I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to be Your Class President

The title kind of says it all, really. Oliver Watson is, in fact, a 12-year-old evil genius, complete with minions, who single-handedly runs the world (or at least several multi-national corporations, which is the same thing). But like most 12-year-old boys, his real ambition is to impress his aging hippie father, who likes to wax rhapsodic about the wonders of the democratic process. Presumably because 12-year-olds can't be United States Senators, Oliver runs for class president, but, because his father won't be impressed by anything less than a 100-percent-American-as-apple-pie-honest-to-god democratic victory, he tries to do it fair and square.

The conceit here starts to get a bit old rather quickly, but the writing is funny, the plot show more is engaging (believe it or not), and the photographs are pretty funny, especially the one photo essay (although I couldn't help thinking that the latter was more a function of the author's getting a bit lazy than it was a genuine attempt to be funny). And the portrayal of Oedipal tension between father and son really is very well done. show less

I suspect that middle schoolers will love this introduction to political satire, written by the Executive Producer of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Oliver Watson (7th grade) is a genius, but he learned very early (when he was one day old!) that it was better to hide his intelligence, so he has actively convinced everyone, even his family, that he is dumb. Meanwhile, he secretly amassed a fortune and a mouth-watering array of lackeys intent on accommodating his every whim. Essentially, he runs the world, but what he wants most is to impress his father by becoming class president. Funny and written for the middle school audience, this works.

Narrated by Marc Thompson. Oliver Watson is only 12, and apparently a doughy pathetic nerd, but he secretly presides over a vast business empire that makes him the 3rd richest man in the world. And yet for all his business success, what he really craves is his father's acceptance. He runs for 8th grade president, determined to impress his father with an election victory, and carrying out all sorts of expensive and contorted plans to ensure a win. (He hires a political consultant to advise his opponent after his father states that a competitive electoral process is worthier.) Oliver's angry ambition is a little scary (the ridiculousness reminded me of M.T. Anderson's crazy "Whales on Stilts" in which the whales plot to take over the show more world and no one notices) but this wildly improbable story is pretty entertaining. Thompson interprets Oliver as a cross between the snarly Grinch and sinister Mr. Burns of "The Simpsons" which works quite well, especially in the explosive speech scene. At first, I found Oliver's voice a little offputting. But once Oliver's full story rolls out and additional characters appear (Tati and Liz in particular), it's a terrific audio presentation. show less

Some parts of this were funny, but the general tone was more obnoxious that amusing. Oliver's desire for approval from his father is one of the interesting things about the story. Oliver recognizes his father's basic phoniness, yet he wants to somehow force his father to appreciate him for himself (hence the defensive cover of stupidity).

Oliver Watson is your average, everyday 7th grade evil genius stuck in Omaha, Nebraska. On his way to world domination, Oliver has decided to win the election for class president... only creating shell corporations, stealing moon rocks from the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, and overthrowing foreign governments are actually easier than winning a middle school election. Seriously. "I can assure her (but I won't) that the burglars didn't "just stroll" into the museum. This was a precision military operation, conducted by top-flight Armenian mercenaries. They were in and out in under five minutes, and they didn't leave a trace. Okay, that's not completely true. I had them leave one of Miley Cyrus's fingerprints just to blow show more the FBI's minds."This reminds me of Artemis Fowl -- Americanized, and hilariously rotten! There are photos and footnotes in this one that made me laugh out loud while reading -- loved it. Good for 6th grade and up, especially for those who love sarcastic humor with your world domination. show less

from Luke:

This book can be a very confusing one. Classified as a young adult book, written from the point of view of a juvenile with the book loosely aimed at adults, "I'm a Genius" is, at worst, a book that can induce tonal whiplash. A cross between the title character from Dexter's Laboratory and a James Bond villain, the main character Oliver is, without a doubt, an evil genius. He controls multinational corporations and is the third richest person in the world, all executed through a proxy. Oliver decides he would like to be class president to spite his father, and puts in place a constantly evolving plan to get himself there, since in his regular life he pretends to be a truly unintelligent rube. The book is very funny in places, show more but it is so cartoonish throughout that the ending is entirely unsatisfying (to this reader's belief, anyway). I still suggest you read it, especially if you ever wondered what it might be like to be an evil genius when you were a kid. show less

Normally I don’t read much contemporary young adult literature. Honestly, I can’t remember any I’ve read in the last couple of years. I read some along with my daughter when she was young but stopped as she got older. I couldn’t bring myself to read the “Twilight” series because the brooding vampire thing doesn’t really do it for me. The last brooding vampire I read about was Lestat and I lost interest in him after “The Vampire Lestat”. I would have read along with my son but he went from “Captain Underpants” to Issac Asimov. Until last week.

Looking for a new book for him to read I saw “I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to be Your Class President” by Josh Lieb. I could no more pass up that title than show more I could pass up free breadsticks and trust me, my friends, there’s no way I would pass up either. If the title alone didn’t attract me there was a great story to boot.

Now, my family can tell you I have an infinite ability to suspend disbelief. Really, I’ll pretty much buy anything for a good story. So, I didn’t have a problem with an eighth grade genius being the second richest person in the world with a secret lair the covered almost the entire underside of the city of Omaha and secret minions who keep him protected from the bullies in not only the world but in the halls of Gale Sayers Middle School. The problem I had when I started to read this was the over the top style it was “written” in. I could really see the writing, at first. But, then I had to rejigger my thinking. It’s suppose to be over the top. How could it not? We’re talking about a boy running for eighth grade president to secretly hires an elite campaign strategist to help him rig the election, he has a special stall in the boys bathroom where the toilet dispenses milk duds and popcorn. I got it, over the top is what Lieb was going for. It’s sly and irreverent, it’s funny and snarky, and it actually has somethings to say about politics, parenting, and what being an evil genius really means.

Lieb was an Executive Producer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and also worked on The Simpsons which definitely shows in his style. It’s smart and funny. Think Dexter’s Laboratory (do people remember that cartoon?) with less accent and more treats. Better still, there’s a happy ending even though Oliver is now only the fourth richest person in the world. show less