The Borowitz Report: The Big Book of Shockers [Paperback]

Andy Borowitz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 28, 2004

Prepare to be shocked.

From the man The Wall Street Journal hailed as a "Swiftean satirist" comes the most shocking book ever written!

The Borowitz Report: The Big Book of Shockers, by award-winning fake journalist Andy Borowitz, contains page after page of "news stories" too hot, too controversial, too -- yes, shocking -- for the mainstream press to handle. Sample the groundbreaking reporting from the news organization whose motto is "Give us thirty minutes -- we'll waste it."

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Humorist Borowitz (Who Moved My Soap?; Governor Arnold) skewers the usual suspects in this amusing collection of short satirical pieces from his eponymous Web site. He adopts the classic humor format of the fake newspaper article, in which the earnest, literal-minded style of mainstream journalism plays straight man to the satirical content. Subjects include vague terror alerts ("U.S. Issues List of 5,000 Bad Things That Might Happen Someday"), politics ("Poll: Soccer Moms Feel Taken for Granted by NASCAR Dads"), corporate hypocrisy ("Philip Morris Changes Name to Altria; Changes Name of Cigarettes to 'Health Stix' "), science ("Increasingly, Aliens Are Creating Half-Assed Crop Circles"), over-exposed celebrities ("David Blaine to Go 44 Days Without Publicity—Boldest Stunt Yet for Master Magician") and, of course, President George W. Bush ("Bush Wins Nobel War Prize"; "Cheney, Briefly Assuming Bush's Duties, Says He Enjoyed the Downtime"). An ongoing blog imagines North Korean dictator Kim Jong-II writing in the voice of a laid-back frat-boy obsessed with amassing fissionable material. A few bits are a little broad ("Queen Elizabeth Caught Smoking Pot"), but almost all the pieces are as funny as a decent Tonight Show monologue, while many attain the level of inspired Onion spoof. B&w photos throughout.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"A devastatingly accurate, laugh-out-loud parody." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; Original edition (September 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743262778
• ISBN-13: 978-0743262774
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.2 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #138,923 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #7 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Entertainment > Humor > Political
  • #8 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Entertainment > Humor > Essays
  • #10 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Entertainment > Humor > Sports

More About the Author

Andy Borowitz is a writer and a comedian whose work appears in The New Yorker and at his satirical website, BorowitzReport.com, which has millions of readers around the world. The author of six books, he is the first-ever winner of the National Press Club's humor award, a two-time finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor, and a two-time host of the National Book Awards. He has been called a "Swiftian satirist" (The Wall Street Journal), "America's satire king" (The Daily Beast) and "one of the funniest people in America" (CBS News Sunday Morning).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Go to Bed With Jon Stewart, Wake up With Andy Borowitz, September 20, 2004

By 

A reader (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Borowitz Report: The Big Book of Shockers (Paperback)

When people ask me how I get the news, this is what I tell them: I go to bed with Jon Stewart and I wake up with Andy Borowitz.

Borowitz's daily emails from BorowitzReport.com are unfailingly laugh-out-loud hilarious, but more than that, they provide me with my only link to sanity. And tremendous insight into the increasingly surreal world in which we live.

The minute this book came out I ordered it, and having read it five times already, I can assure you it does not disappoint. On every page is one of Borowitz's classic columns, out-Onioning the Onion, plus a trove of material I had never seen anywhere before. Perhaps best of all, in a world of partisan bickering, Andy Borowitz takes his shots at Democrats and Republicans alike, not to mention Ralph Nader, Bono and David Blaine.

A few years ago, before he got huge, Jon Stewart was the comedy world's best kept secret. Today, that man is Andy Borowitz, and with this breakout book he is destined to be recognized as one of the funniest men in America.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT!!! The BEST at this art!!, December 1, 2004

By 

Joel L. Gandelman (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Borowitz Report: The Big Book of Shockers (Paperback)

One of my favorite kinds of satire is the fake newspaper story -- one that uses the structure of REAL stories as a device to spark real roars of laughter due to the often brutal jokes that take on a special meaning in a once-serious context. I've actually dabbled in these myself, in my early years as a journalist, on my website's previous (now defunct) satire section and now on my existing wenblog.

NO ONE does this form of satire better than Andy Borowitz. PERIOD. I never met him. I never exchanged an email with him. But I'm going to buy all of his books (used if I can, to save a bit of $). Before I had my blog I'd email his stuff with a link; now I occasionally link them.

The Big Book of Shockers is Borowitz at his best (with perhaps one overdone device; see below). You wreck the book if you go into detail, but I can share you a few of my favorite pieces: Ann Coulter's spontaneous combustion; Bill Bennett losing his wife in a poker game...and so many more. Best headline (with a great accompanying satire): CHENEY'S BRIEF APPEARANCE, RETURN TO SECURE LOCATION MAY MEAN SIX MORE WEEKS OF WINTER and BUSH REBUFFED BY MODEL UN.

This book is a GREAT Christmas gift. Why? Borowitz, like the super topical satire group The Capital Steps, isn't doing one-sided partisan satire. He lampoons EVERYONE. And his professional comedy writing experience shines through in each gem of a satire because he's the very best of his genre: each satire has a beginning, middle and an end, and there are no wasted words. Just laughs. You can gift this book to anyone who follows the news or politics -- it doesn't matter if its a Bush supporter or a Kerry supporter (or a Nader supporter).

The only device that doesn't quite work is a running gag -- a perhaps due to the fact that I have a blog and read so many outrageous blogs that it didn't seem all that outrageous to me. You may react differently. This "blog" is also the only one that breaks the format of this book's pieces -- satires of news stories.

Prediction: if you read this, you'll order more of his books. And that's no joke.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Laughing: Better Than Crying, September 25, 2004

By 

Ruddy (Winnetka, Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Borowitz Report: The Big Book of Shockers (Paperback)

A while ago I realized that watching the news on TV or reading it in the newspaper was a surefire route to depression. Thank God the Borowitz Report came along. Andy Borowitz's twisted take on the world of politics and pop culture is a lot easier to take than the "straight" news version for one very simple reason -- laughing is always better than crying. Ann Coulter, Bush, John Kerry, Madonna, they're all in here and they have never, ever been satirized in a funnier way. Equally hilarious is the blog by Kim Jong-Il of North Korea, who turns out to be a lot hipper than we probably thought. All in all, an A-plus effort -- looking forward to the sequel!