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Complete Idiot Letters: One Man's Hilarious Assault on Corporate America

Complete Idiot Letters: One Man's Hilarious Assault on Corporate America

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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Read this book only after you've read THE O'DOOLES OF RESEDA
Review: Okay, this Paul Rosa person, if he really exists, might have some semblance of a sense of humor. I read the book. And I laughed. But I still felt there was something missing. After putting it down, I thought -- It would have been really funny if he had written to a guy who owns a beef jerky store. And what if he had written the American Dental Association and asked if it's okay to use fishing line as floss? And what if he had created an entire nutty letter-writing family and concocted an actual story told via the letters they write to real people? And why weren't there more references to awnings and canopies? Then, I found a book that did have all those things -- THE O'DOOLES OF RESEDA: A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF AMERICA'S MOST DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY (Citadel Press; 1995; ISBN 0-8065-1609-7) by Tim Ballou and Linda Higgins. It's not just a prank-letter book. It's a wild, wacky, gut-busting story complete with amnesiac tattoo artists and poetry that doesn't rhyme. Check it out!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Hit and miss
Review: Paul Rosa has a sense of humor that is out of this world. I love his letters! I actually read the book and tears streamed down my face from laughing so hard! I definately recommend this book to everyone! Kudos Paul! (Hey, can you send me an XL t-shirt for my eloquently written review?)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: HYSTERICAL...HYSTERICAL...HYSTERICAL
Review: Paul Rosa has a sense of humor that is out of this world. I love his letters! I actually read the book and tears streamed down my face from laughing so hard! I definately recommend this book to everyone! Kudos Paul! (Hey, can you send me an XL t-shirt for my eloquently written review?)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Funniest thing I read all year
Review: Paul Rosa has a unique gift for intentionally misconstruing some things, taking others too literally, and generally (ostensibly) missing The Point. Reading his book not only guarantees hours of laughter, but also offers a most singular perspective of the buisinesses with which we interact every day. Sometimes the funniest parts are the letters written by the unwitting butts of his jokes--it makes you wonder who's writing the real "idiot letters."

A caveat: If you loan it to your friends, don't expect it back any time soon.

Heather Hewitt

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Hit and miss
Review: This book is pretty much hit and miss. Rosa writes stupid (although often amusing) letters to various companies and organizations. The fact that these companies respond (usually with an impersonal form letter) is the punch line of this book and this one-joke premise wears thin pretty quickly.

For example, regardless of the company he's writing, Rosa ends every letter by asking for a complementary t-shirt, thereby tipping his hand that it's all a joke. It's this approach that differentiates a so-so book like his from a truly great one like those by Ted Nancy (or even Don Novello). Nancy's letters are both hilarious and outrageous, but they also always have just enough plausibility that his targets ignore them at their own peril. It's the walking-on-eggshells responses Nancy gets that are (almost) as much fun as the letters he writes. By contrast, Rosa tries to carry his book solely on the humor of his letters and, although there are many bright spots, he often fails in the attempt.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Monkey Wrench King's Guide to Corporate America
Review: What can I say that Paul Rosa hasn't said so eloquently before in his two volumes of prophetic knowledge? Unlike other masterpieces, he allows the reader to witness history as it happens in "real time" (whatever that is). Paul is a true inspiration who proves that the more than passionate consumer can get a response from corporate figure heads, or their kissable middle management. Send him an XL t-shirt whenever you can.

Rating: 0 stars
Summary: ***BUY MY BOOK OR I'LL STALK YOU!***
Review: When I completed this book I said to my imaginary friend, "Hey, Jimmy, whattya' say we go downtown and get ourselves a couple of falafels?" Jimmy, hopped up on Fresca, asked me to simply bring him back "some pecans from McClanahan's Drug Store." I obliged.


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