My Goodness: A Cynic's Short-Lived Search for Sainthood [Paperback]

Joe Queenan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 11, 2001

Years upon years of being unspeakably nasty to icons as diverse as Jimmy Carter, Barbra Streisand, and even Mother Nature herself had taken its toll on Joe Queenan. The man all editors turned to when they needed a book, film, or tv program savaged was tired of being so mean. He wanted to be more like Susan Sarandon. Or Sting. Determined to mend his ways, Queenan embarked on the most difficult task of his career: he decided to become a nice person. Now available in paperback, My Goodness is the side-splitting result of Queenans attempted transformation: from his use of animal-friendly Body Shop goods to his letter of apology to Jackie Collins after a scathing review of her latest book; from his quest to save the whales to his quest to save Linda Tripages.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The year's most sinfully rewarding guilty pleasure." -- New York Times Book Review

About the Author

Joe Queenan has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, Spy, the Wall Street Journal, the New Republic, Time, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, and other publications. He is a contributing editor at GQ and Movieline. The author of four previous books, including the bestseller Red Lobster, White Trash, and The Blue Lagoon, he lives in Tarrytown, New York.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion; Reprint edition (July 11, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786884665
• ISBN-13: 978-0786884667
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,170,705 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Funny but Phony, December 10, 2002

By 

Chris Hiester (Philadelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Goodness: A Cynic's Short-Lived Search for Sainthood (Paperback)

That's my three word synopsis of this book and the other Queenan book that I read, Red Lobster, White Trash, and the Blue Lagoon.

There is no question that Queenan is funny. I continually drew attention to myself on a cross-country flight by laughing out loud, uncontrollably at certain points.

But in the end, Queenan's journey into the world of do-gooders is so transparently disingenuous that I wanted to throw the book into the recycling bin when I was finished laughing--just like I would do with one of his magazine articles. Queenan plays with the behaviors of do-gooders, but never probes the beliefs or motivations of his subjects. A true satirist would find humor in the self-righteousness of some environmentalists, social activists, etc. and not just in the products that they consume.

There is a long section where Queenan apologizes for being cruel. He apologizes to Sinead O'Connor for lambasting her in public while privately owning and enjoying all of her records. However, when he recants his pledge to be "good" at the end of the book, is he also taking back his apologies? Were they also a phony exercise designed to get laughs?

He claims to drag his family along on these adventures. What do they think when they discover that it was all a ruse and that nothing really changed?

If you want read a book that will also provide uncontainable whoops of laughter and genuinely satisfying content, try David Sedaris's Me Talk Pretty One Day.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The King of Mean at His Best, August 10, 2001

By 

R. W. Rasband (Heber City, UT) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Goodness: A Cynic's Short-Lived Search for Sainthood (Paperback)

I first made Joe Queenan's acquaintance as a writer in the late, great SPY magazine and in the fiercely conservative "The American Spectator." At last, here was a book reviewer and journalist who could match "National Review" columnist Florence King in wit and savagery of expression. When you read a Queenan book review, you knew there wouldn't be anything left of the author but a grease-spot on the floor. At the same time he was gaining a reputation in "Movieline" magazine as a slaughterer of sacred cows ("Sacred Cow" actually being the title of his evaluation of Barbra Striesand's acting career.) In short, he became the walking combination of the words "cruel" and "hilarious." In "My Goodness", Joe attempts to repent of all this. Expressing guilt at all the dented feelings of his many victims, he goes on a quest to remake himself into the very model of today's secular, politically correct saint--Alec Baldwin, in other words. Queenan fails spectaclarly of course, but you will fiendishly enjoy his attempt.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Queenan is an American Treasure, June 13, 2002

By 

Robert Wellen (CHICAGO, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Goodness: A Cynic's Short-Lived Search for Sainthood (Paperback)

I'm often astonished by critics of Joe Queenan's books. Yes, he is mean. Yes, he is cruel. And yes, he is hilarious. If people are so offended by his material, why read it? Oh well, that is a subject for one of Queenan's own articles. I could not put this book down. This is third Queenan book I've read (along with Cineplex Heckler and Red Lobster) and this is as good or better than the other two. He makes many of the same points that Nick Hornby tries to in "How to Good." The difference (besides the fact that one is fiction) is that Queenan nails it. He tries hard to be good and fails. Of course he does. Neverthless, the journey is fascinating. He is one of the few writers who doesn't give a damn and tells you how he feels. You don't have agree with everything he says to enjoy his work. I admire a guy with those kind of guts (and who grew up on the mean streets of Philly--they grow guys like this there on trees). In addition, several critics have commented on his "right wing" writing--which is hilarious because Queenan slams the right wing many times in his book. He also dares to take on the leftists. He tries to learn about their culture and realizes that is filled with some good ideas--but is also subject many hypocritical failings. I laughed outloud countless times. Ok, so maybe I'm just the kind of Yuppie trash that Queenan is, but he really hits the nail on the head. As a photograph of America at the turn of the century and all it's absurdities, Queenan hits another home run. He wins again--which is better than he beloved 1964 Phillies did.