I Laughed out Loud

A couple weeks ago, I posted a request to our lovely readers for suggestions on funny books.  I was in a rut and I thought a good laugh would do.  I received a lot of feedback - some laughable, some insightful.   The top suggestion was something about a Guide to the Galaxy.  I was thinking it was probably not for me, but we went to the bookstore to check it out anyway.  On the way to locating the book, another book caught my eye.  Undaunted, we went to the Guide and -D read the leaf for me.  I tuned out about two sentences in.  It is not a book for me - I just don't think I will "get it."  The point is to cry from laughter, not from boredom.  Sorry, lovers of the Guide - maybe some day.

 The book I spotted on my way to the Guide was The Bible of Unspeakable Truths  by Greg Gutfeld.  Listen up those who are unacquainted and I will acquaint you. It all started a few years ago at 12AM.  I turned on my TV to find a short, somewhat portly man speaking heinous things while his repulsive sidekick, a hot FOX news lady, and a CIA operative watched.  This Gregalogue (it's a monologue with Greg) introduced me to what would become a household staple around here.  Sadly, last month, we decided to cut our ties to the extended world by getting rid of our cable, so Greg is no longer a household staple (oddly, enough this dovetailed quite nicely with my need of a humorous book, coincidence? ithinknot).   We no longer get to hear the misadventures of a post-operative, houseboy enthusiast and his preoperative, questionably coiffed sidekick. 

Naturally, when I spotted Greg's roundish face on my way to the guide, I immediately thought, "This is what I need!"...and it was.  This book is basically a collection of Gregalogues so it does not really find a cohesive theme...unless you consider his love of underground rooms, houseboys named Pablo, and fastidious research(of books not yet written) a theme.  It is more a book you read bits of at a time because his Gregalogues can be quite short (sometimes even one sentence).  There are some truths in here, some head scratchers and some overshares.  But, overall, it is like watching an episode of Red Eye, which I find cathartic.  Greg really seems to want to connect with his readers.  He even invites them to join him for various events (usually in a park, scantily clad, with only a birthmark as his true source of identification).   He wants his readers to be well-fed.  Thus, he includes what looks like a great recipe for lemon bars.  I had never considered the inclusion of a prostitute, but that might add a little something.  Oh, and he cares about his readers' safety.  His argument for guns is quite cogent. 

Overall, this book is a treat.   And for you, a treat:


Rating: 5.5 out of 7
-L

I am Conservative Culture!

Let's just start off by saying that I was very surprised by this book. When I first read about it I thought that this could be a good read. When it arrived in the mail, I turned to the leaf and the first sentence stunned me. It read, "The main Hardball host Chris Matthews calls "the legendary R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr." has done it again. OH NO, they duped me into reading a book based off of some soft not-so-really conservative preaching that *Neo Conservatism Lives* (the asterisks are there to pretend that's being flashed on-and-off in bright lights - maybe a little big band music playing in the background). 


At that point, I had to put down After the Hangover: The Conservatives' Road to Recovery and wonder how I was going to get through this. And with a few sighs I started to read through R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr.'s latest work and was incredibly surprised at how much I agreed with his view on real conservative thought. This is not a book that harangues the decades of conservative culture growth, but one that brings everything that is great and not-so-great to the table. As a young conservative of 30 I didn't know about the roots that were put down for the American conservative. We are an inclusive bunch that desires the greatness of American values, or American Exceptionalism. Emmett does a great job of giving the history of the culture and some of the great intellectuals that have placed their stamp on it.


It's wasn't all roses though. After the Hangover doesn't start off as well as I would prefer. Tyrrell Jr. does talk about his other books throughout the first chapter and that wasn't that interesting to me. But after that this book is tough to put down. That's saying a lot considering that it's political non-fiction and I usually read fantasy. I'm not so sure a Liberal would read this and agree with everything that the author states, but it hits home for me. In fact, the best chapter is the last chapter. He lays out the reforms necessary for America to become prosperous, and to root it's foundation in firm principles. If you just read this last chapter, you'd be missing out on the rest of a great book, but at least you would have a coherent look at how great of a country we can be.


-D


Rating: 8 of 10! Thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend to anyone willing to look a little deeper into the conservative mind. 


Note: I think I'm supposed to mention that I received this book for free from BookSneeze. I would spend money on this book though. It deserves a space in my library, and I hope that I can someday point to it and tell someone that our government decided to implement conservative ideas and that is why we're prosperous today.