101 Damnations: The Humorists' Tour of Personal Hells (Hardcover)

by Michael Rosen (Author) "Let us imagine a domestic scene..." (more)
Key Phrases: friendship bread, sea monkeys, New York, Late Show, New Jersey (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Mass e-mails. Telemarketers. People who call the Hamptons "the country." Muggers, allergies, teenagers and things that stick to the soles of your shoes. In 101 Damnations: The Humorists' Tour of Personal Hells, edited by Michael J. Rosen (Mirth of a Nation), writers and humorists take quick, hilarious swipes at the things that drive them crazy. From Kurt Andersen's one-paragraph consideration of "the weird remarks between silence and praise," to Andy Borowitz's dismissal of the phrase "and all that good stuff," to Onion writer Tim Harrod's list of things he simply hates ("Reality TV, Tailgaters, Hangnails... Cartoons that Look Distinctive but not Expressive... Cheap Wristwatches), this collection is sure to please curmudgeons, cynics, Luddites and average fed-up Americans everywhere.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
We've all got pet peeves that drive us crazy, and this volume covers them all: cell phones in public places, porn e-mails, joke e-mails, SUVs, David Blaine, and one of my personal favorites, Amish friendship bread. Editor Rosen, the literary director of Thurber House and author of Mirth of a Nation, has compiled an entertaining collection of essays by various humorists that covers the things they (and often the readers) love to hate. Contributors include Calvin Trillin, Merrill Markoe, and Jon Scieszka, among others. On Amish friendship bread, Celia Rivenbark observes: "Amish friendship bread is a woman thing. Sure, we pretend to be friends, but when it comes right down to it, women only make new women friends so that, one day, they'll be able to pawn off a bag of friendship bread 'starter' on them .The starter looks like baby spit-up and is usually accompanied by a recipe only slightly shorter than the Constitution." Been there, done that! Recommended for most humor collections. Kathy Ingels Helmond, Indianapolis-Marion Cty. P.L.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; 1st edition (August 3, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312284802
• ISBN-13: 978-0312284800
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #449,111 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If you hate it, it's in here, September 4, 2002

By A Customer

With an all-star lineup of funny folk, you'd expect something hilarious, and that's often what you get with 101 Damnations. Grouped into 9 circles of hell, everyone from Calvin Trillin to writers for the Letterman Show take off on golf, Tuscany, customer service, going bald -- you hate it, they cover it.
The essays are all very short - some hardly worthy of "essay" status - and most are thought provoking, and will definitely get a rise out of you. Some of the pieces, however, are truly hilarious, such as Kevin Shay's take on people who mime being on the phone by using their thumb and pinky, Camuso and Seely's movie trailers, and Andrew Marlatt's "My Left Hair," which describes the true feelings of the haired vs. the un-haired.

Overall, you will absolutely not be dissapointed with this book, and at times you will laugh out loud. Ideal for any bathroom reading library.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Tailgaters, Telemarketers, Limp Handshakes, & More!, September 15, 2002

By	Roy E. Perry "amateur philosopher" (Nolensville, Tennessee) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Alexander Pope once wrote, "Wit is that which has oft been thought, but never so well expressed." The present volume, 101 DAMNATIONS, well illustrates Pope's observation.

The "damnations" in this quirky compendikum refer to pet peeves, people, and things that irritate and annoy. Although we could make our own list of such vexations, chances are we would not have the wit to express them so humorously.

For example, Louise Rafkin writes: "Women's handshakes . . . Some are limp as old celery, others flaccid as dead fish." And Merrill Markoe says about cell-phone etiquette: "These people seem to think they cannot really go anywhere unaccompanied by a phone. And along with this obsessive-compulsive need for continuous phoning, any respect for the privacy of others has melted away like the snows of yesteryear."

Tailgaters. Telemarketers. Operating manuals written in arcane, esoteric language. People who play rap music at jet-plane decibel lebels. "Reality TV" programs. The list goes on and on.

Here are excerpts from three of the best:

David Ives: "last year a record 16,238 people had near-death experiences in this country--some 200 of them without financial gain and some 50 without appearing on afternoon talk shows. . . . Many people know Kubler-Ross's five steps to death: anger, denial, blame, grief, and acceptance. Thanatologists now recognize the five steps of near-death: surprise, delight, shlock, mild boredom, and a book contract."

David Martin: "For years, I assumed that the frustration visited on me by bureaucrats was just the inevitable result of dealing with large, inefficient organizations. But now I suspect that there's a secret school somewhere that rains these cruel creatures. A school with a catalog like this: Welcome to the Bureaucrats' Institute, and congratulations on choosing a career as an obfuscation and complication specialist. Start out learning the basics, from paper shuffling to the telephone runaround. Then move on to the specialty skills you'll need to add red tape to any organization."

Michael Gerber and Jonathan Schwarz, from Thirty Things I HATE about Hell: "1. It's really cliquey. 2. You get this weird vibe from Satan if you joke about him being in that SOUTH PARK movie. 3. The biting black flies out by the Lake of Everlasting Fire. 5. No ESPN. C'mon! That's part of basic cable! 6. The snotty e-mails you get from your friends in heaven. . . . 25. Hitler. You're not funny, so stop trying."

There are at least a dozen selections that will have you laughing out loud. As you read this book, keep in mind the wisdom of George Bernard Shaw: "When anything is funny, search it for a hidden truth."

And, as the writer of the Book of Proverbs puts it, "A cheerful heart is like a good medicine." Tickle your funny bone, wipe that frown off your face, and indulge yourself with laughter with 101 DAMANATIONS.

Michael J. Fosen is the author, illustrator, or editor of some fifty books for both adults and children, including the biennial humor series, MIRTH OF A NATION.

3.0 out of 5 stars Pleasant but very caustic for one sitting, October 22, 2007

By	John Jesionowski "aka Gideon Bailey" (Raleigh, NC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I like the writers and the stories but so much cynicism in one book required me to put it down before finishing it. It's been a year since then and I'm sure I'll pick it up again but I'm not rushing to it.