I found this book while trying to reorganize the humour section in my bookstore and I admit that I read this book for two very shallow and lazy reasons: 1) funny title; 2) pretty cover.
Not my finest hour in book-choosing but it didn't turn out too badly. Created in Darkness by Troubled Americans is an anthology of some of the best (as decided by editors Dave Eggers et al) in the humour category of the ever-accumulating McSweeney's collection.
For me, it was mixed. I definitely had some good laughs, especially over Chris Bachelder's "My Beard, Reviewed" which had me crying. But some of it was just too clever and sophisticated to be funny. Ah well. You can't win them all.
Actually, Chris Bachelder could probably win them all. Representing reviews of his beard like movie write-ups is one of the most amusing things I've ever read. E.g.,:
*****AMAZING!!!
Reviewer: JD Vulture from Greenville, NC, USA
Oh my God this is an incredible beard!!! I saw a small part of Chris Bachelder's beard on the Internet and I just had to go see the whole thing. I was blown away. It's a hilarious beard, but it's also sad and touching. This girl beside me was crying because the beard was so emotional. I can't do it justice. Just do yourself a favor and see this beard. It's an instant classic, and I know you'll love it as much as I did. (p.124)
The beard was so emotional. Oh dear, I'm having another giggle-fest just typing that in. Yay.
2 comments:
I just read the McSweeney's Joke Book of Book Jokes, and same thing. The funny ones were ALLCAPSFUNNY, but some of them were either totally over my head, or just whopping duds.
Raych! *You're* ALLCAPSFUNNY, McSweeney's isn't :)
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