WAKING UP SCREAMING FROM THE AMERICAN DREAM: NPR's Roving Correspondent Reports from the Bumpy Road to Success

by Bob Garfield, Brooke Zimmer (Designed by)

A collection of humorous American oddities, including the Accountant Hall of Fame, earthworm farmers, and the town that added an exclamation point to its name to perk up its economy

Genres: Nonfiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published June 6, 1997

Reviews

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the pieces in the book have dated references to cultural events of the '80s or '90s, which even I, who was an adult then, had to look up. Still, the writing is taut and funny, by turns clever and broadly hilarious. Garfield got fired from New York Public Radio for bullying behavior recently, but his older material here is wonderful.

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

The characters (it was non-fiction, but the subjects read like characters) were generally very interesting, but I found that I had to read this book in small bits because otherwise it was too much of a downer--lots of people whose high hopes were obviously going to be crushed before the end of the story, which was most often told in the NPR "more brilliant and worldly than thou" tone (and I say that being a loyal NPR listener).

Fortunately, it's a collection of short stories, so it can easily be done in small doses. And in small doses, the stories are quite good--most are entertaining, some are funny, and a select few are even a little inspiring.

[Rafael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked up on a whim for 2 bucks. Fluffy, NPR-styled humor, a relaxing read after tackling Beloved. Not much to it.