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Look Evelyn Duck Dynasty Wiper Blades. We Should Get Them
A hilarious collection of new essays by the the New York Times bestselling author of 27bslash6.com, The Internet is a Playground, and I'll Go Home Then; It's Warm and Has Chairs.
228 pages, Paperback
First published September 24, 2014
129 people are currently reading
580 people want to read
About the author
David Thorne
53 books457 followersDavid Thorne is an Australian humourist, satirist, Internet personality and New York Times best-selling author. His work has been featured on the BBC, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Thorne gained public recognition in late 2008 for an email exchange in which he attempts to pay an overdue bill with a drawing of a seven-legged spider. The exchange spread virally via email and social networking sites, leading to a surge of visitors to his website 27b/6 (27bslash6). 27b/6 features a collection of humorous emails and articles from Thorne's life. These and additional essays appear in Thorne's book, The Internet is a Playground. Published by Penguin Group and released on 28 April 2011, the book debuted at number four on The New York Times Best Seller list.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
January 28, 2018
I can always count on Mr. Thorne for a few good belly-laughs. If he sometimes shares something a bit more somber, it is with such nonchalance that while the reader may be affected, the writer will not be pitied.
May 22, 2022
Crude
Review of Kindle edition
Publication date: December 3, 2014
Publisher: 27bslash6
Language: English
ASIN: B00PO0JF8E
As a group, modern humorists and the audience for same seem to believe that humor requires the use of crude, vulgar, profane and, often, obscene language. Mr. Thorne is not an exception to this belief. Great humorists and comedians don't require the shock value of crude language in order to entertain an audience. Forget this and read some vintage Dave Barry, Mark Twain, Dorothy Parker, Art Buchwald, Mike Royko, Florence King - there are lists to be found on the internet.
This book is available through Kindle Unlimited. If you can download it for free and don't object to the language, you may find it mildly entertaining.
Review of Kindle edition
Publication date: December 3, 2014
Publisher: 27bslash6
Language: English
ASIN: B00PO0JF8E
As a group, modern humorists and the audience for same seem to believe that humor requires the use of crude, vulgar, profane and, often, obscene language. Mr. Thorne is not an exception to this belief. Great humorists and comedians don't require the shock value of crude language in order to entertain an audience. Forget this and read some vintage Dave Barry, Mark Twain, Dorothy Parker, Art Buchwald, Mike Royko, Florence King - there are lists to be found on the internet.
This book is available through Kindle Unlimited. If you can download it for free and don't object to the language, you may find it mildly entertaining.
July 22, 2015
A little different from the first two books by David Thorne in several ways. First, it's largely autobiographical. Second, very little of it is from the web site. Although there are a couple familiar email exchanges in it. The autobiographical bits seem to jump back and forth in time and sort of go off on tangents or meander a bit. This is forgivable as there are no dull anecdotes in this book. It does, however, make it difficult to get an idea of the timeline of the author's life. Not that that matters though as the book seems written as though the author just writes what he thinks would be entertaining at the moment. Several of the anecdotes are rather alarming and make me wonder how David Thorne is still alive and not crippled or maimed in any way.
January 14, 2015
If only for the title........
Here's yet another example of why I could never write a memoir. The hysterical Jenny Lawson was raised in a shack with an amateur(?) taxidermist as a dad. Kelly Oxford traveled anywhere at the drop of a hat and was perfectly willing to live like a gypsy. David Thorne goes to Tasmania because he can afford the ferry. I blame my lack of memoir-worthy experiences on my parents, who had the gall to raise me in a perfectly nice home in a small town in Virginia where nothing ever happened.
A quick test as to whether you will enjoy this book. I first came across David Thorne when someone posted http://www.27bslash6.com/missy.html maybe on Facebook. Go read it, then come back. I'll wait.
There were tears in my eyes when I read "Missy". I then spent some enjoyable hours on his website and had no idea he had published any sort of book until I was browsing the (generally useless) Kindle Free Lending Library (clearly I was bored...there is very seldom anything of interest there unless you are looking for about 400 variations on the theme of never loving a cowboy or forbidden Amish/English love. I haven't read any of them but I'm guessing there are broken hearts and horses involved. I wonder if there is a mash-up of the genre? If you ever fall in insta-love with an AMISH cowboy, run. He's going to catch you, though. Because, the horse.).
Obviously the title above caught my attention, and then I realized it was THAT David Thorne, of the cat poster. So I borrowed it for free, and I'm glad I did, even though this is not Thorne's funniest material. I will say, though that Thorne is one of the few humorists who I enjoy reading versus listening to a audiobook. I think Wanda Sykes is one of the funniest people on the planet, but reading her book wasn't the same as having her say the same words out loud. Thorne is just the opposite - probably funniest when read. There's some good stuff here. And free, on Kindle.
Here's yet another example of why I could never write a memoir. The hysterical Jenny Lawson was raised in a shack with an amateur(?) taxidermist as a dad. Kelly Oxford traveled anywhere at the drop of a hat and was perfectly willing to live like a gypsy. David Thorne goes to Tasmania because he can afford the ferry. I blame my lack of memoir-worthy experiences on my parents, who had the gall to raise me in a perfectly nice home in a small town in Virginia where nothing ever happened.
A quick test as to whether you will enjoy this book. I first came across David Thorne when someone posted http://www.27bslash6.com/missy.html maybe on Facebook. Go read it, then come back. I'll wait.
There were tears in my eyes when I read "Missy". I then spent some enjoyable hours on his website and had no idea he had published any sort of book until I was browsing the (generally useless) Kindle Free Lending Library (clearly I was bored...there is very seldom anything of interest there unless you are looking for about 400 variations on the theme of never loving a cowboy or forbidden Amish/English love. I haven't read any of them but I'm guessing there are broken hearts and horses involved. I wonder if there is a mash-up of the genre? If you ever fall in insta-love with an AMISH cowboy, run. He's going to catch you, though. Because, the horse.).
Obviously the title above caught my attention, and then I realized it was THAT David Thorne, of the cat poster. So I borrowed it for free, and I'm glad I did, even though this is not Thorne's funniest material. I will say, though that Thorne is one of the few humorists who I enjoy reading versus listening to a audiobook. I think Wanda Sykes is one of the funniest people on the planet, but reading her book wasn't the same as having her say the same words out loud. Thorne is just the opposite - probably funniest when read. There's some good stuff here. And free, on Kindle.
April 27, 2015
I received this book on Mother's day from my son. It wasn't his usual type of present, but I am so glad he departed from the norm. During a sunny couple of days in the garden I read it, laughing out loud several times. Really chuckled, with watering eyes because parts of the book were so funny. I am not going to give examples, because that would spoil the book for people who haven't read it. However, I consider this book to be David Thorne's best one yet and I am already looking forward to the next one.
Read
November 26, 2015A moderately funny set of embellished autobiographical sketches full of death by a man who appears to have a fixation on how much women weigh.
January 17, 2020
David Thorne has a way with words when he lets himself get into a flow but he also hates fat people and I'm sick of it. No more.
August 25, 2020
I've been enjoying David Thorne's sense of humour and reading his books for years now. See my reviews of his previous books below:
- The Internet is a Playground - 5 stars
- I'll Go Home Then, It's Warm and Has Chairs. The Unpublished Emails. - 5 stars
- Wrap It In A Bit Of Cheese Like You're Tricking The Dog - 3 stars
And I have two more on my shelves waiting to be read:
- That's Not How You Wash a Squirrel
- Walk It Off, Princess
I love his quirky sense of humour, his office antics and run-ins with family members, neighbours and anyone else unlucky enough to come across his path.
Look Evelyn, Duck Dynasty Wiper Blades. We Should Get Them is another collection of stories and anecdotes, many of which relate to his childhood. It was published back in 2014 (I know, I'm a little behind, but they're expensive to purchase from the USA so I save them for birthdays and Xmas) and GoodReads has plenty of existing reviews from readers shocked at how dramatic Thorne's childhood upbringing was.
Now, I don't for a minute believe any of his stories are actually true. I think he's like most comedians, comedy is his job and these email chains, graphic design stories and office antics have been created for the reader's - and presumably the author's - enjoyment.
However, what I didn't appreciate was the sheer number of references to overweight women in this collection. After finishing this book, I went back to check I wasn't over-reacting and made the following notations:
Fat, page 17
Normal weight, page 20
Heifer, page 26
Heifer and reference to Weight Watchers, page 37
An entire story around a large girl and her weight, fat references pages 48-50
Large woman, page 76
Chubby girl, page 101
Huge heifer, page 104
Chubby girl, page 118 and 119
Large woman, page 136
Fat wives, page 165
Fat multiple times, page 174
Fat wife, page 179
Without the ability to ask the author, I'm not sure if Thorne is using creative licence in an attempt to further his unlikable persona in the pursuit of entertaining the reader. If so, then it falls flat. If not, then it's just irritating and bordering on offensive.
With Thorne's humorous and clever story-telling abilities, I assumed he was above petty fat shaming like this and it just didn't sit well with me. Some of the content was very funny and quite enjoyable but these reappearing references dampened my enjoyment.
This was a disappointing read and I hope his next collection is a return to his earlier form.
- The Internet is a Playground - 5 stars
- I'll Go Home Then, It's Warm and Has Chairs. The Unpublished Emails. - 5 stars
- Wrap It In A Bit Of Cheese Like You're Tricking The Dog - 3 stars
And I have two more on my shelves waiting to be read:
- That's Not How You Wash a Squirrel
- Walk It Off, Princess
I love his quirky sense of humour, his office antics and run-ins with family members, neighbours and anyone else unlucky enough to come across his path.
Look Evelyn, Duck Dynasty Wiper Blades. We Should Get Them is another collection of stories and anecdotes, many of which relate to his childhood. It was published back in 2014 (I know, I'm a little behind, but they're expensive to purchase from the USA so I save them for birthdays and Xmas) and GoodReads has plenty of existing reviews from readers shocked at how dramatic Thorne's childhood upbringing was.
Now, I don't for a minute believe any of his stories are actually true. I think he's like most comedians, comedy is his job and these email chains, graphic design stories and office antics have been created for the reader's - and presumably the author's - enjoyment.
However, what I didn't appreciate was the sheer number of references to overweight women in this collection. After finishing this book, I went back to check I wasn't over-reacting and made the following notations:
Fat, page 17
Normal weight, page 20
Heifer, page 26
Heifer and reference to Weight Watchers, page 37
An entire story around a large girl and her weight, fat references pages 48-50
Large woman, page 76
Chubby girl, page 101
Huge heifer, page 104
Chubby girl, page 118 and 119
Large woman, page 136
Fat wives, page 165
Fat multiple times, page 174
Fat wife, page 179
Without the ability to ask the author, I'm not sure if Thorne is using creative licence in an attempt to further his unlikable persona in the pursuit of entertaining the reader. If so, then it falls flat. If not, then it's just irritating and bordering on offensive.
With Thorne's humorous and clever story-telling abilities, I assumed he was above petty fat shaming like this and it just didn't sit well with me. Some of the content was very funny and quite enjoyable but these reappearing references dampened my enjoyment.
This was a disappointing read and I hope his next collection is a return to his earlier form.
March 14, 2022
Some parts of the book are funny. The author seems to think body shaming is ok. His humor is similar to that of Louis C.Ks. Otherwise, the book is mildly entertaining and I had a good laugh while reading some essays.
November 19, 2018
a little dull comparing to his previous books but still good.
3.5
3.5
March 13, 2016
Read Harder Challenge 2016:
3. Read a collection of essays.
What intrigued me: Ed thought I would find this book hilarious. He's mostly right!
What I liked: I loved the meandering digressions in the longer essays.
What I didn't like: There were a couple of parts where Thorne jokingly admitted to making something up, and that makes me wonder if some of the more elaborate tales we're also made up. It's still good even if the were!
Favorite quote:
Bonus Material: 27b/6
3. Read a collection of essays.
What intrigued me: Ed thought I would find this book hilarious. He's mostly right!
What I liked: I loved the meandering digressions in the longer essays.
What I didn't like: There were a couple of parts where Thorne jokingly admitted to making something up, and that makes me wonder if some of the more elaborate tales we're also made up. It's still good even if the were!
Favorite quote:
Bonus Material: 27b/6
October 2, 2015
I'm a huge fan of David Thorne since I picked up The Internet Is a Playground on a lark at my local bookstore. I was literally lol-ing almost the entire time, which was pretty much par for the course with this book, too. I even ended up reading aloud most of it for my SO because it was easier than explaining why exactly I was laughing so hard. If you are sensitive to dark humor (and even a little meanness), I would stay away. Otherwise, it's a funny, fast read that I'll return to whenever I need some levity.
September 28, 2015
One of the few authors that literally make me "laugh out loud." The saga of poor doomed Bob the cat still makes me smile. I overdosed on David this past week with both this collection and his second book (I've been shoving his first book onto folks for years) and that's not good ... he's a very bad influence and I fear I'll be carrying some of his wit into the classroom when I return to teaching tomorrow. Teenagers, attend me at your very peril!
July 5, 2015
Very different from his previous books. It's more like a blend of essays and an autobiography. It doesn't always try to be funny, often goes quite dark. It's tough not to try to separate what is true and what isn't in Thorne's stories (if it's all true then horror mysteriously follows him at every corner), but it's an entertaining read that shows some amount of literary talent.
October 21, 2016
It had me laughing out loud - at least twice But it also contained some quite painful stories, to be honest.
I wanted to laugh, to be entertained, but there were some brutal stories about his childhood and youth that left me wondering.
If it was honest and a true account of his life, then it is quite sad.
If not, it is in really bad taste.
A strange mixtures to be sure.
I wanted to laugh, to be entertained, but there were some brutal stories about his childhood and youth that left me wondering.
If it was honest and a true account of his life, then it is quite sad.
If not, it is in really bad taste.
A strange mixtures to be sure.
June 16, 2021
Some repeat stories, but very funny overall.
April 30, 2015
One of the funniest books I've read, and better than the last two (which I also enjoyed and would recommend). It's marketed as a collection of essays, but if that puts you off, don't worry about it, I think they just said that because there's not a clear narrative to it. It meanders and jumps back and forth and goes off on tangents, but it's more like a novel than a collection of essays. Somewhat reminiscent of something by Mil Millington, except ostensibly true (although probably a lot of it is made up or at least embellished). It gets quite dark in places, but at other times I had to put the book down because I was laughing too hard to be able to keep reading.
If you're not familiar with Thorne and you're wondering if you'll like this, read Missing Missy. If you like that I think you'll like this book.
If you're not familiar with Thorne and you're wondering if you'll like this, read Missing Missy. If you like that I think you'll like this book.
April 18, 2016
Fewer work related essays and almost no drawings, this collection of David Thorne's essays seem a little more personal and tell of his childhood, his house and neighbors. There is also the revealing story of helping Simon (his work place Dwight) cope with a cheating girlfriend. Does David Thorne have a soft spot in his heart for Simon after all?
In one of the essays set at work, David and co-worker Kevin are tasked with first interviews for a new designer. The questions they come up with are fabulous and, of course, entirely inappropriate. A must read of hiring managers.
In one of the essays set at work, David and co-worker Kevin are tasked with first interviews for a new designer. The questions they come up with are fabulous and, of course, entirely inappropriate. A must read of hiring managers.
June 18, 2015
The way David Thorne goes from one topic to the other can leave you a little rattled but you will also be laughing your socks off, and maybe peeing a little. I am not entirely sure that everything in this book is true and at the end of the day, I don't think I care. There is one part in the book that I can't even relate the awesomeness for because it's just a huge spoiler. David Thorne. Making me pee on planes and curse in front of children since 2015.
September 26, 2025
It was very cool to get some new material (almost nothing from the website) from David Thorne. Most of it was pretty funny, but there were a few stories that were absolutely hilarious. Loved it.
Update : I kept looking for a funny story where David drinks a mushroom infusion with his mom and her friends and hallucinates. Note to self : It's in this book! It's called Tudor.
Update : I kept looking for a funny story where David drinks a mushroom infusion with his mom and her friends and hallucinates. Note to self : It's in this book! It's called Tudor.
August 28, 2016
Incredible the ratings for this book. I've read his previous books and they were kinda funny. This one sucks big time. Some parts made me laugh but the rest of the jokes are previsible and not so funny. I guess he should stick with e-mail trolling and not trolling the readers with random stories that don't make sense.
January 17, 2015
Was not too impressed with Thorne's attempt to apply his style of humor to the essay form. There were good parts, but a lot of recycled 'bits'. The parts with dialogue and interaction with others showcase his skill at trolling and making us laugh, but I'd rather see it sustained as in 'The Internet is a Playground".
October 24, 2015
Being familiar with the author's previous books, I was looking forward to this and wasn't disappointed. I rarely laugh out loud when reading, however I did several.times while reading this memoir.
This book is composed of autobiographical stories, mainly about the author's past in Australia. David Thorne's writing style is light and breezy, and quite frankly hilarious. A must read for everyone.
This book is composed of autobiographical stories, mainly about the author's past in Australia. David Thorne's writing style is light and breezy, and quite frankly hilarious. A must read for everyone.
December 7, 2014
Very funny
I really enjoyed both of David Thorne's other books and this was no disappointment. It was a really quick read but had me rolling on the floor. 100% recommend this book. Really entertaining read.
I really enjoyed both of David Thorne's other books and this was no disappointment. It was a really quick read but had me rolling on the floor. 100% recommend this book. Really entertaining read.
January 15, 2015
This book wasn't as laugh-out-loud as I hoped it would be, but Thorne continues to show us his clever sense of humor. If you're an aspiring cynical, sarcastic type, then let Mr. Thorne show you the way. God is he clever!
June 3, 2015
The book started off great and I had a good laugh. But the first chapter really is the best. The stories start to get less and less funny and in the end I started to get frustrated and angry with the characters because they act way too silly. I put the book away after about 100p.
May 23, 2015
It was good and entertaining. At some points it got very dark. The story David told about his life growing up was very interesting. At times it even got a bit dark, like his near death experience that he had. It was not quite as funny as I hoped it would be though.
July 3, 2015
It must be your feet then
Truly inspiring and life changing. I now have a joke to tell at next year's office holiday party. Read this on a plane and you'll look like a madman laughing out loud.
Truly inspiring and life changing. I now have a joke to tell at next year's office holiday party. Read this on a plane and you'll look like a madman laughing out loud.
July 12, 2015
This is not the constant laugh riot of his other work, as seen here: http://www.27bslash6.com/
It is very entertaining though and in its own way, insightful. This is what I imagine a Richard Linklater movie would be like if they were actually good.
It is very entertaining though and in its own way, insightful. This is what I imagine a Richard Linklater movie would be like if they were actually good.
October 25, 2015
I just couldn't finish this one. Not sure if I've changed or if this book is that different from everything he's written before, but I just didn't enjoy it. Normally his writing has me in tears from laughing so hard, so I was very disappointed.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews