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Care to Make Love in That Gross Little Space Between Cars?: A Believer Book of Advice
The Believer magazine presents a compendium of advice from producers, writers, and actors of The Daily Show, Saturday Night Live, Parks and Recreation, Late Show with David Letterman, The Hangover, and The Colbert Report, along with other musicians, cartoonists, New Yorker writers, and those similarly unqualified to offer guidance.
Here Amy Sedaris describes the perfect mur...more
Here Amy Sedaris describes the perfect mur...more
Paperback, 256 pages
Published
March 6th 2012
by Vintage
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I had high hopes for this book. Sadly, I couldn't come close to finishing it. Perhaps because I am unfamiliar with the magazine, The Believer, and its column, Sedaratives? I understand that this book spoofs Dear Abby style advice columns which I think has great potential especially when paired with contemporary comedians. BUT...the advice seekers' problems aren't believable enough to make the ludicrous advice seem ironic enough...at least to me.
For example..."For ecological purposes, I wear my c...more
For example..."For ecological purposes, I wear my c...more
A collection of reader letter responses with several of my favorites, this was the perfect read for the flight to my vacation destination. I giggled out loud several times, which I think was a little unnerving for fellow plane passengers. It's definitely one of those books. Stay away if you're easily offended.
There was some familiar comedy from Zach Galifianakis and Louis CK, but I was glad to find lots of new comedians and writers to check out from their answers to readers' letters. Although,...more
There was some familiar comedy from Zach Galifianakis and Louis CK, but I was glad to find lots of new comedians and writers to check out from their answers to readers' letters. Although,...more
I didn't have the highest standards for this because most of the comedians featured are, as one would expect, at their best when able to be seen and/or heard. I normally love Louis C.K. but was disappointed by his section. My favorites were probably Galafinakis,Allison Silverman, Amy Sedaris, and Bob Saget. Another highlight was the response from John Samson of the Weakerthans (one of my favorite bands) which was surprisingly funny while still being sensitive.
It was a nice change of pace after w...more
It was a nice change of pace after w...more
If you enjoy outrageous humor, this book will provide you quite a few laughs. The book is a collection of responses to purported reader questions submitted to "The Believer" magazine, with the advisory responses coming from people ranging from Amy Sedaris to Zach Galifianakis.
If you read "National Lampoon" magazine back in the late 1970s or early 1980s and remember what it's letters to the editors were like, you'll have an idea of what this book is like. You could also consider it a mash-up of h...more
If you read "National Lampoon" magazine back in the late 1970s or early 1980s and remember what it's letters to the editors were like, you'll have an idea of what this book is like. You could also consider it a mash-up of h...more
Given the list of names involved in the writing of this book, I expected something funnier. Which is not to say that the book is not funny, it is. But it is funny in a brief, easily forgotten, throw-away kind of mild wit. I had hoped for more biting, insightful humor and instead, this book is just a collection of bad advice. Even then, the biggest disappointment is that the clear potential for some really funny comedy is easily seen, just inadequately deliver upon.
Save your money and get the nex...more
Save your money and get the nex...more
Many humorists and comics contribute to the advice column in the Believer magazine, from which these bits of advice have been extracted.
Among the advice-givers are Lisa Lampanelli, Laraine Newman, Bob Saget, Amy Sedaris, and Weird Al Yankovic.
Supposedly the questions are all legitimate ones sent to the Believer magazine, but some of them do seem like setups for a comedian's punch line, like "I'm a full-time carpenter. Any chance I might be the Messiah?" Brendon Small handles that one with the su...more
Among the advice-givers are Lisa Lampanelli, Laraine Newman, Bob Saget, Amy Sedaris, and Weird Al Yankovic.
Supposedly the questions are all legitimate ones sent to the Believer magazine, but some of them do seem like setups for a comedian's punch line, like "I'm a full-time carpenter. Any chance I might be the Messiah?" Brendon Small handles that one with the su...more
May 18, 2012
Terri Light
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
prof-xenia-glitchy-picks
I do like The Believer mag in piecemeal bits. I had the same feeling when I started this collection (audiobook is awesome by the way, read by the authors of each!). The further into the book, the more I loved it and the more I laughed at the bitter, biting and outrageous humor. It is a mood book. If you are feeling snarky, give it a go. If you are feeling steady and logical, you might want to put it off until you feel more cynical again. *Fave bit? Laraine Newman. Hysterically funny.
I made it through the first 70 pages. Maybe this book gets better, though surely the editor would have put some of the best stuff in the front? This collection provides another reminder that people who are funny while talking on TV are not necessarily funny when they write. "Humor" books like this make me greater appreciate those who do manage to get it right in print--Wanda Sykes and Ray Romano come to mind.
Honestly, I was expecting something funnier. Perhaps in audio form this book of letters to comedians would lend itself to being more funny, but in printed form (which I thankfully procured from a sale table) it just wasn't that great. Some, obviously more funny than others, but as a whole, it was just "okay."
Despite all of the great comedians who contributed to this, I found a lot of it quite tedious. In fact, I oddly enough found the non-comedian contrubutions to be the funniest of the bunch. It read to me as most of the pieces had been dashed off about five minutes before deadline.
I read this book in a few hours. Just seeing the cover on a table at Strand Books made me want to pick it up. It's really just about a bunch of people seeking advice and comedians or funny people of the like responding back with extremely witty and sarcastic comments. It was hilarious.
An entertaining read for those days when I just wanted to curl up and let the book do the work of making me laugh. There is something in here for most everyone, but I doubt that everything is for anyone. I skimmed some, and spent more time on others.
This book was a complete waste of time. Stupid questions, stupid, unfunny answers. I didn't laugh once, not even once while reading this. Thankfully it was a quick read. I'll be sure to avoid other books by The Believer.
Perfect book for a plane trip because of its format; you can put it down almost anytime and pick it up again later without losing your place. Some of the guest writers are very funny, some are not at all. It is a quick read, and generally entertaining.
If you're looking for a super quick read(like less than a few hours) that's mindless and will make you laugh out loud like a crazy person in public a few times(I did[laugh out loud AND look like a crazy person]), then this book is for you!
I really enjoyed certain chapters of this book. Mainly the chapters of the writers featured on the front. Louie C.K.'s advice is both hilarious and suitable for this book because he pretty much tells everyone off and points out that no one cares about the readers questions anyways.
What I didn't like was that both the questions and answers were very facetious. Someone writes a ridiculous question and the "famous" person doesn't really answer it, but tries to make a humorous answer by being very r...more
What I didn't like was that both the questions and answers were very facetious. Someone writes a ridiculous question and the "famous" person doesn't really answer it, but tries to make a humorous answer by being very r...more
I was pretty disappointed in this book. It wants to be a collection of biting wit from a big group of famous comedians, but ultimately it just seemed lazy. Some writers are better than others, but most of them rely on being vaguely insulting as opposed to being clever.
Some really crazy questions with advice coming from some great trusted and new (to me) comic minds; this book is full of amusing moments.
it was ok but amy sedaris and jerri blank were my faves....spoiler alert...they are the same person....their advice is pure gold.
It's almost as if every one of these talented comics got together and agreed to compare their turds.
Some genuinely funny letters and responses, but at least as many that fell pretty flat...
This collection wasn't as good as the first. There were still a fair number of laugh out loud columns, but they were sadly outnumbered by mediocre columns. I'm glad I read to the end, though, because some of the best columns were there as a reward for slogging through the duds in the middle.
I thought it would be more interesting than it was, but parts of it are great.
Very funny, especially the chapters by Zach Galifidakis and Amy Sedaris
Some were funnier than others, but I did laugh out loud several times.
kinda funny. very quick read. the writers are hit or miss. it got repetitive.
La parte de Louie es genial. No todo el libro es bueno.
Not my cup of tea. To be honest, I only finished it because I wanted it to count towards my book total for the year (16 is a new record!) and it was an easy read. I started the book three months ago, so it's hard to remember who was good and who was bad, but I didn't find much of it funny. Dave Eggers, Miscellaneous Canadian Rock Musicians, Jerri Blank, and Rose McGowan stuck out to me as the best. I was disappointed that other comedians in this book that I enjoy a lot in other contexts just did...more
Hilarious and sharp. Easy read.
Easily read, easily forgotten.
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