Customer Reviews

In the Event of My Untimely Demise: Twenty Things My Son Needs to Know

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

 

 

For the past few nights, I've annoyed my husband by busting out laughing while reading this book. Brian is a funny writer with a clever book that's more memoir than advice book, though I will save mine for my boys for when they're old enough to read about Irish pubs and French stalkers.

"In the Event of My Untimely Demise: Twenty Things My Son Needs to Know" is a laugh a minute (or second, depending on whether or not you're speed-reading). For anyone who's ever read Mr. Sack's blog, banterist dot com, or seen any of his commentaries on The Glenn Beck Program, you won't be disappointed by his first book. It seems that whatever Brian Sack touches is comedy gold (he even co-produced, of all things, a comedy-documentary, "Johnny Berlin"). I highly recommend this book. It may yet become my third favorite piece of comedic writing behind Steve Martin's shamefully out-of-print "Cruel Shoes, and Woody Allen's "Without Feathers."

... so hard on the subway that people are looking at you. 'Tis true. The even better part of this book, is that it is very very touching. It's so good that I've been reading it aloud to friend who have already bought it.
Bravo!

I love Brian Sack's style, and this book is true to form. About half of the book is pointing out some life lessons the author thought his son would need to know, while the other half (the funny half) deals with marriage and bringing children into the world. The only negative of this book is that I would only recommend it to those married with children or soon to have children, and then with reservations. The reason would be:

1. A few chapters are highly inappropriate for your young (such a one's up and coming son) It delves too much into the authors promiscuous lifestyle as a young adult, without setting the record straight on what actions are dangerous for a young man.

2. Most of the chapters are downright hilarious! But, the humor, mostly, would only be appreciated by those that have had children. Others may find it boring. I laughed until I cried on some sections, and skipped some sections as they were a bit over the top. If you do not have children or are offended by juvenile shock humor this book is not for you.


This was an easy read, with quick moving, informative chapters. (Sometimes too informative!) The writer is one of my favorite humorist, and I love his sense and style of humor. It is frustrating that he feels the need to add the shock humor to an otherwise good book. Good idea for a book, but read with caution!

My husband loved this humorous book. For Christmas, I purchased copies for my him, and both my sons who are dads, too. It is a must read for new dads and not-so-new dads alike.

I've been a fan of Brian's since I first saw him on Glenn Beck's TV show, and I've enjoyed his various 'bits' for a couple years. Having said that, I never really thought about buying the book until Brian started tweeting about how his book was doing compared to "The road to Serfdom" a boring economics tome published some 50 years ago. Any way, I started teasing Brian via Twitter, but he either ignored my tweets or knew better than to engage a stranger. Any way, I felt bad for the teasing, good-natured though it was, and I ordered a copy of his book.

I enjoyed reading it, the humor was appropriate and the occasional insights were well-worded. I won't say I learned a lot from his book ( he and I are about the same age, have roughly the same number of kids), but what I found was that as I read the book it got me to remember things that happened to me as Brian wandered from topic to topic.

I don't believe Brian honestly meant for this book to be handed to child in place of a departed/deceased parent, despite the cheery title that says so. This book provided Brian with a fun vehicle to share some of his insights and observations.

As I read the book I sent Brian one-tweet reactions to each chapter (there are 20 chapters in the hardcover, the paperback edition has one additional chapter- so I sent Brian about 25-30 tweets, a few of which provoked a response from him. I enjoyed this book, I also enjoyed tweeting w/ Brian as I read it, but what I really enjoyed was the memories his stories brought up from my childhood and adolescence.

I gave the book a well-earned four out of five stars. I found his pop culture refereces a bit too heavily based in the '80s and '90s, but that wouldn't cost him a star - no, what kept this book from earning a fawning five star rating was Brian's fanatical insistence that he not use any parentheses in this book. I noted this in a couple of my tweets to Brian, hopefully he be a bit more parenthetical in his next book.

I highly recommend this book, it's a good read and has just the right amount of humor.

I read this book based on the recommendation of a friend and found it to be occasionally funny, slightly humorous, and consistently witty. You're not going to put this book down and feel better about yourself, nor will you be any smarter. But I guarantee you WILL laugh quite frequently! I admire Brian's ability to tell the story as if it were a letter to his son. And at the end of the day, I can truly appreciate Mr. Sack's passion for Fatherhood. It's clear that Brian is a good man with a quick wit. And while this book, for me, won't get more than three stars, I did enjoy it on many levels. If you're a fan of Brian Sack, you'll love it. If you're not a fan, you'll like it. If you have no idea who Brian Sack is, you'll still enjoy it!

We have a 14-month-old son, and I bought this for my husband to read on vacation. He generally isn't a reader, but I thought I would give it a shot. He loved it! I think this may be the first book he has read cover-to-cover in 10 years. I myself have not yet read it, but plan to.

I've been waiting for this book for a while...I'm a big fan of Brian Sack's writing. So I receive notice today that it's available on the virtual shelves (and real ones too). I rush to purchase on Amazon on the first day it's out, and what do I find? None are available used. Yep, it's that good. Enjoy it!

I'm a huge fan of Brian Sack's Banterist website so I pre-ordered this book. What a treat it is! Lots of laugh-out-loud moments, but also some very insightful obervations about today's society and our culture. This book would make a fabulous Baby Shower gift for new moms and dads. Better give it BEFORE the baby arrives while they have time to read it!