It's funny how books influence you. One minute I'm hyper attentive to everything I'm eating for health's sake. The next moment (after finishing Dad isIt's funny how books influence you. One minute I'm hyper attentive to everything I'm eating for health's sake. The next moment (after finishing Dad is Fat) I'm hyper attentive to everything I'm eating because I LOVE FOOD.
And I'm okay with that.
Jim Gaffigan is the guy who rocketed to fame on the strength of his "Hot Pockets" routine. I doubt he expected it to be so popular, or to have total strangers singing renditions of the jingle to him in random places. But he owns it, he's grateful for it, and with Dad is Fat, he expands on it, as well as a lot of other favorite (and not so favorite) foods. We listened to an audio version of Gaffigan reading his book to us on a family road trip to the northwest and back, and all I wanted to do is pull over and find a good steak. Or a bagel. Or fries. Or cake. Or...well, or whatever he was lavishly describing at the moment.
Did I say lavishly? I mean hilariously, because the book is a hoot and a holler. Gaffigan knows how to make me laugh and I will gladly listen to or read anything he writes (though I'd rather listen, because it's far funnier to hear it in his own voice).
Yes, Dad Is Fat by Jim Gaffigan gets five stars. Because when you laugh from start to finish, you feel happy, and feeling happy is worth five stars.
ItYes, Dad Is Fat by Jim Gaffigan gets five stars. Because when you laugh from start to finish, you feel happy, and feeling happy is worth five stars.
It's a little unnerving how much Jim Gaffigan seems to get the dad part of me.
It's been a few weeks (okay, a few months. I finished in May) since I read this (okay, I "listened" to it because Jim reads it, and that's a no brainer. It's like listening to his stand-up, but less live...), but with Jim's new show on TV Land, I thought I'd throw up my two-bits about the book.
For a guy who lives in urban New York, Jim's experience is surprisingly not unlike mine in suburban Utah, from how it is to play second fiddle parent to a stellar mom (what dad doesn't know how that feels?) to how different the world becomes the moment kids become a part of it. Being a dad is a sometimes strangely fun, but difficult experience, and Jim both honors and makes fun of it, in almost the same breath. He loves his kids, as do I, and yet he acknowledges that being a parent is no piece of cake.
It's a fun read/listen, and Jim Gaffigan is full of fun stories, lines, and perspective. Go check it out, buy a copy, and put some money in Jim's jar. After all, he's got five kids (six?) and a wife all living in an apartment on the fifth (sixth?) floor of a New York apartment building, sans elevator. The laughs are worth it.
PS: NO, your dog does not equal a child. Stop responding to people talking about their kids by mentioning your dog....more
Read this book. Soon. If you don't laugh your way through it, you might need to get your head checked.
Don Tillman is a professor of genetics at a univRead this book. Soon. If you don't laugh your way through it, you might need to get your head checked.
Don Tillman is a professor of genetics at a university somewhere in Australia, short on charm and high on organization. His life is well organized and efficiently measured rhythm, and he works hard to avoid the unpleasant distractions that complicate his life. His organization and planning extends to every aspect of his life, even to finding love, or at least a suitable marriage partner. There's nothing romantic about his methodology, and nothing is left to chance. Unsurprisingly, the appearance of Rosie, an offbeat and unconventional woman, throws Don's life into a series of strange and comedic events that will require Don to reconsider, recalibrate, and redo every bit of his plan.
High jinks ensue.
This is not the kind of book that I would typically pick out for myself. It's a romantic comedy with all that comes with it, and I'd rather enjoy a good space opera or epic fantasy. And yet, I can't help but put this near the top of my list for the year. I watched my better half walk around the house listening to it an audio version on her mobile device, laughing at random moments, then pausing to tell me why (and no, most of the funny stuff made no sense when she was telling the story), and with a flight across the country decided to listen to it myself. It was well worth it.
My best regards to Graeme Simsion, who managed to take a person that we might all find a little uncomfortable to be around in real life and transform him into a sympathetic character in whose head we might all see a little of in ourselves. ...more
Darth Vader and Son is a delightful and clever children’s comic book that is well conceived and worthwhile entertainment for children and adults alikeDarth Vader and Son is a delightful and clever children’s comic book that is well conceived and worthwhile entertainment for children and adults alike.
Set up as a series of illustrated tableaus from the life of a Darth Vader who, instead of learning only mid-way through Empire Strikes Back that Luke Skywalker is his son, is the single father of a four-year old Luke (featuring a cameo from the other Skywalker twin, Leia–oops! Spoiler alert! Luke and Leia are siblings!), the book opens with a title page that spoofs the flowing titles and prologue that we’ve come to know as the standard opening of George Lucas’ blockbuster Star Wars films.
Each page is a colorfully drawn picture, scenes that every Star Wars fan will recognize. Brown’s art is simple, focusing on depicting the setting with only minor changes from the original. Rather, his wry drawings are just enough to both satirize and shed a humorous light on otherwise serious and pivotal scenes. The conversation between Darth Vader and the Emperor by holographic transmission is interrupted by a nattering Luke. In another, Luke trick or treats in the costume of a Storm Trooper while Mon Mothma asks “Aren’t you a little short for a storm trooper?”
The Prequel Trilogy doesn’t escape Brown’s jabs either, especially Jar Jar Binks. “That’s not the toy you’re looking for,” says a hand waving Vader. “Yes, it is,” replies young Luke, proving he is not among the weak-minded. It’s a sly commentary on the generational split in opinions about the first and second Star Wars trilogies.
While each scene pokes fun at Star Wars, it is without malice or mockery. Rather, it is tongue-in-cheek and by the hand of someone who clearly loves Star Wars. Brown knows that Han shot first, that children keep adults grounded and from taking ourselves too seriously, and recognizes that all the things we older Star Wars fans hate are the same things that kids love, from Ewoks to JarJar Binks.
As I flipped the pages, I chuckled, smiled, and laughed. Then my five-year old saw the book sitting on my bed stand, and she laughed, too. She wouldn’t put the book down after I finished it, and it isn’t for lack of other books to read. After she fell asleep, I found the book under her arm, and this afternoon she informed me that it would be accompanying her to school for ‘show and tell’ tomorrow.
If it can make my daughter laugh as much as it does me, it will be a great addition to our shelves.
Article first published as Graphic Novel Review: ‘Darth Vader and Son’ by Jeffrey Brown on Blogcritics.org....more
Schlock Mercenary: Under New Management, and its author Howard Tayler, is unlike anything I've ever read before.
Wait--hold that thought. It's not compSchlock Mercenary: Under New Management, and its author Howard Tayler, is unlike anything I've ever read before.
Wait--hold that thought. It's not completely true. Yes, it's unique, a veritable cornucopia of creative energy and humor, entertaining and--dare I say?--educational at the same time.
But it is also reminiscent, in so many happy ways, of the late Douglas Adams and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The setting is space, the humor is satirical, and the plot twists are absurd and unexpected. And yet, like Adams, Tayler makes ample use of big numbers and real science to make his comic more than fluff.
Indeed, if Adams were alive, I think he'd have little problem plugging Arthur Dent into one of Tayler's panels, alongside Ford, Zaphod, Trillian, and all the others...
But enough about Adams and the Hitchhiker's Guide. This is about Schlock Mercenary.
Schlock Mercenary: Under New Management is the first print collection of Tayler's webcomic Schlock Mercenary. The story of a semi-disciplined band of mercenaries but ostensibly about Sergeant Schlock, who really just wants to "hurt people and break things" and will warm up his plasma cannon at any excuses, this installment includes extensive annotations (which left me wondering if Tayler was tricking me into learning something about science, space, physics...yeah, seriously. I was laughing and learning about science at the same time) and an origin story about Schlock (and don't ask me exactly what Schlock is. Apparently, he's all but indestructible, not to mention as malleable as Gumby).
I've long listened to Tayler on the Writing Excuses podcast ("It's all about eyebrows," says Tayler) that he does with Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, and Mary Robinette Kowal (and for which they won a Hugo this year...a Hugo!), and I felt lucky when was able to track him down at the Salt Lake Comic Con. He's about as cool as anyone I met there and was glad to pose (and I do mean pose--the guy just doesn't take himself serious, which is refreshing) for a photo.
I'm not much of a comics guy, but I'll keep reading Schlock Mercenary. The story telling is solid, the jokes are clean and clever, and the creativity is refreshing. It's enough to make a fan out of me....more
Loading...
