Customer Reviews

What I'd Say to the Martians: And Other Veiled Threats

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I heard Jack Handey reading the title piece on the radio while I drove home and couldn't stop laughing. It was more of a distraction than talking on a cell phone while driving. I apologize to anyone I may have offended with my driving.

So, I bought the book to read it safely on my plane ride home from NYC. I laughed out loud there, too. I apologize to anyone who was on the plane with me during that flight.

Handey has such a clear voice, and a definite style, I could hear him in my head. His work is deceptively simple; many folks think they could probably write like him. But, I suspect that is it rather difficult to seem so off-the-cuff funny and to set up each joke so expertly.

He is best known for his Deep Thoughts of which several are included in the book. But his longer pieces are really hysterical. The title piece is my all-time favorite.

The only drawback is that the book is rather short, so I blew through it before we hit Indiana, so I was forced to read People Magazine. What do I care about "The Hills"? Good grief. I'd rather re-read the book, of which I probably will do again and again.

I've always been a fan of Deep Thoughts, but this book is so much more! It's like each essay is one, long, hilarious Deep Thought.

The book includes essays, some of Handey's favorite Deep Thoughts and Fuzzy Memories, as well as a great bonus: scripts of some of his best sketch writing from Saturday Night Live, such as Toonces the Driving Cat, Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer and Happy Fun Ball.

Overall, an excellent, hilarious book. Every essay (and sometimes every sentence) has something to laugh at. Hopefully Handey will continue to write and publish!

The first memory I have of Snl is deep thoughts and I have been a fan ever since. I am a fan of books that make me laugh I love this book and I loved Mr Instability so Amazon has been good to me lately!

Jack Handey has by now completely proven that his humor is not some dated 1990s relic--his Deep Thoughts and Fuzzy Memories are every bit as funny to read today as they were when they were first written. I've collected all of his books, read and re-read them, and quite frankly I think he is among the funniest and most timeless satirists America has ever had. His command of the startlingly random and the absurdly insightful is unparalleled, and having his many NEW YORKER and OUTSIDE pieces collected here with much of his other hilarious miscellany makes this book a must-have for anyone unashamed of having permanent laugh lines on his or her face.

This is not, it should be noted, a collection of merely "clever" or "humorous" writing that will evoke little more than knowing nods, wistful smiles, or the occasional chuckle. This book is HILARIOUS--the sort of thing that might destroy a relationship if read while sitting across from a significant other with your mouth full of milk, the sort of thing that will incite (welcome or unwelcome) public interactions with fellow bus passengers wondering what the hell is so funny, the sort of the thing that might make you laugh so hard that the laughter becomes more painful than fun. This book IS FUNNY.

It's by Jack Handey--of course it's funny.

My only complaints about the book--aside from some minor inconsistencies in the traits of the central character, such as his wife's name--are that all of the Deep Thoughts and Fuzzy Memories reprinted in the "My Favorite Deep Thoughts" and "Fuzzy Memories" chapters are selections that were printed previously in the other books; I was really hoping to see some of those that had slipped through the cracks, such as--

"Whenever I hear the sparrow chirping, watch the woodpecker chirp, catch a chirping trout, or listen to the sad howl of the chirp rat, I think: Oh boy! I'm going insane again."

or

"I remember the time a woodpecker started pecking on the tree outside Mom and Dad's room. He would peck on that tree day and night. Dad tried everything to get rid of him. But nothing seemed to work. So Dad killed himself."

And those are just the ones involving woodpeckers, but they're not included here; ones you've already read in other books are. Handey must be saving them for another book, or maybe I'll just have to get the FUZZY MEMORIES CD-ROM with the extra memories, and that's fine, but I had really hoped to see them here.

I am happy to report, however, that a number of Handey's very funny "Big Thick Novel" pieces made it into the book, as "Little Tiny Stories." My favorite of those, at least at the moment, is "Adrift":

"I drifted in the lifeboat for days, maybe months. To be honest, I guess it wasn't months. That would be too long. 'Weeks" is probably too long too, because I would have dried out or something by then. 'Hours' is too short. To tell you the truth, I don't even think it was a lifeboat."

The book ends with a number of funny transcripts of aired and un-aired TV sketches, primarily Saturday Night Live bits, and I'm glad it does, if for nothing more than the presence of "Deer Heads," which may be the funniest part of the entire book.

This book is genuinely funny, though I'm sure there are people with poor senses of humor that it will not appeal to me, unintelligent freaks that were raised to think that laughter is somehow always inappropriate, and they alone would probably not enjoy this book. For the rest of us, though, who try to enjoy life and think laughter is among the best parts of it, here's this. Get it if you have Handey's other books, and get it if you don't; besides, if you don't have those, you will want them after reading this.

This book makes you wish he'd write one every year. I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe and I thought I was being water boarded.

My favorite is "Thank you for stopping."

Reading Jack Handey is a lot like picking up something that smells really weird and awful and then offering it to someone else and saying,"here,smell this". You just can't keep that kind of thing to yourself.
Some of the passages are a bit too long (kind of like Deep Thoughts meets Faulkner),but that's a small nit to pick with this otherwise excellent companion to Handey's previous works.
You're probably going to finish a segment,think something to yourself like,"this is really sick",and then make a copy and take it to work the next day so you can stick it under someone's nose and say,"here,read this".

I've been a fan for several years, and I'd already read many of the pieces when they were originally published in The New Yorker. But even the ones I'd read before had me laughing and making faintly Germanic snorting noises when I tried to hold back the laughter and not interrupt my wife's bedtime reading. The solution turned out to be our taking turns reading the pieces to each other, also taking turns making laugh/snort sounds. It's a short book, but I'm already re-reading, and liking it just as much on the additional times through.

This item came quickly and in great condition. It was as described, and transaction was easy overall. I appreciate the service.

I was laughing out loud and reading exerpts of this book to my eleven year old son who also found it funny. I found it on a bargain shelf. Attempting describing the humor would be pointless and confusing--except to say it surprises and delights.

This is one of the funniest books I have ever read! I was not a huge fan of Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy- but once I read " My First Day in Hell" I had to buy this book. Attila the Hun's Greatest Speech is a riot. Listen-stop reading this review and buy this book now. You will laugh-I guarantee it :) !