and often funny, insight into the characters themselves
931874
The vast majority of the novel covers the events between the epilogues of Bernheimer's 'Confessions of a D-List Supervillain' and provides some very interesting, and often funny, insight into the characters themselves.  The rest of the story is a 'current' narrative of Cal's newest adventures leading up to the next book in the series.

I personally enjoyed the expanded back story on Imaginary Larry and Hilly Billy Bobby and loved the development of Wendy as the novel progressed.

Secrets is certainly an excellent addition to the D-List Supervillain series  and I can't wait for the next installment.
1028620
So, imagine if a person, who was some sort of amalgam of Woody Allen, Franz Kafka, Isaac Babel, and Bernard Malamud had, instead of devoting themselves from an early age to perfecting and honing their writing, become a physician, or an architect, or, as was actually the case, a distinguished civil rights lawyer. Then, at age 70, they had decided to write a darkly satiric comedic novel. I think the results would be something like this. That is, always entertaining, with a satire that ranged from heavy to amusingly over-the-top, that made me wryly smile on almost every page, and laugh aloud a few times. The hero, a kosher butcher, gets into legal trouble in the vaguely recognizable Republic's capital city of Fettig. What ensued, always held my interest, showed a close knowledge of the legal system's flaws and workings, and was well-plotted, with lively characters, who, despite all exaggerations, actually usually rang true. It's a four-hour read. You might well want to take it to the beach or on an airplane flight, and be amused. I was.
4120360
As Peter Marmorek's relationship with his dog Rui develops, Peter muses on the observations and challenges it offers. We see how having a dog, like many other commitments -- like work, hobbies, and human relationships -- teaches us more about ourselves, changes us, helps us to add more pieces to the puzzle-of-life picture, to make new connections in our understanding of what it's all about; even though we will probably never finish the puzzle, we may hope to get a sense of its wholeness, of its composition and meaning, to feel more complete and whole within ourselves.

I laughed out loud at some of the puns and one example of egregiously exaggerated alliteration, because I know Peter and his wonderful sense of humor, and his smile when everyone is groaning and writhing on the floor over his wordplay.
4326955
I found myself reading parts of this out loud to my husband because the descriptions of these unusual characters were so humorous at times.
3130236
Brilliant, provocative, and amusing throughout.  Often hilarious.
4504406
A collection of stories about a series of protagonists -- predominantly but not exclusively male -- whom you may not wish to emulate but whose blunt honesty you will invariably appreciate. Most of these are tales of young men making bad choices as they sort out who they want to be and what (if anything) has real meaning in their lives. Many are told by an older, sometimes somewhat wiser, narrator remembering earlier times when things went wrong, and could easily have gone worse (maybe that's where the luck comes in). They are written directly, with an eye to odd and sometimes quite humorous details. I enjoyed these stories a lot.
3054857
I enjoyed reading this, it was a fun romp with some serious meaning too. A nice take on a college kid dealing with what he considers a character flaw (anxiety) and how he gets a handle on this and learns others are not so different with "flaws" of their own. It's funny, well paced, relatable situations for that age group, and the characters are fairly well drawn and quite believable (well, Grandma Gertie is a bit of a stretch!)
2073372
Picked this up by chance, and I love it! A funny little peek into Rehoboth every time I open the book.
3324319
Piercing insight, masterful character perspective.  A treasure.
3849809
This isn't as light hearted as Lawson's first book, but it's funny, nonetheless. It gets serious in lots of places, and I suppose that's fine, but I preferred the chapters that focused on funny anecdotes from Lawson's hapless everyday existence. I like it when Lawson is giving her readers her unique P.O.V. & relates stories about her family and her whacky adventures/ interactions with others.
222665
I found my self laughing out loud at the character descriptions and the situations they found themselves in. A different approach to a mystery.
2723375
WELL-WRITTEN, QUITE FUNNY IN PLACES, BUT PERHAPS A LITTLE TOO SEF-ABSORBED
1120016
I love the blog, so when I had the chance to own some of the comics in dead tree format, I was pretty happy. After all, I can't always be on the Internet, right?

The good thing about this book is that for the most part, the charm of the blog comes through. Brosh is a funny, talented individual that manages to entertain even when the subject of her entry is fairly sad in nature, as in the case with her now well-known blog entries about depression. I'm really glad that both parts of the depression themed blog entry made it into this book because it's so terribly important to make sure that people are aware that this type of depression happens. As someone who can have some pretty dark moments of depression, it really is wonderful to know that I'm not alone. I can only imagine that others feel the same way.

Now the only downfall is that somehow something gets lost in the translation from blog to book. I can't even fathom why this would even begin to be so. It might be because some of the pictures were re-drawn for the book entry, but I don't think that's it. Perhaps it's just that some thing work better online than they do in a book? Dunno. It might just be that I've read the original blog entries for some of these so often that I'm sort of immune to their humor at this point, even while I'm still entertained each time I read them. This really won't be an issue for anyone that is relatively or completely new to Brosh's humor, but it might be for fans of her blog. However the good thing is that there are new entries to read and the old material is still fun.

Despite this slight issue (which isn't really a big issue), I'd totally recommend this for just about anyone that likes a good laugh.
1174907
Few things seem to perplex heterosexual women more than the minds of men. Thanks to differences in the wiring of the brain as well as variations in social conditioning, men and women tend to perceive some things in remarkably different ways. Dating is, of course, no exception, which is why both men and women so often complain about how challenging it can be to understand the wants and needs of the opposite sex.

Luckily, thanks to author Phil Torcivia, women now have a way to gain some insight into the minds of men while being thoroughly entertained in the process. In his book, Such a Nice Guy, Phil Torcivia offers one hilarious anecdote after the other about the dating adventures of a middle-aged, divorced man. Though he readily admits to having embellished the situations that he describes for dramatic effect, it seems fairly obvious that both his perspective and imagination hold some valuable clues about how men perceive dating, relationships, and the women that they encounter along the way.

Though he touches upon a few subjects that are typically of a serious nature, such as infidelity, dissatisfying relationships, and emotional baggage, Torcivia puts such a humorous spin on each of them that his approach is sure to leave you tickled, if not laughing out loud altogether. Many of the stories in the book offer as much enlightenment as they do entertainment value. One such example can be found in a chapter titled, "If You Love Him, Leave for Him", wherein Torcivia makes a good case for why it is important to recognize when a relationship has run its course and to avoid staying with a partner for all the wrong reasons.

Another memorable and amusing chapter in Torcivia's book is titled "How Do I Work You?" in which he makes a comical request for women to assist the men that they date by preparing instruction manuals that highlight their unique operating styles and tastes. In between insightful tidbits about how men think and what they want from women, Torcivia also includes a few stories that reveal quite a bit about his own personality and some of the things that make him tick, which I imagine can work both for and against him if any of his future dating candidates happen to have read his book.

I honestly can't think of anything that I didn't like about Such a Nice Guy. It was a funny and informative glimpse into the minds of men that kept me highly entertained and allowed me to look at some common dating situations in a new, more comical light. While it is undoubtedly an entertaining read for both genders, I think women definitely stand to gain some valuable insights from this book. If you get a chance to pick up a copy of Such a Nice Guy, I highly recommend you do so.
450656
A good insight into the character's life, if one gets.over the beginning. Good glimpses of humor and good storytelling throughout
3108383
A fun little read about film, comedy and self-analysis. Patton makes reading about someone else's flaws and epiphanies more fun than it should be. (Bonus: it's also a fun/sad chronicle of now-lost bits of San Francisco and LA)
4895539
This book is useful for any person who wishes to get a deeper insight into the traditional Korean way of thinking and traditional Korean custom. It is often quite humorous, irreverent, and revealing of Korean history, Buddhist history in Korea and the wisdom of Korean people. Enjoy!