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Lamentations of the Father: Essays
by
Ian Frazier
Ian Frazier is unquestionably one of America's greatest living humorists, a writer with a distinct, generous sensibility and a thousand different voices. His work is hilarious, elegant, and piercing, drawing on high and low cultureto exposethewarped line of thought running beneath our public selves. When The Atlantic Monthly published four humorists among the best writing...more
Paperback, 208 pages
Published
May 26th 2009
by Picador
(first published April 29th 2008)
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this book is far more even in its well-spun humor than coyote v. acme so i can recommend this book for a light-hearted yet jaundiced-eyed look at modern life. "laws concerning food and drink; household principles; lamentations of the father" is close to perfect and can be appreciated by mothers and fathers. "th-th-that's not all, folks" is a spoof on biography writing by way of cartoon characters and is an excellent send-up of biography writers as in herod's question "what is truth?" "kidproof"...more
Frazier, Ian. LAMENTATIONS OF THE FATHER. (2008). *****. This collection of essays by Frazier previously appeared in a variety of magazines – principally The Atlantic Monthly and The New Yorker. They are not all five-star essays, but the several six-star essays easily balance out the four-star ones. Frazier has a sense of humor that you can’t resist. There are a couple of classics in here: the title essay, “Lamentations of the Father,” and “The Cursing Mommy Cookbook” – both of which will leave...more
Book of mostly-satirical essays, some of which are laugh-out-loud funny and some of which miss me. My favorite is the title essay, "Laws Concerning Food and Drink; Household Principles; Lamentations of the Father," which had us weeping with laughter. The Cursing Mommy chapters are pretty funny, too. "The New Poetry" does an English major's heart good, finishing old classics with lyrics from modern songs ("At once a voice arose among / The bleak twigs overhead...Hunh! Hotpants!"). I could also id...more
I will admit I checked this out thinking it would be children's book with one short story and was surprised it was filled with many essays. Not all of them as entertaining as the one I checked it out for which was the title. I'd heard Isiah Sheffer read it on Selected Shorts on NPR and just about died laughing and had to read it to my kids and reading groups. It is most definitely worth getting just for that one story. Or if you wanted I'm sure you could find a recording of Isiah reading it if y...more
I look at Ian Frazier's Coyote Vs. Acme as one of my all time favorites. It's hilarious, unpredictable, fresh, original and sharp. I was hoping for more of the same from "Lamentations of the Father," but instead got what felt like retreads and attempts to recapture what made the older writing great.
As writers get older, sometimes their writing gets older too. Their focus in life goes to kids, middle age issues, maturity, and their writing reflects that as well. Here, Frazier mentions his kids fr...more
As writers get older, sometimes their writing gets older too. Their focus in life goes to kids, middle age issues, maturity, and their writing reflects that as well. Here, Frazier mentions his kids fr...more
Having read On the Rez a few years ago, I was excited to read Ian Frazier's newest book of essays. I was underwhelmed. Mr. Frazier used, and reused, the conceit of mock articles, news reports, and the like. Done well, this is Monty Python's Flying Circus or The Onion. In these essays, it was overused, which caused the later essays to be less entertaining than the earlier ones through boredom. It was overall uneven and not clever enough for its intent.
That said, there were some very funny bits. F...more
That said, there were some very funny bits. F...more
Update: I ended up returning this book to the library unfinished. The book just didn't seem to hold up to its promise, and I found myself going, this isn't that funny and doesn't make sense, not as relatable as I thought it'd be. And I had some better options come in on hold at the library, so I abandoned it for now. I'm still curious as to whether it could have had some more funny parts, but at the time, it wasn't worth it to find out.
Original: I'm reading this book after seeing a video readin...more
Original: I'm reading this book after seeing a video readin...more
I picked this one up simply for the title story. It's cute. It's one you get jealous thinking, "I wish I came up with that idea." He's a good writer so I kind of get annoyed with the fake newsy kind of stories and wish he'd stick with a more traditional format. I guess I ought to stick with his books rather than get annoyed at the gimmicks. Who knows? You might prefer gimmicks. Good writing with gimmicks isn't a bad thing, just not what I like at this time in my life.
The title piece, Lamentations of the Father, is one of my all time favorite pieces of humor writing that I love to share with people - especially if they have kids...
This book was popcorn—a volume of five-page humor pieces collected over fourteen years of Frazier's career. A few were mediocre, but most were quite witty and some had me in tears of laughter. Especially the title piece, which you can read here.
With the exception of the title essay, these essays were silly and not funny at all. I was very disappointed.
So-so, although there were a few essays that were funny, such as the one on using the shower curtain in the bathroom.
Uneven. The title essay is laugh out loud tears rolling down the cheek funny, and some others are quite good. I'd say at least half left me cold, though. In fairness, maybe they'd be better one at a time in their original magazine format, rather than being read one after another.
Jun 29, 2009
Sarah
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
readers of humor
Shelves:
fun_literary
Very fun! The titular essay is by far the most laugh-out-loud-inducing. But many throughout the collection had me in a perpetual smile and almost-riotous laughter all the way through. The essays are short and so this is an easy book to have at your bedside to pick up in between books.
I loved the title essay, and Cursing Mommy is always a hoot. Several of the other essays were worth a read; I particularly enjoyed "Caught," a parody/homage to Catcher in the Rye, as well as "Downpaging," a series of mock quotes by Americans about how they've saved money by not buying books, inspired by a piece from the Daily News titled, "Ten Sure Ways to Trim Your Budget." Many of the essays are now dated, which took away some of their zing. I got a taste of his style, and for that I'm glad I...more
Frazier is a sophisticated wit; some of the points he was making in his essays went over my head. Others were hilarious.
Some were great, some were...eh. So three stars.
I heard an interview with the author regarding this book and was very excited to read it. The first chapter (article) was wonderful. He writes to his children using Old Testament language regarding eating in the living room and finishing their food so they can have dessert. Very funny. However, the rest of the book contains different articles written using various writing styles. Some are crude and offensive. I hoped for more like chapter 1.
. . . abandoned.
. . . abandoned.
Ian Frazier wrote one of my favorite nonfiction New Yorker pieces ever, about the nonsense of plastic bags, so I looked forward to reading this book. But once I started thumbing through, I discovered it's less 15 pages about trains and more "Shouts & Murmurs," which are funny and witty but always just a hair above my comprehension. So I probably won't relish it. Bummer.
Witty and intellectual. Sometimes I did not understand the political references well enough to fully appreciate the humor. But if I understood the context, the essays were hilarious and thought-provoking. And his Lamentations, biblical instructions to toddlers on the rules of the house regarding food and drink, had me sobbing with laughter.
There were some very funny chapters in this short book of essays. I really liked the title essay and also the swearing mommy chapters, especially the swearing mommy putting up the Christmas tree. The half I liked made it worth it to read the whole thing. There were a few that I just didn't quite get but that's OK.
The title essay, "Lamentations of the Father," of course, is 5 stars. It is best to hear him read it. Hilarious for all parents.
One of my high school English teachers gave my class an essay of Ian Frazier's to read, and I don't think I've read any of his work since. Recognized the name when I saw this, though, and enjoyed most of the essays. He comes at subjects from an angle that you just don't quite expect...
I scanned through quite a few of these essays looking for those that did not bore me, so it was a quick read. The title essay is cute and may be appreciated by stay-at-home dads everywhere, but that's the best I can say for this one.
If you've taken care of children, you will enjoy these essays. Not all involve kids, but for me the best ones did. My favorite: "The Cursing Mommy Cookbook".
Like others, I was underwhelmed...loved Frazier's other books (On the Rez, Family), but this one left me wondering if he was just "filling a contract."
Jul 02, 2008
Vanessa
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Humor lovers.
Recommended to Vanessa by:
Entertainment Weekly review
The second essay (title essay) is the funniest thing I have ever read in my life. The rest was dry and forgettable.
Another dissapontment. The title story is great but the rest a bit too self -referentional.
Mar 08, 2010
kathryn
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
shortstories,
didn-t-finish
Collections of pieces from various places. I picked it bc I've enjoyed his bits in the New Yorker.
Mar 22, 2009
Emily
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
women who have "things" for family men; men with whom such women will one day fall in love
Shelves:
didnt-finish
The title essay is great. The rest is, lamentably, skippable.
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Ian Frazier (b.1951) is an American writer and humorist. He is the author of Travels in Siberia, Great Plains, On the Rez, Lamentations of the Father and Coyote V. Acme, among other works, all published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. He graduated from Harvard University. A frequent contributor to The New Yorker, he lives in Montclair, New Jersey.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/ianfra...
More about Ian Frazier...
http://us.macmillan.com/author/ianfra...
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Jun 16, 2008 08:23am