Abridged Audiobook
I like the Onion. I really do. That's why I ordered this album. I'm sorry I did. "Juvenile" is the first word that comes to mind. The gags would appeal to a fourteen year old. Really, I should say "gag." There's only one and it gets old fast: it's funny listening to an earnest and very professional narrator,backed by an intentionally pretentious sound track, intone idiotic things. It's funny the first five times. Then it gets old in a hurry. "Offensive" is the second word I think of when reflecting on this album. I'm no prude. And I love it when the Onion punctures sacred cows. But some of the comments about the Holocaust, some of the racist remarks are poor attempts at shock humor. What finally amazed me was the length of the credits. The list of people who "labored" over this mess just goes on an on. There are better, funnier things out there. Many of them are on the Onion's website. But they certainly aren't on this disk.
This book has some laugh out loud moments, but the frequent genocide jokes make it a tough listen. Yes, I know it's a serious problem that they are trying to highlight with satire, but the approach was pretty tasteless.
Definitely more then a few memorable lines in the book about all the countries. If you like the onion and its style of writing then this book is for you.
I've long been a fan of the droll (and sometimes not so droll) wit of The Onion. But like a lot of humor, a little goes a long way. In the case of this book, it begins funny. And then, it repeats the same joke(s). Again and again and again. After awhile, I started skipping around. Then, I gave up. A good 15 minutes. Not a good four hours...
This is PURE, well written comedy all the way. The format reminds me of being in Social Studies class and the teacher made us listen to something she found in some PBS archive, EXCEPT, this is 100% more entertaining! *** Note on the chapter about Nicaragua: If you have never played a role playing video game, this chapter will not make any sense to you. If you HAVE played shoot-em-up RPGs, the Nicaragua chapter will cause your health points to max out due to laughter being the best medicine.
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