Saturday, November 2, 2013

ARC Review: Rob Delaney

Mother. Wife. Sister. Human. Warrior. Falcon. Yardstick. Turban. Cabbage. by Rob Delaney
4/5 stars
Spiegel & Grau, 2013
208 pages
Adult Memoir Humorous
Scheduled to release November 5

Source: Received an e-ARC from the publisher through Edelweiss.

Earlier this year my friend dragged a group of us to a comedy club. I wasn't much impressed with the opening acts but experienced some good chuckles from the main attraction, being this man Rob Delaney. Later I started following him on Twitter and then requested a copy of his book anticipating some laughs.

I'm pleased to say that I got them in this memoir although my lingering impression is that the book was just too short. I don't have a lot to say though I liked tracing Delaney's journey through alcoholism, injuries, depression, and ultimately recovery; he's lived for sure. I thought I'd share a few lines from the book to give you a taste for his writing style, if you are not familiar with his comedy (although he was voted "Funniest person on Twitter" at the Comedy Central awards so why don't you? ;)

For starters, there are some delightful turns of phrases such as:
"This boy might go on a killing spree one day, so distant is reality from his sad, flailing grasp"
"a beautiful, shimmering red flag"
"where my rented Nissan Altima so passionately kissed a branch office"

I think it's the descriptors "flailing," "shimmering," and "passionately" that really add the punch to these lines. Oh and I'm not giving you any additional context for these either-you will just have to pick up the book for yourself!

But because I'm so sweet, I will share a few longer (hilarious) quotes:
"Cheesecake...Who invented that? Probably Jesus of Nazareth. Or maybe Louis Pasteur. It makes me physically sick to think that Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize, yet the name of the inventor of cheesecake isn't tattooed on Dick Cheney's face."
-When polling people at my office, 5 out of 7 people chose apple pie over cheesecake (though one did admit he'd take either), which is just a disgrace if you ask me. How do I work with these people???

"Willful ignorance or resistance of alleged facts has been a big ingredient in any success I've had."
-I actually kind of want to keep this in mind for future endeavors; who needs "reality" anyway?

Overall: I think if you enjoy Mr. Delaney's humor, you will enjoy this book. Check out his twitter to get a feel for his humor; be warned though that it's definitely adult unlike the MG/YA novels I more frequently review here.

6 comments:

  1. I have never heard of this one but I love humorous books! Especially when I'm ill or feeling down.

    great review! <33

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    1. It was a good change for me-I don't really many adult or non-fiction books.

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  2. I hadn't heard of Rob Delaney until I saw this ARC on Edelweiss. I may end up buying it for my library depending on demand. I'm glad you enjoyed this. It sounds like much more than a humorous book.

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    1. Yeah standup comedians can be kind of niche unless you're actively looking for them. I had fun reading this though I don't think it really fits in with my usual blog content. Oh well...

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  3. I'm not very big into comedian's, usually I find the humor just stupid. I have to admit that some of the quotes you shared were great though, so maybe I should look him up.

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    1. I am not familiar with many who have written books-it's kind of a fluke that I knew this guy even. I'm glad you liked the quotes I shared :)

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