Customer Reviews

The Book of Eleven: An Itemized Collection of Brain Lint

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It has been a long time since I have read something so insightful toward my own life that I find myself looking over my shoulder to see if the author is following me around. The book of eleven is an irreplacable travel companion for anyone interested in seeing the humor present in the journey of life. Not bad if someone just wants to grin a bit, too. I grinned so much that I may have inadvertently grinned over my limit and therefore someone else now may not be able to grin at all. But that is just how funny this book is, I get greedy with grinning.

Every once in a while, you'll read something so funny that it makes you smile all day. Well, Amy Krouse Rosenthal's "The Book of Eleven" does that and more. Each piece of "brain lint" (what she calls her writing) is a gem, meshing the hysterical and insightful in a truly unique way. I had read some of Amy's work before in the now defunct "Might" magazine, but "The Book of Eleven" represents a true coming-out party for her. Combine Saturday Night Live's Jack Handy, Jerry Seinfeld, and your mom and you may have a sense of her style. I challenge anyone not to smile, laugh, and think while reading this one!

This book is absolutely hilarious! I am a high school student, and these are things that come into my mind, and many of my friend's minds on a daily basis. All I can say, this is stuff that most of us don't think to put onto paper. I wish I would have written it. But, hey, great job to Amy!

Amy's gift for observation is truly amazing. The only talent she has in even more abundance is the ability to write. One word of advice, if you do get the chance to meet Amy, be profound in what you say. It could end up on paper.

Amy Krouse Rosenthal is a brilliant writer who finds the words to describe feelings that you didn't know you even had until you read her book and said to yourself, "That's so funny! The same thing happened to me!" A must-read for anyone with a sense of humor.

Amy writes like no other in the last decade. She points to those little pieces of life that we can recognize even if we have not experienced them. This first book will get America's attention.

Amy Krouse really hits on the little things in life, and the really belly-aching, life brightning laughs. Everytime I need a laugh I just open up to the Olive chapter. She is brilliant, and everyone should own this book.

Totally oddball and hilarious. Simple premise: everyday events of the kind everybody has experienced -- in restaurants, at airports, driving, etc. -- transformed by the author's quirky imagination into verbal double-takes that made me laugh out loud. Breezy, different, and one longer than a Letterman list. If life hasn't been looking very funny to you lately, try it. I'll never be able to look at an olive the same way again.

Ms. Rosenthal has an insight you'll find startling, almost to the point of being scary. While reading her hysterical book, I was shouting "Hey, girl, get outta' my head!" Of course, her voice was competing with the one that keeps saying, "Go back to the bathroom and wash your hands again." Anyway, you'll love this book and so will your favorite people. And at this price, this is one gift you can afford to get everyone! Ten stars!

I really wanted to be heartily entertained by this book. Not having read any prior work by this author I was very hopeful. However, this Seinfield-esque "brain lint" just did not translate in print as well as it might have had Jerry and Elaine done an episode based on it. Maybe this type of humor is already getting old - or maybe I am - I just found it neither clever nor all that funny. I kept reading waiting for the funny parts, but feeling instead as if I'd been duped into purchasing something that hadn't required much originality or effort from the author after all. But, perhaps I expected too much having seen all those five stars.