- Paperback: 200 pages
- Publisher: It Books (Jan 1 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0062076183
- ISBN-13: 978-0062076182
- Product Dimensions: 22.6 x 15.5 x 1.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 318 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#62,615 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #62 in Books > Entertainment > Humour > Parodies
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
“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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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wait, let me post that on Facebook,
By
This review is from: The History Of The World According To Facebook (Paperback)
I am a big fan of Facebook and I spend more time on its pages than it's probably healthy. It has become my favorite go-to site not just for personal updates, but far more importantly for the links and comments of the daily newsworthy events. It gives me an opportunity to banter with a few of my like-minded friends on the latest political and social events. "The History of the World According to Facebook" tries to imagine what would it have been like if Facebook had existed for, well, forever and if the great events of history somehow managed to make it to the running commentary on your Facebook feed. The result is a very entertaining and well-designed humor book that will appeal to all Facebook enthusiasts, as well as a substantial number of Facebook detractors.The book is organized around the typical Facebook communication categories: status updates, event notifications, wall posts, etc. It is formatted in the "pre-timeline" Facebook format. The historical events are presented as an online interaction between famous historical figures (Joan of Arc and Charles VII, Jesus and God, Grant and Lee, Einstein and Roosevelt), countries (Germany and Poland), inanimate objects (meteorite), and even abstract concepts (equality, etc.). All of this can be extremely funny, but it also makes you think of how our conceptualization of life in general has been subtly altered by the use of Facebook and other social media. I find myself too often thinking about how would a particular event or situation in my life play on Facebook. A book like this one can give me a much needed reality check. Unfortunately, this book can be very tendentious and ideologically tainted at times, to the point that is downright off-putting if you don't share the author's very narrow political sensibilities. For the most part, though, the book is pretty funny and stays clear of current politics. Nonetheless, I feel that there was a wasted opportunity here to write a truly funny yet non-partisan social commentary. Overall, this is for the most part a very funny book. Like most humor that reflects particular era, its shelf life may be limited, but from everything that we've seen about Facebook so far there is no reason not to believe that this kind of humor will remain relevant for at least a few more years.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Makes You Reassess What History Is,
By Anastasia Prozorova "Prokrida" (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
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 knowledge and history.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.2 out of 5 stars (22 customer reviews) 10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Really funny and creative, guffaw-inducing, comedy,
By David M. Reed - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
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. 7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Clever, humorous and even educational,
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.,
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. |
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