in a chapter called, "HOW TO TELL WHEN IT'S OVER". Here are a few subtle signs there may be trouble brewing, according to Jan: When he joins Parents WITHOUT Partners, If he introduces you as his "former wife"When he advertises on a giant billboard, "I love you Myrna" and your name is not Myrna, If you return home to find him napping with an army buddy and the towels read HIS and HIS, it may be time for a little chat at Starbucks. Good advice. She handles it all with such fun and insight. The problems that usually annoy me, she sees totally differently in an amusing way. It has taught me to approach my life in a lighter manner. How could I not like someone who claims as I do that "Pasta is her life." Among her fantasies: Diving into an Olympic size pool filled with spagetti and eating her way out. She also reveals how she turned flab into dollars. Jan Marshall is a very funny lady. I would absolutely recommend buying this book.

Product Description
A lighthearted manual for getting through each day with humor and giddiness. It is a delightful look at some of our minor, daily irritants that includes marriage, motherhood, football reruns of highlights of last year's game and the men we love who watch them... again and again.

The book is filled with astounding anti-diet/anti-exercise advice in the chapter "How I turned flab into dollars." While Jan was jogging she thought she heard applause. Regretfully it was simply her thighs hitting together. She was paid extremely well to leave the neighborhood. Franchise anyone?

There are time management tips "If you do not polish silver for six years it begins to look like pewter. Pewter is nice!" This joyful philosopher notices most human absurdities, ponders, reflects and then answers such questions as "Can we really leave nagging to strangers? Why is it that for every light on Broadway there is a runny nose? She agrees with Hemingway that though the sun also rises, it also fades the drapes.

This witty book will have you shaking with glee (67 calories expended) as you realize the stuff that really annoys you can be thought about in a more amusing, tolerable and weight losing manner.

About the Author
Jan claims her overbite is from hanging in there by the skin of her teeth. Founder of the International Humor/Healing Institute she is a Certified Master Clinical Hypnotherapist, humorist and speaker. A frequent guest on radio and television she actually believes not a shred of evidence exists that life is serious.

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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 Kaiju Big Battel: A Practical Guide to Giant City-Crushing Monsters (Paperback)

This book is a clever parody of three silly genres all at once: Japanese monster movies, the Manga craze, and professional wrestling. Largely I think it works well as a satirical piece of humor and social commentary, but mostly it is just good old fashioned fun.

The basic premise is that the evil Dr. Cube has created giant monsters that fight each other in the "Kaiju Big Battel" arena for entertainment of the masses. There are good and evil Kaiju, and some rogues that can change allegiances at the drop of a hat. The monsters here are not your typical Japanese Godzilla copycats, but rather creative originals such as Call-Me-Kevin (my personal favorite), the ridiculous looking Sky Deviler, and the heroic tuber, Silver Potato.

The book is broken down into a biography section, a section of famous Kaiju bouts, and assorted other features such as "How Sky Deviler's Digestive System Works" and "Silver Potato's Holiday Miracle". There is even a color spread that has very amusing faux-Japanese translations like: "Who is the sphincter mouth of depth-perception irrelevant monster? Sky Deviler most high ugliness the dive bomb swoop. Special appetite skill combine with brain lentil size create the deadliest!"

I found the book quite entertaining and diverting. I particularly love old Japanese monster movies, and seeing this pay homage to them while concurrently mocking Manga and wrestling made this book totally worthwhile for me.


Product Description
Kaiju Big Battel, a series of live events that revolve around tournament-style performances, is a tongue-in-cheek hybrid of Japanese-monster-movie mayhem and lowbrow pop-culture. These sold-out events feature a roster of over thirty monsters battling in a modern conflict of epic proportions.

Kaiju Big Battel, the official guide, will provide an overview of the Kaiju universe, principally the key monsters and the epic battles, for devoted fans and new readers alike. In addition to a 16-page full-color insert of Kaiju studio photographs and a glossary, Kajiu Big Battel will be ornamented with a safety manual, weapon profiles and a guide to the inner workings of the Kaiju world. A crash course in everything Kaiju, readers would be well-advised to pay careful attention as those uneducated in monster mayhem could be imperiled next time Kaiju Big Battel erupts in their neighborhood!

The Big Battel Rages on in the Kaiju Universe!

Planet Earch is under threat. Scattered throughout the galaxy is a monstrous mob of maniacal villians, alien beasts, and city-crushing monsters that are waging a war against one another. In a recent New Year's Eve Kaiju Big Battel, Kung-Fu Chicken Noodle defeated RoBox:

"Kung-Fu Chicken Noodle couldn't wait for the ball to drop to avenge his shocking loss to the newest Kaiju Hero, RoBox, at Kaiju Rampage New York. As Louden Noxious counted down to the stroke of midnight, the killer klucker burst into the Danger Cage and began to lay waste to the snow-covered cityscape. Seeing this wanton destruction, newly constructed Kaiju Hero, RoBox rushed the Cage to put a shop to the terror. This was perhaps the robotic Hero's biggest mistake of the night.

Fresh from an extended stay in China with his sensei, Mr. Wong, Soup unleashed a barrage of devastating new maneuvers upon Kung-Fu Chicken Noodle. High-flying flips and crushing corkscrews quickly overloaded RoBox's circuts and the new Hero was unable to mount any signifigant counter attack. Finally Soup delivered the Bouillion Back Flip for the pin, earning the right to fufill his new year's resolutions: to kill again!"

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Review of "Call Me Dad, Not Dude": Humorous Commentaries on Parenting and Coping in Today's World (Paperback)

I laughed out loud at least once during each essay, reading this on a plane and on vacation.People looked up to see what was so funny.Ican't decide if the style of this book is like Garrison Keillor ghostwriting for Dave Barry or vice versa, but the outcome is very enjoyable.

If you have teenagers, were ever involved with Boy Scouts, coached your kid's rec-league teams, have a dog that everyone loves, or grew up in a simpler time, you'll appreciate these stories.A good collection of solid essays, long enough to dig into a subject/theme without getting lost. A great gift book that people will get hooked on from the first essay.



Product Description
Parenting in contemporary times provides Matthew Keenan with an endless amount of material. Keenan looks at life with a smile and shares his humorous perspective with his readers on a variety of topics that resonate with parents of all ages.

Keenan doles out parental observations from A to Z, including:

* Teens, cell phones, and parental insanity.
* Axe body spray: Gagging for fresh air on a Friday night.
* A daughter's diary and three teenage brothers: Dial 911 now!
* Your daughter wants a horse: hire a bankruptcy attorney first.
* Boy Scouts and campouts: expect heavy rain.
* Spring break trips: it's not really spring and my children don't need a break.
* Teenage sons and drivers education school - take the next exit.
* Coaching the 'non premier' teams: Bad News Bears, Kansas style.
* Waking up teenage boys: tips and tricks for an on-time school arrival.
* My sons' homework crisis: why is this my problem?
* High school dances- life gets complicated quickly.

About the Author
Matt Keenan is a humor columnist whose writings draw from the most vital of all subjects: family.His columns have appeared in the Kansas City Star for the last seven years. His articles will have parents laughing in agreement at his witty assessments of everything from carpool lines to First Communion. Underneath the humor in his articles is a poignant look at the modern American family living in the heart of the Midwest, Kansas City. Some readers will share Matt's remembrances of his own childhood-the old wood paneled Chrysler station wagon and the golden days of Catholic school education. Matt's articles will make you laugh out loud ... and keep you smiling throughout the day.
Matt and his family live in Leawood, Kansas, but they spend most of their time in the car running a cab service for their four teenage children.

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Review of Better Living Through Bad Movies (Paperback)

If you're like me (and I know I am, and you've wondered why bad movies are made, wonder no more! Bad Movies are made to teach us life lessons! That's right--they teach us the lessons that Oprah and Dr. Phil missed!

Its full of great life lessons and hilarious snark! (Check out the chapter about "RedDawn" for lovely snarkieness on the Bushes!)

Be careful where you read it, though.I laughed out loud on the bus so many times, I got dirty looks from the driver!

This is just a great, funny book.A definite must read for bad movie lovers and MST3k fans (like me)

Product Description
We've all heard that, 'you learn more from failure than you do from success.' Which means that all those hours spent watching crappy movies wasn't a waste of your precious and ever-dwindling life span; it was an education! And Better Living Through Bad Movies can show you how to extract the profound, life-affirming lessons from films like Battlefield Earth, Coyote Ugly, and Indecent Proposal.

In over 50 hilarious reviews, the authors show how you can use the worst movies ever made to improve your sex life (it involves cardboard cutouts and clog dancing), Apocalypse-proof your home (using the following materials: John Travolta, Kevin Costner, Sylvester Stallone and more Kevin Costner), and win omnipotence and a Happy Meal by solving Satan's Junior Jumble. You will also discover how to forge a love that will last a lifetime (by dating the moribund), use films like Batman and Robin and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace as grief counseling, and conquer the world using common fruit bats and dry cleaning fluid. And most important of all, you'll learn Hollywood's Ultimate Secret: Why Beaches and Armageddon are actually the exact same movie.

About the Author
Scott Clevenger is a former columnist for Razor magazine and a script doctor who is familiar with the sausage-making process of film production in intimate, Upton Sinclair-like detail. He lives in Hollywood and is personally acquainted with the guy who hangs around the Chinese Theater and aggressively panhandles in a Tickle Me Elmo costume.

Sheri Zollinger spent 15 years in the CIA's Office of Counter-intelligence, and is now officially counter intelligence. She currently writes the political humor weblog World O' Crap (world-o-crap.com), which has been cited by MSNBC, CNN, The Washington Post and other news organizations that ought to know better.

She lives in an undisclosed location with a classified number of pets.

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Review of Working for the Man: Inspiring and Subversive Projects for Residents of Cubicle Land (Paperback)

Any book that starts with the disclaimer "Doing some of the things in this book may get you fired. You've been warned" has to have some true gems inside. Buckle your seat belt, sit back in your cubicle and take in the numerous hints on how to be successful, in spite of "the man."

At first blush, you might think that everything in WORKING FOR THE MAN is geared toward the negative aspects of cubicle living. Not so. There are very funny sections here about surviving your boss's tirades, preparing for performance evaluations and many other tactics --- not just to survive but to flourish. On most pages there are small quotation boxes with a numbered rule. These are fun and easy to digest. "Rule 11: The shorter the message, the more trouble you're in. `Call me as soon as you get in' is bad. `See me' is really bad."

Boss case studies include the Could-You-Get-Me-A-Cup-of-Coffee (or bagel, etc. and never pay you back) Boss, the Change This One Thing (or two, or three, also known as the sea of red ink) Boss, the Reader of Pop Psychology Business Books Boss and of course the ever-popular It's 5 o'clock on Friday But I Really Need You to Get This Done Boss. Everyone can relate to at least one of these classifications.

Author Jeffrey Yamaguchi challenges his readers to be creative. Take, for example, the chapter on co-workers. Here you have the opportunity to complete individual scenarios, exactly as your mood suits you. In the chapter on "friendly competition" we are offered numerous opportunities to engage in activities that you do every day at work anyway, so why not make them fun? Some are riskier than others, so proceed with caution! The meetings pool and most emails in a day contests look like fun.

The absolute winning chapter is "Surreptitious Projects." You can get in some serious trouble, but they really are hysterical. "Truth in muffins: Set out a tray of muffins or doughnuts or bagels. Then, put a sign in front of the tray that says `For Upper Management Only.'" Or everyone's favorite: On the vending machine leave a message for the vending distributor to "please stock with those little bottles of Jack Daniels."

And "comments from a concerned coworker" are priceless: "Please stop leaving food out, even if it's wrapped and stored in your desk drawers. I am starting to see bugs. Sometimes my desk is completely covered in giant roaches. They seem to appear and then hide in the blink of an eye."

WORKING FOR THE MAN is a primer, a "must-have" for anyone working in corporate America who truly sees the humor (often preceded by frustration) in the sometimes frivolous work environment. To survive, we must rise above the trivialities of daily living. Now, to really live and thrive, try implementing some of these treasures! In the now-immortal words of Yamaguchi, "Don't get mad, get inspired."

--- Reviewed by Marge Fletcher

Product Description
A book for the subversive worker lurking in every cubicle-from the creator and author of 52 Projects.

For anyone frustrated with the soul-killing monotony of a nine-to-five job, this quirky collection helps beat the office blues, inspire creativity in seemingly dead-end situations, and preserve a bit of integrity in a conformist corporate culture. Learn how to:

- Survive long, boring meetings with breath-holding contests- Plot out a "sick day" calendar to maximize time off- Write your novel on company time- Create the most pro-worker cubicle to instill a false sense of your total commitment- Anonymously send your boss a Happy Secretary's Day bouquet

About the Author
Jeffrey Yamaguchi is the author of 52 Projects and the publisher of 52Projects.com, as well as the popular websites bookmouth.com, workingfortheman.com, and whatsyourproject.com

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Review of Greyhound Diary (Paperback)

Thank all that is evil that James Inman got on the wrong bus. If he hadn't, then we wouldn't have his 'Greyhound Diary'. My own experiences on the bus have been quite pleasant -- in sharp contrast to Inman's -- but I also have no story to tell (and it's only a coincidence, James, that I'm writing this while traveling on the bus).

To its credit, Inman's story is a fairly quick read. If it weren't, you'd wonder how he lived to tell the tale or why you were still reading it.

Inman's lists, his rants, his smoldering, smelly details all add up to a laugh-out-loud read no matter where or when you read them, though alcohol would make a nice companion piece.

'Greyhound Diary' is 'On the Road' for the homeless, 'Oh, The Places You'll Go' for the chronically mentally ill, and 'The Grapes of Wrath' for people who would never read that book in the first place. It's a sweet, sloppy slice of America's yawning underbelly.

James Inman isn't a genius, but his work is.

Product Description
The Greyhound Diary Travel Guide is a depressingly hilarious roaming narrative. A postmodern Odyssey from the backwoods of Wheatland to the lost highway in West Memphis. From the trashed streets of Newark to the industrial cesspool that is Cleveland. Trapped inside the Turtle Boat with tattooed clowns and freak-show white trash, a grueling masochistic non-stop journey into the heart of fear. Everyone, regardless of age, race, color, creed, sexual orientation, class distinction and/or drug and alcohol dependency will relate to this universal saga steeped in American popular culture. This horrid tour is a cynical account of what it feels like to be out there on the bus in the middle of nowhere crawling around at ten miles an hour with Amelia Earhart's retarded brother at the controls. This is everything you've forgotten on those trips home from college. A fascinating, compelling ride.

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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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Review of Camp Foxtrot (Paperback)

Foxtrot being one of the funniest syndicated comics available today (this might be arguable for some, depending on your standard for humor), you'll definitely want this comic book. It is chock full of 250 pages of the popular strip by Bill Amend, and, with very few exceptions, you'll laugh at every strip.

The actual "camp" doesn't happen until somewhere near the middle of the book, where brainy Jason and his friend Marcus go to Geek Camp for the summer, just to let you know, but you won't mind, I promise.

There is a delightful little bonus kindly provided by the author at the end ("My publisher tells me I have six blank pages to fill") which documents the path that Amend started down in order to become the success he is today. Amend takes six pages to discuss how he creates the strips (does he draw them, or think up the plotline first?) and how he submits and is hired out to do them regularly (so what exactly is the running salary for a cartoonist these days anyway?) with tips on how a person with talent can attempt to do the same.

I get genuinely concerned when/if I don't understand the humor in a Foxtrot comic, or if I fail to smile or laugh. That's how good this comic strip is. Yes, there are reused jokes...but to anyone who might complain about them, you have to remember that SOMETHING kept them reading long enough to notice reused jokes!



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