Yesterday, I stumbled upon The McSweeney's Joke Book of Book Jokes at the bookstore. Although I tend to be leery of joke books (bad memories from 3rd and 4th grades), I usually enjoy reading the posts at McSweeney's Internet Tendency, and $12.95 later, I was reading this book on the subway and quickly discovering that this was not a book filled with knock-knock jokes or really bad puns. Instead, it is a book of humorous retellings and reimaginings of literary works. For instance, it includes a stump speech by presidential candidate Jane Eyre. It also has a fabulous confrontation between Dateline: To Catch a Predator's Chris Hansen and Humbert Humbert, the main character from Lolita.

In other words, this is a joke book for the literary set. However, despite the writers' unending fascination with James Joyce, not all of the scenarios involve classical books. One of my favorite essays is entitled "Winnie-the-Pooh is My Coworker" (click on the title to read it at the McSweeney's site). The writers also use other childhood books such as Charlotte's Web, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (written from Jenna Bush's perspective), and the Hardy Boys series.

Although the essays are sometimes inconsistent in quality, this book provided a pleasant diversion and has the added bonus of making you use that knowledge you learned in English class. Go forth, read, and enjoy "Lady Macbeth on Ambien." ( )

The McSweeney’s Joke Book of Book Jokes is part New Yorker Shouts & Murmurs and part McSweeney’s Lists -- with the focus of each of the dozens of short pieces on some aspect of books (e.g. “Possible Titles for Future Sue Grafton Novels After She Runs Out of Letters”)
... or characters (“Social Security Denies Gregor Samsa’s Disability Claim”)
... or writers (“From the Found Notebooks of the Members of Homer’s Writing Group”)
... or writing (“Submission Guidelines for Our Refrigerator Door”)
... or language (“Words and Expressions Commonly Misused by Insipid Brothers-in-Law”).

Although books of humor -- and anthologies in general -- can be uneven, this collection is clever and funny throughout. ( )

NoBSBookReviews ( )

Its title notwithstanding, The McSweeney's Joke Book of Book Jokes isn't really a joke book. It's a collection of miscellaneous pieces from McSweeney's Internet Tendency which all have something (loosely defined) to do with books, or fictional characters, or authors. Most of them are funny. Some are not. John Hodgman penned the introduction, which was funny. Darby Larson penned "Don't Read This or You Might Get Poked in the Eye With a Dagger," which was not.

Among my favorites: John Moe's "Winnie-the-Pooh is My Coworker," Ann Asher's "A Lost Scene Involving Louis, a Turkey Character Cut During the Final Edit of Charlotte's Web," Laurence Hughes's "Lady Macbeth on Ambien," and Ben Joseph's "Celebrity Biographies Written by a Guy Who Cannot Distinguish Fiction From Reality."

If you're a fan of McSweeney's-humor, and didn't catch these as they came through the site originally (or if you just want to have them all in one place), this is a book for you.
http://philobiblos.blogspot.com/2008/... ( )