Larry John

Reading "Larryisms" by Larry John was like playing a game of "How small can this author make the audience for this book in the shortest amount of time?"

The answer is: quite small indeed. Let me give you a few examples...

First of all, the cover of this book and the title seem specifically to avoid drawing a mass audience. The book is apparently aimed only at people who have heard of Larry John - because people who haven't heard of him, like me, look at this and go, "Larryisms? Why am I going show more to read a book of quotes by someone I've never heard of?" and then pass it by. (Apparently Larry Johns is the author of "Think Rich... To Get Rich". Which I have also not heard of.)

Second - a remarkable number of his quotes seem to be aimed at alienating groups of people. The VERY FIRST quote in the book is, "I want to make the world a better place, but what would this country be without Republicans?" Good job, Larry. You just halved your audience right there, first line, page one. Then he goes on to alienate Christians and numerous other religious people with lines that range from the outright offensive to the insipid. Try the line "Never trust a God who has a chosen people." Totally offensive to Jewish people. Insipid? Try "Never trust a God wears robes." Why not, pray tell? Too ostentatious for a guy who has two quotes that mention he has a house in Maui?

Third - he contradicts himself. He says at one point (page 17, bottom quote) that, "It is possible for BOTH of us to be RIGHT and NOT agree according to how we think... for as we THINK; so it is." Then on page 72 he says, "Some people choose to believe in God. I choose to believe God is a RADISH. Does that make it so?" ...Implying, of course, that it doesn't. The problem is, well, according to your earlier rationale, yes it does. Good luck with that radish God.

Forth - there are plain old editorial issues. The book has spelling errors and repeated quotes. Not to mention that somebody should have told him that "The mind is a terrible thing to waste" has already been said - and that merely putting something to the effect of "yeah, that's a good idea" around something John Lennon said doesn't really count as a quote from Larry John.

I won't say there are no good quotes in this book, because there are. But to sum up: this book has major issues. Would you like it? Well, I suppose if you read his other book and liked it, you probably would. But if you're not a fan of his work before reading this, reading this (especially if you are Christian, Jewish or Republican) won't make you his fan. show less

Early Reviewers

It's not often that I pick up a book such as this but, in retrospect, I'm glad I had the opportunity to read some of Larry's thoughts.

When I initially received this book, my first thoughts were "who is this Larry dude, and why should I care what he thinks?". Once I opened the book, those questions seemed to become irrelevant . I enjoyed reading what he had to say, and even used a few Larryisms as directives for my personal journal. Did I agree with everything he had to say? Of show more course not. But Larry doesn't claim that his "isms" are the absolute truth. His goal is to inspire others to think about the world around them - to question - something that seems to be lacking in much of society today. In that, I believe that he succeeds.

So even though this isn't a book I would have picked up on my own accord, you can bet that I'll be picking it up again. show less

I had low expectations when I first received a copy of this book since I had never previously heard of Larry John. Even with my low expectations, Mr. John managed to make reading his book a long, painful process. From the quotes in his book, it seems that Larry John is very narrow-minded. He is also extremely opinionated. He implies several times throughout his book that if you don't agree with his views, you are obviously stupid.

To get through this book, I read only a few pages at a time. show more While a handful of quotes in the entire book made me smile, I found myself wincing at most of them. Religion, politics, love and intellect are all topics that can be found in his book. Those are great topics so it is a disappointment that Larry John is so single-minded. In Larry John’s ideal world, we would all be clones of him. Diversity is what makes the world so wonderful Larry. Too bad you haven’t picked up on that basic piece of wisdom.

Would I pay $14.95 to buy this book for myself? Hahahahhahahahahaha! No.
Would I pay $14.95 to buy this book as a gift? Absolutely not.
Would I pick up this book if I found it for $1.00 at a garage sale? Only if I was buying for someone I didn’t really like. show less

Larryisms: Book One, by "self-proclaimed thinker" Larry John, is a collection of "Larryisms": philosophical one liners (often tongue and cheek) designed to make one question life's motives.

While far from revolutionary, Larryisms does contain some gems:

"People talk more about what is 'bad' in life than what is 'good.' And the sad thing is most of us are more interested in hearing the bad. No one wants to listen to a story beginning with 'My life is so wonderful...'"

However, the bulk of the show more material contains mass-produced philosophy ("War never creates peace";
"The mind is a terrible thing to waste") and attacks on religion, politics, and culture.

What begins as a collection of pondering insights quickly erodes to a profile on the author. The reader is left unclear which exact religion pissed on Larry John's shoes, but discovers his political leanings, professional experiences, and generational biases.

This work is not a treatise for serious thinkers. At best it is a two-minute bathroom book which leaves a chuckle here and a raised eyebrow there. Grab something else for more strenuous trips. show less