Our Dumb Century: The Onion Presents 100 Years of Headlines from America's Finest News Source
by The Onion, Scott Dikkers, Mike Loew
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(memo to myself) Ginnie, without Goodreads you might never have heard about this - and that's even with reading The Onion's newest headlines every morning on Slate.
Since I am convinced that sampling a book is often better than reading a review, I have chosen a typical piece.
THE ONION, Friday, November 22, 1963
KENNEDY SLAIN BY CIA, MAFIA, CASTRO, LBJ, TEAMSTERS, FREEMASONS
President Shot 129 Times from 43 Different Angles
DALLAS, TEX.-- President Kennedy wa...more
Since I am convinced that sampling a book is often better than reading a review, I have chosen a typical piece.
THE ONION, Friday, November 22, 1963
KENNEDY SLAIN BY CIA, MAFIA, CASTRO, LBJ, TEAMSTERS, FREEMASONS
President Shot 129 Times from 43 Different Angles
DALLAS, TEX.-- President Kennedy wa...more
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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 t...more
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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.
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This is a fun coffee table book provided your guests have a sense of humor. In classic Onion style, the creators of the satirical newspaper company have presented alternate (and wholly inaccurate and/or irreverent) takes on world events of the past 100 years. The humor is biting and dripping with sarcasm, but it is almost criminally funny and has quite a bit of wit to it.
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Read in January, 2006
recommends it for:
Adolescents and adults
I love the Onion - it's funny and thought-provoking and occasionally poignant (see its story about God's reaction to 9/11 - made me cry.) After a while most of the stories start to run together, so it's best in smaller doses, which is why I didn't give this five stars, but even so it's always good for a laugh and is fun to just open at random.
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recommends it for:
history nerds with a sense of levity
It's history, it's humor, and occasionally the two coalesce into something oddly frightening. There's an article written shortly after Bush's initial election in which he promises to undo all the good Clinton has done - in essence, destroy the economy, start another Gulf war, etc. It's pretty eerie.
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Laugh out loud. Read it again and again. My favorite headlines: "WA-: Germany invades [countries]"(headline continued on page 2), also "Holy ****! Man Walks on F****** Moon" and "Gigantic Metaphor Hits Iceberg, Sinks". Sometimes a bit too crass, but at least The Onion is an equal-opportunity offender.
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Read in December, 1999
recommends it for:
anyone who shares my sense of humor
My best friend gave me this book for Christmas years ago, and I cried I laughed so hard. A couple of my favorite headlines: "John Lennon: 'I'm higher than Jesus right now'," and "FDR's Fireside chat just a stream of cuss words." I can re-read this again and again, and it never gets old.
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Read in April, 2001
recommends it for:
people who like to laugh
The Onion is consistenly ridiculous and surprisingly clever. I have no idea how they keep coming up with such hilarious satire, but I'm so glad they do. This yearbook is a perfect introduction to The Onion for non-readers of the weekly issues, and a great coffee table book for fans.
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
People Who Have Perfect Taste in Comedy
I think this book is a masterpiece. I am biased of course, because I think The Onion is great and I work there, as you know, but still. This book in particular is The Onion's masterpiece. It is so comprehensively funny, so detailed in its observations, and so, so right on.
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This is one of the greatest bathroom books ever written. History mavens as well as casual readers of humor will find lots of sophistication as well as straight-up potty humor.
The Onion's Web site writing isn't always consistent, but when they bang out a book, it's good.
The Onion's Web site writing isn't always consistent, but when they bang out a book, it's good.
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in January, 2008
I've learned that I could take this book for free when no one's looking and so I did. My shameless promotion at work again. This is the best Onion publication at store for now, that is until the Onion Atlas comes out later this year.
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Has a copy to sell/swap
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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I got on a kick to read all the Onion collections there for a while to make sure I hadn't missed what they considered to be their best stuff, since a lot of it tends to be repetitive.
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Read in January, 2000
One of my favorite books ever. This book was my first introduction to the Onion, and I have been hooked ever since. It was consistently great from 1900-2000.
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If I were a history teacher, this would be part of my curriculum. Good satire always hews closely to the truth, and this is about as good as satire gets.
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recommends it for:
fans of history
Its actually pretty accurate if you understand the mood of the book. Landing on the moon was the best article but I can't really share it with anyone.
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Read in July, 2000
recommends it for:
funny people
I have never laughed harder over a longer period of time upon reading a single book. Still brilliant. I think I've re-read this thing a dozen times.
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Read in May, 1999
Some of the best writing is found in the fine print. Sure, the headlines are hilarious, but the articles have plenty of gems within.
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Absolutely brilliant. Every inch of every page is hilarious. The pieces from the turn of the century are particularly good.
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