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Race Me in a Lobster Suit: Absurd Internet Ads and the Real Conversations that Followed
by
Knit me into a cocoon...help me eat a burrito...pretend to be a chair at my dinner party...wrestle a komodo dragon...race me in a lobster suit. Author Kelly Mahon posts absurd gig ads online, and shares the conversations she had with the brave souls who wanted the job.
We're living in a gig economy. But would you respond to an online ad seeking someone to search for escaped ...more
We're living in a gig economy. But would you respond to an online ad seeking someone to search for escaped ...more
Paperback, 208 pages
Expected publication:
March 26th 2019
by Quirk Books
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Community Reviews
Showing 1-30
Many years ago in Greece, there was a superbly hilarious TV show, a political and social satire. One of my favourite sections in each episode was dedicated to real advertisements found in newspapers and magazine. There was no Twitter or Facebook back then. Those adverts were so illogical, so utterly out of hand that it was difficult to believe they were genuine. And yet, they were. This book by Kelly Mahon brought these memories back to mind. Our current times are even more delirious and out of
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In theory, this sounded like it was going to be hilarious. An author who got bored enough to start posting ridiculously absurd "help wanted" ads on the internet and publishing the email conversations that ensued? It reminded me of a nonfic/humor collection I've loved before, so I honestly thought this was going to be a big hit—and it is! At first.
It starts off pretty funny, if a bit tedious—I definitely found myself skimming some of the stories because I was just getting bored of the constant r ...more
It starts off pretty funny, if a bit tedious—I definitely found myself skimming some of the stories because I was just getting bored of the constant r ...more
Jan 11, 2019
Sarah Ames-Foley
marked it as nah
Destiny's review fully explains why I have no interest in reading this book.
Everything that is wrong with society and the internet today is contained in this book. Smart arse trolls mocking the innocent and gullible. This is like laughing at the vulnerable people who fall for get rich schemes from Nigerian princes - not everyone is as savvy as the more technologically literate amongst us. In a lot of cases, people's desperate need for money provides a springboard for their responses and some people clearly will take risks to try and make ends meet - they'll agree to do
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Funny, but tiresome to read prank after prank. Probably better consumed once a day instead of one after another.
One day, feeling bored, Kelley posted an ad looking for someone to dress up as a lobster and race around her living room. It pretty much snowballed from there... This book is a collection of the ads placed online and the real replies and email exchanges. Amusing, but often quite ridiculous. It's amazing what people will actually believe!
So glad I received this book for free. I usually love books from Quirk Publishing but this was a huge disappointment. I just found it stupid. Not silly or funny. Couldn't even finish it. Rather spend my time reading worthwhile books.
This is a cross between the Henry Root letters (crotchety old English guy writes to famous people and winds them up without their knowing it) and his more modern offspring, of the Danny Wallace, Dave Gorman, Tony Hawks kind of lark. So we get our author trying to arrange for a bloke to dress as a lobster and chase her around her carefully decorated apartment; another to fetch a pipe organ from a church to annoy the neighbours below; yet another to install a swimming pool because the rented flat
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*Disclaimer: I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
My favourite comedian is Joe Lycett, a man famous for absurd email exchanges and playing with spam mailers, so going into this I thought I would love it. At first I was enjoying it but as the 'stories' went on, I felt more and more uncomfortable. Each section starts with the absurd internet advert that Kelly Mahon posted and then follows with an exchange with the prospective employee. Some of the posts were amusin ...more
My favourite comedian is Joe Lycett, a man famous for absurd email exchanges and playing with spam mailers, so going into this I thought I would love it. At first I was enjoying it but as the 'stories' went on, I felt more and more uncomfortable. Each section starts with the absurd internet advert that Kelly Mahon posted and then follows with an exchange with the prospective employee. Some of the posts were amusin ...more
Thanks to Quirk Books for the ARC!
Okay, so how can I start this review?
People are crazy. Very kind and sweet, but so crazy. That's all.
Kelly Mahon had the wonderful idea of publishing fake ads, hiring people to do weird things for her. What kinds of things? Well...
She needs someone who'll tickle her until she laughs; someone to boost her confidence before meetings; volunteers allowing her to tattoo “Sal & Sons Auto Body Shop, Making Cars Fly" on them (btw, she had no experience at all, so ...more
Okay, so how can I start this review?
People are crazy. Very kind and sweet, but so crazy. That's all.
Kelly Mahon had the wonderful idea of publishing fake ads, hiring people to do weird things for her. What kinds of things? Well...
She needs someone who'll tickle her until she laughs; someone to boost her confidence before meetings; volunteers allowing her to tattoo “Sal & Sons Auto Body Shop, Making Cars Fly" on them (btw, she had no experience at all, so ...more
Kelly Mahon obviously has a high tolerance for awkward interactions. In her new book, Race Me in a Lobster Suit, she collects emails from her unique project that exposes how far people will go to make some quick money. Mahon put up classified ads with outrageous requests for paid services and some of the responses she received led to longer conversations and intense negotiations. The acts that are agreed upon are at times simultaneously hilarious and depressing. Some examples of requests include
...more
This entertained me. I didn’t know if I was going to like it since I don’t usually go for prank type shows but the situations were so ridiculous and the author had such a good sense of humor. I think I liked this better than prank shows because it is all just emails so no one is actually being made to DO anything hat makes a fool of them, and also as her responses get zanier the people on the other end start to realize it must be either a joke or that this person is nuts. If someone was embarras
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I received an ARC of this book.
If you read the concept of the book, an author posts wacky online ads and gets into hilarious conversations, and think this book is for you: it is.
There are many laugh out loud moments, my favorite was the author trying to trade Beanie Babies with someone who really isn't into it. At just around 200 pages it is a quick read and I do wish there was some follow-up to when the author let's people in on the joke. Definantly worth picking up and passing along to frien ...more
If you read the concept of the book, an author posts wacky online ads and gets into hilarious conversations, and think this book is for you: it is.
There are many laugh out loud moments, my favorite was the author trying to trade Beanie Babies with someone who really isn't into it. At just around 200 pages it is a quick read and I do wish there was some follow-up to when the author let's people in on the joke. Definantly worth picking up and passing along to frien ...more
This unique book is comprised of email conversations the author instigated with total strangers about bizarre situations. Mahon used Craigslist to request help with eating burritos while in a full body cast, posing nude with Komodo Dragons for an art group, putting ants back in an ant farm, posing as her fiance at a company party, and much more. Not only did people answer her ads, they threw themselves into the possibilities. Reading this book was simultaneously amusing and horrifying. Just how
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These ads are pretty crazy and I can't believe that people would respond! The back and forth are funny and unbelievable. This was a quick read that will have you shaking your head, while chuckling at what some people would be willing to do for money.
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.
This was just way weird, way hilarious, and I really enjoyed it. Definitely recommended! Review to come in February/March.
This was just way weird, way hilarious, and I really enjoyed it. Definitely recommended! Review to come in February/March.
The author posts online asking for help with various things that are ridiculous and real peripheral respond. Though I applaud the author’s creativity in coming up with these and keeping the conversation going by creatively maneuvering and directing the conversation, I always felt like I was laughing at the expense of others, who is not the type of humor I like. At the end of the day people wasted their time being by the scam/scheme.
I had this book on my Amazon wish list and was lucky to receive a copy to review from NetGalley. It was so funny (which I expected) but it also had elements to it that I didn't expect at all. I was so surprised at how many people actually were willing to do things for a complete stranger that were dangerous/weird. I laughed so hard at some of the scenarios and the enthusiasm that people showed.
Kelly Mahon is that friend that tells the best stories, she has a very easy way of bringing you into h ...more
Kelly Mahon is that friend that tells the best stories, she has a very easy way of bringing you into h ...more
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