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Apocalypse Wow Hardcover – April 24, 1997

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 15 ratings

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The best-selling author of Politically Correct Bedtime Stories shares his trenchant observations on the New Age world, UFO conspiracies, the Internet, the apocalypse, commercialism, harmonic convergences, numerology, and other intriguing topics. 500,000 first printing. Tour.
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

With the millennium fast approaching and Armageddon just around the corner, one fundamental question lingers: how will it all come down? In search of an answer, James Finn Garner conducted an exhaustive and hilarious examination of nearly every source readily available for predicting the future, including boiled tea leaves, crystal balls, and severed donkey heads. With plenty of wit and tongue planted firmly in cheek, Garner seeks to uncover the universal truths behind crop circles, harmonic convergence, and channeling. Continuing the irreverent style he established with his bestselling Politically Correct Bedtime Stories, he has fun with conspiracy theorists and shysters alike, providing a fun read for those not busy stockpiling provisions.

From the Publisher

As the year 2000 bears down, the best-selling author of Politically Correct Bedtime Stories, James Finn Garner, confronts a series of monumental questions: Will we remember to order new checks from the bank? Did our invitation to the Kennedy New Year's party get lost in the mail again? Are we all poised on the brink of worldwide enlightenment or complete planetary destruction? Should you really bother investing in that Five-Year CD?

"Tonight," in the unforgettable words of The Artist Formerly Known as Prince, "We're gonna party like it's 1999." The end is near...or at least nearer than it used to be, says Garner. Humanity is wracked by millennial panic and apocalyptic anticipation -- or if it isn't already, just wait until it reads Garner's latest (and last?). In it, he sets off on a slightly-to-the-South-of-skeptical pilgrimage in search of the truth behind the end times predictions.END

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster (April 24, 1997)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 176 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0684836491
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0684836492
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 15 ratings

About the author

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James Finn Garner
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James Finn Garner's best known book is "Politically Correct Bedtime Stories", which spent 64 weeks on the New York Times Best-seller list, including six weeks in the top position. The book was also a best-seller in England and Canada, and has been translated into more than 25 languages. Its sequels, "Once Upon A More Enlightened Time" and "Politically Correct Holiday Stories", were also best sellers around the world.

His latest work is a mystery series set in a ghetto full of washed-up circus lifers. "Rex Koko, Private Clown" is the world's first and only hero of Clown Noir, a mashup of "Freaks" and "The Maltese Falcon". Titles include "Honk Honk, My Darling" (2011 Book of the Year, Chicago Writers Association), "Double Indignity" and "The Wet Nose of Danger" (2014 Book of the Year, CWA). Babes! Bullets! Banana peels! Please count your change before you leave the window.

Among his other books are "Tea Party Fairy Tales" (a Kindle Single Exclusive from Amazon) "Recut Madness" and "Apocalypse WOW!: A Memoir for the End of Time".

A former columnist with Chicago Magazine, Garner's writing has been broadcast on NPR and the BBC, and appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Playboy, and TV Guide.

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4.2 out of 5 stars
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2014
    I bought this as a gift for a relative and received one of today's rarities, a written thank you note. Actually on paper, written by hand. That goes a long way to describing how well the book was received.
  • Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2024
    Clever book.
  • Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2007
    First off, is it so hard to take this as something other than Y2K humor? Given the continued survival of people like Deepak Chopra and Pat Robertson, and the general anti-intellectual climate of American life, this book didn't lose relevance when the lights failed to go out on 1/1/2000.

    Garner's humor is quite dry and snarky, and admittedly that doesn't appeal to everyone. But I think he captures the attitude of a great many skeptics towards poorly thought out spiritual, pseudoscientific, and pseudohistorical writings and themes that, despite being unprovable or outright ridiculous, still inflame the thoughts of many a true believer. Essentially, Garner's work here presents it, not as the subject for serious debate that many of these ideas' promonents want to frame it as, but illogical garbage worthy only of mockery and ridicule. This offends some? So be it. We skeptics have as much right to informed mockery of these half-baked ideas as their proponents do to put them out there.

    Garner does cover a lot of ground, too -- disguised behind Garner's mostly-fictional (and often hilariously inept) adventures are strident criticisms of pyramidiocy, Atlantean obsession, ersatz Native American spirituality (of the type practiced by people referred to by humorist Robert Lanham as Cherohonkees, fluffbunny paganism, and the ominous singlemindedness of Christian fundamentalism, culminating in a three-for-the-price-of-one skewering of media-whore preachers, talk radio, and gematria such as the Bible Code. Numerous sidebars mock the tortured logic of woo practitioners, including measuring out Yankee Stadium with an ever-diminishing hot dog, listing the centuries' many candidates for Antichrist, and shooting down false prophets left and right.

    As long as people let themselves be ruled by argument from authority and wishful thinking, there will always be a need for critical thinking. In the same way as Martin Gardner's Fads and Fallacies is still relevant over half a century after its initial publication despite the disappearance of much of the woo it chronicles, Apocalypse Wow! retains its interest despite the turning over of the millennium because even as fads pass, the faulty thought process remains. Even if it is out of print, it's still worth grabbing a copy.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2002
    Okay, so the millenium has passed, but there are still some who say that apocalyptic doom is just around the corner. James Finn Garner has taken all this doom and gloom and dissected it with a satirist's wit, hopefully putting all your fears to rest. Imagine the skepticism of a James Randi combined with the irreverence of a Michael Moore as he tackles everything from the Bible to UFOs. Maybe now you'll be able to sleep at night. I recommend reading this with Stephen Jay Gould's QUESTIONING THE MILLENIUM.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2006
    "Apocalypse Wow!" is James Finn Garner's take on all things eschatological. He promises a funny take on Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce, the Jehovah's Witnesses, and other who have found the need to predict the end of the world.

    After his triumph with "Politically Correct Bedtime Stories," I was hoping for another Garner home run. What I got was a bunt single. The roughest going is Garner's style. It is appropriately snarky, but it's often hard to tell whether he is giving straight history, making a joke, or just making random (and therefore funny?) statements. At the very least, I hoped for a book that explored the foibles of human beings when faced with imminent cosmic catastrophe. What I got was a series of comical remarks without the context to make them funny or educational.

    I'm disappointed. I found that I had to push myself to turn the pages. Also, the printing values -- especially the pages printed white on black or using script font -- render some text literally unreadable. Hence the 2 star rating.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2000
    This one is just for the fun of it! What did you do the night the millennium ended? This author has some hilarious ideas about what to do & how we did it when the odometer clicked over from 999. If you're religiously sensitive I advise you to give this little book a miss, if on the other hand, you have a lively sense of the absurd, love to have your tongue tied up in exuberant language & take humor literally you will get much irreverent & novel comedy from those burning questions that cropped up. Will the warranty still be valid in 00? A little outdated now as we all know we've survived yet good enough for a laugh or three.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 1998
    Garner concludes his analysis of the book of Revelation (in particular) by correlating its vision with the persecution of Christians under Nero. This banal and misdirected exegesis eases his conscience over having to take the myriad of apocalyptic visions of the scriptures (Isaiah 24-27, Jeremiah 30, Psalm 83, Daniel 7-12, Zechariah 12-14, Zephaniah 3, Joel 2, Matthew 24, II Thessalonians 2, etc...) seriously. If you want to mock the scriptures, Mr. Garner, go right ahead. We live in a free country. However, there is no reason to alleviate eschatological tension by revealing that the Bible "doesn't really teach an imminent Armageddon." It does, and I don't think any honest invidual could deny it, regardless of the commentaries to be found in his library.
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2000
    A terrific send up of the end-of-the-world timers and prophets. Putting all the enlightement (new age) and biblical end-of-time predicitons in one spot just highlights how ridiculous the lot of them are. Nicely written with a great combination of 'Oh Gosh, isn't this wonderful' straight man approach and sly digs hidden (or not so hidden) throughout the text.
    4 people found this helpful
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