3 ms·

I thought 'Parliament of Whores,' 'Give War a Chance,' and 'Holidays in Hell' were hilarious. EDIT: I read these books around 1990.

barrkel 5y ago
I bought Holidays in Hell on the strength of mentions since his death, and it is tough going and dated to start with - it's just a series of national stereotypes played for cheap laughs that made me wince rather than smile. Hopefully it'll get better.
- nineplay 5y ago
  I loved the book but the humor may have gotten stale in the last 30 years. I hope it picks up for you!
- buescher 5y ago
  You probably wouldn't enjoy his "Foreigners Around The World" in National Lampoon from 1976 either.
  - ghaff 5y ago
    I haven't looked at a National Lampoon in many years. But I'm guessing that a lot of modern audiences would find a lot to object to during the magazine's heyday. Of course, a lot of its humor was always pretty sophomoric but in its heyday it was probably a lot more acceptable to say "I probably shouldn't be laughing at this but it's really funny anyway."
    - rootusrootus 5y ago
      > "I probably shouldn't be laughing at this but it's really funny anyway." Part of me feels fairly uncomfortable with this idea. Humor is such a complicated emotion, but lately we seem to try to distill it to a single interpretation, shallow, derisive, and then proclaim what it's okay to laugh about or not.
      - ghaff 5y ago
        There's also a strong component of enforcing the right not to be offended. That's always existed to some degree but lately there's a much stronger sense of it.
        jacobr1 5y ago
        The enlightenment position holding: «Monsieur l’abbé, je déteste ce que vous écrivez, mais je donnerai ma vie pour que vous puissiez continuer à écrire» isn't celebrated by the mainstream culture anymore. It always was a bit hypocritical, there were historical boundaries for whatever the contemporary view of obscenity might be, but free speech was still valued. Nor is the simple child's rhyme "Sticks and stones may break my bones But words shall never hurt me" held to be true. We really need to figure out a middle way that preserves some of the older enlightenment virtues with more modern understandings of verbal harms. There has to be social norms that discourage assholes without the instant-banishment, or fear-of-mispeaking that has edged its way forward. Or the boorish result of the backlash involving those saying any inane thing without a filter.
brodouevencode 5y ago
The funniest things are often the most true things.
tiahura 5y ago
Although it's from a different time, Parliament of Whores should be required reading in High School government class. Some of its lessons about sausage making and log rolling would greatly behoove developing minds of all political persuasions.
rodgerd 5y ago
For me, "Give War a Chance" was where I started finding him less and less interesting, as he seemed to move closer and closer to Republican orthodoxy; "CEO of the Sofa" consolidated that for me. The most memorable chapter for me in "Parliament of Whores" was Moscow on the Mississippi which, much like Whiffle Ball Life from "Holidays" was a great example of his willingness to turn his guns at the people who shared his party but not his ideals.

barrkel 5y ago

I bought Holidays in Hell on the strength of mentions since his death, and it is tough going and dated to start with - it's just a series of national stereotypes played for cheap laughs that made me wince rather than smile. Hopefully it'll get better.

nineplay 5y ago
I loved the book but the humor may have gotten stale in the last 30 years. I hope it picks up for you!
buescher 5y ago
You probably wouldn't enjoy his "Foreigners Around The World" in National Lampoon from 1976 either.
- ghaff 5y ago
  I haven't looked at a National Lampoon in many years. But I'm guessing that a lot of modern audiences would find a lot to object to during the magazine's heyday. Of course, a lot of its humor was always pretty sophomoric but in its heyday it was probably a lot more acceptable to say "I probably shouldn't be laughing at this but it's really funny anyway."
  - rootusrootus 5y ago
    > "I probably shouldn't be laughing at this but it's really funny anyway." Part of me feels fairly uncomfortable with this idea. Humor is such a complicated emotion, but lately we seem to try to distill it to a single interpretation, shallow, derisive, and then proclaim what it's okay to laugh about or not.
    - ghaff 5y ago
      There's also a strong component of enforcing the right not to be offended. That's always existed to some degree but lately there's a much stronger sense of it.
      - jacobr1 5y ago
        The enlightenment position holding: «Monsieur l’abbé, je déteste ce que vous écrivez, mais je donnerai ma vie pour que vous puissiez continuer à écrire» isn't celebrated by the mainstream culture anymore. It always was a bit hypocritical, there were historical boundaries for whatever the contemporary view of obscenity might be, but free speech was still valued. Nor is the simple child's rhyme "Sticks and stones may break my bones But words shall never hurt me" held to be true. We really need to figure out a middle way that preserves some of the older enlightenment virtues with more modern understandings of verbal harms. There has to be social norms that discourage assholes without the instant-banishment, or fear-of-mispeaking that has edged its way forward. Or the boorish result of the backlash involving those saying any inane thing without a filter.

brodouevencode 5y ago

The funniest things are often the most true things.

tiahura 5y ago

Although it's from a different time, Parliament of Whores should be required reading in High School government class. Some of its lessons about sausage making and log rolling would greatly behoove developing minds of all political persuasions.

rodgerd 5y ago

For me, "Give War a Chance" was where I started finding him less and less interesting, as he seemed to move closer and closer to Republican orthodoxy; "CEO of the Sofa" consolidated that for me. The most memorable chapter for me in "Parliament of Whores" was Moscow on the Mississippi which, much like Whiffle Ball Life from "Holidays" was a great example of his willingness to turn his guns at the people who shared his party but not his ideals.