Our Dumb World by Inc. The Onion Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Our Dumb World
Book Review: Almost perfect
Summary: 4 Stars
I laugh so hard my gut hurts as I read this book. For the most part, it is exactly what I wanted and expected: A humorous book to entertain me. It does tend to be a little too lefty at times though. For example, even the chapters about other countries slip in U.S.-bashing every chance they get. And the entry on Canada comes across more to me as an exultation of Canada being unlike America than any satire or criticism of Canada itself. However, it's not all a left-wing love-fest! I particularly LOVE the part in Chile that references annoying college students who pronounce it CHEE-lay - I almost died laughing! As long as you can tolerate a little bias, it really is extremely funny. So far, my favorite part is Florida - you have to see this! And I still have a lot to go.Book Review: Amusing Geographic Skewering Could Use a Greater Distribution of Poison-Penned Stereotyping
Summary: 4 Stars
If it wasn't for the title - granted a big "if" - you would swear this was one of those glossy DK Eyewitness Travel guides which stake their claim on elegant graphics that blend key facts, historical timelines, topographical maps and robust color photos. However, a flip to any page will expose the prevalent cutting humor - familiar to fans of the satirical faux-newspaper - that leaves the reader either offended or in stitches. I have to admit I am mostly in the latter camp since it soon becomes clear that no one remains completely unscathed is this parody of the paperback desk atlas, a literary species that has miraculously survived the Web since one can surmise that the globe in all its complexity is too enormous to present on one screen. There are definitely more hits than misses here, but the misses do swing wide.
Look at the section on Mexico, for example, which starts with the subheading, "Now Hiring 2.4 Million Busboys" and presents a photo comparison between the work done by ancient Mayans (The El Castillo pyramid at Chichen Itza) and that done by modern Mayans (a pile of dirty dishes shaped like a pyramid). In explaining the language, the editors assert "Mexicans speak Spanish as quickly as possible just to get it over with" and record that in 1953 that the U.S. decided to export San Diego back to Mexico. The Vatican City is described as "The Catholic Disneyland", while Brazil's iconic image of Christ the Redeemer has been photo-shopped into Christ the Avenger with automatic weapons extending from each hand. The Caribbean is lumped together as "The Seriously Who Cares Islands", and our cumulative indifference to Darfur makes the sarcastic description of Sudan rather apt - "All Better Thanks to You".
Not all their targeted zingers work well. Describing Uganda as "No Child Left Alive", the editors claim the country has the world's largest standing child army and that they are willing to be killed for their country if someone can help them tie their shoes. That's pretty harsh no matter how cynical one could get about the absurdist machinations in the third world. In contrast, some countries appear exempt from serious-minded skewering such as Australia which the editors describe as one giant nature cable TV show. The book could have been tightened up for such lapses to provide a more even hand in cultural stereotyping. Regardless, the editors made no country safe from the barrage of acerbic comments including ours. A good example is Florida, which is dubbed the "The Silent Holocaust". Some of the funnier comments show up upfront where one world map is subdivided into Bono Awareness, meaning each country is graded on how much U2 singer Bono cares about it within his personal agenda. This is funny stuff, although not consistently so and probably best absorbed in small doses. The cynicism can get overwhelming.
Book Review: Becomes repetitive and dry early on
Summary: 2 Stars
At first I thought this book was funny and clever. I soon realized that page after page is filled with the same boring and often unfunny offensive jokes. It feels as if the writers were simply trying to fill space. The "humor" has a science to it that all too often makes it predictable and bland. Not worth buying- sorry.Book Review: Better for browsing than a straight read, but hilarious either way.
Summary: 4 Stars
A pretty awesome atlas compiled by The Onion staff, with pages dedicated (more or less) to every country on Earth. If you buy it, I recommend just browsing through it - if you read it all at once, as I did, it can get a little tiring and tedious in parts, especially as they attempt to find a way to get comedy out of yet another horrific situation in Africa. Honestly, they do a great job - the book is equal parts cynical mocking, satirical jabs, and horrific trip around the world, all done with the Onion's trademark dark humor. It's rare to find a book that makes me laugh this hard or has so many quotable lines - it's just better in small doses, I think. But it would make a superb counterpart to America: The Book and I Am America (And So Can You) in its taking on of the current world. Not for the easily offended, but for those who enjoy the Onion's typically warped stuff, highly recommended.Book Review: Brilliant, Hilarious, and Dark
Summary: 5 Stars
Every single time I open Our Dumb World, I find myself laughing out loud and being ashamed of it. This book is FULL of hilarious commentary on almost every nation in the world. The humor is direct and piercing, and sometimes so incredibly dark that it's painful. I wouldn't recommend this book for anyone who is sensitive, but if you can let loose and appreciate it for the clever satire it is, you won't be disappointed.