By Patton Oswalt
Stand-up comedian and actor Patton Oswalt is now a first time author. In Zombie Spaceship Wasteland, Oswalt puts a strange twist on an autobiography, incorporating song lyrics, humorous dialogue, and illustrations such as comics and odd greeting cards.
The namesake of the book is addressed about midway: Patton tries to explain that in adolescence, we follow one of these paths— zombie, spaceship, or wasteland. Zombies are about anarchy and nihilism—so those kids are into horror, gothic, slasher films, and listen to punk rock and metal. Spaceships will grow up to be great spouses and parents. As teens, they were into computers and video games and science fiction. And finally, there’s wastelands, which Oswalt goes most in-depth about, being that this is the path he chose. Their intent is to recreate their lives by destroying the old. These are the outcasts in leather overcoats, sprouting from suburbs, prepared to survive and willing to endure even the most post-apocalyptic circumstances.
Oswalt utilizes his book as an outlet for his creativity. He also clarifies that one of the three aforementioned categories occurs in “every teen outcast who pursues a creative career.” This book lacks any direction or structure, clearly the work of a wasteland. Whether you’re a serious bookworm or you’re only looking for something to read because your mum says you have to, this book will make you laugh and teach you a lot about finding your way in this hectic world. Oswalt’s humor translates to the written word. He is definitely a diverse comedian-author combo that I’m keeping my eye on.
The Alphabet of Manliness
By Maddox
Ladies, tired of not understanding why your man’s eyes incessantly wander to the nearest chick showing bits of cleavage or miles-worth of legs? Sick of having no idea why your man seems to think more with the head between his legs, causing him to constantly seek out wrestling females and more reasons to justify why Chuck Norris makes Hercules look like a pansy? And bros, just looking for more argumentation to prove the awesomeness and superiority of our gender? Well, look no further than The Alphabet of Manliness, a pamphlet celebrating everything that constitutes a steak-eating, shark-punching, woman-slaying man.
Written by internet blogger and all around badass, Maddox, this holy sacrament to testosterone offers an intricate 26 letter-based chapter summation of mankind. Not mankind in the sense of all human beings, you gender equality advocates, MANkind. What I mean by this is that every chapter starts with a letter of the alphabet, and every letter represents something indubitably masculine, i.e. the first chapter, “A,” explores the theme of ass-kicking, and its significance to the biological composition of a male.
If your interest in picking up a copy of this book isn’t thoroughly peaked at this point, you likely have two X chromosomes and need to hand this article to the man nearest you. Now.
Whether it be film, literature, or music, the majority of anti-war art depicts the horror and destruction of warfare to reveal the barbarism of bloodshed. Joseph Heller’s magnum opus Catch-22 eschews this tactic completely, instead opting to use comedy to expose the stupidity, hypocrisy, and pointlessness of war.
At its core, Catch-22 details neurotic bombardier John Yossarian’s attempts to extricate himself from an increasingly dangerous and meaningless war. But what makes Catch-22 not only hilarious but an effective satire is the absurdity of the obstacles that Yossarian faces. Men lose their lives going on aimless bombing runs solely for the purpose of producing photographs of bombs exploding in nice clusters. An amoral mess hall officer creates an international syndicate where he purchases his own products at markup but still makes an incredible profit. A soldier completely obscured by bandages has his emissions and IV drip swapped ad nauseam until he inevitably dies.
The humor is often dark, simultaneously entertaining the reader and criticizing warmongering, the military-industrial complex, and the lack of regard for life found in war. This refreshing take on the anti-war genre makes Catch-22 a hilarious and poignant work.
Mr. Sedaris does indeed talk pretty. Well, not really. But what David may lack in eloquence, he most certainly makes up for in self-deprecating wit and hilarity. It is a book of humour anyway. No need for that flowery language shit. Within this collection are short stories from his life, from childhood to his young adulthood. The second part deals with his move to Normandy, France with his partner Hugh. Throughout all of his accounts, there remains one constant: David Sedaris is one fucked up individual. Really fucked up, like running through the woods dragging a cash register on acid (no, seriously). His encounters with a guitar playing midget and his attempts at performance art are all displayed here in amazing and somewhat graphic detail, which make these renditions of the life of an eccentric, somewhat narcissistic man even more entertaining. The second half, while funny (especially his attempts to learn the French language), claims a much more personal tone. Accounts on his life in France and his personal relationships show a much deeper and much more human side, contrasting with the dark humor and snark Sedaris usually displays.
I picked up Leading With My Chin in eighth grade thinking it would be a really interesting and funny read, and in eighth grade it sure was. Thinking about this a few years later brings up thoughts reminiscent of an excommunicated Mormon, as in “I can’t believe I actually read that, that guy’s such a self-absorbed jerk, he’s not even that cool. Time to have pre-marital sex.” The book is a quick read and pretty average. The only things that really stuck with me were that he worked at a car dealership where one day some guy jerked off in one of the cars, and that he almost left a large sum of money at a small comedy club and wouldn’t have become famous if he didn’t go back and grab the money. If only he wouldn’t have remembered. This guy seriously had one of the easiest times getting into show business. I don’t know if that bred his smarmy work ethic and gross sense of entitlement, but seriously, this guy better not ever come out with another book.
