Schizophrenic Satire - Essential Reading
356239
I'm going to meet this guy some day and laugh as loud with him as I did when I read his book. Yet, it's almost satire. Penetrating, poignant and schizophrenic. I loved it.
3396866
Brilliant satire juxtaposing the politics of Germany of the 1920/1940s to that of the present through the mirror of a media bereft of moral identity, anchors, and purpose. The amoral Adolph Hitler is the agent who artfully and effortlessly manipulates this media, early and late in time. Caricatures of various political figures are accurate and highly amusing. For younger readers there is a 'dramatis personae' of these figures at the end of the book. Timur Vermes has an imagination of wonderful scope and his translator, Jamie Bulloch, does an excellent job of getting German nuance into English words. While I can tolerate ethnic humor I thought denigration of Jews and Jewishness was excessive.
3987658
Schumacher has written a very humanistic piece. His writing effortlessly describes the complex emotions that we all feel, but have trouble putting into words.

He has a real talent for dark humor and irony. He successfully manages to juxtapose mediocrity and ludicrousness of the young adult fresh out of college experience. These characters meander meaninglessly through their days, but their pain (and sometimes lack thereof) is as real as anyone's. At the same time, their post-adolescent reactions to the situations they find themselves in will cause visible laughter from even the most rigid reader.

Take Ignatius Reilly's inadvertent humor, mix in some Faulknerian irony, add a dash of Alceste's misanthropy, and you've got Max.
2693614
I loved Anderson's first book, Thirsty, a teenage vampire novel, and particularly his gift for re-creating the simultaneously spooky and comic elements of adolescent angst.  Burger Wuss is a wonderful satire of the  strange intersection of adolescent sensibility and the corporate world.  It  takes place in a thinly disguised McDonald's, where so many teenagers get  their first exposure to real world employment; Anderson has a wonderful  comic gift for language; two of his most brilliant characters are the fast  food manager who talks entirely in corporatespeak, and young Shunt, who  embraces an equally artificial language of anti-corporate militance. The  satire may be a little subtle for the young, but it will be just right for  the literate reader with enough self-knowledge to locate himself in  Anderson's complex hierarchy of the "coolness."
2973143
Ralph is no ordinary infant.  Inside his one-year-old body is a fully matured, literate mind hell-bent to excoriate academia like a post-modern Voltaire.  Glyphically eschewing speech, Ralph wields his pen as if it were  a rapier tipped with deadly acerbic wit.  One by one, the inflated  pretensions of the unrepentant deconstructionists are skewered and burst.  This erudite satire by Percival Everett requires some inside knowledge of  the intellectual gymnastics performed at Western universities during the  past few decades, which may limit its audience.  But for those who venture  forward, their efforts to discern and dissect ultimately will be rewarded.  The thing I will remember most about the book, however, is the moment when  the author interjects (almost as an aside) the most startling expose of  racial stereotyping I have ever read.  I can still feel the shudder of  recognition that even I, who profess total inclusion, may harbor the seeds  of racism deep within my psyche.
407460
Chuck Palahniuk is an author who writes boundary-pushing, perversely twisted, bizarrely funny, male-oriented fiction that isn't likely to appeal to most women and will offend a good number of men as well.  Palahniuk could be described as an author for the `Maxim' generation but his novels are actually smarter than that.  In fact, if you aren't easily offended, you'll find that Palahniuk delivers some of the most perceptive satire you're likely to find anywhere.  Palahniuk writes dialogue and prose that is not only insightful, but `catchy'.  Few authors can pepper their prose with memorable catch-phrases the way Palahniuk can.

The Plot:  Victor is a sex addict who drops out of medical school and who works at a colonial theme park and pretends to choke in fancy restaurants in order to pay the hospital bills for his dying, delusional, anarchist mother.  His best friend is a chronic self-abuser who is attempting to beat his self-gratification addiction by collecting rocks that he obsessively cleans, and on occasion, covers in a blanket to create the illusion that the rock is a baby.  Victor is plagued with childhood memories of being abducted by his mother and life on the run exposed to his mother's paranoia and crazy brand of anarchy (she mislabels hair color packaging so that blondes are turned into brunettes and vise versa and distributes unauthorized restaurant coupons so that restaurants are bombarded with people demanding a free meal).  His perception of himself is shaken when he finds out that he may be the son of Jesus Christ, conceived using DNA from an ancient foreskin; and that somehow, some part of him, might actually be good.

Choke is a novel about addiction and how things need to get a lot worse before they get better.  Choke shares similar themes to Fight Club (most notably the rants on consumer culture).  It has a similar tone in narration and features a revelation near the end of the novel that is reminiscent, in some ways, of Fight Club.  Choke uses absurdly broad strokes to explore the nature of addictive behavior and the drive to self destruction.  The novel also explores religious themes, parenthood, and our illusions of self.  The people who `save' Victor from choking are being scammed, but at the same time, their illusion of heroism defines them.

If you are looking for a stark, realistic character-study probing the soul of a man who suffers from addition, this isn't it.  Palahniuk doesn't write inward looking novels.  He writes satire.  He explores the simple absurdities of life and amplifies them until they are ridiculous, but in their extremes, simple truths can be found.

A warning:  There is a lot of sexual content in this book (although not in a titillating way).  It is crude and explicit and certain to offend people.  There may be women who like this book, but probably not many.  Palahniuk writes with a male voice for a male audience.  He may not be an author for everyone, but for those of us who enjoy his warped world view, Choke is both insightful and outrageously funny.  I haven't seen the movie yet, but I'm looking forward to it.
4512705
This is one of the best autobiographies in re the autism/Asperger's (a/A) spectrum I have ever read.  Schneider, who is plainly a gifted man shatters the myth that people with autism are unable to think abstractly.  A scholar in the humanities and in his own condition, Schneider draws upon a myriad of resources to support his findings.  His background in mathematics and extensive knowledge and research of matters scientific is on a scholarly plane.

Still, Schneider is very inclusive in his writings.  He compliments his readers' intelligence by sharing his knowledge; at no time does he deviate from plain speech.

Schneider discusses the paradoxical aspects of autism.  One tired myth is that people with autism lack emotion.  That is just not true.  Autism is a sensori-neurobiological condition that affects sensory processing and communication to varying degrees.  It is a chiefly sensory condition and for many people on the spectrum, emotions can be frightening and overwhelming.  Many people compensate by displaying a "poker face" rather than give rise to the intensity of their own emotions and responses to stimuli.  That is very common among the a/A population.

Show me a person on the a/A spectrum who doesn't hate surprises and having to cope with having things sprung on them and I'll show you a bulldog that flies.  For many people with autism, surprises can be very threatening and not knowing what the desired response to same is can make for some tricky social navigation.

However, not all autistics have a limited display of emotion, just as not all autistics think in pictures.  Broad generalizations can be very misleading, but I don't get the sense of that with this book.

Autism IS a continuum - its spectrum partner, Asperger's Syndrome is also considered by some to be a form of high functioning autism (HFA).  Whether or not Asperger's is HFA, the fact remains that Asperger's IS a form of autism and for any individual on the a/A spectrum, there will be overlapping behaviors and sensory reactions.

Schneider probes into the neurotypical (NT) world with brilliance and logic.  He is also very funny and many of his trenchant observations are quite witty.  While some may find his risque humor offensive, it can be interpreted as being all in fun and not meant to be taken seriously.

This is a book for everyone, especially people on the a/A spectrum.  Many people with Asperger's, will feel a bond with Schneider.  He is the voice of reason and explanation; he is the professor with the a/A curriculum.  This book is moving; funny; serious; intense; gritty; strong and brilliant.  Parts of it might even make you cry.  Many parts are uproariously funny.  It is a book that will be loved, treasured and savored.  Readers will find themselves thinking about this book and author long after they have turned the last page.
517941
As in her previous novel, My Holocaust, One Hundred Philistine Foreskins is yet another Tova Reich venture into high satire.  This is her genre, and she fearless in her use of its tools.  Nothing escapes her caustic scrutiny.  Everything is fair game.

My Holocaust exposed the dreadful commercialization of the Shoah, while Foreskins offers a look at a wider topic, the place of women in the orthodox Jewish world.  Reich has a great deal to say on this topic, and brings a large amount of background knowledge and information as she lays out her plot.

Reich is an intractably Jewish writer, and it helps the reader to have a rich knowledge of Judaism to appreciate this book.  She throws everything into this novel but the Jewish kitchen sink. The narrator does explain some of the more abstruse references and allusions, but sometimes this does not go too far.  Large parts of this novel are an inside joke.

In the end, Foreskins hovers in a netherworld between humor and rage, offering a glimmer of hope in a world without hope for women.

It is as if Reich, despite all her satirical gifts, which are a thin mask covering her rank misanthropy, cannot give up on humanity and its particular manifestation, the Jewish people.
1870145
An entertaining satire, beautifully translated, on the world of "professional readers", but including really everyone who reads widely and eclectically. Bayard instructs, with tongue appropriately in cheek, us on how to give lectures, converse with critics, authors, and even Professors at length on books that one has not actually read...or read and forgotten. The satire is like the creamy chocolate whose center is expected to be soft, but actually contains a steel ball-bearing of important literary theory, appreciation of which leads to a much greater understanding of literature and its place in our lives. As "no man is an island", so no book stands alone but rather occupies a place somewhere in our own great personal virtual library. The book that I am writing about here is, of course, not the book that you are going to read should you buy it. I have, unconsciously, matched its words, paraphrased it, corrected it, all to conform with my own personal reality and the result is that my book cannot be the same as yours. We might even have a fight over this book, a fight entirely due to the fact that we have read "different books". Different again from the book Professor Bayard thinks that he wrote !!
David
1601231
Perhaps the loftiest of literary goals--and particularly that of the novel, as an art form--is the advancement of society. A novelist can, by means of telling a compelling tale with characters who deal with the most insidious causes of societal decay, create a profound and positive impact, and so stir the reader to thought and action. Diane Klein, with her book, "In the Name of Help: A Novel Exposing Psychiatric Abuse", is such an author--one who passionately tells a powerful story through admirably-crafted characters with guts and heart enough to, in order to help a friend and family member, take on the psychiatric industry and the legal system it uses to enforce employment of its destructive practices (i.e., drugging and ECT, etc).

There is nothing more lethal to the survival of a culture than that which claims to help but, instead, knifes with violence. The alarm this very entertaining story has served to sound for over fifteen years--warning of the abuse that psychiatry wreaks upon our world while masquerading as a helpful profession--rings yet louder, today: one is hard-pressed to find a show on television nowadays which is not sponsored by the latest psychiatric drug, and there are few among us who do not know at least one close friend or family member who has fallen prey to the chemical imbalance ruse foisted upon society by Big Pharma and its handsomely-remunerated pushers, psychiatrists.

"In the Name of Help: A Novel Exposing Psychiatric Abuse" illustrates clearly that real help for mental problems is not only possible, but overcome only though hard work and caring. Diane Klein's novel lays bare the despicable laziness, and desire for obscene profits without any real product, which prompts psychiatry's pharmacological approach and, as such, represents an important work of contemporary literature.
3680417
In attempting to describe Tomas from a general standpoint, it's hard to come up with a concise fit within the boundaries of literary genres or to even come up with another writer whom exemplifies a similar style.  In making the grave sin of comparing Tomas to other titles I've read and other media I've been exposed to, I'd sum it up as the amalgamation of Chuck Palahniuk 's disturbing surrealism, the morality of Boondock Saints, the literary and scientific license of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5, the ebb and flow of Franz Kafka's The Trial, and the far out futurism of Phillip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.  In other words it's frighteningly bizarre and absolutely riveting.

Palumbo captures a rather harsh criticism of modern society and its rather immoral and unhealthy obsessions in a time set in some not so distant future.  The proliferation of reality TV has culminated in the global TV network.  Material wealth requires obscene and ridiculous physical manifestations.  Enter Tomas... the reformed former TV star and a rebel without a very coherent cause.

Tomas's efforts to enact gruesome moral reforms result in a protracted legal trial and ultimately to his untimely execution on live television.  The events that transpire from that point become a complex struggle for good and evil on top of a struggle for national hegemony on a global scale.  In a rapidly unfolding plot, the future of all humanity revolves around the efforts of a call girl, a dying judge, a reporter, an alien with telekinetic powers, and the advice of the late emperor Napoleon.

Palumbo provides readers with their money's worth as the plot twist and turns.  Surprising he takes a cast of freakish and oddly placed characters and ties them together in a strangely-humored modern satire.  The characters are hard not to admire despite their clearly articulated flaws making the essence of the book much more tangible while at the same time inspiring contradicting emotions.

Tomas captures a sense of darkness and despair through a disturbingly constructed vision of the future and Palumbo's twisted sense of humor at times borders on grotesque.  The book accomplishes a snarky worldview that fuels its success as a satire.  It's blood, guts, and money in an insightfully dark social commentary that hits on some open nerves.

In addition Palumbo's talented writing, Tomas also features a number of detailed illustrations which captures the feel of the novel.
4739618
Quite frankly, this book is far better and far more intelligent than it has a right to be.  I read it in one sitting, constantly astounded that what was packaged as "High Fidelity for Atari fans," was actually a genuine piece of literature and social criticism.  The book is hilariously funny, but without any of the cloying sarcastic sensibilities of most Gen-X novels.  Instead, the author uses Pennyman to depict a kind of isolation and obsessiveness that's very familiar nowadays.  He's a truly fascinating psychological portrait, an overly smart man who cannot cope with the inanities of the everyday world.  So he finds solace in something seemingly even more inane, yet invests it with the entire weight of his scientific intelligence.  He reminds me of those people with IQs too high to fit into everday society--the people who wind up bagging groceries while they muse about philosophers and string theory.  But what's most remarkable is that the novel is never pretentious, never forced, never desperate.  Weiss is a very assured writer, who unravels his complicated plot with patience, and who shows great empathy for his lead character.  In short, this brightly packaged book, this tangle of wires put out as a concept--might just be one of the best books of the year.  I can't think of another book that so effortlessly seemed to capture the zeitgeist.
869221
&#65279;Every American who suspects our country has taken a shameful turn ought to have this book nearby for handy reference to the right's new wrongs, and a good laugh in the face of the reality

of the depressing fact that mendacity reigns in the mad, mad world of the Bush administration and its infamous  supporters.

Franken painstakingly disassembles the hoo-ha of Limbaugh, O'Reily, Bush, Cheney and other present day right-wing lying power mongers. And along the way he provides many yuks and

satirical jabs. (The comic book parody of Supply-Side Jesus alone is worth the price of the book).

Franken is no ordinary comic or satirist, he's intelligent, politically astute, compassionate, honest and fearless. By the time you are finished reading "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them" you'll wonder how your could laugh so hard at the dishonesty of so many in power and the destruction they have wreaked.

This is a great book. Do yourself and America a favor: buy it, and read it!
2010050
Excellent book. It is very witty and funny, yet often touches on very serious matters. It shows the turmoil within minds of those of us with mental illness. And it shows the unique struggles we go through when dealing with the mental health system.
3525514
I am about 1/3 through this book, but have recommended it to a number of friends. Yes, I am intrigued with it.

Schizophrenia and Author Elyn Saks, who eventually overcame it, is the story.  Because I have at least one predecessor - and possibly 3 - who had it, it's a special interest.  The most recent was diagnosed in about 1926 or 1927, the Dark Age of psychiatry.  It's likely that there were 2 more ancestors who struggled with it about 100-125 years ago.

Saks details her life, showing the normal family she came from and moving into the "madness" that started briefly at age 8 and then attacked full force in her teen years.  That part of it is clearly described and not always easy to read, but so revealing.  I would recommend it to anyone, but especially those who have a strong interest in schizophrenia.
1260041
Great book. Some of it is funny too. The ministry of Love, which is in charge or torturing, is called Miniluv in the language of Newspeak. The book presents a picture of a futuristic cruel society. Unlike A Brave New World, I would not want to live in this society. Some of the things that go on in this book one can relate to the real world. For example, in the book constant war is a stimulant to the economy, which resembles how some presidents use war to stimulate a bad economy in our times. The book also contains a book within a book, which appears to be an original concept. The book within the book describes an elaborate construction of the workings and politics of the Party. The torture that takes place is incredible. The Newspeak language was an interesting idea designed to reduce the possibilities of thought crimes by reducing the numbers of words in the language. The ideal speaker quacks like a duck, duckspeaking, such that speaking originates from the larynx as opposed from the brain. Duckspeaking is a marvelous, but scary idea indeed.
4169296
Originally written in the aftermath of the social upheavals of the 1960s, this book may seem dated to some.  But if the specific social context has changed, the fragmentation of American society continues unabated, as does the crisis of the human spirit that this book describes and addresses.  So, for me, the book remains supremely relevant, supremely perceptive, brilliantly written, and hilariously funny.

Set in the Deep South of an America in a virtual state of civil war and anarchy, "Love In The Ruins" follows the exploits of its flawed hero, Dr. Tom More, a boozing psychiatrist and lapsed Catholic.  More has invented the lapsometer - a "stethoscope of the soul" - that enables people to both diagnose and treat their inner demons.  But in the wrong hands, the lapsometer can wreak havoc, and much of the book traces More's efforts to keep the lapsomoter out of the hands of a government determined to use the lapsometer for its own nefarious purposes.

Percy brilliantly describes and satirizes the competing elements in this American Apocalypse - the country club conservatives, the "groovy" priests, the religious Right and Left, the technocrats, the sexologists, the racists, the Black revolutionaries, the drop-outs, and the sinister but bungling government bureaucrats who have their own vision of a "Brave New World."

From its masterful opening pages (which, contrary to another reviewer, I think are just about the best writing I've seen in modern American literature) this book will outrage partisans of the Left and Right while giving hope to those who try to occupy the "radical center" where the human spirit is defended against the predations of all the "isms" of the modern world.