Customer Reviews

Lamentations of the Father: Essays

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As serious as he is funny, Frazier can deconstruct the historical accuracy of Daffy Duck with the same straight-faced relish he uses to savage corporate crooks and the "innovative thinking" of the Bush administration.

While his politics are definitely left leaning, he skewers pomposity, dogmatism and the babble of popular culture wherever it strikes his fancy - which is just about anywhere, from techno-thriller movies to the mythic figures of our time (like Russell Crowe), from the sound bite to guide book drivel, from the latest in scientific research to the ordinary family.

Especially the family. The book's funniest piece - in the sense of laugh-out-loud humor rather than fiendishly clever satire - is the title piece, "Lamentations of the Father." Published in 1997 when his children were small, it begins:

"Of the beasts of the field, and of the fishes of the sea and of all foods that are acceptable in my sight you may eat, but not in the living room."

And, from "What I Am," inspired by an accident of dishwasher loading in which his wife calls him an "idiot" and he objects, not to the characterization so much as the terminology: "Quite simply, `idiot' is not a nice word to call somebody, and I find myself asking, as Mr. Welch did of Senator Joseph McCarthy, `Have you no sense of decency, sir?' "

"The Cursing Mommy Cookbook" and "The Cursing Mommy Christmas" start out with Martha Stewart decorum and quickly, hysterically, devolve into familiar domestic chaos.

Others take a more quirky view - the tribulations of the absent expectant (maybe) father; the earnest murderer's family aspirations; coming of age among the right-wing militia.

Frazier started out as a staff writer for "The New Yorker" in the 70s and it shows. All his work has a strong voice and an eye for detail. From books like 1989's "Great Plains," and 2000's "On the Rez," personal, in-depth explorations of the past and present West and its people, to his collections of humor, like this one and the earlier "Dating Your Mom" and "Coyote V. Acme," Frazier brings a thoughtful reflection to the world around him. His wordsmithing engages the reader's imagination.

In humor, this often means sinking his imaginary teeth into a cultural tidbit and running with it:

"According to a study just released by scientists at Duke University, life is too hard. Although their findings mainly concern life as experienced by human beings, the study also applies to other animate forms, the scientists claim. Years of tests, experiments and complex computer simulations now provide solid statistical evidence in support of old folk sayings that described life as `a vale of sorrows,' `a woeful trial,' `a kick in the teeth,' `not worth living,' and so on."

Or taking an ideological stance to its furthest conclusion; the doctrine of pre-emption, for instance, as applied to Iceland and Scandinavia.

Then there's the Bin Laden piece, which appeared a month before September 11, in which Frazier notices Bin Laden's face on Wanted posters in New Jersey post offices, posters that begin to disappear in the interests of retail efficiency.

Except for the Bin Laden piece, no date or origin is given with any of these short essays, which cover a span of 13 years and were printed in a variety of magazines (many from "The New Yorker"). There is a general listing acknowledgement on the title page but I would have liked more specific information.

A tiny quibble with a book that tickles the imagination almost as much as the funny bone.

How does a man become a murderer?

Not the kind of question you and I ask ourselves, but Ian Frazier has thought deeply. Done the homework. And, in "He, The Murderer", he reports back:

On an aptitude test, "Murderer" was the category he scored highest in. By then, he'd already murdered a couple of guys, just fooling around. He kind of liked it. One thing led to another.

It's not all roses, this business of killing people. For one thing:

Now he wishes he'd murdered more people when he was younger. You reach the age of forty, forty-five, and you can't react like you used to when you were twenty.

For another:

Everybody's got his hand out these days, wanting a favor. "Hey, Ronnie, can you murder my nephew?" "Ronnie, my man, if you got a second, could you murder the head of the Plumbers and Contractors Union?" "Yo, Uncle Ronnie, how about doing a little murdering for us, pro bono?" Like always, friends and family take advantage.

To no one's surprise, he wants better for the next generation:

He is determined that his son will not have to murder people when he gets big, and will be able to make a good living simply by injuring them.

And then....but you see what happens. You start reading an Ian Frazier piece, and the next thing you know you're quoting him to anyone in your zip code, and pretty soon you're reading the whole piece aloud. And this happens time after time, because on a good day there is no one better at smart-funny than Ian Frazier.

"Kisses All Around", for example, is letters of premature acknowledgment. The Pope's representative thanks Martin Luther for the 95 theses: "It's on the table next to his bed, and he will certainly get to it soon." Khomeini tells Salman Rushdie how much he's looking forward to reading "The Satanic Verses" --- "Death to Bush or whoever, and kisses all around."

"Laws Concerning Food and Drink; Household Principles; Lamentations of the Father" starts with important rules for the consumption of refreshment outside the kitchen. ("If you are sick, and are lying down and watching something, then may you eat in the living room.") Of course the Father moves on to complaints: "Hear me, O my children, for the bills they kill me. I pay and pay again, even to the twelfth time in a year, and yet again they mount higher than before..."

"The Cursing Mommy Cookbook" is everything that went on in your head when you went to make chili and someone had used the last of the chili powder. Later, there's "A Cursing Mommy Christmas." Because, you know, it's always at her house....

"Researchers Say"parodies academic writing by exploring the emerging proof that life is too hard. Thus: "Nine out of ten of the respondents, identified by just their first initials for the purpose of the survey, stated that they would give up completely if they knew how."

"Warmer, Warmer" is a meditation on George Bush's call for a decade of additional research on global warming. But which one? "'We don't want to pick just any old decade,' the source continued, perspiration beading on his forehead. 'Finding the right decade for this type of in-depth climate research might take as long as ten years.'"

There are more. And they are, almost without exception, so very funny that if you have not been reading Ian Frazier for decades, you may feel a sudden hole in your life of which you were heretofore unaware. Fret not. It is easy to catch up. Start with the new book. Then work back.

You're welcome.

Lamentations of the Father is a hysterical collection of humor pieces. Frazier takes common experiences and deftly turns them into laugh riots. More literary in many ways than someone like Dave Barry, Frazier applies his smarts to subjects that you wouldn't think could be turned into humor, like how to operate a shower curtain. His parody of rap verses by substituting rappers with classic poets is incredibly funny, as are virtually all the pieces. My only criticisms: one piece on cursing mommy was sufficient; the murderer piece I actually fouind a bit disturbing. Nevertheless, if you want to laugh a lot, if you are married and have children, if you want to see a clever mind at play, read this book.

I think the title essay is hilarious, and I've given several copies of the hardbound version of that individual essay as gifts. The collection under review has a few other essays ("If Memory Doesn't Serve", "Kid Court", "What I Am") of the same general nature, not quite up to the level of "Lamentations of the Father" but still quite funny and insightful.

If all of the essays were like that, I would have rated this book 4 stars. Most of them, however, are different, somewhat like a lengthy elaboration on a Jack Handy quote, somewhat like an above-average example of an article from The Onion. I thought these were so-so; something about them just didn't click for me. Your mileage may vary.

And then there a few (like the "Cursing Mommy" ones) that seem to be based on the premise that offensive things are intrinsically funny. Certainly, Frazier isn't the only humorist who seems to feel that way, but I don't, and there's no way I could give this book as a gift to those in the (prudish, puritanical, call them whatever you want) circles I run in.

Ian Frazier turns the perfectly frustrating in every day life into comic relief.
Where David Sedaris makes (often successful) use of self deprecation, Ian Frazier uses pure and delicious wit.
If you don't find slapstick comedy funny, this might be a book for you. Otherwise, keep on laughing about
people falling down stairs and making funny faces!

Most of these essays were originally published in magazines. I think perhaps they might be more enjoyable to read in that format than in a collection. Because while many of them are quite funny, a number of them are not. Only a couple really made me laugh. So while I appreciate the humor, having them all compiled in one book seems to raise my expectations a bit too much.

I've always abhorred books that are "a collection of essays" for much this same reason. Reading them one at a time in a magazine seems to make them so much better. Reading them this way seems to take some wind out of the sails. While I will continue to read and enjoy Ian Frazier's essays whenever I find them, I won't be buying any more collections. The pleasure of reading them just isn't there.

Like others, the title essay and a handful of others were found to be quite funny, but most others did not live up to the same standard.

New Yorker writer Ian Frazier's latest humor collection proves why he always gets compared to James Thurber. It's smart, engaging, whimsical and laugh out loud funny!

Have lived in east, midwest and overseas. Humor in this book easily understood in east among middle class - harder in midwest. Unnecessary frequent use of crude language. Some very funny stories - some worth skipping. Friend to whom I gave it has lived in Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Ohio and took until nearly the end to "warm to" the author.