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From Amazon
A New Century Dawns! McKinley Ushers in Bold New "Coal Age"
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria Boasts: "No Man Can Stop Me"
AWESOME! Nation Wowed by Tremendous Hindenburg Explosion
Martin Luther King: "I Had a Really Weird Dream Last Night"
Clinton Denies Lewinsky Allegations: "We Did Not Have Sex, We Made Love," He Says
And those are just the headlines; the stories themselves are all masterpieces of the journalist's trade. Of course, readers with delicate sensibilities may find some of these accounts a bit too risqué, and perhaps even tasteless. (Among the potential offenders: Rosa Parks's decision to "screw this bus shit" and take a cab.) But if you're looking for an antidote to all the 20th-century hoopla promulgated by stuffed shirts like Peter Jennings and Harold Evans--not to mention the best history book since 1066 and All That--then Our Dumb Century is the one for you. --Ron Hogan --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
From Library Journal
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A tour de force of history,
By Wheelchair Assassin (The Great Concavity) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Our Dumb Century: The Onion Presents 100 Years of Headlines from America's Finest News Source (Paperback)
"Our Dumb Century" is, simply put, the most entertaining book I've ever had the pleasure of reading. On every page, covering each year of the 20th century, The Onion's crack team of writers bring their devastating sense of irony to every important and not-so-important event that a history enthusiast could ever want to think of. No prominent figure, from Hitler to Stalin to Nixon, is spared as the Onion launches a full frontal assault on lies, hypocrisy, stereotypes, and various misdeeds with the irreverent wit that has made its website an internet mainstay for close to a decade and running. You might think one would have a hard time laughing aloud at news of wars, genocides, and other high crimes, but you just need to take a look at the below headlines to understand what I'm talking about: "The Machine: Will It Replace the China-Man?" "Stalin Announces Five-Year 'Everybody Dies' Plan." "Dastardly Japs Attack Colonially Occupied U.S. Non-State." "Stock Market Crashes; Debacle Linked to Jews, Negroes, Catholics, Anarachists, Foreigners, Women Voters." "'The Man' hurt by Black Panther Accusations." "Kennedy Slain by CIA, Mafia, Castro, LBJ, Teamsters, Freemasons." "Mr. T Releases 'Pity List '86.'" And there's lots, lots more where that came from. Despite a few scattered moments of tastelessness, "Our Dumb Century" is chiefly one hilarious story after another, relentessly lampooning the foibles of human nature and the train wreck that American culture has become of late. I've reread some of these stories as many as ten times, and they never cease to be funny. Sometimes (most of the time, actually), life becomes so absurd that the best way to deal with it is just to laugh, and The Onion has always been extremely useful for just that purpose. "Our Dumb Century" manages to cast the light of irony on some truly dark times, which is an achievement that should not be discounted.
2.0 out of 5 stars
Tiny disappointments,
By GuineasReading (Halifax, Nova Scotia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Our Dumb Century (Hardcover)
Some of the stories in this book were mildly amusing, but the size of the book and the quality of writing when compared to the onion.com webside is quite bad.Buy it for the price, but expect to get what you paid for.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cutting, Wickedly Funny Satire,
By
This review is from: Our Dumb Century: The Onion Presents 100 Years of Headlines from America's Finest News Source (Paperback)
The Onion, with its weekly release of mock news-articles satirizing and lampooning the current status quo, is one of the most enjoyable humorous newspapers that currently exists. IT employs almost all types of humor, from subtletly to slapstick, from highbrow to lowbrow. However, nothing they write has even come close to the hilarity that Our Dumb Century brings to the reader. The book analyses the 20th Century from a not-quite-so objective standpoint, lampooning popular culture, spawning ludicrous conspiracy theories, ("Kennedy Slain by CIA, Mafia, Castro, LBJ, Teamsters, Freemasons)and reveling in the stupidity of our country and the world in the 20th Century. Every page brings something funny and satirical, from "World's Largest Metaphor Hits Ice-Berg - 1912" to "President Confronts Depression with 'Big Deal' Plan: 'Big deal, I'm Rich!' Roosevelt Says - 1933" to "Reagan May Have been Elected, Doesn't Recall - 1981." Although I am a history buff, anyone with an elemantary backround in American and World History will be highly amused by this brilliant piece of humor, although I found that as I learned more the book became funnier and funnier. Please, whether you appreciate the lighter side of history or your team just lost and you need something to cheer you up- read Our Dumb Century.
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