‘Radio Free Vermont’ Showcases the Political Power of Ordinary People
Bill McKibben's novel asks readers to value resistance movements that embrace humor, creativity, and civility while inspiring activism as part of our everyday lives.
humor
‘Eastman Was Here’ Is Curious, Assured and Compelling
There's a ghostly suggestion of Philip Roth's writing voice in Portnoy's Complaint in this novel; a relatively calm voice, this time in the third person, documenting the madness.
John Hodgman’s ‘Vacationland’ Is Comfortably Fearless
With Vacationland John Hodgman moves away from comedy and tries a new approach: humble reality.
The Good, the Positive and the Funny in Scott C.’s Art
No matter his subject matter, Scott C.'s confident cheerfulness is obvious and infectious.
Mustaches Run Amok Throughout Mickey Spillane’s ‘The New Mike Hammer: The Series’
WARNING: This review may disturb, nay, trigger recollections for Gen X'ers that grew up watching TV with adults in the '80s.
Shelter from the Norm: Umbrellas Aren’t Always What They Seem in ‘Brolliology’
Mary Poppins, Mrs. Gamp, Egyptian deities, a Japanese umbrella spirit, and a supporting cast of hundreds of brollies fill Marion Rankine's lively history.
John Hodgman’s ‘Vacationland’ Is Worth the Trip
Hodgman makes no secret that the relatively inconsequential, real-life stories of an artistically and financially successful white middle-aged man are hardly what the world needs right now. But his humor sure helps in these times.
‘The Deep Whatsis ‘ Offers a Scathing Yet Funny Critique of Corporate Culture
Peter Mattei's 2013 novel echoes Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club, AMC's Mad Men, Ayn Rand's characters, and Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho, albeit without the violence.
On the Cathartic POW!er of Appropriating Trumpisms
R. Sikoryak's The Unquotable Trump is devious, dark, disturbing, brilliant delight that will prove the standard bearer for texts from the resistance.
‘Thanks, Obama’: The Upside/Downside of Life as Non-Essential White House Personnel
Applying for a public service job? Put "sense of humor" at the top of your resume.
Inane Political Discourse, or, Alan Partridge’s Parody Politics
That the political class now finds itself relegated to accidental Alan Partridge territory along the with rest of the twits and twats that comprise English popular culture is meaningful, to say the least.
‘Seinfeld, the Show About Nothing, Might Have Been, Like ‘The Da Vinci Code’, About the Everlasting
Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code feels like a Johnny-the-Baptist-come-lately of preexisting Seinfeld scripture.
