The Sexy Book of Sexy Sex

Kristen Schaal and Rich Blomquist’s book The Sexy Book of Sexy Sex is absolutely hilarious, but not for the faint of heart. It’s moderately graphic (though illustrated with cartoons by Michael Kupperman and Lisa Hanawalt), lewd, and in-your-face. But did I mention that it’s hilarious?

Schaal and Blomquist are both writers for The Daily Show (and Schaal will occasionally appear on camera as Senior Women’s Issues Correspondent). The Sexy Book of Sexy Sex certainly has the feel of an uncensored Daily Show, with its short sections, clever titles, and immature (in a good way!) jokes. With chapters titled “The History of Sex,” “For Sexperts Only” and “The Future of Sex” among others, Schaal and Blomquist run the gamut of sex jokes.

The only part of The Sexy Book of Sexy Sex that I didn't care for are the long “stories” at the end of each chapter: “Regular Sex” has one about joining the Mile High Club, “The Gay Chapter” has some satire of slash fiction, “For Sexperts Only” has one about a man who’s in love with the Loch Ness Monster. Though the ideas behind most of these stories were funny, they would have been better as a one-off joke, rather than a five-page story.

Despite my minor complaint, The Sexy Book of Sexy Sex is a good one, and I do recommend it. (Unless, of course, you’re my parent or grandparent, in which case I suggest you read something else). That being said, remember it is a humor book about sex that takes the jokes way beyond “making whoopee.” If that doesn’t sound funny to you, it won’t be. But if it does, read the book! I give it a 4/5.

See Jon Stewart promote the book

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And now, here's a short rant about my Daily Shill Project. This was not inspired by The Sexy Book of Sexy Sex. They just both happen to exist in the same post.

There have been times I’ve wanted to give up on The Daily Shill before, but I don’t think any as strong as right now. I’ve lost my motivation to slog through books I don’t want to read—there’s so much good stuff out there, why am I wasting my time on things in which I’m not interested? I’ve made it pretty far, and I’m not a quitter (as I keep telling myself over and over), but man-oh-man, I’m ready to be done.

Part of the problem, I think, is it’s a lot of work for a small amount of feedback. I have no idea how many people read this blog, but when you take away my relatives and close friends, I don’t think that leaves much else. Yeah, I have a decent amount of followers on Facebook (and a few on Blogger and Twitter), but I don’t think most check out the blog. I track my posted links on bit.ly, and each review gets an average of 3-5 clicks. That doesn't seem like very many for the amount of time it takes to read each book (or watch each movie) and write the review.

Also, I’ll admit it, even though I knew from the beginning that it was a long shot, I was secretly hoping for some sort of recognition for this project from the Daily Show. I don’t need a mention on the show or anything, but gosh, I’d love an email saying, “We see what you’re doing, and it’s neat.” (The neat part is optional).

Enough whining, I’ll make it through, I’m over halfway there. But, meanwhile, I’m also letting myself read some other books (and am reacting with overkill). Right now, I’m reading Phyllis Reynolds Naylor’s Alice Alone (the middle of a series I loved as a kid/teen), PJ O’Rourke’s upcoming travelogue Holidays in Heck, Judy Dutton’s Science Fair Season (also due to be published in the next few months—librarians, reviewers, and teachers, check out Netgalley to get free digital galleys of upcoming publications), and the first trade book of Neil Gaimon’s Sandman series. Oh, and Ian Bremmer’s The End of the Free Market for the Shill.

Half Empty

I am 100% optimist. Though I focus my optimism on finding silver linings—rather than convincing myself that wonderful things are going to happen—and I try my best not to foist my optimism on others, I have a suspicion it drives some people crazy. I've never met him, but I imagine David Rakoff would be one of those people, as his book of essays, Half Empty, is presented as a call against optimism.

In his essays-- focused on the topics pessimism at the turn of the 21st century, Rakoff’s unsuccessful attempt at an acting career, the musical RENT’s romanticized view of the lifestyles it presents, and the recurrence of Rakoff’s cancer (among others)-- Rakoff warns of the dangers of positivity. However, he was not too heavy handed with the anti-optimism, rather, it served as a thread to connect all of the book’s essays.

Rakoff is an excellent writer. His prose is somewhat heavy, not allowing for decent skimming, but it is worth it to take the extra time and read Rakoff’s sentences slowly. Rakoff’s humor sneaks up on you—he isn’t broad, but I found myself reading a sentence and laughing aloud on more than one occasion. Though a few of the essays moved a little slowly (the first one was actually the hardest one for me to get through), all are worth reading.

The final essay in the book, “Another Shoe” is absolutely phenomenal, and if you don’t have time to read the entire book, it’s worth buying or borrowing just for the single essay. It takes the reader through Rakoff’s discovery of a tumor in his arm, his fears that the arm will need to be amputated, and his thoughts on the struggle with cancer. And, I don’t want to spoil anything, but the final sentence of the essay made me look at the entire book in a new light.

I’m giving Half Empty a 4/5. I definitely recommend it.

Watch Jon Stewart’s interview with David Rakoff

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In the next week or so, I’ll be sending an email to the Daily Show about this blog. Any suggestions of what I should include?

How to Beat up Anybody

Judah Friedlander’s book How to Beat Up Anybody: An Instructional and Inspirational Karate Book by the World Champion looked stupid, but in a fun way. I’m a huge fan of 30 Rock, and even though Friedlander is a character in the show, not a writer, I guess I just assumed he would be funny by association. I was wrong. How to Beat Up Anybody was just plain stupid, and a waste of time to read.

The World Champion is an egotistical character that originated in Friedlander’s stand-up comedy. I’ve never seen the stand-up, so maybe The World Champion fares better in that medium. However, in a book that focuses solely on his ridiculous claims of awesomeness, it gets old fast. I think I would find the egomaniac annoying even in small doses, but when the entire book is based on the idea that this guy is funny, and then he isn’t, the entire book seems like a waste.

How to Beat Up Anybody consists mostly of very posed and photoshopped images of Friedlander (in his World Champion getup) beating the crap out of people. There are a few variations (in one chapter he’s dressed as a woman because people think drag is funny, in another he’s teaching strippers self defense because they wanted some boobs in the book), but generally it’s page after page of the same bad joke.

Also, the text in the book was poorly laid out—you are meant to read the text in a specific order, but because of its placement around photos, I was often reading steps out of place. I don’t think the jokes would’ve landed for me had I read them in the correct order, but the jumbled quality didn’t help matters any.

As you might expect, I’m giving How to Beat Up Anybody a 1/5. Seriously, this was almost worse than reading the books that make outlandish political claims that I disagree with; at least with those books, I can learn where others are coming from. I can’t come up with a single silver lining to reading How to Beat Up Anybody (and those of you who know what an optimist I am can really see how I feel about the book).

Watch Jon Stewart’s interview with Judah Friedlander

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Earth (The Book)

If I were given only one word to describe Earth (The Book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race, I would choose delightful. The book, written by Jon Stewart and the Daily Show team, has everything I love about the Daily Show: namely, jokes (both smart and silly). Following the textbook-like format of their previous publication, America (The Book), Earth (The Book) presents itself as a guide to the aliens who will find our planet after human life is eradicated.

I can’t tell you how many times I laughed out loud as I was reading the book – seriously, my family asked me “What’s so funny?” on more than one occasion. The book, which covers basics like Earth, Life, Society, Religion, and Culture (among others), is filled with big pictures and tons of jokey copy. It was the polar opposite of many of the books I’ve read for the Daily Shill.

Though the pages of the book are designed to be read in any order (on someone’s coffee table or in the bathroom, for example), I went through and read every page consecutively. And I loved it all. Even though I read the library’s copy, I am considering buying Earth (The Book) for myself so that it will be on hand whenever I have only a few minutes to read and need a good laugh.

I give Earth (The Book) a 5/5, and recommend it to everyone. It is a delight.


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And, thus ends my week(ish) of daily reviews. For those of you who celebrate Christmas, have a super one this weekend, and for those of you who don’t, still have a super weekend! I’ll be back on Monday with my weekly review.

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk

I am a big fan of David Sedaris; I even claim he is my favorite author from time to time (though I can’t actually settle on one). So I was thrilled when his latest book Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk was featured on a Daily Show interview. After all, it was one I was going to read regardless.

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk is different than most of Sedaris’s books; rather than memoir, it is a collection of short stories centering on animals with human traits. The stories reminded me of fables, except that there were few morals, and it certainly would not be fit for children.

Though the concept is hilarious (as is Sedaris’s original title: Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls), most of the stories did not make it there. As my dad, who read the first four stories in the book before giving up, said, “It’s just not funny enough.” True, there were some stories like “The Cow and the Turkey” and “The Judicious Brown Hen” that made me laugh, but for each of them, there are two “The Migrating Warblers,” that weren’t worth reading.

I think I would have a different opinion had I listened to the audio book rather than reading a physical copy. Sedaris has performed a handful of these stories on the radio show This American Life, and I thought they were amusing there; Sedaris just has a way of making anything sound funny. Of course, had I gone with the audio book, I would have missed the wonderful illustrations done by Ian Falconer (best known for the Olivia series of picture books). And missing those would have been a shame.

As much as it pains me to give a Sedaris book a low rating, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk gets a 2/5. If you’re a fan, it’s worth picking up to see if you agree with me—it’s a short book and shouldn’t take much longer than an hour to read—but otherwise, I wouldn’t steer you towards it.

Watch Jon Stewart’s interview with David Sedaris (very funny)

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Don't forget to come back next Monday-Thursday for a new review each day.

I Know I Am, But What Are You

What with it being the week before finals, it certainly isn’t a good time to sit and read an entire book in a single day. But that didn’t stop me from pretending schoolwork didn’t exist and spending my Sunday reading Samantha Bee’s memoir I Know I Am, But What Are You. I couldn’t put it down.

Bee’s humor smoothly transitioned from the Daily Show stage to the pages of her book. As she told of her unconventional childhood and her strange personality quirks, I couldn’t help laughing out loud, even though the circumstances she described would come across as sad when told by anyone else. And Bee is the queen of one-liners. (I don’t mean to be making an insect-bee pun…really).

But I Know I Am, But What Are You is more than just jokes. The book wouldn’t have been so good if it weren’t for the intriguing subject matter. Bee has had a pretty crazy life. And lucky for us, she’s willing to share. Plus, the book ended shortly after Bee met Jason Jones (her husband and Daily Show co-correspondent), which leads me to believe more of these memoirs are in store. After all, she has to talk about her Daily Show time, right? I mean, I can only hope.

This is a short review, but it’s a bonus one, so hopefully there are no complaints. I give the book a 5/5. If you are going to read it, do know that the book can be rather brash (with language and some sexual stuff).

My Footprint

In his book My Footprint, Jeff Garlin, best known for his role in HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, set a goal for himself: to lose weight and get healthier while also becoming more ecologically responsible. In other words, Garlin attempts to lower both his physical footprint and his carbon footprint (Holy double meaning, Batman!). Garlin chronicles his efforts in diary form, stretching from the end of August to the middle of July.

I wouldn’t call My Footprint an intellectual or inspirational read, but boy was it a fun one. I found myself “cheating on” The Quants and picking up My Footprint whenever I needed a break. Garlin is a funny guy, and it carries over into his writing. Even though I don’t have an eating addiction like Garlin, I found him relatable and cheered for him throughout the entire book.

When many famous people write books, it is clear that they allowed someone else to do a majority of the writing. That is not the case with My Footprint. Garlin writes in a natural way, and the book reads like a conversation rather than a lecture.

I give My Footprint a 4/5. It’s an enjoyable, quick read, and I definitely recommend it. If I have one complaint, it’s that I would have liked to hear a little more about the ecological side of Garlin’s goal. Towards the end of the book, the two subjects even out nicely, but the first half focuses almost entirely on the health aspect of the goal.

Watch Jon Stewart's interview with Jeff Garlin (seriously, this interview is one to watch. It's worth it just for Garlin's hilarious laugh).

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