Customer Reviews

50 Relatives Worse Than Yours

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"50 Relatives Worse Than Yours," by Justin Racz, is a cleverly designed work of humor that catalogues 50 different types of annoying or embarrassing relatives--Buffet Loiterers, Holistic New Age Aunt, Power-Hungry Hosts, Family Newsletter Publisher, Glory Days Dad, The Computer-Illiterate Generation, Slutty First Cousin, Religious Zealots, The Force Feeder, Cheek Pincher, The Vegan, and more. Each profile features an illustration (generally a photograph), as well as characteristics of the type that are broken down by category. Some of the categories used throughout the book are the relatives' mottos, typical gifts they give, their secrets, the benefits of having them, and the drawbacks of having them.

Racz's humor is occasionally rude, cruel, or repellent, but I found the book undeniably entertaining. And I imagine that the average reader will recognize some of these types in his/her family, or in other people's families. As a bonus, the 51st entry is labeled "Your Relative"--the reader can supply an illustration and characteristics for a type of irritating relative not covered in the book. A good book to reference around holiday times, when you are likely to run into some of these types.

One of the funniest books I've read in a long time. Some pages brought me to tears!

I read this book after reading 50 Jobs Worse than Yours by the same author. Fifty jobs is so hilarious that my expectations were high for 50 Relatives, maybe unrealistically. The format of the two books is similar. In 50 Relatives, 50 generic family types are listed with picture and six descriptive categories such as profile, gift, motto, fame, benefits, secrets, drawbacks, or gift. The problem with this book, for me at least, is that too many of these relatives are already in my family and are not worse than mine.

My favorite relatives in 50 Relatives are: the cheek pincher (just like an aunt of mine), the force feeder (my grandmother, my father, etc,), Uncle Stan the camera man and his endless poses, the gold digger, and the slutty first cousin, one of whom I did not have in my family.

Anyway,50 Relatives has its funny moments, is easy to read, and fun to share. I will concede that many of the pictures are a hoot. If you're deciding between 50 jobs and 50 relatives, get "50 Jobs Worse Than Yours." Just be forewarned. You might even find yourself in this book.

There's no way you can't find several relatives in this book... the funny thing is when you let them hold the book and they laugh at all the rest of the profiles then get quiet and surly when reading their profile. An excellent coffee table book for laughs and discussion. A wonderful tool to get some reality TV show styled [...] started at family reunions.