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Naked Through The Snow and Other Bits of Silliness Paperback – May 1, 2002

by Sailor Jim Johnston (Author)

15 ratings

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Print length

170 pages
Publisher

Quaternion Press Publishing House
Publication date

May 1, 2002
ISBN-10

0967253535
ISBN-13

978-0967253534
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"It's the most consitently interesting and entertaining nonfictionbook I've read in a long time." -- Spider Robinson

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Quaternion Press Publishing House; First American Edition. (May 1, 2002)
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 170 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0967253535
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0967253534

Best Sellers Rank: #5,146,733 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews:
15 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		62%
4 star		38%
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2 star 0% (0%)		0%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Alison Marlowe

A Usenet Legend comes to paperback

Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2002

Verified Purchase

I've been reading SJ's little bits of silliness for about four or five years now. It's great to have them all in one place and in portable format for lending to friends. I highly recommend putting down any food or drink before picking this book up, because you will laugh yourself silly. Oh, yeah - don't judge this book by its cover. And don't forget to read the index.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Manuel McLure

Roll on the floor laughing

Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2002

Every human culture has a "storyteller" - someone who sits by the fire, surrounded by attentive ears hanging on every word, as they spin a tapestry of fact, fancy and emotion. Sailor Jim is the modern archetype of the storyteller. His way with words, when combined with an ability to find the absurd in what we take for granted, allow us to see exactly what's so funny about life. And his talent is not limited to comedy: some of his best stories are anything but.
Of course, Sailor Jim has an unfair advantage over the rest of the literary world. Most writers just need a good imagination (to make stuff up), or need to have something interesting happen to them (so they can write ad infinitum about this). Sailor Jim not only has a good imagination, many, many, many interesting things happen to him. As a weirdness magnet, Sailor Jim has no equal.
The stories in this book can be divided into three types: stories that are probably true, stories that are probably not true, and stories that *should* be true even if they aren't. There's comedy, drama, and the occasional bad pun thrown in to balance the books. Don't expect to pick it up, read a story and put it down. You'll read it all the way through at the first sitting, and then probably turn back to the first page and read it through again. And probably read it once more for good measure, and suddenly notice that it's way past your bedtime.
It's probably a good thing that the first ever storyteller, the one that sat around the first ever fire and told stories in guttural grunts to the men, women and children waiting for the dawn's mammoth hunt, wasn't as good as Sailor Jim. Because if he had, we wouldn't be here. They would have been to engrossed to tend the fire, to guard against the saber-toothed tiger, and the proto-humans would have died out. And the world would now be run by the lizard-people, who have no sense of humor, so they don't understand puns.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Sam

The Very Best Comedy Comes with a Grain of Pain

Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2002

This collection of short stories made me laugh so hard that tears ran from my eyes. The material is, for the most part, very adult, but I found it enjoyably so, never too adult for comfort.
This is the book I read when I am _very_ badly in need of a laugh, when my own life seems rather too bleak and utilitarian. It never fails to dissolve me in chortles and sniggers, outright laughs, and breathless giggle attacks. Visitors who know of this book's presence in my library come simply to read it, often aloud. It is, unlike the rest of my collection, never permitted out of my home, regardless of whom asks for it to be lent.
Visitors who know nothing of it are often ensnared by my own reading of a passage or two - and these folks are frequently required to take the book out of my hand when I am too breathless with laughter to continue my oration. Then they attempt to finish that story aloud, and without fail, they begin to read the next story, usually not bothering to continue to read aloud.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Kindle Customer

Why You Should Never Eat or Drink While Reading This Book!

Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2002

My husband asked why I was laughing so hard I could barely breathe. I held up this book. My daughter asked why I was crying. I held up this book. This happened a LOT while I was reading this book. I was also accosting people and reading the "good bits". Okay, I admit it... that was everything in the book. There are parts of this book that should NOT be read to children. But if you are an adult with a sense of humor... you should read this book. I know that I'll need at least three copies for Christmas... no, maybe four... wait, five! Yes! That's it! I need at least six. Oh? You say you want to know why you should never eat or drink while reading this book? Read the book.

5 people found this helpful

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Lisa Johnson

One of my favorite books, ever.

Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2016

This is perhaps the funniest book I have ever read. It's the kind of book that you want a whole box of, because you will want to share it with everyone with out ever giving up your copy. You will not regret paying $35 or more for it. If I lost my copy, I'd pay that in a heartbeat. Wish they would republish it!

One person found this helpful

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J. M. Schroeder

One of the best books ***ever***!

Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2002

Sailor Jim is one of those authors who is *really* aware of how absurd life can be and and doesn't mind sharing it with us. Much of this book is funny. Parts may be heart-rending. Whether it's marriage, cats, toilets, traffic or the workplace, Sailor Jim has something to say that's worth reading. There are some adult situations and language that enhance rather than detract from the stories.

3 people found this helpful

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Glenda Wilson

Very, very funny

Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2013

There should be a warning label: Do not read while eating or drinking. (I first read these stories when they were posted to a Usenet newsgroup, ages ago.)

I don't have enough superlatives for this. So, soooo funny. (I'm now on my second copy, as I mistook the character of someone I loaned the first copy to.)

2 people found this helpful

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Suzanne K. Moses

An incredible storyteller who is living an incredible life

Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2002

What can I say? Sailor Jim is one of the best storytellers around and fate has given him entirely too much inspiration. Lucky for the rest of us. This book is a side-splitting and sometimes emotional ride through an incredible life. From defending handicap parking spaces through wild office escapades to hilarious relationships.
How in the /world/ did he get himself in /that/ situation? *chuckle* Even after reading the book, you might not quite believe it.
Wonderful, laugh-out-loud book.
Buy this man a drink, he certainly deserves it.

One person found this helpful

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