Review: Point Your Face at This

Purchase Point Your Face at This here.

Synopis:

In his first book, This Is a Book, Demetri Martin introduced fans and readers to his unique brand of long-form humor writing. Now Demetri returns with an eclectic volume devoted entirely to his trademark one-liners and drawings, as well as short prose and poetry, leaving the longer-form material for his next hardcover. Like an indie stepchild of Gary Larson and Jack Handey, POINT YOUR FACE AT THIS contains hundreds of drawings, jokes, and page-long bits, showcasing Martin's particular penchant for brevity and a sensibility all its own-and will be a great gift book and a must-have for fans of the brainy, ambidextrous, comedian, palindromist (and author), Demetri Martin.

Review:

As I mentioned previously, I really enjoy Demetri Martin's stand up. I find his deadpan delivery and rough drawings very funny and I've seen many of his videos. When I reviewed Martin's first book, This is a Book, I expressed the wish that the book had been only the drawings rather than having the essays mixed in. So naturally, when I had the chance to review a book that was just that, I was overjoyed. However, I am yet again disappointed by how Demetri Martin's humor translates on paper. His stand up is amazing, but without his trademark delivery, his drawings fall flat. I did chuckle a few times, but an overwhelming portion of the jokes were mysogynistic and just plain fat phobic. I was rather disappointed by Demetri Martin's second book, but I hope to keep enjoying his live stand-up in the future. 

Until next time, happy reading!
-Amanda

Review: This is a Book

Purchase This Is a Book here.

Synopsis:

From the renowned comedian, creator and star of Comedy Central's Important Things with Demetri Martin comes the paperback debut of his bold, original, New York Times best-selling humor book.

THIS IS A BOOK was an instant and long-lasting New York Times best seller, and is the renowned comedian's hilarious foray into prose comedy. In these pages, Martin expands on the sensibility he's developed on stage as an award-winning stand-up comedian and on television as a writer-performer on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and his own Comedy Central series, Important Things with Demetri Martin.

Featuring narrative essays, short stories, and conceptual pieces (such as "Protagonists' Hospital," where doctors treat only the shoulder wounds of Hollywood action heroes) as well as Martin's signature drawings, absurdities, and one-liners, THIS IS A BOOK delivers sharp jokes, colorful characters, and interesting surprises.

Martin takes readers to places as far-off as Ancient Greece ("Socrates's Publicist") and the distant future ("Robot Test," where everyone must take a test to prove that they are not robots). He recounts a lonely man's visit to a strip club in the form of a five-hundred-word palindrome ("Palindromes for Specific Occasions"). And he examines the human condition ("Human Cannonball Occupational Hazards") and the competing world-views of divergent groups ("Optimist, Pessimist, Contortionist").

Martin's material is varied, but his unique voice and brilliant mind will keep readers in stitches from beginning to end.

Review:

I love Demetri Martin's stand-up.  I giggle every single time; I think he's hilarious.  So when I heard he was coming out with a book, I was overjoyed and couldn't wait to purchase it.  However, this book did not live up to my expectations in the slightest.  So many of the jokes were overdrawn or just plain not funny, which was extremely disappointing.  Many of the drawings were very similar to his trademark doodles during his stand-up routines, but others just missed their mark.  Overall, there were a few very funny bits, but not enough to make the book worth it.

Until next time, happy reading!
 -Amanda