Monday, March 13, 2017

*Review* #BeatTheBacklist - George Carlin Reads to You by George Carlin


Genre: Humor
Published: October 7, 2004
Pages: 450

Synopsis

If one George Carlin audio is funny, then two are funnier and three must be funniest, right? That's our thinking behind this new collection. It's a HighBridge library of laugh-out-loud, award-winning recordings featuring George himself performing many of his best bits. The set includes: 

Brain Droppings Acerbic observations, manic musings, in-your-face questions, witty word play, and more "droppings" from Carlin's singular brain. "I put a dollar in a change machine. Nothing changed." "Why are there no recreational drugs taken in suppository form?" The first Carlin book on audio and a 2001 Grammy winner. 

Napalm & Silly Putty Carlin invents Past-Tense TV (Got Smart, Father Knew Best, It Was Left to Beaver); crusades for the Center for Research into the Heebie Jeebies; founds the George Carlin Book Club (recommended reading: Fill Your Life with Croutons); and suggests that "If the shoe fits, get another just like it." A 2002 Grammy winner. 

More Napalm & Silly Putty Everything that wouldn't fit on the first Napalm recording - like "A Day in the Life of Henry VIII", "Sports Should Be Fixed", compelling confessions ("I couldn't commit suicide if my life depended on it"), and candid takes on life's little moments ("I'm beyond the nice day"), all delivered with wicked glee.

Review

I am a fan of George Carlin's humor, so I thought this audiobook was going to be a slam dunk for me. I was wrong. It's possible that my overall feelings about the book were somewhat influenced because I had my hopes up so high, but ultimately I was really kind of disappointed by this book. 

So I listened to this book at 1.5 speed, and I probably could have sped it up even more. George Carlin talks kind of slow. (Side note: I'm so glad I figured out I could speed up the narration on audiobooks. It's likely I would have found this book to be absolutely unbearable if I listened to it at normal speed.) 

I went into this book expecting to get at least the semblance of cohesion, and I didn't get that at all. For the most part it felt like it was just a bunch of random thoughts thrown down on paper, hoping they'd make someone laugh. Now, some of them did make me laugh, but the whole thing felt incredibly disjointed and I seriously expected better of Mr. Carlin. Maybe it would have gone over better for me if there had been a laugh track included or something. 

And it definitely wasn't all bad. Many of the jokes and musing were quite humorous. Not exactly kid appropriate, but I should have known that going in. Thankfully my kids are finally learning that when Mommy is doing dishes or cooking, we leave her alone, so they were mostly not around for the inappropriate bits. If you have littles in the house, you may want to listen to this with headphones in. 

Overall I give George Carlin Reads to You 3 out of 5 stars because it was funny, but it felt disjointed and made it just kind of a meh book for me overall. - Katie 

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