Our Dumb Century: The Onion Presents 100 Years of Headlines for America's Finest News Source (Running Press Miniature Editions (Hardcover))

The great thing about this book is that the stories are often related with the utter indifference one suspects reporters must develop after years on the job, packaged for the short attention span the public often has. These articles take the folly and "real" stories behind the stories, the ones that were never talked about in their day, and prints them as front page and headline news. Try, for example: "Eleanor Roosevelt, Nation Hails our First Lesbian President." Or regarding Pearl Harbor, "Dastardly Japs Bomb Colonially Occupied US Non-State." Or how about terming Marilyn Monroe and Joe Dimaggio's magical appeal as, "Nation Captived by Fairytale Wedding of Sullen Loner, Depressed Pill-Popper." Or the optimistic, "Drugs Win Drug War" alongside a picture of a bong-smoking man in tie-dye approaching the presidential podium. Page after page of "reprinted" front pages (a joke in itself, because there certainly was no Onion in 1904) makes this a great read which literally brought tears to my eyes.

Life ain't always pretty, but with the Onion it is always funny.

Andrew Parodi


Tu Superbus Es   May 20, 2001
 6 out of 7 found this review helpful

Move over "The (Deeper) Meaning of Liff," there's a new contender in town for the title of Best Value Humorous Book Ever Written. And, with all respect to the late DNA, The Onion wins by an American mile.

The earlier stuff, where the editors have wider opportunity to make stories up entirely, is much better than the more recent material, which by necessity has to rely largely on satirical views of news events we've already seen lampooned to death.

As one commentator lower down in the pack realised, it is important to ignore the comments of those reviewers who say "Don't buy it if you're politically correct." They're the idiots who think jokes about "China-men" are *about* the Chinese, and would presumably fail too to see the real butt of the story "Christopher Reeve Placed Atop Washington Monument" in the companion volume "Finest News Reporting Vol. 1." In truth of course, The Onion is impeccably politically correct (in the real sense of the term), aiming as it does to "accelerate" the evolution of commonsense and decency by highlighting the absurdities of our previous views and forcing them to be cast aside.


We're doomed. But at least it's funny   February 6, 2001
 3 out of 6 found this review helpful

Absolutely brilliant; sometimes the humour cuts a little dangerous (mostly involving the Jews; stories there are on dodgy ground). But its lampooning of everyone and everything, of the madness of the twentieth century is brilliant. We are on the verge of catastrophe, our leaders are imbeciles (Reagan's campaign policy: "Kill the bastards!"). And this book can help us to laugh at it; we are at the gallows, our heads are on the block, but we can see the funny side of it. The best comedy is born ot of tragedy; this is truly great.


NEW ONION BOOK: PUBLISHERS, BOOKSTORES, AUTHORS HAPPY   January 7, 2001
 3 out of 5 found this review helpful

I shall never see the Moon Landing in the same light again.

This is one funny book. (It could hardly be two funny books - unless you use a hacksaw)

Buy it. Laugh.


Very funny book.   June 6, 2000
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Genuinely one of the funniest books I've read. Intelligent satire but also some good old puerile, infantile stuff, which is laugh-out-loud funny. Some references to American TV stars/shows etc, are meaningless to the British reader, but don't let that put you off - overall this is a fantastic book.