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 enlarge | Author: Michael Ian Black
Publisher: Simon Spotlight Entertainment
Category: Book
List Price: $23.95
Buy New: $11.97
You Save: $11.98 (50%)
New (43) Used (14) from $10.46
Rating:  231 reviews
Sales Rank: 7627
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.7 x 1
ISBN: 1416964053
Dewey Decimal Number: 818.602
EAN: 9781416964056
ASIN: 1416964053
Publication Date: July 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New. 100% money back guarantee. All books shipped from Strand Bookstore, New York City, USA.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Did not explode my head. November 3, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
A book of short essays, some amusing, most not. Not at all the fount of laughter the hype promised. As a matter of fact I was amazed at the difference in what the book is as to what it was said to be. Maybe it is my age, and that I definitely lack a sense of what is hip, but I found more boredom than amusement in this book.
 Didn't Do It November 1, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
What are my credentials for knowing humor?
I love George Carlin, Chris Rock, Garrison Keillor, David Sedaris, Robin Williams, Adam Sandler, Steven Wright, Chris Farley, and many more.
"My Custom Van" did not do anything for me. I like fresh insights, clever writing, or a long story with a killer punch line or just generally funny situation. Michael Ian Black's not-funny attack on David Sedaris pretty much said it all, just a stupid, repetitive attack on a guy who puts time and effort and thought into how he constructs his stories. With Sedaris, you can feel the effort, the pacing, the insight. With Black, I was right there on the page, going nowhere. And not laughing.
I also like Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart, so it's like I don't enjoy a comedian who draws attention to himself. Which, I think, is Black's main (maybe sole) goal.
Read the first section on Billy Joel. If you that gets you going, you'll no doubt like the rest.
 If you like life November 1, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you enjoy your life, and like to laugh, read this book.
If you don't enjoy your life, but like to laugh, read this book.
 mildly amusing October 28, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is an easy book to read (in multiple sittings), and the short "essays" are usually over before they become tedious. Despite the copious mind blowing promised in the title, there's nothing ambitious, surprising or particularly subversive inside. The whole thing comes across as an exercise in packaging triteness, and unlike Jack Pendarvis, who also writes intentionally "bad" prose, Black has nothing to say. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Watch him on Comedy Central October 26, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I like comedy. I like a good story. Mr. Black is funny on TV or cable, but it does not translate well on paper. Some people are great in one medium, but not in another. This is the case here.
The stories probably SOUND great when he tells them, with the right sort of inflection and such.........but it is flat on the printed page.
I don't even agree with Sarah Silverman.
If you want to buy it, great. But I did not find much humor in it.
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