Book Review: Have I Told You This Already? by Lauren Graham

Have I Told You That Already? Stories I Don’t Want to Forget to Remember
by Lauren Graham (Biography Graham)

This is a quick, feel-good read! Lauren’s little writing “quirks” make for funny, enjoyable essays geared toward those that are fans of Graham’s work (think Gilmore Girls and Parenthood). This book includes personal anecdotes from ranging from stories about attending various “health camps”, being an up-and-coming actor living in LA, and even stories about orange marmalade (read to find out!) and her dog.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try more non-fiction by Lauren Graham, including Talking as Fast As I Can, In Conclusion, Don’t Worry About It, or Someday, Someday Maybe; or the TV series Gilmore Girls and Parenthood.)

 

( publisher’s official Lauren Graham web page ) | ( Wikipedia page for actress/author Lauren Graham )

 

Recommended by Amanda S.
Gere and South Branch Libraries

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

R.I.P. Peter Schickele (1935-2024) -- Creator of P.D.Q. Bach

R.I.P. Peter Schickele (1935-2024) — creator of P.D.Q. Bach

With the passing of classical composer and humorist, Johann Peter Schickele (known commonly as Peter Schickele) on January 16, 2024, I’ve found myself revisiting his creative output in my own personal book and CD collection, and the albums available through the libraries, both in CD and in the Hoopla streaming music app. Though he was an accomplished composer of both classical and modern works, Schickele will forever be remembered for his comedic creation — P.D.Q. Bach, the 21st of Johann Sebastian Bach’s 20 children. Schickele introduced his satirical brainchild, P.D.Q. Bach, to both the music and humor worlds in 1965, via the album An Evening With P.D.Q. Bach, and eventually went on to release around 20 albums featuring P.D.Q. Bach’s works (a few were retrospective collections or “greatest hits”). Music fans took the P.D.Q. Bach albums very seriously — Schickele not only brought both a sense of madcap, slapstick comedy and sharp, carefully thought-out parody, but he also injected the compositions with elements of both Classical and Baroque music. Schickele made use of less-common existing instruments (slide whistle, bagpipes, and kazoo, among them), but he also invented various musical instruments, either out of commonplace items found around the house (the “pastaphone”, made with uncooked manicotti), or by combining parts from two or more previously uncombined instruments, such as the Tromboon (a combination of trombone and bassoon). Even the titles of P.D.Q. Bach compositions show Schickele’s absurdist sense of humor: Concerto for Horn and Hardart, Pervertimento for Bicycle, Bagpipes and Balloons, The Stoned Guest, Hansel & Gretel & Ted & Alice, A Concerto for Bassoon v. Orchestra, Grand Serenade for an Awful Lot of Winds and Percussion (I remember playing this one for my final senior concert in high school — at one point, most of the orchestra is “performing” by gargling glasses of water!), Iphegenia in Brooklyn, The Seasonings, Toot Suite, Schleptet in E flat major and A Fanfare for the Common Cold. My late father introduced me to Schickele and P.D.Q. with the album P.D.Q. Bach on the Air, one track of which features a sports color commentating team giving play by play on a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony…still one of the funniest things I’ve ever listened to!

Schickele frequently appeared in character as “Professor Peter Schickele,” from the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople, the world’s only expert researcher into the life of P.D.Q. Bach, and served as conductor for many orchestra concert performances of his works around the world. In the guise of the Professor, he would arrive late to the stage, his shirt partially un-tucked and his hair windblown and out of control. Often, he would run in from the back of the auditorium, or slide down a rope from the rafters above the stage, or wing in on a rope from the balcony. He would breathlessly share his oddball knowledge of the oddball composer, and his conducting of the orchestra would often go out of control (with humorous intent). Schickele occasionally appeared in costume as P.D.Q. Bach himself (it is his image on various album covers). Schickele wrote a book about P.D.Q. Bach, The Definitive Biography of P.D.Q. Bach, 1807-1742? (published in 1976), in which he artfully mixes satire and seriousness.

Schickele composed the instrumental score for the ecological science fiction film Silent Running (1972), including two original songs sung by Joan Baez. He also created the soundtrack, and narrated the tale, for a 1973 animated version of Where the Wild Things Are, from Maurice Sendak’s classic children’s picture book. In the 1990s and early 2000s, his “Schickele Mix” appeared on public radio stations across the country (as both first-run episodes through 1999 and then in repeat rotation) — in which he provided an education in classic music to listeners. Although he composed over 100 works for classical orchestras, choral groups, chamber ensembles and more — it is for his invention of a crazed classical music composer that he will most fondly be remembered by most of his fans, including me. If you’ve never experienced the mix of serious musicology and absurd satire, you’ve simply got to try one of the P.D.Q. Back titles in the list below from the Lincoln City Libraries. Personally, I highly recommend the album P.D.Q. Bach on the Air, although you’ll have to use the libraries’ InterLibrary Loan service to track that one down!

• P.D.Q. Bach/Peter Schickele albums:
• Peter Schickele Presents an Evening With P.D.Q. Bach (1965) — Hoopla
• An Hysteric Return: P.D.Q. Bach at Carnegie Hall (1966) — Hoopla
• Report From Hoople: P.D.Q. Bach on the Air (1967)
• P.D.Q. Bach: The Stoned Guest – Two Madrigals From the Triumph of Thusnelda (1970)
• The Wurst of P.D.Q. Bach (1971) (a greatest hits compilation)
• The Intimate P.D.Q. Bach (1974)
• Portrait of P.D.Q. Bach (1977)
• P.D.Q. Bach: Black Forest Bluegrass (1979)
• P.D.Q. Bach: Liebeslieder Polkas – Twelve Quite Heavenly Songs (1980)
• P.D.Q. Bach: Music You Can’t Get Out of Your Head (1982)
• A Little Nightmare Music (1984) — available on Hoopla and also as sheet music
• The Abduction of Figaro (1984) — video/DVD concert program
• P.D.Q. Bach: 1712 Overture and Other Musical Assaults (1989) — Compact Disc, Hoopla (Grammy Award Winner — Best Comedy Album)
• P.D.Q. Bach: Oedipus Tex and Other Choral Calamities (1990) — Hoopla (Grammy Award Winner — Best Comedy Album)
• P.D.Q. Bach: Classical WTWP Talkity-Talk Radio (1991) — Hoopla (Grammy Award Winner — Best Comedy Album)
• P.D.Q. Bach: Music For an Awful Lot of Winds and Percussions (1992) — Compact Disc (Grammy Award Winner — Best Comedy Album)
• P.D.Q. Bach: Two Pianos Are Better Than One (1994) — Hoopla
• P.D.Q. Bach: The Short-Tempered Clavier and Other Dysfunctional Works for Keyboard (1995) — Hoopla
• The Definitive Biography of P.D.Q. Bach, 1807-1742? by Peter Schickele — book, eAudio (Grammy Award Nominee — Best Comedy Album)
• Dreaded P.D.Q. Bach Collection, Vol. 1 (1996) (a greatest hits compilation)
• The Ill-Conceived P.D.Q. Bach Anthology (1998) — Compact Disc, Hoopla (a greatest hits compilation)
• P.D.Q. Bach in Houston: We Have a Problem! (2006) — DVD concert program
• P.D.Q. Bach and Peter Schickele: The Jekyll and Hyde Tour (2007) — Compact Disc, Hoopla
• Also (though not P.D.Q. Bach-related):
• Silent Running (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (xxxx) — Hoopla
• American Piano Duets (2000) — Compact Disc (Schickele is one of multiple musicians featured)

( official Peter Schickele/P.D.Q. Bach web site )

Recommended by Scott C.

Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

Book Review: The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis

The Road to Roswell
by Connie Willis (Willis)

Francie travels to Roswell, New Mexico to act as Maid of Honor for Serena, her former college roommate. Problem is, Russell (the groom), is a dyed-in-the-wool UFO zealot. Even the wedding has a UFO theme. Another problem? Serena has a tendency to pick the wrong kind of guy and Francie is actually planning to do everything she can to convince Serena to cancel the wedding.

 

The Best Man, Larry, author of “The Survivor’s Guide to Alien Abduction” – because, yes, he claims to have been abducted twice – was supposed to have picked her up from the airport but leaves her stranded there because there was a UFO sighting so he and Russell are going to check it out.

 

This is also the anniversary of the Roswell crash, which is why the groom chose this date for the wedding. As a result, Roswell is overflowing with Ufologists and other UFO fan(atic)s so finding a rental car and getting to the wedding site were major logistical issues but she finally makes it.

 

Francie can’t wait to disrupt the wedding plans and get back home to rational people. Until she’s abducted by a space alien.

 

This is an intelligent, witty, hysterical story that plays out to a logical ending that includes many of the UFO, Men in Black, and alien abduction stories. This is best if you are a fan of vintage Westerns and have at least a superficial knowledge of UFO’s and kidnapping stories. Even if you don’t, this is still an intricate, well-told story.

 

( official Connie Willis web site/blog )

 

Read past Library Director Pat Leach’s review of Connie Willis’ novel Bellwether in her fiction review blog in January 2010!

 

Recommended by Charlotte M.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Be the Bus - The Lost & Profound Wisdom of the Pigeon by Mo Willems

Be the Bus: The Lost & Profound Wisdom of the Pigeon
by Mo Willems (817 Wil)

A humorous adult book of aphorisms and comments from The Pigeon of the children’s picture book series Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems. No surprise, he’s either the victim or the hero in these sayings as the pigeon just cannot understand why he’s not allowed to drive the bus:

 

A sample of his comments:

‘Genius is seldom recognized. THAT is why I wear a name tag.’
‘Dropped food is gravity’s way of sharing.’

 

And a sample of his other planned books:
‘You’re Okay, I’m Awesome’
‘Speed: An Analysis of Cinema’s Greatest Achievement’

 

A quick, funny read that is satisfying. Be sure to read the introduction by The (long-suffering) Bus Driver.

 

If you’re unfamiliar with The Pigeon and curious about the books, be sure to read Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late, and Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Sleigh.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Revenge of the Librarians by Tom Gauld, or Death Wins a Goldfish: Reflections from a Grim Reaper’s Yearlong Sabbatical by Brian Rea.)

 

( official Be the Bus page on the official Mo Willems web site )

 

Recommended by Charlotte M.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

DVD Review: Confess, Fletch

Confess, Fletch
(DVD Confess)

I’ll have to admit, the two 1980s Fletch movies starring Chevy Chase and I.M. Fletcher are among my “guilty pleasure” movie favorites. Chase is so over-the-top “wacky” as con man/investigative journalist Fletch in those two films that his comical performance kind of overwhelms the stories in Fletch (1985) and Fletch Lives (1989).

 

This new 2022 film, both starring and produced by Jon (Mad Men) Hamm, takes Gregory McDonald’s second Fletch novel, Confess Fletch (1976), and updates it to our modern era, but manages to keep much of the style and tone intact. Hamm is far more subtle than Chase was at bringing Fletch to life, but that works in his favor. He doesn’t need outrageous costumes or larger-than-life fake personalities to ingratiate Fletch with the characters he’s interacting with — his Fletch is simply slick and fast on the uptake. In this film, Fletch returns from Europe to find a dead woman in the luxury loft apartment he’s been leant by a friend. Fletch quickly becomes the #1 suspect in the eyes of the pair of homicide detectives investigating the case, and his efforts to locate a stolen art collection are hampered by his needs to come up with ways to shake his police tail.

 

Hamm is absolutely terrific in this, but he’s not the only one. Kyle MacLachlan is fun as a germophobic bad guy, Roy Wood Jr. and Ayden Mayeri as detectives “Slo Mo” Monroe and Griz provide a lot of comic relief, Lorenza Izzo as Fletch’s new Italian girlfriend, who sets the case in motion, is a firebrand, and Marcia Gay Harden (currently killing it on the CBS drama So Help Me Todd) is amusing as the Countess de Grassi.

If you’re at all a fan of the original Fletch novels by McDonald, you should appreciate this new film. Here’s hoping it was successful enough to inspire another!

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the two earlier Fletch movies, starring Chevy Chase Fletch and Fletch Lives, or any of the eleven Fletch novels by Gregory McDonald, published between 1974 and 1994 — the earliest are the best.)

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this film )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you watched this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

DVD Review: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
(DVD Dungeons)

This 2023 film was a fun-filled live-action adventure set in the Forgotten Realms world of Dungeons & Dragons, the role playing game system introduced back in 1974. That game has gone through multiple generations of rule changes (currently players are using the 5th Edition of the core game rules), and has had layer upon layer of world-building in the 50 years that players have been playing this game.

 

This is far from the first movie or TV series to be based on D&D. From 1983-1985, there was a 3-season animated TV series (whose characters make a cameo appearance in the new 2023 film). And between 2000 and 2012, a trilogy of live-action films set the universe of D&D was released. Those films had a notably darker tone than the 2023 film.

 

And that, in a nutshell, is the main appeal of Honor Among Thieves. In addition to an absolutely terrific cast, headlined by Chris Pine, this new film has fun with its world…which is what most D&D RPG players are looking for — a fun adventure, with in-jokes and snarky back-and-forth between the people playing the game.

Pine plays Edgin Darvis, a thieving bard, with a heart of gold. Michelle Rodriguez plays Holga Kilgore, a barbarian warrior woman. Justice Smith plays Simon Aumar, an amateur wizard with a serious lack of self confidence. Sophia Lillis plays Doric, a shape-shifting druid. Rege-Jean Page plays Xank Yander, a slightly smarmy paladin who assists the heroes. Hugh Grant is Forge, a con-artist rogue, who teams up with some forces of darkness and opposes the heroes in their quest.

 

As with any good D&D campaign, the group of loosely-associated heroes gather to take on a quest, and must face multiple challenges before a final confrontation with their main enemies. The special effects are great, especially the embodiment of so many classic “monsters” from D&D lore. And the performances from the entire cast are terrific, particularly in the humor they pull out of every single character and situation. My favorite part of the film is when Edgin and company are digging up corpses in a graveyard to make use of a spell that allows them to ask five questions of each dead body — only their ineptitude causes them to waste most of their questions.

 

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves quite literally felt like one of my old D&D group’s sessions (from the 1990s) brought to life. I had a blast with this film, and I think any other D&D player will as well. But it should also appeal to non-gamers, who may not get all the jokes, but will appreciate what a fun, funny, action-packed ride it is!

 

(If you enjoy this, and you can find them, you may also wish to try all the previous iterations of D&D on TV and film.)

 

(As of the writing of this review, in the summer of 2023, the Bennett Martin Public Library has a librarian-run D&D group for teens, Troll For Initiative, which meets on the second and fourth Mondays of each month from 4:30 to 6:00. This group is meant for beginner and intermediate level D&D players. Registration is required. If you have questions, please contact Caitlin at 402-441-8575.)

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this film )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you watched this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Revenge of the Librarians by Tom Gauld

Revenge of the Librarians
by Tom Gauld (741.5 Gau)

For the past several years, I’ve been seeing the wry, comic art panels of artist Tom Gauld regularly showing up in my Facebook feed, shared by many of my friends…especially those with a love of literary humor. Gauld’s comic strips (frequently seen on the online features of The Guardian) feature simple, uncomplicated art, with “characters” that are often little more than stylized stick figures. His works always appear as variations on the traditional “comic strip” format — long horizontal boxes that can sometimes be just a single box, but can also be subdivided into the traditional 3 or 4 boxes that are reminiscent of newspaper comic strips, but he also frequently uses the space to create a multitude of tiny art boxes.

 

Gauld’s humor is dry, wry, slightly sarcastic, and pokes fun at tropes and established traditions. This particular book collects dozens of his strips that all share a thematic connection — books, reading, libraries, writers, publishing and more along these lines. I absolutely adored this entire collection, and will be looking to purchase a copy for my own personal library. If you, too, appreciate the ability to have fun with literary traditions, you’ll appreciate this collection as well.

 

( official Tom Gauld web site )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

New Lincoln Community Playhouse booklist on BookGuide for The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940

The 1987 mystery-comedy-farce The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 is currently on stage (May 5-14, 2023) at the Lincoln Community Playhouse, neighbor to the Lincoln City Libraries' own Gere Branch Library. As we usually do, a new booklist was created to accompany a book display at the Gere Branch, featuring books that should appeal to fans of funny bit of mayhem.

The booklist includes book books and DVDs/Streaming videos that are similar in nature to the style of this play. But it also includes personal recommendations from the various cast and crew members who are involved in putting on this particular production. This booklist includes a little history of this play, plus descriptive blurbs and catalog hotlinks for each of the included books and DVDs.

You can "check out"this comedic booklist at the following hotlinks:

The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940

Book Review: Number One is Walking: My Life in Movies and Other Diversions by Steve Martin and Harry Bliss

Number One is Walking: My Life in the Movies and Other Diversions
by Steve Martin and Harry Bliss (Biography Martin)

Comedian/actor/musician/writer Steve Martin and cartoonist Harry Bliss team up for a second collaborative book, following their 2020 release, A Wealth of Pigeons.

 

This time, it’s even more autobiographical than it was the last time. The first 60% of the book is Steve Martin’s reminiscences about his years in the motion picture industry, where he made over 40 films before ultimately becoming disenchanted with the film-making process and walking away. This portion of the book is told through a series of cartoons of Steve and Harry taking a walk with Harry’s (talking) dog, and Steve throwing out bits and pieces of memories, which Harry then illustrates. The book is crammed with dry, wry humor and fond memories. And Harry’s artwork, while occasionally fanciful, also includes absolutely stunning recreations of many of Steve’s co-stars or the other celebrities in whose orbit he occasionally found himself.

 

The latter 40% of the book is a collection of (mostly) single-panel cartoons co-created by both Martin and Bliss — which feel very much like Bliss’ frequent contributions to the New Yorker magazine.

 

I enjoyed Number One is Walking a great deal, and constantly found myself in awe of Harry Bliss’ ability to capture the essence and personalities of so many recognizable entertainers and celebrities in a few simple brush strokes. However, as much as I enjoyed reading this, I left this book feeling like I wanted more than I was given…it feels very lightweight, especially in comparison to most celebrity biographies. On the other hand, even if each of Steve’s show biz memories is only 2-4 pages long, the artwork brings them all to life! So…it’s a bit of a mixed bag.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try A Wealth of Pigeons by Steve Martin and Harry Bliss, or the autobiography Born Standing Up by Steve Martin, or possibly Steve’s humor book, The Ten, Make That Nine, Habits of Very Organized People. Make That Ten. The Tweets of Steve Martin.)

 

( official Harry Bliss web site ) | ( official Steve Martin web site )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: The Cryptid Club by Sarah Andersen

The Cryptid Club
by Sarah Andersen (741.5 And)

Cryptid (definition): an animal (such as Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster) that has been claimed to exist but never proven to exist.

 

Web cartoonist Sarah Anderson (Sarah’s Scribbles, and Fangs) launched a new four-panel web comic The Cryptid Club on Webtoon in September 2021. This little hardback book compiles all of the cartoons from the run of that web comic from the beginning through May 2022. The strip features a rotating/recurring cast of characters, from Bigfoot (Sam) and Nessie to a chupacabra, ghosts, a Kraken, aliens, the Fresno Nightcrawlers, Cthulhu, Mothman, The Flatwoods Monster, the Slender Man, a Jackalope, a Siren and a Sirenhead, and a Sleep Paralysis Demon. But, though many of those might be considered “monsters” in modern pop culture mythology, in this strip, they’re all just “normal” people trying to live “normal” lives.

 

The strip is a cute little “slice of life” from the world of these slightly creepy creatures, and Andersen does an absolutely marvelous job of capturing a mix of both the mundane and the macabre. I felt little hints of Charles Addams classic “The Addams Family” comics in these pages. I’ll have to admit, I occasionally find some of Andersen’s extremely simplistic art a bit off-putting, but in this collection, she’s at her best.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the other cartoon compilations by Sarah Andersen, I particularly recommend Fangs, or The World of Charles Addams by Charles Addams, containing many of the cartoons that inspired various iterations of The Addams Family.)

 

( official Cryptid Club web site ) | ( official Sarah Andersen web site )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Audiobook Review: The Geek Who Saved Christmas by Annabeth Albert

The Geek Who Saved Christmas
by Annabeth Albert (Hoopla Audiobook)

A cozy, gay holiday romance, between two men in their early 40’s, that should be on the Hallmark Christmas Romance channel. A favorite trope of mine with Neighbor #1, Gideon, who’s totally into all the holidays and decorates his house accordingly. Next door to him is Neighbor #2, Paul, who’s the grumpy guy who doesn’t decorate.

 

During one of their few interactions, Gideon learns that Paul’s brother is arriving for Christmas with his girlfriend, and he hopes to propose to her on Christmas Eve in front of the Christmas tree. Gideon offers to help Paul decorate and provide the perfect backdrop. They are together nearly every day as Gideon transforms Paul’s barebones house into a homey, comfy, wonderland as they get to know each other.

 

Of course this has a Happy Ever After and we get an epilogue for the following year (I love epilogues). You end up liking both fellows and wish you had next door neighbors just like them. Not to mention, I also approved of a lot of Gideon’s decorating ideas.

 

The reader of this audiobook, Tim Paige, does an excellent job of voicing each character and you have no trouble discerning who’s speaking in the story.

 

A fun, easy listen at only seven hours.

 

( official Annabeth Albert web site )

 

Recommended by Charlotte M.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: We Had a Little Real Estate Problem by Kliph Nesteroff

We Had a Little Real Estate Problem: The Unheralded Story of Native Americans in Comedy

by Kliph Nesteroff (970.1 Nes)

 

During Native American Heritage Month in November (also known as National American Indian History Month and National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month) I started reading this collection of present-time vignettes and documented history on the role and experiences of indigenous American Indians in comedy culture and humor traditions. The subtitle is “The Unheralded Story of Native Americans & Comedy.” As fascinating as it is, and having been unaware of most of it, it is an equally tragic and disheartening story. Yet, it is unfailingly hopeful and inspiring, too. You have no doubt heard of Will Rogers, and possibly Charlie Hill and Alexander Posey, or Williams & Ree. There are many other Native/First Peoples comedians, both amateur and professional, who are or were out there doing their thing — including native/Native Nebraskan Larry Omaha! This extensively researched and well-crafted work explores the day-to-day struggles and successes of a variety of funny, smart, adaptable, determined Native Americans who aspire to be the next (long overdue) Will Rogers or simply to be recognized as a great comedian first of all and indigenous person second.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The 1491s comedy troupe, Native American Comedy Slam (LOLflix series on Youtube), Will Rogers: A Biography by Ben Yagoda, or The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy by Kliph Nesteroff.)

 

( publisher’s official We Had a Little Real Estate Problem web page ) | ( official Kliph Nesteroff Twitter feed )

 

Recommended by Becky W.C.
Walt Branch Library

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!