The Spam Letters [Paperback]

Jonathan Land (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2004

From the man behind TheSpamLetters.com - featured in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, and Slashdot - comes a collection of brilliant and entertaining correspondence with the people who send out mass junk emailings (a.k.a. spam). Compiled from the nearly 200 entries written by Jonathan Land, The Spam Letters taunts, prods, and parodies the faceless salespeople in your inbox, giving you a chuckle at their expense. If you hate spam, you'll love The Spam Letters.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Besides poking fun at spammers, Jonathan Land is also an accomplished stick figure artist and a participant in the experimental musical group Negativland. Born and raised in New York City, he now lives across the Hudson with his girlfriend and their three cats, two guinea pigs, and one bunny. The cuteness of the small mammals helps offset his overwhelming negativity. He receives about 400 pieces of spam a day.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: No Starch Press; 1st edition (June 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593270321
• ISBN-13: 978-1593270322
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,077,049 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A book for people who hate spam, July 19, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Spam Letters (Paperback)

If you get angry when inbox fills with unsolicited messages - pick up this book. Each "letter" starts with real spam - followed by a comical reply.

The "spam letters" treat each offer as a godsend, fulfilling some outrageous need of a twisted individual. This book is laugh out loud funny. Each letter is a rollercoaster of humor.

Sometimes the spammers even reply....

This is a funny book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Idiot Letters of the Internet Age, August 27, 2004

By 

Lori L. Baur "truelori" (Northeastern U.S.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Spam Letters (Paperback)

Jonathan Land has created a book similar to Paul Rosa's book Idiot Letters. I believe neither Rosa nor Land set out intending to create a book, but when their letters and emails, respectively, are combined into a single volume it makes for very entertaining reading.

Land's correspondence with the Nigerian spammers is easily the most hilarious in the book because some of their responses to him are so over the top and incredible. But some of the shorter passages without a response show Land's remarkable creativity and wit; the e-mail about the Pirate-Americans is laugh out loud funny.

Fun coffee table, train or bathroom book because you don't have to read it all at once. Will make you laugh every time.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars clearly the man has time on his hands, July 28, 2004

By 

J. Hobbs (Northampton, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Spam Letters (Paperback)

If you've been lucky enough to catch Jon Land on cable, the BBC, or on NPR, you already know just how casually funny he can be. If not, this book is a great introduction and a must-read. Over and over, Land sets up over-the-top scenarios that arise from the most mundane of e-mail spam, then follows the situations through to their logical yet ludicrous conclusion. Some of the material in the book is also available from Land's website, thespamletters.com; however, I find the trade paperback to be much more portable and quicker loading.