Customer Reviews

Deeper Thoughts, All New

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Modern "philosophizer" and Saturday Night Live scribe Jack Handey's second installment in the Deep Thoughts series falls short of the author's own criteria for literary greatness ("at the very end, there's a page you can lick and it tastes like Kool-Aid" says Handey of the ideal novel), but it is nonetheless a consistently funny collection of a unique brand of humor. Handey's offbeat musings, familiar to viewers of early 1990's SNL, are somewhat more sophisticated than fortune cookies, much more readable than Nietsche or Chomsky, and funnier than all of the above. The book contains close to 100 Deep Thoughts, ranging from some which provoke a thoughtful chuckle to others which will have you laughing out loud before you even finish reading them.

If you are a Handey fan, chances are you already have this book. If you are unfamiliar with Deep Thoughts, I recommend you check out this book for a simple but hearty laugh - it is a nice contrast to the political satire, funny golf books and comic strip collections that dominate humor publishing. For as Handey says, "Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis."

In short, it's easy to sit there and say you'd like to have more books by Jack Handey. And I guess that's what I like about it. It's easy. Just sitting there, rocking back and forth, wanting those books.

as expected with jack handey, the book is random and so dog gone funny. (i think that the postcard book is funnier, just fyi). my only real complaint was that the book is cheaply made. there are only about 5 black and white ink-jet quality pictures of nature used, and then on top of that they are repeated throughout the book. perhaps that adds to the handey charm.

Jack Handy is well known on SNL, but it's not until you read his words on paper that you realize the scope and depth of his thoughts. He is without a doubt one of the funniest people of all time, and I'm sure that even the legendary Mark Twain would have been seriously impressed with the wit and humor of Handy.

If this book doesn't cheer you up, nothing will. I suppose you have to get the humor... but if you do you will read Jack Handy thoughts and laugh just as hard as the first time you read it.

"It takes a big man to laugh, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man," so says Jack Handey, a man whose wisdom brought this young lady many a chortle back in the early 90s, when those Deep Thoughts with their serene music used to run on SNL.

Working in a NJ bookstore with a bunch of other lovers of good work & great words, I was fortunate enough to read, if not own, the SNL titles of the day, among them -- Good Enough, Smart Enough & Doggone it People Like Me, Wayne's World Extreme Close Up, and the "other" trilogy -- Deep Thoughts, Deeper Thoughts and Deepest Thoughts. The days we would spend, just opening up the books in random places and sharing a serious hmmm over clowns or kids or Todd Blankenship, ah, good times.

The family left NJ in 1996, at which time I packed a box full of things I knew I would be glad to see one day when I had long forgotten about them.

Well, guess what? Thirteen years, six states and about 11 houses/apartments later, that day arrived. I unpacked a box labeled "Girls' Room," and there it was, Deeper Thoughts, tucked away in a Marquette University folder labeled "Italian 3."

"Oh, my old friend," I whispered, "I am so glad we are finally reunited."
Then we laughed and cried and held each other, remembering the good times.

Although I had packed away "Deeper Thoughts" a decade-plus-ago, I had kept the first volume, Deep Thoughts, with me through all those years and all those moves, and wherever I was, Mr. Handey's slim volume found a place on a bookshelf within reach of my desk.

In 2002, I began working as a PR person at the Cincinnati Airport, less than a year after 9/11. So you can imagine there were many times when a good laugh saved the day. So at our offices @ the 2nd floor of Terminal One, every now and again I would refer to Deep Thoughts to answer those tough questions on airplane noise, high airfares, construction delays or unruly, stranded passengers. But something was always missing.

Where was the one about people who were so cheap - you know, the kind of guy who would say, "Hey, where's that 50 bucks you owe me?" or the one who told you how to help a kid develop a "good, lucky feeling" ?
Or the really good piece of advice about what to do if you drop your keys in some molten lava?
(Answer: Let 'em go, man, because they're gone.)

They were all in "Deeper Thoughts," in this humble reader's opinion, the true diamond of the collection. I mean, you can get some of these in the used section for like 6 cents, so hey, Moneybags, buy 'em all -- but if that's really a stretch, or if you aren't that big of a reader, start with Deeper Thoughts. Your abdominal muscles will thank you, because you will be laughing so hard you will feel them again.

This book was great, good for a laugh every now and then. Put it by your toilet, good for reading on the pot.

Jack Handey is consistently funny and irreverent in all forms - whether it was his writing during his SNL years, his many "Deep Thoughts" books, or his newer stuff. His "insights" are often worthy of a sincere laugh-out-loud, and sometimes cruel enough to feel a twinge of guilt for having enjoyed the suffering of the character Handey creates.

The book is simply another collection of Handey's brilliant one-liners and insane situations. If you're not familiar with this style of humor, I HIGHLY suggest you at least do a search for "Deep Thoughts" before jumping in - it's defintely not for everyone. Otherwise this is a great buy or a gift for someone who enjoys Handey. Despite the fact that almost all of the "Deep Thoughts" are on the Internet already, a hard copy is nice to have available on your desk to help get you through some of those rough days. Plus, it's always great to support (even in the smallest way) writers as funny as Handey.

Jack Handey is the best. It is hard to have a bad day if you have one of these books to get you laughing.

When "Deep Thoughts" by Jack Handey first made the scene on SNL a couple of decades ago, the gags were fresh, deliciously insane, and for the most part, quite hilarious. My, how times have changed.

This "new" version of Jack Handey's thoughts are the most pathetic attempt at humor I've ever had the misfortune to witness. Luckily, the material is so sparse, this entire stupid book can be read in twenty minutes or so; assuming the reader can make it through this disaster without throwing it in the trash after the first few minutes of torture.

The publisher has the nerve to charge ten bucks for this mess; it's not worth ten cents. Do something else with your hard earned cash, friends. Flushing it down the toilet would be better than wasting your time on this bomb. At least you'd only be wasting a few seconds of your precious time, and you wouldn't have to torture yourself with this tired, pathetic, and infantile dribble.

Yes folks, this is quite possibly the worst book ever written; and that's no joke.

If you have a bit of an "odd" sense of humor, then "Deeper Thoughts" is for you. If you deal with big problems and serious matters all day and need a laugh to lift your spirits, "Deeper Thoughts" is for you. My kids and I were in tears we were laughing so hard at one point while reading it. Our youngest child is severely autistic making life VERY hard and serious much of the time. This book provided a much needed escape and respite for my two older kids and me.