Customer Reviews

Bruce McCall's Zany Afternoons

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If you are visiting this item in the Amazon.com online catalogue, then something special brought you here. You already know of the book, perhaps already own it, and you want to see what other say about it -- or you know nothing about it. If the latter is the case, something lucky and/or magic brought you here, and you owe it to yourself to BUY THIS BOOK NOW. Maybe you heard some snippet about it, or glanced at a copy while visiting a friend. Whatever the case, SOMETHING in your psyche drew you to this fantastic volume of fantasy and art, and you absolutely need to have a copy in your home. People drawn to Zany Afternoons, regardless of the reason, have bigger, funnier, more open and creative minds than everyone else in the world, and the common bond we all share is the book itself. Detachable pants cuffs, five-in-one food paste, tank polo -- these are the creative/artistic concepts embraced by those of us who have been chosen by nature to live on Earth and put the "life" in "lifetime." If you're here, buy it now. You'll know why, after it arrives.

If F. Scott Fitzgerald had been a satirical cartoonist, half of this book would be the result. The real author used to be an automobile advertisement illustrator in the '50s, which accounts for the other half of the book. See, what the other reviewers were laughing too hard to explain, is that this is a book of spoof illustrations, taken from various publications. Blueblood nostalgia for the Jazz Age is sent up in gags on conspicuous consumption like "Indoor Golf", "Autogiro Jousting" and such. The clever, name-dropping text of those pieces is very funny, also. The auto ad gags feature parodies of 1950s layouts, featuring vehicles that look like they came off the proverbial wedding cake, and double-talking sales copy, like "...with twin-lock dual-fade brakes!" Anyone who's read old copies of Popular Science will scream at the parody of the articles (the automatic nose-blowing device) and the ads (I quit, boss! There's plenty more money in ACCORDION REPAIR these days!) included here. It's hard to believe that the author of this, well, zany book is the same as the author of the painful memoir _Thin Ice: Coming of Age in Canada._ Get this book by hook or by crook!

...I have to say that this book is as close as I've ever come to perfection in humour. It completely matches my sense of the absurd and has such historical accuracy. The bloke really is a genius. My copy has long since fallen to pieces and I spend my life trying to buy back the copies that I gave away. Interestingly enough, many people just don't get it. You need to have a sense of what he is mocking I guess.

The funniest thing that I have ever read and looked at, this is after reading and looking at it for 20 years!!

Most highly recommended of all.

This colorful and off-beat book is visually hilarious and somewhat difficult to describe because it is so unique. There is just nothing to compare it to. The first part is a spoof of how the neer-do-well old money preppy crowd, out on a lark, might fight boredom. The retro 1930's style artwork is priceless, and the accompanying narration equally funny. The humor is delightfully dry. For example, In the Zepplin Shoot, depicted much like a grouse hunt, the comment is made by a gentleman in tweeds, "They fall so gracefully."

The fun games are depicted poster style, accompanied by short commentary. Games like Tank Polo, Autogyro Jousting, and the all-in-fun, "Blindfold the seaplane pilot" (as it banks and twists between skyscrapers). The absurd "Wing Dining," as depicted on the cover, is worth the price of the book.

The second part is a collection of spoofs of 1930's through 50's advertisements, everything from monstrously large automobiles with tail fins, to rediculous home-study courses so you can afford to "eat steak."

There is just too much good about this book that can't be covered by a review. It does, however, require a somewhat twisted sense of humor for full appreciation.

I first saw a copy of Bruce McCalls colorful book when I borrowed one from a colleague 35 years ago. I was finally able to acquire my own copy five years ago and may buy another one as a loaner.

I just ordered a copy of the 1999 Barnes and Noble (reprint... not original publisher, Knoppf) hardcover edition of Bruce McCall's Zany Afternooons.

Much to my surprise, they have replaced four pages found in the original with four different pages I've never seen before.

The original paperback edition from 1982 on page 114 - 117 featured "Stewardesses of the Emerging Nations" - RwandaAir and all that jazz. The new printing has replaced that material with "The Adventures of The Hotel Throckmorton, est. 1906." This new (?) material (though still funny) is not nearly as good - even though my Dad and I both agree that "Stewardesses..." was probably our least favorite section of the original. But why the replacement? Was the orignal artwork misplaced? Very very odd.

One thing to note that I JUST spotted after years of faithful reading, one the airplanes featured in this original section was one of the first commercial jetliners that flew for British Airways... the De Havilland Comet. Infamous in real life for it's disastrous window blowouts. The plane originally had square windows which would occasionally blow out at altitude causing the entire fleet to be scrapped. Looks like the "Airlines of Emerging Nations" contained an extra insider "joke" from Mr. McCall.

Man I first laid eyes on this book while skimming the shelves of my hometown public library in December, 1983. Dumbfounded, I checked it out and took it home. Incidentally, later that day the postman brought my acceptance letter to college (UC Berkeley), and an hour or so after that I had my first set-up date with a girl I had a big crush on, who's been together with me now for 15 years. I actually don't think these fateful events colored my reading of Zany Afternoons. Just thought you might enjoy the coincidence.

From "Autogyro Jousting" to "Nazi Regalia for Gracious Living," this book is a fabulous parody of splashy print promotions from a bygone era. McCall's humor, dry and relentless, brought no end of giggling around my house. I would awaken in the night laughing.

I renewed the book a few times before reluctantly turning it in. After that I learned just how hard it is to find this book.

Four years later when I was a senior at Berkeley I spotted it in a set of coffee table books at the Morrison Library, where as if by bureaucratic miracle students are allowed to do only recreational reading as they luxuriate in big overstuffed chairs. I revisted that book several times that year and haven't seen it since.

And I think the time has come to get my own copy.

This is one of the most hilarious, quirky and sharp books I have ever laid eyes on.(Indoor golf? Zeppelin shooting, anyone?) Every page is filled to capacity with ridiculous illustrations (ads for enormous fifties cars that dwarf the driver, advertising for the H.M.S. Tyrannic, a cruise ship so large you can't see the other side) and the copy is among the finest and funniest I have ever read. Find this book wherever you must and show it to everyone

A most unique book!. If the reader is a fan of Mad magazine, vintage cars (luxobarges), art, satire, etc., prepare for a treat. Top notch illustrations of impossible machines faux vintage advertising of the past. Its truly funny! He pokes fun at the gluttonous elite life of the rich with excellent illustrations. This book changes frequently and takes some time to absorb it all up.

I love this book! My friend Steve lent it to me when I had the flu and was suffering from lost love. My friends and I quote from it constantly. The fabulous illistrations and ridiculous, yet plausable copy is like finding an old magazine or travel brochure catering to another time and place

A very good friend and I serendipitously ran across the last two copies of Zany Afternoons one hot afternoon in the Georgia Tech bookstore some twelve or thirteen years ago. We promptly spent the next hour chuckling rambunctiously in the aisles, much to the amusement of other shoppers. Of course, we had to buy them on the spot...

"Mayhem achieved, boredom relieved!"