The History Of The World According To Facebook: Amazon.ca: Wylie Overstreet: Books

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“I think Abraham Lincoln would find this book funny. Right after he decided Facebook was a huge waste of time.” (Justin Halpern, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of Sh*t My Dad Says )

Product Description

In August 2010, Wylie Overstreet published a satirical article called "If Historical Events Had Facebook Statuses" on the website CoolMaterial.com. Within a month, it had received 3 million views and had been "liked" by 120,000 Facebook users.

In A WORLD HISTORY ACCORDING TO FACEBOOK, Overstreet expands this concept into a full-length history of the world, from its creation up through to the present day, as if Facebook had existed all along and Abraham Lincoln had written a status update about "taking the missus to the theater" on April 15, 1865 and Ben Franklin had done the same alerting his network that he'd signed the Declaration of Independence ("Bring it," replied John Adams). Filled with hundreds of real-life historical figures and thousands of not-at-all-real Facebook statuses, comments, and actions, and parodying Facebook users' proclivity to over-share and use lazy jargon ("lol," "rofl," "fml," etc.), this is the definitive humor book for our generation.

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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover

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3.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)

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3.0 out of 5 stars Makes You Reassess What History Is, Feb 20 2012

By

Anastasia Prozorova "Prokrida" (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The History Of The World According To Facebook (Paperback)

The format of the book is ingenious :)) It's fun to read, but at some point you ask yourself why the author chose those specific stories to retell the history of the world in a Facebook fashion. Why the hell does it contain so much of the religious cr*p? Why is it so Western-centric? But, considering the medium for this story-telling, it makes a lot of sense. Facebook is largely a Western technology where history is constructed according to the web-laymen in short posts which one can "like" or comment upon... If you need a light book to spend some time of your purposeless life laughing, "The History of the World According to Facebook" is perfect :)) But if you are still pretending to be a serious person, smart pants, then just go read about the creation of and the idea behind Wikipedia... It's amazing what you can learn about collective construction of information and history.

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Amazon.com: 4.1 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really funny and creative, guffaw-inducing, comedy, Oct 11 2011

By Monoxylon - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: The History Of The World According To Facebook (Paperback)

It says right on the cover "A PARODY !!!", referring both to the history of the world, and to Facebook. This comical frolic redacts the world history as a series of Facebook wall snippets among imaginary and not so imaginary user accounts. In doing so Mr. Overstreet cunningly parodies both Facebook conventions (etiquette, language, humor) and Historical pretensions (merging both scientific, religious, political, and chronological modes that otherwise would never be caught dead in the same book).

I recommend this highly to anyone who enjoys a good laugh, and who takes neither themselves nor Facebook nor the history of the world too seriously.

Now excuse me while I go un-friend god.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Clever, humorous and even educational, Oct 11 2011

By Media Man - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: The History Of The World According To Facebook (Paperback)

Facebook can be educational? Surely you jest. I'll admit I'm on Facebook at most twice a Week so I'm hardly what you'd call an avid user. However, even a casual user can appreciate "The World According to Facebook" and find its humor laugh out loud hilarious. Wylie Overstreet probably wasn't the only person with this idea but his posts on the CoolMaterial.com website caught on like wildfire and for good reason. In "The World According to Facebook" Overstreet further explores the "what ifs" of the world's history as Facebook statuses. Covering everything from the birth of the Universe to the dawn of the human race and all of mankind's ups and downs, it's all touched upon in this book. The real gem is in the author's witty presentation combined with modern day jargon and the laziness of the English language that's so prevalently used today. Here are my thoughts on The World According to Facebook;

Pros

+ Extremely quick-witted and often un-politically correct humorous status updates. Even the chapter introductions were snarky and funny. Several of the avatars used to represent the poster were also good for a few laughs.

+ Educational. It actually caused me to have to look up a few things just to understand the joke. Personal favorites were the sections dealing with religion and all its influences (Crusades, Joan of Arc etc.), World War II, Classical Western Civilization and the Renaissance.

+ Quick and easy read.

Cons

- Not all of the humor hits the mark.

- Too short. Takes roughly 30-45 minutes to read cover to cover. I wanted more after the book was over. There's so much more of the world's history to parody.

To quote the author, "Ah, Facebook. We all make fun of it, and we're all on it. If the Facebook community --600 million strong-- were a country, it would rank third in population and last in spelling ability." The author isn't afraid to poke fun at even the most serious of situations or establishments. Overstreet is an equal opportunity offender and that's a good thing because we all need to laugh at ourselves from time to time. Perfect for the bus ride home or bedside reading, "The World According to Facebook" is short but sweet and had me snickering with a grin page after page.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sometimes - Funny is Just what I need.. really funny., Oct 11 2011

By CamasMom - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: The History Of The World According To Facebook (Paperback)

This book is light, witty - and makes you chuckle at the historical allusions. It made me feel smart - and cracked me up at the same time.

This is a book that makes me realize I know more about facebook than I ever would admit - and makes me laugh just the same. It is just the mix between escapism and realism - that I enjoy. I loved reading and I am going to enjoy leafing it in my guest room for my visitors. I know they will be happier for it.

Fun book to read and to own.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 18 reviews 4.1 out of 5 stars