Fat, Dumb, and Ugly: The Decline of the Average American [Paperback]

Peter Strupp (Author), Alan Dingman (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 24, 2004

The world's lone superpower...supreme guardian of democracy...and home of the blithely uninformed and epidemically obese. Welcome to America - pull up a chair, switch on the TV and grab a doughnut. Are Americans the last word in higher beings? Peter Strupp thinks not. A concerned citizen (and pitch-perfect humour scribe), Strupp is shocked and concerned by what he sees. It seems American aren't as thin, smart, and good-looking as they like to think they are. Packed with fightening statistics, FAT, DUMB AND UGLY takes readers on an eye-opening, laugh-out-loud, and at times horrifying tour of the numbers that shape the United States: * Annual amount Americans spend on beer: $25 billion * Percentage of Americans over 25 who are overweight: 80 * Pounds of sweets the average American eats a year: 20.7 * Percentage of Americans who believe their are aliens living among us: 25 * Pounds of rubbish generated by the average American: 1,570 * Increase in cosmetic surgery in the last decade: 200% In the bestselling tradition of THE DARWIN AWARDS and STUPID WHITE MEN, Peter Strupp's book is razor-sharp, real-world humour that sketches an all-too-convincing portrait of a self-satisfied nation of conspicuous consumers, fast-food fanatics and dumded-down dolts.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; Original edition (February 24, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743249453
• ISBN-13: 978-0743249454
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,211,814 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wake Up Call to America, March 4, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Fat, Dumb, and Ugly: The Decline of the Average American (Paperback)

Thank you Peter Strupp, for holding up a mirror of truth to our culture. Sure, America is a marvelous country that has achieved wonderful things. But we're forgetting ourselves. No one improves by resting on their laurels. Our game has gotten sloppy, and it's high time we shape up!

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Made me think..., March 5, 2004

By 

Thomas Manning (Holliston, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fat, Dumb, and Ugly: The Decline of the Average American (Paperback)

This book is AMAZING. Peter Strupp has taken hundreds of statistics about the American way of life and compiled them into this little wonder of a book. At first read, it's very humorous, but when you step back for a moment and consider that all of these statistics are FACTS, it really makes you think about where our culture is heading...

And to 'a reader': if buying a quarter of a million pink flamingos annually doesn't make us dumb, or doesn't highlight the fact that a big percentage of us have bad taste, then waht does?!

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A reader, May 19, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Fat, Dumb, and Ugly: The Decline of the Average American (Paperback)

A fantastic book that should challenge Americans to stand up to the facts. The shocking realities that come to light through this book are as telling as those in FAST FOOD NATION. A MUST read.