Book Review:Things That Suck by Jason Kaplan

ISBN:9780740797606
Binding: Paperback
Pub. Date:01-09-2010
Category:Humour
Imprint:Andrews McMeel Publishing
Pages:160 page/s
Stock:New, Available
Price:$14.95 AUD

Things That Suck flows with all the unpleasantries that rank high and low on the Kaplan scale of suckage. Lauded by New York Magazine as "surprisingly perceptive," Things That Suck calls attention to examples of suckitude such as: The morning commute; Your driver's license photo; Overly perky people; People who think they're great at British accents; The kid kicking the back of your seat; That kid's parents.

Author Information

Jason Kaplan has had a number of careers, including being a sound designer for TV and film, doing tech support for TiVo users, and running a side business that sells toilet seats online (www.flushnice.com). He currently works as a screenwriter in Los Angeles, California.

Review

I was expecting a really indepth insight into things that suck when I first read the blurb about Kaplan’s book. It was a bit dissappointing to find that it was just a list of things the author notes as being unpleasant, not nice or not amongst his favourite things in life.

While there is a very comprehensive list of Things That Suck detailed in the 160 pages, not all of them were very humourous. If Kaplan had added some more graphics to the book it would have been absolutely hilarious. There was a “Flip Book” contained in the pages, so if you held it almost closed and flipped through the pages the images acted like a cartoon or animation. This was a random element to the book.

I did appreciate the irony of Kaplan where he had things that sucked after each other, such as getting stuck next to someone with BO, followed by having BO and having painful gas, followed by running out of gas.

You really need to read this in order to appreciate the ongoing jokes and irony. If you were to pick up this book in a shop and flick through it, randomly stopping at pages, you’d probably do what I did first and think what the hell is this? The flow of the list of things that suck make the book entertaining, so don’t give up on the book before you give it a chance.