Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
97th out of 1,868 books
—
3,698 voters
Our Dumb Century: The Onion Presents 100 Years of Headlines from America's Finest News Source
The Onion has quickly become the world's most popular humor publication, misinforming half a million readers a week with one-of-a-kind social satire both in print (on newsstands nationwide) and online from its remote office in Madison, Wisconsin.
Witness the march of history as Editor-in-Chief Scott Dikkers and The Onion's award-winning writing staff present the twentieth c...more
Witness the march of history as Editor-in-Chief Scott Dikkers and The Onion's award-winning writing staff present the twentieth c...more
Paperback, 176 pages
Published
March 23rd 1999
by Three Rivers Press
(first published December 1st 1998)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
3,000)
Aug 28, 2007
Andrew
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
my 88 year old grandmother on a respirator
This book is the best gift in the world, for two reasons. First, anyone you give it to will love it, and you have therefore given a successful gift to a loved one. Second, if the person who receives the gift does not like it, it's a sure sign that he or she is not someone you should have anything to do with, much less give a gift to. For more on how to join the national campaign to convince motel 6 to replace the bible with this book in every one of their fucking hotel rooms, please respond to t...more
Jul 03, 2010
Bryan
added it
Why didn't I bring this to work today? I need a laugh...: As I sit here going on my 10th hour of work (more accurately, I'm waiting for some people to perform their jobs so I can finish mine), I'm wondering why I don't just keep my copy of this book in my desk.
The Onion's acerbic wit and sarcastic humor never fail to raise a fit of laughter out of me, and to have several hundred pages of it in one convenient parcel is one of God's little gifts to mankind.
This book is worth the full cover price...more
The Onion's acerbic wit and sarcastic humor never fail to raise a fit of laughter out of me, and to have several hundred pages of it in one convenient parcel is one of God's little gifts to mankind.
This book is worth the full cover price...more
I guess since this is listed on goodreads, and because it has been published and has an ISBN number, this counts as a real book. But it's actually just the front pages of the onion website. It doesn't even include the whole articles, just the front of them.
Well, since I read the onion on the website theonion.com almost every day, this book was a little extraneous. I already read almost all of thse things. But the main thing about it was that it only cost $3 on clearance at Borders. 3 fucking dol...more
Well, since I read the onion on the website theonion.com almost every day, this book was a little extraneous. I already read almost all of thse things. But the main thing about it was that it only cost $3 on clearance at Borders. 3 fucking dol...more
I recall an Onion article just after the 2000 election jokingly talking about how Bush was going to reverse the clinton years and pick up where his father left off. It talked about making tax refunds, starting a new war in Iraq, and running the economy down. It's rather frightening to think about it coming to the end of two terms. The world is a strange place; I'm surprised it's still here.
Holy hell was this a funny read! Anyone who is a fan of American history and a fan of humor I definitely suggest this read.
The book is pretty simple, just about every year between 1900 and 2000 get's one or more front pages from the onion. Of course, the onion wasn't really around during that time but this is what it would have looked like.
I think my very favorite entry from the entire book was from 1963, the last paragraph of which follows:
"Parker's death marks the sixth atomic-accident fatal...more
The book is pretty simple, just about every year between 1900 and 2000 get's one or more front pages from the onion. Of course, the onion wasn't really around during that time but this is what it would have looked like.
I think my very favorite entry from the entire book was from 1963, the last paragraph of which follows:
"Parker's death marks the sixth atomic-accident fatal...more
The Onion's sardonic take on current events and culture can be very funny in small doses, but in such a large anthology, The Onion increasingly comes off as one-trick pony. Most of its humor boils down to hyperbole - treating the unimportant as if it is of tantamount importance, thereby creating a critical commentary on the shallowness of popular culture. You don't have to read much of this book to get the point, and since it's mostly Onion fans who would buy this book in the first place, it see...more
I think this book marked the peak for the Onion. It reviews headlines of the 20th century as they would have appeared if the Onion had been published since 1900. Some are laugh-out-loud funny, though as usual there tends to be much more hilarity in the headlines and accompanying photographs than in the articles themselves. Other Onion books are not as consistently amusing (including the recent "Our Dumb World"). "Our Dumb Century" succeeds as well as it does because it is a natural outgrowth of...more
Profound, moving, relevant.
Outrageously hilarious satire from The Onion, with a headline page for various historically significant events of the 20th century. It expects a certain amount of prior knowledge from its readers to understand the humor. Beyond the headlines themselves, reading the text of the articles is a delight, as is catching the smaller jokes (such as a "report" on a street fight between the Sharks and the Jets). Totally worth it for the WWII pages and the moon landing reports (and "transcripts!") alone.
This is The Onion at its best. Whether it's making fun of the casual racism and jingoism of the early part of the 20th Century or the casual racism and jingoist capitalism of its closing years, the articles are consistently funny. One of the best histories of the twentieth century I have read.
As though the Onion had been around for the whole twentieth century. I think this is the funniest of the Onion books. Sample headlines:
1. 1951: "Morty and Betty Crocker Executed for Selling Top-Secret Cake Recipes to Reds."
2. 1905: "The Machine: Will it Replace the Chinaman."
3. 1939: "Hitler Neutralizes the Polish Menace."
Humor, history and social criticism. Really funny!
1. 1951: "Morty and Betty Crocker Executed for Selling Top-Secret Cake Recipes to Reds."
2. 1905: "The Machine: Will it Replace the Chinaman."
3. 1939: "Hitler Neutralizes the Polish Menace."
Humor, history and social criticism. Really funny!
I think THIS goes down as the most hilarious book I have ever...EVER...read! The satire is ridiculously good. Even the most microscopic side-bar stories can cause enough laughter to initiate a heart attack. As for the final front page spread...well, I ran out of tears!
A great coffee table book, containing hilarious fake period newspapers. For maximum enjoyment, open to a random page and try to convince people who haven't seen the book before that the article is real. Works better with some pages than others.
Filled to bursting with never-ending "oh-no-they-didn't" moments, Our Dumb Century was my initiation into the universe simply known as The Onion. If your sides aren't aching from laughter after reading this gem, chances are I don't like you.
Man Ventures Outside Hatless
Martin Luther King: I Had a Really Weird Dream Last Night
FDR: The Only Thing We Have to Fear is a Decade-long, Crippling Depression
Man Walks on Fucking Moon
Christian Right Ascends to Heaven
-- Nobody does it better than The Onion
Martin Luther King: I Had a Really Weird Dream Last Night
FDR: The Only Thing We Have to Fear is a Decade-long, Crippling Depression
Man Walks on Fucking Moon
Christian Right Ascends to Heaven
-- Nobody does it better than The Onion
I borrowed book from a friend without realizing that the book only highlights the headlines from past issues of The Onion (as clearly stated on title). However, it was still an enjoyable "read".
I love a book that gives its audience credit - and in order to get these jokes, you need to know your U.S. history. Our Dumb Century is anything but...
When I need some historically-related laughs, I always pull this book out and read a few of the articles. Great book for the history geeks out there.
Brilliantly written fake front-pages for The Onion throughout the 20th century. This book gets better every time you read it.
May 01, 2013
James
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
book-movies,
funny-stuff
It’s a book written by the The Onion, it’s a collection of funny headlines, it’s meant to make you laugh and it does that pretty well. It’s not a story, it’s not real articles, it’s essentially a collection (compendium?) of The Onion headlines from their newspaper and website that covers the entire century. Hard to recommend for those on a budget, but if you can get it on sale and want something funny on your shelf grab this – however I would suggest The Onion’s Our Dumb World or perhaps the The...more
The bathroom on my desert island would have a ready supply of large, soft leaves and this book of genius.
This is my very favorite Onion book. I especially like the “news articles” supposedly from the 1960s and ‘70s.
Great stuff. Sometimes the satire is a bit tepid, but very often it is sharp and clever.
hysterical! I love black humor. Gave it as holiday presents the year it was published.
One of the best presents I ever got! I think it was from Sarah. :-D She has good taste.
Historically informed and hysterically funny. I've read it over many times.
One of the funniest things I've ever read. A must for any historian.
Perhaps the funniest work of satire I have ever read. Plus? Pictures!
It takes several re-browsings to get all the hilarity out.
Sometimes you need a little satirical humor in your life, yes?
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
WORLD'S LARGEST METAPHOR HITS ICEBERG.
I wonder if some of THE ONION's staff wound up wri...more
Oct 24, 2007 09:34pm