Our Front Pages: 21 Years of Greatness, Virtue, and Moral Rectitude from America's Finest News Source (Onion Presents) [Hardcover]

The Onion (Author), Brian Williams (Author)

Book Description

Series: Onion Presents | Publication Date: November 3, 2009

From The Birth Of A Nation To The Death Of Journalism

Since its founding by a bloodthirsty tyrant in 1756, The Onion has not merely changed the way we think about the news -- it has changed whether we think about the news at all. As the first decade of this new millennium draws to a close, Our Front Pages shows us the first thing that presidents, kings, prime ministers, and popes saw when they opened their eyes each morning for the last 21 years. Now you, the common reader and citizen, can see what they saw and be as informed as they were with this important retrospective of the past two decades. You, too, will realize what generations before have realized and generations yet unborn will some day realize in turn: The Onion is not merely the chronicle of America. The Onion is America.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; Original edition (November 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439156921
• ISBN-13: 978-1439156926
• Product Dimensions: 13.7 x 9.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,691 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This is useless...., December 19, 2009

By 

Wandakitty "wandakitty1974" (Lakewood, OH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Our Front Pages: 21 Years of Greatness, Virtue, and Moral Rectitude from America's Finest News Source (Onion Presents) (Hardcover)

Don't get me wrong, I love the Onion, and own all of the News Archives books, which I reread all the time. But to only have the front pages makes no sense. You can start to read an article but then cant finish it. Talk about frustrating. I personally would love to know when there will be a new Ad Nauseum News Archive book-they are supposed to come out once a year but there has not been one since 2006 or so. If they ever put out another one I will be at the book store the day it comes out.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stop the Presses!, December 6, 2009

By 

John F. Lehman (Rockdale Wisconsin) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Our Front Pages: 21 Years of Greatness, Virtue, and Moral Rectitude from America's Finest News Source (Onion Presents) (Hardcover)

Perhaps we never grow up. What we laughed at in our formative years, Mad Magazine for example, draws us to what we laugh at as adults, The Onion. I don't know if that realization is funny or sad, but here is a big coffee table book of satire to read while pondering the question.

As a Wisconsinite I particularly like the early years (the "O" started out here): "Gov Proclaims November Masturbation Month" and "UW Cuts Funding Of Coed Naked Sports" (Wasn't "Coed Naked Sports" a t-shirt? What kind of a publication plagiarizes a t-shirt?). I can see taking this book out from the library, but why would someone buy it, I hear you asking. Because, the more you look the more you find. We read this in fine print: "Beatles reunion tour ends after chair mishap," for example, and realize we really live a kind of non-sequitor existence that goes beyond cheap SNL sarcasm. A world the "serious" media ever admits. Truth! Can we take it? "War, Come On, Let's Have One," "Clever bumper Stickers Resolve Abortion Issue," "Pope Forgives Molested Children" and "Nursery Home Has '96 Die-Off."

Maybe Speed Stick isn't available in Neapolitan yet and Christ has not returned to the NBA "...chipping in 13 points, 4 assists and wowing fans with his trademark `Ascension Dunk.'" But the reality is main-stream daily newspapers are dropping like horse turds and The Onion is getting the red-carpet treatment. Perhaps we should just accept that the..."Last Literate Person On Earth Is Dead At 98." But who cares. Or in the wisdom of our childhood, "What Me Worry?" Hey, we don't have to hide from our parents anymore. Meanwhile my favorites are "Pier1 Issues Formal Apology For Rattan Death March" and "Disembodied Voice In Elevator Wants To Know Way to San Jose." They make at least as much sense as anything else does today.

- John Lehman, [...].

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny Look at Last Two Deades, January 3, 2011

By 

Dr. Bojan Tunguz (Indiana, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Our Front Pages: 21 Years of Greatness, Virtue, and Moral Rectitude from America's Finest News Source (Onion Presents) (Hardcover)

I've been a long fan of "The Onion" and its brand of humorous fake journalism. They have an uncanny ability to over inflate an ordinary story (all those "are man" pieces come to mind), and present the most outrageous over-the-top headline in the most mundane matter-of-fact way imaginable. "The Onion" is a parody of "US News and World Report" style of journalism, and it is to their credit that they have never grown stale with their mockery.

When I go to "The Onion" website I am primarily interested in the headline, and to a lesser extent the first paragraph or two of each given story. So a book that is a collection of the front pages is exactly my kind of thing.

As 2010 just drew to a close, one cannot but help to reflect on the past decade or two and the major events that have been grabbing the headlines. Many, if not all, of these headlines were nothing to laugh about, but reflecting on the upsetting and tragic events can make for a very depressing read. Looking at the past two decades throughout the humorous lens of "The Onion" can take away much of that depressing sensation, and make one have a more light-hearted reflection on our recent history.