The Right Book at the Right Time

Title: Lunatics

Author: Dave Barry & Alan Zweibel

Publisher: Putnam Adult, 2012

Summary/Review: Dave Barry is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Alan Zweibel is a winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor. Together they have created an outrageous, over- the- top madcap story that had me laughing out loud! Pure fun and enjoyment, I zipped right through it!

I recommended it to my sister and she was crying she was laughing so hard! We obviously share the same weird sense of humor. Two suburban fathers take an instant dislike to each other at their children’s soccer game and the story spirals out of control from there. There are alternating chapters from each point of view, written by each author. I recommend this as an anecdote to the stressful and harried lives most lead-it is pure comic relief!

Who will like this book? Someone who’s not afraid to laugh. Someone looking for a fun, zany story.

If you like this, try this: If you’re looking for lots of humor, try David Sedaris, Amy Sedaris, or  Jenny Lawson (who has a new one coming out soon!) To veer into the political humor/satirical side, try out  Stephen Colbert, or Jon Stewart.

Dave Barry also has a number of books include “Dave Barry Turns 50″, “Dave Barry Talks Back”, and “Dave Barry in Cyberspace”.  Alan Zweibal’s include “Our Tree Named Steve”, “Clothing Optional: And Other Ways to Read Stories”, and “North” – yes- he wrote the screenplay for the movie, too!

 Recommended by: Cindy B., Children’s Librarian

Does this look like a book for you? Visit the Fairfield Public Library catalog to see if it’s available and place a hold!

Title: The Fiddler in the Subway: The true story of what happened when a world-class violinist played for handouts - and other virtuoso performances by America’s foremost feature writer

Author: Gene Weingarten

Publisher: Simon and Schuster, July 2010

Summary: If you take one of the worlds best musicians and place him in the middle of one of the nation’s busiest subway stations and have him play his heart out, will anyone stop and listen? In this collection of sharply observed essays, Washington Post columnist Gene Weingarten shows why he is the only person to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing twice. Not only is he a brilliant writer (or, ‘investigative humorist,’ as he calls himself), he chooses to write on a variety of subjects from the ridiculous (trying to incite the French to be rude to him in Paris) to the sublime (witnessing the lengths to which a concerned citizenry will go in order to save a small bird trapped in a shop window.) Along the way, you will discover that the highest paid children’s performer in the D.C. area, “The Great Zucchini,” is a man whose personal demons might be his greatest professional asset, and you will meet the residents of Battle Mountain, NV, who might just live in “The Armpit of America.”

Like any great humorist, Weingarten is not afraid of pointing out his own shortcomings. Like any great journalist, he is willing to get to the root of his subject, even if what he finds there is chilling, disturbing, or deeply tragic. Many people believe Weingarten is the best essayist in America. Readers of this book would have a hard time arguing with that.

Who will like this book?: This is a great book for all general non-fiction readers – the essays cover a wide array of topics. And as Weingarten is a former editor, this book is also full of useful information and inspiration for writers.

If you like this, read this: How Did You Get This Number? by Sloane Crosley. I’ll Mature When I’m Dead by Dave Barry. Don’t Get Too Comfortable by David Rakoff.

Recommended by: Nicole, Teen Librarian

Title: These Children Who Come At You With Knives and Other Fairy Tales

Author: Jim Knipfel

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, June 2010

Summary: Fractured fairy tales have long been a popular genre in youth literature, and in this wicked, inspired collection, the grown-ups finally get their own twisted takes on ‘happily ever after.’ If you are expecting a modern-day Cinderella or Little Mermaid story, this is not the book for you.

Instead, you will meet a chicken who is too smart for her own good, a demented gnome bent on world domination, and a gossipy houseplant that would give Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors a run for her (it’s?) money. And it’s not giving too much away by saying that none of the stories has the traditional fairy tale ending. This bold collection will make you laugh and squirm at the same time.

Who will like this book?: Fans of satire. Cynics. People who think to themselves, ‘if Cinderella’s slippers were really made of glass, wouldn’t she cut up her feet?’

If you like this, read this: Another great (albeit less brutal) take on fairy tales for grown-ups, the Fables graphic novel series by Bill Willingham.

Recommended by: Nicole, Teen Librarian