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444th out of 471 books
—
2,484 voters
The Shroud of the Thwacker
Known to millions for his television and film roles, Chris Elliott is one of the most beloved comedians of his generation. With his novel The Shroud of the Thwacker, Elliott delivers a laugh-out-loud parody that will delight mystery lovers as well as his devoted fans.Set in New York City in 1882, the story hilariously chronicles the adventures of police chief Caleb Spencer...more
Paperback, 358 pages
Published
September 13th 2006
by Miramax Books
(first published 2005)
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It's gonna be hard to give two craps about this book and review if the following do not apply to you:
--You have a mild crush on a balding man who used to write jokes for David Letterman.
--You read and had a violent reaction to Patricia Cornwell's Portrait Of A Killer: Jack The Ripper - Case Closed, in which she pins the Whitechapel murders on a famous painter, using less hard proof than I use when I look at my nine cats, the hairball befouling the living room carpet and decide Wooster did it on...more
--You have a mild crush on a balding man who used to write jokes for David Letterman.
--You read and had a violent reaction to Patricia Cornwell's Portrait Of A Killer: Jack The Ripper - Case Closed, in which she pins the Whitechapel murders on a famous painter, using less hard proof than I use when I look at my nine cats, the hairball befouling the living room carpet and decide Wooster did it on...more
If you are a nine-year-old boy, with the attention span of a gnat, and a fondness for bodily-function jokes, random nonsensical statements, and a complete lack of taste or class, I recommend this book to you heartily. If you are anyone else, I strongly advise you to skip it!
I only made it to page 35 of this book, and frankly, I could have stopped on page eight, but wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt. Sadly, that's 15 minutes of my life that I can never get back, and someone should pay fo...more
I only made it to page 35 of this book, and frankly, I could have stopped on page eight, but wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt. Sadly, that's 15 minutes of my life that I can never get back, and someone should pay fo...more
It's Chris Elliott. And like Chris Elliott, at times you love it at times you hate it but mostly, you find it mildly amusing
This book is very, very funny and clever in its sheer stupidity. If you're a fan of Elliott's show, "Get a Life," you should definitely read this piece of insanity. It's about Elliott himself doing extensive research in the unsolved case of Jack the Jolly Thwacker, a serial killer of the 19th century that murdered prostitutes with a bag of apples. There are many secrets to this book, but a few include a bizarre and flatulent Teddy Roosevelt, an evil army of Mummers, time machines, baby criminal...more
The cover of the book promises something akin to Monty Python. I first heard of this book being promoted on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and Stewbeef can do no wrong.
But this book is way wrong. Completely unfunny. And I've never liked Chris Elliot, so, honestly, I really should have known better. But I never expected it to be as bad as it was. It was almost as if Chris picked words randomly hoping that some cosmic mixture would produce humor. No. It was just random unfunny words. And page a...more
But this book is way wrong. Completely unfunny. And I've never liked Chris Elliot, so, honestly, I really should have known better. But I never expected it to be as bad as it was. It was almost as if Chris picked words randomly hoping that some cosmic mixture would produce humor. No. It was just random unfunny words. And page a...more
When I first started reading this, I thought this was going to be one of the very few books that I never finish and have no intention of finishing. After the first three of four chapters chapters, I actually started to enjoy the book. I don't know if I started getting used to all the "olde timey" talk (or at least the author's take on it) or if the writing somehow got better. That being said, I was a little disappointed in the ending. I'm not sure if I missed something or what. I tried to reread...more
Humorous. Way better at the beginning when he's just using his amazing sense of humor to set the stage. The references and humor are top notch...at least, if you enjoyed 'Get a Life' and his character in "There's Something About Mary." However, once the plot gets going and things need to become a bit more internally consistent, as well as just move along faster, the humor falls by the wayside, and we're left with an overly unbelievable story and a fairly predictable "surprise" ending, which none...more
This book SUCKED!
worst book EVER!!!
http://www.cozylittlebookjournal.com/...
Sooo funny. One review said he does for historical mystery what Douglas Adams did for science fiction...and I have to agree. I love that he just made up all the historical research (like gas-powered wooden cell phones).
I hope he keeps writing. He's a much funnier writer than he is an actor or comedian.
And I love the ridiculous "19th century sounding descriptive chapter titles!
Sooo funny. One review said he does for historical mystery what Douglas Adams did for science fiction...and I have to agree. I love that he just made up all the historical research (like gas-powered wooden cell phones).
I hope he keeps writing. He's a much funnier writer than he is an actor or comedian.
And I love the ridiculous "19th century sounding descriptive chapter titles!
I had a bit of trouble deciding what to rate this book. On the one hand, the portion of the book that takes place in the past is overly absurd and lame. On the other hand, the stuff that takes place in the present is laugh-out-loud funny. I chock this up to the fact that I find Elliott's brand of self-deprecating humor most enjoyable. I will say that the revelation of the mastermind behind this whole plot is an ingenious one, but I still can't bring myself to give this book more than two stars....more
The Shroud of the Thwacker is hilarious. You will be surprised how much you'll laugh throughout, even if you consider yourself a hard-hearted reader. The book gets tired in the last quarter but by that point you've laughed so much that you'll forgive Elliott's lack of talent.
He's a comedian, not a writer. Cut him some slack and give in to his good-natured attempt.
And did I say you will laugh? Because you will laugh.
He's a comedian, not a writer. Cut him some slack and give in to his good-natured attempt.
And did I say you will laugh? Because you will laugh.
This was funny; I will not deny it. Pitted against almost anything else to be read, however, there are few books I for which I would trade it. I might choose it over, say, genre romances or sparkly vampire novels but that is it. Were I given a time machine (accidental or otherwise, snicker) and the chance to decide again to read it, I would choose something else. Life is too short, really.
absolutely the strangest book I've ever read, tho not without it's humorous moments. I honestly can't recommend it because it made no sense whatsoever, but it wasn't the worst book I've ever read...close, tho! glad I borrowed a copy instead of buying it. I guess it says a lot about it that the person I borrowed it from doesn't want it back, ha ha!
it's a funny book. it's just ... too rabidly funny. there's a joke in every paragraph and saying that much is a bit of an understatement. it's so tongue in cheek that i could barely take 100 pages.
i prefer the books i read to have a plot line ... not just a series of wisecracks, innuendo, and mockery. i'm just weird like that
i prefer the books i read to have a plot line ... not just a series of wisecracks, innuendo, and mockery. i'm just weird like that
More tongue-in-cheek humorous story than real mystery. Set in both present day and 1882 New York and filled with anachronisms. Present day person tries to solve an 1882 New York unsolved murder spree by " Jack the Jolly Thwacker". That name alone should tell you something about the story. Characters are buffoons.
I had just read one of Terry Pratchett's discworld books and wanted some more funny satire when I picked this one up. Chris Elliot may (or may not) be able to write funny sketches for tv, but in the form of a novel the humor (along with the dialog, the characters, & the plot) is too forced and not very clever.
The Shroud of the Thwacker was most likely the most ridiculous book i have ever read. Fortunately i found it hilarious! It's plot was decent enough, solving the murders of serial killer. But the way it concluded as well as likey every other part of the book was simply put strange. It was truly a comedy!
Dec 27, 2010
Tom Pappalardo
added it
A charmingly stupid book by a charmingly stupid man. I thought the first 3/4ths of the book succeeded better than the even-more-absurder denouement. I was slightly depressed to discover that I write sort of like Chris Elliott. So that's almost sealing my fate as a commercial failure. Sorry, Chris.
Chris Elliott has probably been influencing my for most of my life, culminating in me liking this book. I don't really care if this was his plan the whole time or not, because I like the book, either way. Win-win, I suppose. If I had written this book, I'd be very happy with myself.
Too ridiculous - and I have a high tolerance for the bizarre. It was like he wanted to write a historical novel because he liked his characters to speak quaintly, but couldn't be bothered to do any research. So it turned into a parody of the DaVinci Code set in 1882 with as many anachronisms as he felt like adding.
I've always thought Chris Elliot was one of the most authentic people in showbiz. His self-deprecating humor is a welcome relief in a literary world that takes itself far too seriously. Read Caleb Carr's The Alienist first to really catch the humor of this book.
Sadly, Chris Elliott's otherwise unparalleled comic genius does not translate to the long-form novel. Cut down in length and acted out by quality actors, some bits would probably work in a non-novel format. I expected a light-read bathroom book, and got far less.
Finally got around to reading this from cover to cover -- and I'm glad I made the effort. For a considerable chunk of the book -- there's something laugh-out loud funny on every page, if not every paragraph. A thouroughly silly and enjoyable read!
I was expecting this book to be a bit tongue-in-cheek, it is written by Chris Elliott after all, but this was even more over the top than expected. Borderline ridiculous. I really had a hard time getting through this book. In all fairness, there were some really funny parts, but overall not worth the time.
I read this a long time ago and remember thinking that it had it's moments, but was still lacking. The strange thing is, I can't remember ever having purchased this book, so I must have borrowed it from someone, but who?
AWESOME!!!! Laughed my ass off the entire time :) I have been a huge fan of Chris Elliot since his David Letterman days in the 80's and was thrilled to discover he wrote another book (anyone remember Daddy's Boy?)
i'm hesitant to go with four stars on this one, but it's not so bad as to warrant three, so we'll call it a 3.25ish. i did find it amusing at times, but also flat out obnoxious at others. but, what else would you expect from chris elliot? it was a quick read at least. i don't know if i would necessarily reccomend it, but i could see where some people could really love it.
Elliott forsakes plot for tongue-in-cheek humor. Entertaining at the beginning, pleasant in the middle, dreadful at the end. The book becomes more difficult to read as the "plot" unfolds. Disappointing.
It's Chris Elliot...most people love him or hate him. This book is ridiculous and absurd in all the right ways as far as I'm concerned. If you don't find Elliot funny, you will hate this book. I love him.
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