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Humor / Pop Culture
This is Oh, the Places You'll Never Go--the ultimate hilarious, cynical, but absolutely realistic view of a college graduate's future. And what he or she can or can't do about it. This commencement address will never be given, because graduation speakers are supposed to offer encouragement and inspiration. That's not what you need. You need a warning.
So begins Carl Hiaasen's attempt to prepare young men and women for their future. And who better to warn them about their precarious paths forward than Carl Hiaasen? The answer, after reading Assume the Worst, is: Nobody.
And who better to illustrate--and with those illustrations, expand upon and cement Hiaasen's cynical point of view--than Roz Chast, best-selling author/illustrator and National Book Award winner? The answer again is easy: Nobody.
Following the format of Anna Quindlen's commencement address (Being Perfect) and George Saunders's commencement address (Congratulations, by the way), the collaboration of Hiaasen and Chast might look typical from the outside, but inside it is anything but.
This book is bound to be a classic, sold year after year come graduation time. Although it's also a good gift for anyone starting a job, getting married, or recently released from prison. Because it is not just funny. It is, in its own Hiaasen way, extremely wise and even hopeful. Well, it might not be full of hope, but there are certainly enough slivers of the stuff in there to more than keep us all going.
So begins Carl Hiaasen's attempt to prepare young men and women for their future. And who better to warn them about their precarious paths forward than Carl Hiaasen? The answer, after reading Assume the Worst, is: Nobody.
And who better to illustrate--and with those illustrations, expand upon and cement Hiaasen's cynical point of view--than Roz Chast, best-selling author/illustrator and National Book Award winner? The answer again is easy: Nobody.
Following the format of Anna Quindlen's commencement address (Being Perfect) and George Saunders's commencement address (Congratulations, by the way), the collaboration of Hiaasen and Chast might look typical from the outside, but inside it is anything but.
This book is bound to be a classic, sold year after year come graduation time. Although it's also a good gift for anyone starting a job, getting married, or recently released from prison. Because it is not just funny. It is, in its own Hiaasen way, extremely wise and even hopeful. Well, it might not be full of hope, but there are certainly enough slivers of the stuff in there to more than keep us all going.
After nearly a lifetime spent in the Industry, author and fashion insider Simon Doonan is ready to let you in on a little secret: his peers in this multibillion-dollar industry are just as nutty as the denizens of your local loony bin. In The Asylum, an unabashedly hilarious collection of autobiographical essays, Doonan, the creative ambassador for Barneys New York, tells the real-life stories of glamorous madness and stylish insanity.
Doonan has witnessed models unable to work for fear of ghosts, gone deep-sea fishing with a couturier pal and his jailbird companion, and watched Anna Wintour remain perfectly calm while the ceiling fell literally in the middle of Fashion Week. Once you start looking, he says, you ll notice telltale signs of lunacy everywhere. Style insiders see patterns and trends in everything; they suffer from outsize personality disorders and delusions of grandeur; and of course, they have a predilection for theatrical makeup and artfully destroyed clothing. No one is more suited to the asylum than the truly die-hard fashionista after all, eccentricity and extremism are the foundations of great style.
With his gimlet eye for the absurd and a love for eccentricity, Doonan s personal and professional stories never fail to entertain. The David Sedaris of the style universe (The Boston Globe) gives us the scoop on the kooky, cutthroat but always fabulous fashion world, and proves himself one of the sharpest humorists writing today."
Doonan has witnessed models unable to work for fear of ghosts, gone deep-sea fishing with a couturier pal and his jailbird companion, and watched Anna Wintour remain perfectly calm while the ceiling fell literally in the middle of Fashion Week. Once you start looking, he says, you ll notice telltale signs of lunacy everywhere. Style insiders see patterns and trends in everything; they suffer from outsize personality disorders and delusions of grandeur; and of course, they have a predilection for theatrical makeup and artfully destroyed clothing. No one is more suited to the asylum than the truly die-hard fashionista after all, eccentricity and extremism are the foundations of great style.
With his gimlet eye for the absurd and a love for eccentricity, Doonan s personal and professional stories never fail to entertain. The David Sedaris of the style universe (The Boston Globe) gives us the scoop on the kooky, cutthroat but always fabulous fashion world, and proves himself one of the sharpest humorists writing today."
We all dream about it, but Wade Rouse actually did it. Discover his journey to live the simple life in this hilarious memoir. Finally fed up with the frenzy of city life and a job he hates, Wade Rouse decided to make either the bravest decision of his life or the worst mistake since his botched Ogilvie home perm: to uproot his life and try, as Thoreau did some 160 years earlier, to live a plain, simple life in radically reduced conditions. In this rollicking and hilarious memoir, Wade and his partner, Gary, leave culture, cable, and consumerism behind and strike out for rural Michigan--a place with fewer people than in their former spinning class. There, Wade discovers the simple life isn't so simple. Battling blizzards, bloodthirsty critters, and nosy neighbors equipped with night-vision goggles, Wade and his spirit, sanity, relationship, and Kenneth Cole pointy-toed boots are sorely tested with humorous and humiliating frequency. And though he never does learn where his well water actually comes from or how to survive without Kashi cereal, he does discover some things in the woods outside his knotty-pine cottage in Saugatuck, Michigan, that he always dreamed of but never imagined he'd find-happiness and a home. At Least in the City Someone Would Hear Me Scream is a sidesplitting and heartwarming look at taking a risk, fulfilling a dream, and finding a home-with very thick and very dark curtains.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER Marc Maron is "a master of spinning humor out of anguish" (Bookforum), even when that anguish is pretty clearly self-inflicted. In Attempting Normal, he threads together twenty-five stories from his life and near-death, from his first comedy road trips (with a fugitive junkie comic with a missing tooth) to his love affair with feral animals (his cat rescues are bloody epics) to his surprisingly moving tales of lust, heartbreak, and hope. The stories are united by Maron's thrilling storytelling style--intensely smart, disarmingly honest, and explosively funny. Together, they add up to a hilarious and moving tale of failing, flailing, and finding a way. Praise for Attempting Normal
"I laughed so hard reading this book."--David Sedaris "Funny . . . surprisingly deep . . . laced with revelatory insights."--Los Angeles Times "Superb . . . A reason that [it] is a superior example of an overcrowded genre--the comedian memoir--is Mr. Maron's hardheaded approach to his history, the wisdom of experience."--The New York Times "Marc Maron is a legend because he is both a great comic and a brilliant mind. Attempting Normal is a deep, hilarious megashot of feeling and truth as only this man can administer."--Sam Lipsyte Praise for Marc Maron and WTF
"The stuff of comedy legend."--Rolling Stone "Marc Maron is a startlingly honest, compelling, and hilarious comedian-poet. Truly one of the greatest of all time."--Louis C.K. "I've known Marc for years and I can tell you first hand that he's passionate, fearless, honest, self-absorbed, neurotic, and screamingly funny."--David Cross "Revered among his peers . . . raw and unflinchingly honest."--Entertainment Weekly "Devastatingly funny."--Los Angeles Times
"For a comedy nerd, this show is nirvana."--Judd Apatow
"I laughed so hard reading this book."--David Sedaris "Funny . . . surprisingly deep . . . laced with revelatory insights."--Los Angeles Times "Superb . . . A reason that [it] is a superior example of an overcrowded genre--the comedian memoir--is Mr. Maron's hardheaded approach to his history, the wisdom of experience."--The New York Times "Marc Maron is a legend because he is both a great comic and a brilliant mind. Attempting Normal is a deep, hilarious megashot of feeling and truth as only this man can administer."--Sam Lipsyte Praise for Marc Maron and WTF
"The stuff of comedy legend."--Rolling Stone "Marc Maron is a startlingly honest, compelling, and hilarious comedian-poet. Truly one of the greatest of all time."--Louis C.K. "I've known Marc for years and I can tell you first hand that he's passionate, fearless, honest, self-absorbed, neurotic, and screamingly funny."--David Cross "Revered among his peers . . . raw and unflinchingly honest."--Entertainment Weekly "Devastatingly funny."--Los Angeles Times
"For a comedy nerd, this show is nirvana."--Judd Apatow
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
"People make a mess."
Marc Maron was a parent-scarred, angst-filled, drug-dabbling, love-starved comedian who dreamed of a simple life: a wife, a home, a sitcom to call his own. But instead he woke up one day to find himself fired from his radio job, surrounded by feral cats, and emotionally and financially annihilated by a divorce from a woman he thought he loved. He tried to heal his broken heart through whatever means he could find--minor-league hoarding, Viagra addiction, accidental racial profiling, cat fancying, flying airplanes with his mind--but nothing seemed to work. It was only when he was stripped down to nothing that he found his way back.
"Attempting Normal" is Marc Maron's journey through the wilderness of his own mind, a collection of explosively, painfully, addictively funny stories that add up to a moving tale of hope and hopelessness, of failing, flailing, and finding a way. From standup to television to his outrageously popular podcast, "WTF with Marc Maron, " Marc has always been a genuine original, a disarmingly honest, intensely smart, brutally open comic who finds wisdom in the strangest places. This is his story of the winding, potholed road from madness and obsession and failure to something like normal, the thrillingly comic journey of a sympathetic f***up who's trying really hard to do better without making a bigger mess. Most of us will relate.
Praise for "Attempting Normal"
" "
"I laughed so hard reading this book."--David Sedaris
"Funny . . . surprisingly deep . . . laced with revelatory insights.""--Los Angeles Times"
"Superb . . . A reason that [it] is a superior example of an overcrowded genre--the comedian memoir--is Mr. Maron's hardheaded approach to his history, the wisdom of experience."--"The New York Times"
"Marc Maron is a legend because he is both a great comic and a brilliant mind. "Attempting Normal" is a deep, hilarious megashot of feeling and truth as only this man can administer."--Sam Lipsyte
Praise for Marc Maron and "WTF"
"The stuff of comedy legend."--"Rolling Stone "
"Marc Maron is a startlingly honest, compelling, and hilarious comedian-poet. Truly one of the greatest of all time."--Louis C.K.
"I've known Marc for years and I can tell you first hand that he's passionate, fearless, honest, self-absorbed, neurotic, and screamingly funny."--David Cross
"Revered among his peers . . . raw and unflinchingly honest."--"Entertainment Weekly"
"Devastatingly funny."--"Los Angeles Times"
" "
"For a comedy nerd, this show is nirvana."--Judd Apatow
"People make a mess."
Marc Maron was a parent-scarred, angst-filled, drug-dabbling, love-starved comedian who dreamed of a simple life: a wife, a home, a sitcom to call his own. But instead he woke up one day to find himself fired from his radio job, surrounded by feral cats, and emotionally and financially annihilated by a divorce from a woman he thought he loved. He tried to heal his broken heart through whatever means he could find--minor-league hoarding, Viagra addiction, accidental racial profiling, cat fancying, flying airplanes with his mind--but nothing seemed to work. It was only when he was stripped down to nothing that he found his way back.
"Attempting Normal" is Marc Maron's journey through the wilderness of his own mind, a collection of explosively, painfully, addictively funny stories that add up to a moving tale of hope and hopelessness, of failing, flailing, and finding a way. From standup to television to his outrageously popular podcast, "WTF with Marc Maron, " Marc has always been a genuine original, a disarmingly honest, intensely smart, brutally open comic who finds wisdom in the strangest places. This is his story of the winding, potholed road from madness and obsession and failure to something like normal, the thrillingly comic journey of a sympathetic f***up who's trying really hard to do better without making a bigger mess. Most of us will relate.
Praise for "Attempting Normal"
" "
"I laughed so hard reading this book."--David Sedaris
"Funny . . . surprisingly deep . . . laced with revelatory insights.""--Los Angeles Times"
"Superb . . . A reason that [it] is a superior example of an overcrowded genre--the comedian memoir--is Mr. Maron's hardheaded approach to his history, the wisdom of experience."--"The New York Times"
"Marc Maron is a legend because he is both a great comic and a brilliant mind. "Attempting Normal" is a deep, hilarious megashot of feeling and truth as only this man can administer."--Sam Lipsyte
Praise for Marc Maron and "WTF"
"The stuff of comedy legend."--"Rolling Stone "
"Marc Maron is a startlingly honest, compelling, and hilarious comedian-poet. Truly one of the greatest of all time."--Louis C.K.
"I've known Marc for years and I can tell you first hand that he's passionate, fearless, honest, self-absorbed, neurotic, and screamingly funny."--David Cross
"Revered among his peers . . . raw and unflinchingly honest."--"Entertainment Weekly"
"Devastatingly funny."--"Los Angeles Times"
" "
"For a comedy nerd, this show is nirvana."--Judd Apatow
From "the most entertaining chronicler of nice guy romance since Nick Hornby" (A.J. Jacobs), a memoir about an unexpected break-up, one self-imposed year of being single, and how a "nice guy" survived dating in the twenty-first century. Matteson Perry is a Nice Guy. He remembers birthdays, politely averts his eyes on the subway, and enjoys backgammon. A serial monogamist, he's never asked a stranger out. But when the girl he thought might be The One dumps him, he decides to turn his life around. He comes up with The Plan: 1. Be single for a year. 2. Date a lot of women. 3. Hurt no one's feelings. He's not out to get revenge, or to become a pickup artist; he just wants to disrupt his pattern, have some fun, and discover who he is. A quick-witted Everyman, Perry throws himself into the modern world of courtship and digital dating, only to discover that even the best-laid plans won't necessarily get you laid. Over the course of a year he dated almost thirty different women, including a Swedish tourist, a former high school crush, a born-again virgin, a groupie, an actress, a lesbian, and a biter. In Available, award-winning storyteller Matteson Perry "illuminates dating" (Bustle) bringing us into the inner sanctum of failed pick-up lines, uncomfortable courtships, awkward texts, and self-discovery, charting the highs and lows of single life and the lessons he learned along the way. A charming and personal story about a guy and a girl--and twenty-nine other girls--Available is the ultimate real-life rom-com "a thoughtful, interesting, and most of all, funny memoir about relationships, filled with universal feelings but unique stories" (Justin Halpern, Sh*t My Dad Says).
"Shelby and her art are extremely my shit. You need this book." --Samantha Irby, New York Times bestselling author of We Are Never Meeting in Real Life "The rare Instagram-turned-book that actually works." --Jezebel A wickedly funny illustrated look at living and dating in a patriarchal culture that celebrates men for displaying the bare minimum of human decency Surely you're familiar with good boys. They're the ones who put "feminist" in their Tinder bio but talk over you the entire date. They ghost you, but they feel momentarily guilty. They once read a book by a woman author. (It was required, but they thought it was "okay.") And of course, they bravely condemn sexual harassment (except when the perpetrator is their buddy Chad). This book explores why so-called and self-proclaimed good boys are actually not so great, breaking down our obsession with celebrating male mediocrity and rewarding those who clear the very low bar of not being outwardly awful. Through clever illustrations and written vignettes, Awards for Good Boys makes literal the tendency to applaud men for doing the absolute least and offers hilarious and cathartic cultural commentary through which we may begin to unravel our own assumptions about gender roles and how we treat each other, both on and offline.
[Away with Words] is low wit in its highest form. . . Mr. Berkowitz is sensitive throughout to the evanescence and contingency of punning and to the fleeting chemistry of a live pun-on-pun matchup crackling with energy. -Wall Street Journal
Fast Company reporter Joe Berkowitz investigates the bizarre and hilarious world of pun competitions from the Punderdome 3000 in Brooklyn to the World competition in Austin.
When Joe Berkowitz witnessed his first Punderdome competition, it felt wrong in the best way. Something impossible seemed to be happening. The kinds of jokes we learn to repress through social conditioning were not only being aired out in public--they were being applauded. As it turned out, this monthly show was part of a subculture that's been around in one form or another since at least the late '70s. Its pinnacle is the O. Henry Pun Off World Championship, an annual tournament in Austin, Texas. As someone who is terminally self-conscious, Joe was both awed and jealous of these people who confidently killed with the most maligned form of humor.
In this immersive ride into the subversive world of pun competitions, we meet punsters weird and wonderful and Berkowitz is our tour guide. Puns may show up in life in subtle ways sometimes, but once you start thinking in puns you discover they're everywhere. Berkowitz's search to discover who makes them the most, and why, leads him to the professional comedian competitors on @Midnight, a TV show with a pun competition built into it, the writing staff of Bob's Burgers, the punniest show on TV, and even a humor research conference. With his new unlikely band of punster brothers, he finally heads to Austin to compete in the World Championship. Of course, in befriending these comic misfits he also ended up learning that when you embrace puns you become a more authentic version of yourself.
"He spills out a pile of pennies all over the table, telling me he fished through the couch for change to pay for his big night out." From the guy who chews on rocks to the one who has his mom tag along, Awful First Dates is filled with hilarious, cringe-worthy, holy-crap-did-that-really-happen?! stories from celebrities like Lauren Conrad and Michael Kors, you'll laugh, you'll cringe-and most importantly-you'll feel better about some of the date's you've been on! -He ate an entire bowl of dip with his fingers. -He said, "I think we should hang out in the woods and just groove on each other." -About thirty minutes in, he paused, took a sip of win, and then said, "So, can we go have sex now?" Sarah Z. Wexler, a freelance writer, lives and goes on first dates in New York City.
Ariel Schrag captures the American high school experience in all its awkward, questioning glory in Awkward and Definition, the first of three amazingly honest autobiographical graphic novels about her teenage years. During the summer following each year at Berkeley High School in California, Ariel wrote a comic book about her experiences, which she would then photocopy and sell around school. Some friends thrilled to see themselves in the comic, others not so much, but everyone was interested. Awkward chronicles Ariel's freshman year, and Definition, her sophomore year. With anxiety in excess and frustration to the fullest, Ariel dives in -- meeting new people, going to concerts, crushing out, loving chemistry, drawing comics, and obsessing over everything from glitter-laden girls to ionic charges and the constant pursuit of the number-one score. Totally true and achingly honest, with every cringe-inducing encounter and exhilarating first moment documented -- Awkward and Definition is an unflinching look at what it's like being a teenage girl in America.
From the authors of the New York Times bestsellers Awkward Family Photos and Awkward Family Pet Photos comes a celebration of those special times throughout the year when our families embarrass us the most . . . the holidays. Holidays. They're those momentous occasions when we gather with family to eat, drink, celebrate, and, of course, pose for photographs. From Mom's homemade Halloween costumes to re-creating a Nativity scene for the Christmas card to that overly patriotic uncle who literally wears the flag on the Fourth, holidays make for humiliating memories that we carry in our hearts for years to come. Whether your family loves Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, July Fourth, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Hanukkah, this book pays homage to all of the holidays' most uncomfortable moments.
The authors of the New York Times bestseller Awkward Family Photos are back with a hilarious tribute to the unbreakable and sometimes uncomfortable bond between people and their pets.
There are few things more rewarding than having a pet. They love us unconditionally, shower us with attention, and because of them, we actually live longer. So, what can possibly be awkward about our animal BFFs? Well . . . nothing. In fact, we're the awkward ones. We adore our pets, but let's face it--sometimes L-O-V-E makes us go a little overboard. Like giving them middle names, throwing them elaborate birthday parties, and making them a Christmas sweater to match with the rest of the family. Truth is, what they cherish most is our companionship. And maybe that's the reason we care about them so much--because for such simple pleasures, they allow us to be as awkward as we want.
Based on the hit website, AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com ("painful, regrettable, horrifyingly awesome snaps of family bonding, you will laugh so hard that people in adjoining offices will ask what's wrong with you"--Esquire), this full color book features never-before-seen photos and hilarious personal stories covering everything from uncomfortable moments with relatives, teen angst, sibling rivalry, and family vacations from hell. Cringe at the forced poses, bad hair, and matching outfits--all prompting us to look at our own families and celebrate the fact that we're not alone. Nothing says awkward better than an uncomfortable family photograph!
With 35 of the most hilariously embarrassing and relatable moments from the Awkward Family Photo series, this compact postcard book offers yet another way to share the most cringe-worthy family moments captured on film.
A memoir and manifesto from the comedian, hit podcast host, and star of United Shades of America You may know W. Kamau Bell from his critically acclaimed hit show on CNN United Shades of America. Or maybe you've read about him in the New York Times, which called him the most promising new talent in political comedy in many years. Or maybe in the New Yorker, fawning over his brand of humor, writing, Bell's gimmick is intersectional progressivism: he treats racial, gay, and women's issues as inseparable. The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell is a humorous, well-informed take on the world today, tackling a wide range of current and evergreen issues such as the 2016 election, race relations, fatherhood, the state of law enforcement today, comedians and superheroes, right-wing politics, failure, his interracial marriage, his upbringing by divorced and very strong-willed, race-conscious parents, his early days struggling to find his comedic voice, why he never felt at home in Black comedy circles, what it means to be a Black nerd, the balance between racism and feminism, and much, much more.
You may know W. Kamau Bell from his new, Emmy-nominated hit show on CNN, United Shades of America. Or maybe you've read about him in the New York Times, which called him "the most promising new talent in political comedy in many years." Or maybe from The New Yorker, fawning over his brand of humor writing: "Bell's gimmick is intersectional progressivism: he treats racial, gay, and women's issues as inseparable." After all this love and praise, it's time for the next step: a book. The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell is a humorous, well-informed take on the world today, tackling a wide range of issues, such as race relations; fatherhood; the state of law enforcement today; comedians and superheroes; right-wing politics; left-wing politics; failure; his interracial marriage; white men; his up-bringing by very strong-willed, race-conscious, yet ideologically opposite parents; his early days struggling to find his comedic voice, then his later days struggling to find his comedic voice; why he never seemed to fit in with the Black comedy scene . . . or the white comedy scene; how he was a Black nerd way before that became a thing; how it took his wife and an East Bay lesbian to teach him that racism and sexism often walk hand in hand; and much, much more.
In this book Richard Ayoade -- actor, writer, director, and amateur dentist -- reflects on his cinematic legacy as only he can: in conversation with himself. Over ten brilliantly insightful and often erotic interviews, Ayoade examines Ayoade fully and without mercy, leading a breathless investigation into this once-in-a-generation visionary. They have called their book Ayoade on Ayoade: A Cinematic Odyssey. Take the journey, and your life will never be the same again. Only Ayoade can appreciate Ayoade's unique methodology. Only Ayoade can recognize Ayoade's talent. Only Ayoade can withstand Ayoade's peculiar scent. Only Ayoade can truly get inside Ayoade. Ayoade on Ayoade captures the director in his own words: pompous, vain, angry, and very, very funny.
A Children's Book About Beer?
Yes, believe it or not--but B Is for Beer is also a book for adults, and bear in mind that it's the work of maverick bestselling novelist Tom Robbins, inter-nationally known for his ability to both seriously illuminate and comically entertain.
nce upon a time (right about now) there was a planet (how about this one?) whose inhabitants consumed thirty-six billion gallons of beer each year (it's a fact, you can Google it). Among those affected, each in his or her own way, by all the bubbles, burps, and foam, was a smart, wide-eyed, adventurous kindergartner named Gracie; her distracted mommy; her insensitive dad; her non-conformist uncle; and a magical, butt-kicking intruder from a world within our world.
Populated by the aforementioned characters--and as charming as it may be subversive--B Is for Beer involves readers, young and old, in a surprising, far-reaching investigation into the limits of reality, the transformative powers of children, and, of course, the ultimate meaning of a tall, cold brewski.