Mirth of a Nation : The Best Contemporary Humor

Rating:
Summary: 5 Stars, except there are 50 more star humorists in the book
Review: Humor books are usually miscellaneous hodge-podges of "something for everybody." This one is not. It's a sustained compilation of great writing. Writing by very talented people who are variously smart-alec, smart-assed. and just plain smart. That's the one thing that's similiar about all the pieces: they're just very well done. After that, there's a huge range, from Sedaris's hilariously scatching review of kiddie theatrical productions to Garry Trudeau's re-re-retranslating of a Madonna interview back and forth from Russian. There are as many expected players--Ian Frazier, Fran Lebowitz, Dave Barry, P.J. O'Rourke with terrific pieces--as there are surprises and newer names. Favorites? Howard Mohr (who worked with Garrison Keillor on Prairie Home Companion for years), John Updike doing a parody about J. Edgar Hoover cross-dressing. David Ives, the brilliant playwright, giving a culinary history through philosophers. Even the index, by Al Franken, shows that Mirth of a Nation is serious about being funny, from cover to cover. I have the second volume, More Mirth of a Nation, and, believe it or not, it's even better. Thirds, anyone? I gather from their website it will be out in 2004. Can't wait.

Rating:
Summary: You have GOT to be kidding
Review: Humor books are usually miscellaneous hodge-podges of "something for everybody." This one is not. It's a sustained compilation of great writing. Writing by very talented people who are variously smart-alec, smart-assed. and just plain smart. That's the one thing that's similiar about all the pieces: they're just very well done. After that, there's a huge range, from Sedaris's hilariously scatching review of kiddie theatrical productions to Garry Trudeau's re-re-retranslating of a Madonna interview back and forth from Russian. There are as many expected players--Ian Frazier, Fran Lebowitz, Dave Barry, P.J. O'Rourke with terrific pieces--as there are surprises and newer names. Favorites? Howard Mohr (who worked with Garrison Keillor on Prairie Home Companion for years), John Updike doing a parody about J. Edgar Hoover cross-dressing. David Ives, the brilliant playwright, giving a culinary history through philosophers. Even the index, by Al Franken, shows that Mirth of a Nation is serious about being funny, from cover to cover. I have the second volume, More Mirth of a Nation, and, believe it or not, it's even better. Thirds, anyone? I gather from their website it will be out in 2004. Can't wait.

Rating:
Summary: Buy two
Review: I have a simple test for any book that purports to be funny: Will it make me laugh out loud? Something that simply causes the corners of my mouth to turn up in a smile won't do the job. This collection of humorous essays, however--- brightly contemporary,impressively varied, occasionally political--- met the test handsomely. This is an anthology, and not every piece succeeds; Christopher Buckley's brittle faux-sophistication, for example, left this reader with a hollow feeling; he's too determined to impress; he seems to try too hard. For the most part, however, the pieces in this collection are dependably funny. Ian Frazier's collection of rules for children--- expressed in the high rhetoric of the King James Bible--- not only made me laugh out loud; I woke up my wife and read the piece aloud to her, with tears of mirth running down my cheeks; she laughed out loud, too. This collection is not only well worth the price; it will cheer you up for days, and bring you back to read the short pieces again and again.

Rating:
Summary: You have GOT to be kidding
Review: I suppose if your IQ were in the mid 90's, you'd find these books amusing. I had the misfortune of taking both this one and "More Mirth..." as reading material on a cross-country flight. After 200 pages, no giggling, but lots of "oh come on" rolling of the eyes. Sophmoric crap. I ended up reading the US Airways magazine and doing the crossword instead.

Rating:
Summary: WORST EVER
Review: Many humor anthologies are very hit and miss, and they also tend to be very much a "boys only" club. Mirth of a Nation is of the best I've ever seen, both in terms of quality and in including an good representation of women humorists. Michael J. Rosen has done an excellent job in compiling humorists such as Fran Lebowitz, Dave Barry, Mark O'Donnell, Jon Stewart, David Sedaris, Colleen Werthman, Patricia Marx and Henry Alford, just to name a few. This anthology would make a wonderful gift for just about anyone in any age group (it is pretty much "clean humor"). Treat yourself with it at any time, but especially if you are going to be on a plane,train, or subway. I hope they have many sequels!

Rating:
Summary: WORST EVER
Review: This CD was the worst of anything I have ever heard or read. Out of six CDs, there were two Dave Barry's and two other stories that were bearable. The rest were lists: I mean lists that were numbered, like reading a menu that someone must have thought were funny. And several were things that came off much better when they were passed around in email.