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Brain Droppings

Brain Droppings

List Price: $13.95
Your Price: $10.46
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: This book is NOT in compliance...
Review: I first fell in love with the standup comedy of George Carlin when, in my youth, I viewed one of his HBO specials. Until Chris Rock came along, Carlin was my all-time favorite. I've found myself consistently and happily entertained by his rather mean-spirited and interesting takes on people, politics, religion, and the silly things we do in life. He also has an amazing mastery of the English language, which he makes a big part of his act as well- poking fun at how others have mangled it, how it's changed over time to be more politically correct, etc. 'Brain Droppings' continues and expands on his comedy- his views, thoughts, and insights about the world around him, as well as people and events. After perusing this book, I've found a great deal of my views about life and the world to parallel his. As a result, I give 'Brain Droppings' high praise. Carlin states the problems he sees with everything, but offers nothing, beyond some outrageous 'cures' that makes a little sense in their own weird way, on how to remedy them. This is because he sees no true hope for the future of mankind, and gleefully awaits its destruction. So why try? Hmmm... sounds about right to me...

Also contained within are a few of his classic standup pieces, including 'The Difference Between Baseball and Football', and 'A Place For My Stuff!'. But, unlike many other comedian-penned novels, this one doesn't merely re-hash the author's stand-up dialogue. There's plenty of new and original material to enjoy as well.

My favorite bits are the 'Short Takes'- strange little random thoughts that Carlin's come up with over the years. He has a seemingly endless list of them inside this book, many of which are much more profane and adult-oriented. Some are outrageously hilarious, others make you say, 'Huh?' Here's a few examples of the cleaner 'Huh?' short takes: 'I almost don't feel the way I do', 'Every thing is the same. It's just a little different now', 'If we could just find out who's in charge, we could kill him.' I'm sure these make sense to someone somewhere...

One thing that I really enjoy about this tome is that it's arranged in a brilliantly haphazard fashion, with no real linkage between chapters. One could skip from one part of the book to another, and another, without missing a beat. You get bored with one chapter, just flip a chunk of pages and head on over to another one. Or even work your way backwards to a previous spot in the book.

Despite the novel's length- 258 pages- I've found it to be a fairly fast read. Good... gives me spare time to do something useful with my life.

'Late...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Had me Laughing out loud!
Review: When I started reading it at a bookstore I was laughing so much a woman came up to me and asked what was I reading. Great way to break the ice. After I finished the last page I wondered if George ever read "Fragments" by sociologist/philosopher Jean Baudrillard who also offers a caustic but thought provoking observations about the human race. The only difference is George gives it a funny twist while Baudrillard takes more of a stoical point of view in pointing out our own stupidity. But both are equally keen observers that I sometimes wonder if George and Jean influenced each other as crazy as that might sound. The best books I love are the ones that change the way I see myself and the world and for anyone who enjoyed this book I recommend "Fragments" by Jean Baudrillard as a wonderful supplement to Brain Droppings. However, "Fragments" will take a little longer to absorb than the instant slapstick punchlines in Brain Droppings but its worth it! Read these two books and you'll see everything in the world as a divine comedy.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: WOW
Review: One of the best books I have ever read. It is not only hilarious, it is filled with very insightful and touching wisdom. It should be required reading in high school.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I dont understand him, and I love it!
Review: What is up with him? Sometimes he swears every other word and makes you want to cringe (as in, "I CANT BELIEVE HE IS SAYING THIS!), and other times he is curse-free, serving up little random bits of cute humor that, although it is not laughable, puts a smile on my face. His routines are tremendous, his short takes are observant and clever, his lists are quite strange, and when I finished the last sentence, I was begging for more. BUY THIS BOOK! You will not be disappointed, ONLY OFFENDED!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Hilarious humor from the greatest comedian ever.
Review: This book is a collection of George Carlin's material. Very funny.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A must for TRUE George Carlin fans
Review: I say a must for TRUE George Carlin fans because some of the content of this book may seem like the hysterical ravings of a madman. A true George Carlin fan will recognize this as insightful yet brutally honest observations of the current situation of humanity and society. I felt that the book was "laugh-out-loud" funny at the beginning and slowly fading to smiles and snickers. Some of the content is from past stand-up routines and a lot is simply one-liners. But it is all funny and certainly worth your while. It is also a very quick-reading book--I finished it in two days.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: George tells it like it is and makes you wet your pants!
Review: This is one of my favorite books! I laughed so hard my stomach hurt

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: The End of an Era is finally at hand!
Review: This piece of pitiful piffle has only two barely noticeable and recognizable highlights: the classic "Baseball and Football" and "A Place for my Stuff" routines, superfluously updated for the young and ignorant '90's dwellers. I recieved this pile of paper for my birthday in '98, and it was by far, the most disappointing put-forth effort by any modern entertainer that I have ever heard of. I refer to it as such because it ended up as fire-fodder, and the front cover came in very handy as a dartboard. However, I managed to salvage the two aformentioned sections with the classicly humorous material intact. My thoughts on this bitter old man's career dwindling into the inevitable downward spiral as it has gradually has happened is this: the guy has lost it for sure, he is completely out of touch, and should give up further attempts to entertain (I use this term loosely) the general public any longer. Give it up, G.C.!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: 100% Carlin
Review: Ok, now I must admit, I am extremely biased in this review. For the simple fact that I believe George Carlin is the funniest man alive, why else would I have drove 6 hours to see him live? This book is Carlin to the tee. If you are easily offended, or unable to accept a good idea, I suggest leaving this book alone. However if you are open minded, and up for a good laugh, get it!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Some dead-on observations by the master of modern cynicism
Review: I'm a HUGE Carlin fan, so I was very excited to see that he had finally written down some of his famous rantings. I have to say..(Sorry George!) I was kinda let down. Don't get me wrong! There are some really funny things in the book, (I especially enjoyed his dissection of the phrase "Bat out of Hell") but the 2 HUGE "Short Takes" sections of the book just didn't work for me. Considering these 2 unfunny sections comprise a third of the book, they really dragged down an otherwise enjoyable read.


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