Rating: Summary: Wigfield-Brilliant or Bomb? Review: I dont know what you people are talking about. I haven't laughed at a book as much as I am currently doing with Wigfield in a very long time. This book is comedic gold. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a good laugh. "I like watches; they're shiny. They make a ticktock sound that tickles my ears." How can you get more funny than that? tell me
Rating: Summary: 50000 words or your money back. Review: I grew up in the town of Great Hope (adjacent to Wigfield) and remember when these events happened. Russell Hokes does a splendid, admirable, brilliant, celebrated, distinguished, divine, eminent, excellent, exceptional, exquisite, fantastic, fine, first-class, glorious, gorgeous, grand, great, heroic, impressive, magnificent, marvelous, matchless, outstanding, peerless, premium, proud, rare, remarkable, renowned, resplendent, royal, splendiferous, splendorous, sterling, sublime, superb, superlative, supreme, transcendent, unparalleled, unsurpassed, very good, and wonderful job of journalizing them. I hope the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award and Nobel committees don't ignore him next year. (this reviewer would like to thank the fine people at Roget's Thesaurus for their assistance)
Rating: Summary: Read The Locklear Letters Instead! Review: I just read the funniest novel ever written. Unfortunately, it's not Wigfield. It's a novel called The Locklear Letters that I picked up the same day. I expected Wigfield to be brilliantly funny based upon what I knew about its authors; it wasn't funny at all and, frankly, bored me to tears. I expected nothing of The Locklear Letters, a book that's gotten no publicity at all other than Amazon's "breakout books" designation, and I was treated to a laugh-out-loud comic masterpiece.
Rating: Summary: repetitive, overrated, and repetitive Review: I like Amy Sedaris. I like Stephen Colbert. But I don't really like this book. For such a short book, it is very repetitive. There are some laugh-out-loud sections, but the book is mostly tired jokes about strippers and rednecks.
Rating: Summary: Just Awful Review: I love David Sedaris. I like Strangers with Candy. But this is the worst book I've ever read. All of the characters are exactly the same, and the entire book is a repetition of one joke. Save yourself valuable time and money and stay far, far away from Wigfield.
Rating: Summary: Joke runs too long Review: I love Stephen Colbert and Amy Sedaris, but the joke runs too long. Not enough for a full book, so it grows tiring, fast. Would have been better if it had been short story - not $20 worth of funny.
Rating: Summary: Can Wigfield be saved? Review: I love Stephen Colbert. He's the funniest guy I don't know. I bought this book solely because he had a hand in it. As expected, it is full of intelligent humor. Here's the premise: Russell Hokes decides to become a writer, exploring the dying small-town America. He is a terrible writer. You have to know great writing in order to recognize deliberate bad writing. Between his terrible writing, and his ignorance of what is happening in front of his face, this book is laugh-out-loud funny! The only drawback I found was that the joke runs a little long. But please, BUY THIS BOOK! You'll be letting Stephen eat for another day. And I care about the welfare of Stephen. I really do.
Rating: Summary: The Kiss-Up Review that Just May Not Review: I'm told that the humorist stylings of Steven Colbert, Amy Sedaris, et al are an acquired taste. I'm unable to judge, seeing as how I acquired the taste long ago, thanks to the brilliant "Daily Show" and "Strangers With Candy" shows these folks put together. "Wigfield" concerns a broken-down town on the way to being an underwater park, thanks to the impending destruction of a nearby dam. This is simply the framework on which the authors hang their over-the-top caricatures, however. If you enjoy deadpan delivery of the outrageous (think "Spinal Tap" or "Best In Show"), you'll dig "Wigfield."
Rating: Summary: Hi-LAR-ious! (Amy Sedaris fans will understand!) Review: If you liked Strangers with Candy or Exit 57, you'll love Wigfield!! Amy Sedaris, Paul Dinello, and Stephen Colbert are comic geniuses who make me laugh like no other writers can. Wigfield is laugh-out-loud material and perfect for a fun read. Buy it-- you won't be sorry!
Rating: Summary: Not the best work of Dinello, Colbert or Sedaris by far. Review: Let it be known from the start that I am a Sedaris fan from way back. "The Talent Family", made up of Amy and her brother David, has an esoteric humor that strains against the seams of the mainstream, never quite breaking through, never quite wanting to break through. I entered the town of Wigfield with abandon, hoping to get caught up in the same obscurely dark humor the writers three made famous in their absurdly funny series "Strangers with Candy" series. While the trio may never recapture the Pantheon of Comedy 'Strangers' was they try very hard with "Wigfield" and fail, miserably. 'Wigfield' is less a book than a collection of morbid and demented characterizations of the townsfolk which inhabit the contaminated topsoil of the books namesake. Loosely structured by a narcoleptic, gluttonous aspiring journalist, the book reflects the sad sack wordsmith's quest for an easy 50,000 words of easy type. One wonders if the same dead-end journey was also endured by Sedaris and her cohorts, as the book seems to be written with a similarly half-hearted effort. The breadth of the work is a compatible display likened to their fictional protagonist as he pushes his way into the literary world. A display that is disappointing on all the parts of those involved, fictional or otherwise. The book shakes down like this: There is a town. It is threatened by the destruction of a dam. The main commodity of the town is, rather, was plutonium. The townsfolk, as well as the town, have been classified as a Super Fund project in the works. Many interviews are taken. The townspeople are personalized. A paper-thin morale is drawn in the defense of small-town America as it is attacked progressively by bureaucratic law and Urban sprawl. And in the end...well, in the end you decide for yourself if the book rewards you enough to make it that far. The cover jacket has several quotes from comedians concerning the tome. Kristin Johnston of "Third Rock from the Sun" fame has this to say for the book: "...I didn't put it down until I did." Unfortunately, for "Wigfield", the best part of the book is indeed putting it down and leaving it there.
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