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.
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.
Rating: 
Summary: Wigfield Wipeout...
Review: Let me begin by saying that I'm a huge fan of the authors' work. I own every episode of "Strangers with Candy," and think that the humor in the show is wonderfully twisted. I love it. Wigfield, however, is a totally different animal. Throughout the book the protagonist, Russell Hokes, repeatedly drones that his sole goal is reaching the 50,000 word minimum required by the publishing company he fooled into signing him. It seems that Sedaris, Dinello and Colbert had the same goal in mind. The book consists of little more than an assortment of grotesque, thinly developed caricatures (like the characters in Jimmy Buffett's "Who is Joe Merchant," but less engaging) piling non-sequitur upon mixed metaphor with little comic effect. While past works prove that the authors have the skills and intelligent wit to to this inspiringly well, "Wigfield," sadly, falls flat. I hope to see these comic Gods put out something worthy of their combined names in the near future, but as Jerry Blank might remark, "This book is all shake and seeds." But then again, maybe I just miss Tammy Littlenut, that li'l spitfire ...
Rating:
Summary: there's a few hours i'll never get back
Review: Really, I hate to use such an overused phrase as the title for my review, but coming up with something clever is really more than this book deserves. You'd think it'd be a safe bet that a book written by people you find funny and endorsed on the back cover by people you find hilarious is going to be a hoot. You'd think that, but you'd be wrong. Instead you'd be left saying, "Jon Stewart, my man, you liked this? Seriously? Are you high? No, wait don't answer that, it's all becoming abundantly clear to me now."
Rating: 
Summary: A must for a Colbert fan!!!
Review: Stephen Colbert is not only a comic genius in the televised world, but also in the literary world. I have no idea which of the trio actually had the most to do with this great book, but it screams Colbert, so I have to praise him above all. It seems as if the entire thing was written soley by him. Buy this now Strangers With Candy friends, and bask in the great SWC-ish comedy. Favorite excerpts from the book(its about a stuggling writer): "I'd look around at the other diners thinking there must be a book's worth of material just in this room, if only someone would write it and put my name on it"
"The Lord, like every women I've ever known, was cold and distant."
"I was intrigued. When was it incorporated? What was its population? And just how hot were these ladies? The first two questions seemed to lose importance after I raised the third" Need more proof? I thought not, get the book.
Rating:
Summary: They phoned this in. Dreadful. Self-indulgent.
Review: The authors made a quick buck in an afternoon trading on their names. They should be ashamed of themselves. A lazy, unfunny book.
Rating: 
Summary: Absurdity In Prose
Review: The authors of WIGFIELD are concomitantly funny and scary. Their wordplay -- also cleverly displayed in STRANGERS WITH CANDY and Stephen Colbert's DAILY SHOW pieces -- laces this fictional rant from cover to cover, essentially making the myriad colorful and disturbing characters indistinguishable from one another in a functional literary sense. In WIGFIELD, this literary atrocity works fine, largely because the book wasn't written to be analyzed in comparison to a Sinclair Lewis work. The book is just simply a straightforward joke-rant, and -- occasionally -- the results are as brilliant as the creators.
Even the simplest of comedic bits work like magic in parts of WIGFIELD, e.g., when pyromaniac-in-denial sheriff Hoyt Gein fends off self-accusations of setting aflame a Wigfield polling station and yet wistfully refers to fire as "the golden god." Gein's analysis of a series of local murders (p. 47) becomes ironic to the Nth degree when the sheriff summarizes the temporal pattern in the crimes as occurring primarily at night, except for those that occurred during the day, with the further exception of "the string of dusk and dawn killings."
The socio-political culture of Wigfield is framed in reference to its collection of emotionally, mentally, and physically deformed squatters, whose greatest "natural" resources are used tires and chassis. Colbert, DiNello, and Sedaris do not describe this imagined culture with a wink and a nod; they rather unleash a frustrated collage of world-weariness. WIGFIELD is not the best "book" you'll ever read, but it is one that you should read . . . if for no other reason, then at least to attempt to determine why you are laughing.
Rating:
Summary: SAVE YOUR TIME AND MONEY
Review: This book is awful. In fact, it's the first time I have ever returned a book for a refund. I'm not sure who thought that this drivel was worth printing but they should be looking for another job.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty funny
Review: This book is definitely very "Strangers with Candy"-ish. Yes, the joke runs a little long at the end, but it's still a funny read. It's short, so you won't be tied to it for long. Overall, it's no award winner, but it is a ridiculous book from some funny authors.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty funny
Review: This book is definitely very "Strangers with Candy"-ish. Yes, the joke runs a little long at the end, but it's still a funny read. It's short, so you won't be tied to it for long. Overall, it's no award winner, but it is a ridiculous book from some funny authors.
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