I've only read 25 pages but I had to get this out because...well, I just know that John Forster and Marc Segan can't keep this hilarity up (or anything else up) for 256 pages. (Notice FWIW that the number of pages in the book is a binomial expansion of the powers of two: 2,4,8,16,32,64,128,256! I do NOT think this an accident. It is instead a clear sign that these guys are serious about helping you ace the SAT.)
Okay first I guess I should describe this book. It is approximately the size and shape of a "real" SAT study guide (8.5 x 11 x 0.75 inches). It contains practice tests and answer sheets in the SAT format including such authentic touches as blank pages with the words "NO TEST MATERIALS ON THIS PAGE" on them. The questions are of course parodies of real SAT questions, and the entire book is a running satire on not only SAT study guides but more specifically on the SAT test (and industry) itself.
The authors implicitly suggest tongue in cheek that this "guide" will help you prepare for the real SAT. Obviously the first question on page 15:
1. The psychotic seven-year-old subjected his
puppy to repeated acts of ---------.
A) Hamlet
B) bravery
C) sadism
D) coprolalia
E) Congress
will do no such thing. However my guess is that a lot of students facing their showdown with the SAT could use a few laughs, and in fact such laughter may help them relax. And if this helps make the SAT less forbidding then this book can actually help. Moreover, some of the questions on the BSAT (that's an SAT focused on the what comes out of the south end of a cow heading north) are curiously so much like actual SAT questions that some real practice and learning might take place. Consider this question from page 22 ("...the underlined portion may contain errors..."):
1. Having been fixed that morning, Natalie drove the car to the Planned Parenthood meeting.
(Personally I think "Fluffy" would have been even better than "Natalie" or maybe "Mrs. Fluffy," but never mind.) The point is the sentence is an example of a "dangling participle" which I promise (having taught a verbal SAT prep class some years ago) you will meet up with when you take the SAT.
The study guide itself runs for 106 pages, then there are four BSAT practice tests, and then two appendices, one on "Advanced Test-Taking Strategies" including "Cheating" (Do it!) and the other on words you might confuse, e.g.,
Word: diphthong. Pronunciation: DIFF-thong. What you think it means: a skimpy two-piece bathing suit. What it actually means: a speech sound that glides from one vowel sound to another.
Here's a sentence completion question from BSAT Test 1:
1. Tommy was obsessed with his music teacher,
Ms. Da Silva, not because of her -------- but
because she seemed so -------.
A) subtle beauty..Portuguese
B) ginormous(you know whats)..cryogenic
C) piano technique..desperate for sex
D) clubfoot..ready to snap
E) any of the above
In the "Answers Explanations" the authors note that "The only logical answer is C) desperate for sex. Especially when he thinks about her great finger technique."
Apropos this last question, I must issue a word of caution for the sensitive reader: some of the humor in this book is obscene, indecent, risqué, immoral, salacious, prurient, ribald, coarse, vulgar, bawdy, rude, lewd, crude and not especially refined.
Finally, after reading this book it may happen that the student while taking the real SAT may read some fairly innocent questions in the spirit of the BSAT and find him or herself lol during the test, much to the annoyance of fellow test takers. That is okay since while they may get more uptight, YOU will be relaxed and your relative score may rise.
For those of you interested in an early critical critique of the SAT industry (with not so many laughs) search in the deep reaches of your college library for a book entitled None of the Above: The Myth of Scholastic Aptitude (1985) by David Owen which was apparently updated in 1999 and given a new subtitle.
Bottom line here: very funny. Don't miss this gem.
