Should You Be Laughing at This? [Hardcover]

Hugleikur Dagsson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 2007

Hugleikur Gagsson's Should You Be Laughing at This? has achieved revered cult status and taken the Icelandic publishing world by storm. Of course, Iceland is a country whose national drink is called "Black Death," national dish is putrefied shark meat, and national literacy rate is 99.9%. That may give you a small idea of the dark but brilliant mind behind the shamefully addicting cartoons in this book. From the absurd to the offensive to the immoral, Dagsson includes every taboo out there. And when you find yourself snickering and cackling, you'll stop and ask yourself, "Should You Be Laughing at This?"

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Hugleikur Dagsson is from Iceland. His full name is Thorarinn Hugleikur Dagsson (which means "Thor's eagle mind game son of day"). He graduated from the Iceland Academy of the Arts in 2002 and has participated in dozens of art shows, mainly exhibiting drawings, but sometimes photographs and video pieces. He has also dabbled in animation. He started self-publishing his comics in 2002 and received his first book deal in 2005, the same year he wrote a play based on his comics. The play, "Avoid us", won him the best playwright award in 2006 at Griman, the Icelandic theatre awards. Since then he has been busy writing more plays and comics.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Harper (October 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061284890
• ISBN-13: 978-0061284892
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #506,314 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crude, rude, awful, and hilarious!, November 7, 2007

By 

A. Iott (MI) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Should You Be Laughing at This? (Hardcover)

I have rarely seen a more accurate title (the only better one would be the title already taken by a National Lampoon album, called "That's Not Funny, That's Sick!"). This book is not for the faint of heart: it includes cruelty to children (and their parents), awful deaths, sex in the wrong place at the wrong time, to mention but the tip of the iceberg-- and yet surprisingly you may find yourself laughing at all of it. Much of it is incredibly twisted, and not in the way we Americans think of the term either. Dagsson, and for that matter Iceland, deserves an internationally recognized award in the twisted department.

Great book. Don't leave it out where your relatives will find it, unless they're as sick as you are.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, November 27, 2007

By 

Frank Silbermann (New Orleans, Louisiana USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Should You Be Laughing at This? (Hardcover)

This book is hilarious. I went to a bookstore, simply to peruse and browse, and I came across this book. I sat down in the middle of an aisle at the bookstore and I read the entire thing in one sitting. I was cracking up and laughing out loud in the middle of the silent bookstore. Even though I had read the entire book, I still spent $15 on the book. The only thing I regret about buying the book is that I didn't buy it on Amazon for 2/3 the price. This book is horrid, twisted, demented and exactly the type of humour I love. I recommend this book to anyone with a true sense of humour and anyone who is searching for a good laugh. And it is not for the politically correct.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars disturbing brash honesty, November 1, 2008

By 

Daniel J. James - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Should You Be Laughing at This? (Hardcover)

This humor employs a minimal amount of text and image to convey deeply disturbing situations with brash honesty. The cartoons are understood best in the context of Iceland, a country largely devoid of the darker social ills ubiquitous with United States and much of the world. The country is very small and safe with some of the best looked after childen in the world. Hugleikur is so popular in Iceland that he was comissioned to illustrate the national telephone directory. This humor is very direct and much of it reveals the true psychology behind common aspects of modern life.