Customer Reviews

Tough Call: Hard-Hitting Phone Pranks

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The front of "Tough Call" says that the author, Mike Loew is "Contributing Editor to The Onion and one of the authors of the ...Our Dumb Century". And that was good enough for me. I really love the Onion books and their website.

But this book is something entirely different than what I've become accustomed to with The Onion series. "Tough Call" is just a scribe detailing alleged prank phone calls that Mike Loew has made. But in the development of this book, one thing seems to be overlooked; Transcriptions of phony phone calls are not nearly as funny as hearing them. The joy of a phone prank is to hear the reaction o the other person on the line while they're being confused by a calm and scheming prankster. The Jerky Boys have a good system for making prank phone calls, but when you read the text, it's not nearly as funny as hearing a recording of the actual conversation.

Mike Loew is obviously a funny guy, just to think up this stuff, but writing a book of phone call translations is a prankster's equivalent to telling a fishing story; we're skeptical about the details and have no way of knowing where the embellishment is in the story.

It's still a pretty funny book, but if you think you're buying another Onion-style and humor quality book, think again.

As a big fan of both the Jerky Boys and The Onion, I decided to give Tough Call a try. On the plus side, there are some really funny transcripts in this book, especially the finale where Mike tries to set up an arms deal with a Brazillian weapons dealer. The minus side is this: It's not as funny in print as it could be in an audio format. The book is pretty slim, so I'd advise prospective readers to check out the sample pages above to see if it's their cup of tea.

It's hard to describe how funny this book is. Sometimes it's subtle, sometimes it's blaring - but the tone is always perfect for the situation. Loew's questions have a way of steering people in a hilarious direction. Great book, great read! Makes you realize that most people are inherently stupid - but heh, they're great fun to laugh at!

This book is strickly bathroom reading, and I only found one or two call transcripts to be genuinely funny. A few more gave cause to grin. Some were simply cruel for no good reason. Fine for three minutes at a stretch, but this does not compare in quantity or quality to any of the Onion volumes. Should you buy? That's a tough call...

I wish I could get my money back on this book. It took me forever
to read it and I still did not finish it. Threw it in the
trash can. It may have been more funny on a cd.
Save your money people

So, it's transcriptions of prank calls? What about actually just putting it on a CD? Now that's an idea! Seriously? Who allowed a book of prank phone calls to be published in an era of downloadable soundfiles? A ludite?

This book is utterly hilarious. You'll be laughing out loud all the way through. I [almost]wet my pants! In fact I laughed so hard my stomach hurt and I began to develop breathing problems! NO JOKE! This is one of, if not, the funniest book I've read.

A Highly inapproapriate, moderately embarassing, painful to read book that is REALLY FUNNY.

I found this book hilarious, I'm an avid reader of the onion and have always loved Loews work, I recomend this book to anyone with a great senseof humor.

This book is utterly hilarious! If you enjoy either humor, or books, I urge you to purchase this wonderful tome chockfull of guffaws! Bathroom reading par excellece! The bomb diggity!