I Hate This Place: The Pessimist's Guide to Life

by Jimmy Fallon, Gloria Fallon

From the Grammy-nominated star of "Saturday Night Live" and his equally talented sister comes a delightfully cynical look at life through a half-full glass. Line art throughout.

Genres: Humor, Nonfiction, Comedy

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

James Thomas Fallon, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, and musician known for his work on Saturday Night Live. He is also scheduled to become the host of Late Night in 2009.

Reviews

[Dylan Frank]

I was handed this book by my teacher. After seeing who the author was, Jimmy Fallon, I was hooked.
Even though this was a short book, I had no idea that Fallon wrote books. Having watched a few highlights from his show, I was ready to laugh.

I hate this place is generally about a pessimist's thoughts about life and thoughts about doing normal things throughout the day. To put it simply, this book is just an attempt to further relate with his fans. Jimmy Fallon must have a pretty nice life, and I doubt he ever complains in real life. But that's besides the point. This book did exactly what I wanted it to do for me. It made me laugh in a personal way, like "wow that is me" type laughs. He put a lot of time into thinking of the section of the book where he translates common greetings or sayings into what people are really thinking when they say it. Putting this book down made me anxious to read more! If you are looking for a convenient laugh, pick this book up!

[Holly]

I really enjoyed this book and found myself laughing out loud quite a bit. It's dripping with sarcasm, but that's part of what I loved so much. I am definitely an optimist, but these pessimistic lines sure were funny! :) Some favorite lines included:
"Seek and you shall be disappointed. Knock, and the door shall be slammed in your face."

"Every cloud has a silver lining, and in that lining is probably the rain."

"Don't put off til tomorrow what you can do today. And if you die in your sleep tonight, you wasted your last day on earth doing laundry."

"The early bird catches the worm. Exactly."

"Did you ever sit back and evaluate your life and think, "boy things are going just as I always wanted them to?" I didn't think so."

"People seem to enjoy saying, "is the glass half-full or half-empty?" They stop smiling when I say, "it'll be empty when I pour it over your head."

"Live each day as if it were you're last. So you want me to lie around in a hospital bed with an iv and an oxygen tank? My last day's going to be bad enough without rehashing it day after day!"

[Molly]

Very funny book. At the time my friend gave this book to me I disagreed I was a pessimist, HA!

[Vanessa Fox]

terrible. no one should spend money on this. i can't even bring myself to spend capital letters on it.

[Joseph F.]

Sometimes you just want to be whiny and complain a little. We all feel that way about life sometimes, and that’s what this book is about. It’s really not a bad book, it’s just that considering I read it in less than an hour, it just wasn’t worth the price.
Sure there are a few insightful and funny quips here and there, but not many. Most of the time I just barely cracked a smile, with just one side of my mouth.

[Kelly]

I have this book for apparently 27 years and finally spent less than a half hour reading since it is such a simple read. It did make me remember why I liked Jimmy Fallon when he first cam on SNL. I also saw his stand up routine at Syracuse University probably around the same time this book came out. It annoys me how he is now the late night king of phony optimism. As an older sister I am going to bet Gloria Fallon is responsible for the funnier bits of this book.

[C]

I figured this wouldn't be THAT funny. Jimmy Fallon is funny... but I don't really see him as a pessimist! I'm definitely a pessimist sometimes... so this stuff is in my head all the time. I also think this book was too short. It didn't really warant a full page to have one little line of wording.

[Kendra]

Expected more

A pessimistic book by Jimmy Fallon? Yes please.... until I read it. I was so disappointed. It was just not funny.

[Christopher Wolbert]

Just a bunch of one liners, jokes, quips, etc. Just one on each page. Was hoping for something bigger. Aw well still digging Fallon... plutonically.

[Deyth Banger]

"May 21, 2019 –
100.0% "This book is definetly fun read!"
May 21, 2019 – Shelved
May 21, 2019 – Started Reading"

P.S.: I definetly hate christian places!

[Jen]

If you’re sarcastic af and slightly pessimistic, read this. Super short but made me laugh.

[Charles Collyer]

Apparently it was fun to write, but it's not very funny to read.

[Patty]

Pretty funny! Very quick read.

[Rebecca]

Some days you can't find your misplaced Kindle, so you go on the library Overdrive system and see what you can see. You happen across a book that sounds humorous by Jimmy Fallon. Jimmy Fallon? I love him! It's available right now, let's give it a shot!

No. Don't give it a shot. Even though it's a short bit of your time, it's still not worth it. I'm giving it 2 stars instead of 1 only because you may get a couple chuckles IF you truly know a pessimist who may say (or at least think) things like this. But only a couple of these are even worth a Grumpy Cat meme.

[Wirotomo Nofamilyname]

I don't like this book. Jimmy Fallon try to be funny with this sarcastic talk, but I don't see the humor of it.
Maybe he should stick to SNL and not try the new career as writer.
Of course there's some moderately funny talk but that's not enough for me to cover the-not-funny-ones.

[Caroline Broderick]

According to Amazon this book is over 100 pages long and is very highly rated. The "book" is about 20 pages long and all the reviews are by the authors mates so I'm incredibly disappointed that I wasted £2 on this... It seemed recycled and old, not what I was expecting at all.

[Marisa]

Jimmy is a genius and this book is fucking halarious. Buy it for your boyfriends and husbands and put it near the toilet... it's a perfect "on the can" read!

Loved it!

mt

[Patrick]

For some reason, I liked Jimmy Fallon on SNL, but I don't remember this book at all.

[Jared]

Very short fast read. I could not top laughing out loud and people looked at me funny.

[Misha Fitt]

Meh

[Nicholle]

Some more than others, this pessimist liked the snarky tone and subtle humor of these one-liners.

[mairywo]

I liked it, but let's just say I expected more. I ordered it online and was surprised to get such a tiny, thin book.

[Schnaucl]

It was okay. I found the little drawings at least as amusing as the words. No real laugh out loud moments though.

[Matt]

Quick read filled with small pessimistic thoughts on life, humorous of course. In the same vain as Fallon's Thank You Notes sketch on Late Night.

[Kelley Tackett]

save your money.

[Marie-France Leclerc]

It follows Jimmy's sense of humor which I appreciate.. I do wish it was a bigger book...

[Liz Cee]

Ugh! I love Jimmy Fallon, but I hate this book. Can't even talk about it. Ugh!

[Melissa]

meh

[Beth]

short and sweet. old school jimmy stuff

[Beth Gordon]

Funny read, but way too short. I read it in 15 minutes!