The Borowitz Report: The Big Book of Shockers (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Humorist Borowitz (Who Moved My Soap?; Governor Arnold) skewers the usual suspects in this amusing collection of short satirical pieces from his eponymous Web site. He adopts the classic humor format of the fake newspaper article, in which the earnest, literal-minded style of mainstream journalism plays straight man to the satirical content. Subjects include vague terror alerts ("U.S. Issues List of 5,000 Bad Things That Might Happen Someday"), politics ("Poll: Soccer Moms Feel Taken for Granted by NASCAR Dads"), corporate hypocrisy ("Philip Morris Changes Name to Altria; Changes Name of Cigarettes to 'Health Stix' "), science ("Increasingly, Aliens Are Creating Half-Assed Crop Circles"), over-exposed celebrities ("David Blaine to Go 44 Days Without Publicity—Boldest Stunt Yet for Master Magician") and, of course, President George W. Bush ("Bush Wins Nobel War Prize"; "Cheney, Briefly Assuming Bush's Duties, Says He Enjoyed the Downtime"). An ongoing blog imagines North Korean dictator Kim Jong-II writing in the voice of a laid-back frat-boy obsessed with amassing fissionable material. A few bits are a little broad ("Queen Elizabeth Caught Smoking Pot"), but almost all the pieces are as funny as a decent Tonight Show monologue, while many attain the level of inspired Onion spoof. B&w photos throughout.
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Review

"A devastatingly accurate, laugh-out-loud parody."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; illustrated edition edition (September 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743262778
• ISBN-13: 978-0743262774
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #721,925 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Go to Bed With Jon Stewart, Wake up With Andy Borowitz, September 20, 2004

By	A reader (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

When people ask me how I get the news, this is what I tell them: I go to bed with Jon Stewart and I wake up with Andy Borowitz.

Borowitz's daily emails from BorowitzReport.com are unfailingly laugh-out-loud hilarious, but more than that, they provide me with my only link to sanity. And tremendous insight into the increasingly surreal world in which we live.

The minute this book came out I ordered it, and having read it five times already, I can assure you it does not disappoint. On every page is one of Borowitz's classic columns, out-Onioning the Onion, plus a trove of material I had never seen anywhere before. Perhaps best of all, in a world of partisan bickering, Andy Borowitz takes his shots at Democrats and Republicans alike, not to mention Ralph Nader, Bono and David Blaine.

A few years ago, before he got huge, Jon Stewart was the comedy world's best kept secret. Today, that man is Andy Borowitz, and with this breakout book he is destined to be recognized as one of the funniest men in America.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lock Up Your Copy!, October 2, 2004

By	a reader (Santa Monica) - See all my reviews

I just purchased this book and love it - that's the good news. The bad news is that my college-age son saw me laughing my head off while reading it in the kitchen. Now he's stolen the book from me and I can't seem to get it back. After years of disagreeing about what's funny or not (he thinks all the comedians I like are hopelessly lame) we have finally found one person we both think is truly hilarious - Andy Borowitz. This is the rarest of humor books - one that goes for old-fashioned belly-laughs but is at the same time completely up to date and cutting-edge. It also offers a unique history of the events of the past three years (the "war on terror" and Iraq in particular) that seems oddly truer than "serious" books on the same topics. (The story about the weapons inspectors asking Saddam if someone will be home in Iraq between the hours of 8 and 12 is priceless; so are the articles ridiculing Tom Ridge, a favorite Borowitz target.)

With the precious gift of comedy, Andy Borowitz has created a world that seems to make more sense than the world we see on CNN every day. I for one would rather live in his world. And so I would wholeheartedly recommend The Borowitz Report: The Big Book of Shockers, but if you have a family I would suggest getting more than one copy.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Satirical Weapons of Mass Destruction, September 26, 2004

By	a reader (Maine) - See all my reviews

THE BOROWITZ REPORT is perfect for anyone looking for a good, hearty bellylaugh (as the other reviewers point out) but I think it's a lot more than that. After reading this book (and then buying four more copies for friends), I asked myself what separates Andy Borowitz's comedy from so many other purveyors of "satire" on the scene today. I think it's this -- Borowitz blows away his targets in a way that is never mean but always hilarious. He completely avoids the kind of partisan attacks that simply preach to the converted and instead reaches for the deeper truth. And he never tells us what we already know and have heard too many times. Somehow he manages to do this while making us scream with laughter. Amazing.

I can't single out one column in this book that is my favorite, but it might be this one: CHENEY'S BRIEF APPEARANCE, RETURN TO SECURE LOCATION MAY MEAN SIX MORE WEEKS OF WINTER. That is worth the entire $9.95 and then some.