Put this book down and go read Wong's work at cracked.com, particularly his piece "6 Things Rich People Need to Stop Saying," a brilliant piece of humor, psychology and economics. http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-things-...Back to John Dies. Yes, like the book blurb says, in some ways it resembles The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy--it's that strange blend of humor that occurs partially because of stacking two incongruencies in a slice of bread and calling it a sandwich. The heroes are similar

2.5So... Um... Well, that was, erm, something all right... So I suppose I should start off by saying it's not quite what I was expecting but, of course, the logical follow-up to that would be "well, what were you expecting?", and I'd have to say "I'm not really sure. But that wasn't it."But I think one thing I was expecting was a different kind of humor. Maybe something more along the lines of A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore, or even 'Army of Darkness' with Bruce Campbell.Not to say it didn't h...

I really loved this book. I didn't know anything going into it, other than that it was weird, so that's all I'll give you.I think it's worth your time.

**MILD SPOILERS IN THE FORM OF DIRECT QUOTES WHICH DON'T REALLY TELL YOU ANYTHING ABOUT THE STORY**5 REASONS THIS MAY BE THE BEST BOOK YOU'LL EVER READ#5. It's Literally Lough-Out-Loud FunnyI know it's not generally cool to slag off other people's book reviews. It's their subjective opinion, they're entitled, freedom of speech, blahdy blahdy blah. But the number of GR reviews for this book which contain the words "juvenile humour" and then proceed to dismiss the book's worth on that basis is jus...

There is no way to accurately describe this book, it’s the kind of book that you just need to experience for yourself! I had no idea what a wild and crazy ride I was in for when I started this book, and was it ever wild and crazy! This book is nonstop weirdness and grossness and I soaked up every second of it. And be warned, when I say it’s nonstop grossness, I mean incredibly GROSS and nasty all the way through big in the best way possible. It was also both hilarious and horrifying, it had me l...

This book is not for everyone but it is certainly for me.We all know that I have the sense of humor of a twelve year-old boy. I can't help it. Just yesterday my manager was talking to my coworkers and I about her new job at Whole Foods, explaining what she would be doing (which is working behind the specialty cheese counter) and she spoke this little gem that slipped passed everyone's attention but mine: "...basically I'll be cutting the cheese all day." I slapped my hand to my mouth and trying

Have you ever played that game when one person starts a story and then another person takes it over, and then another, and then...until the story gets to where you can't even remember how it started? John Dies at the End is a little bit like that game.Now picture Howard Philip Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard playing this game around a campfire after a crazy party. Now picture Howard Philip Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard smoking pot and drinking cheap booze as they play the game. And then they are...

This book is about shit. And insects. And humanity.A peculiar combination, you may think? I agree. But this is a great story that may not have worked in the hands of any other author.My most amazing cousin Danielle has been asking me to read this book for about a year now, and I'm really glad I finally picked it up. It's packed with meat monsters, immortal dogs, & exploding eyeballs with a fake Jamaican cherry on top!While all these aspects make for some top-level ridiculousness, I think it's im...

A tangled quagmire of whatthehell.Reminiscent of Hunter S. Thompson and maybe William Burroughs, this eschews stream of consciousness but revels in surrealism and absurdity. Telling a Lovecraftian / Ghostbusters tale, at best it is fun and well crafted, at worst it devolves into a prolonged fart joke.Interestingly, this began as a web serial back in 2001 with tens of thousands of fans enjoying the snark for free before it was finally all put together in a paperback in 2007. The online versions w...

VERY HIP... VERY BIZARRO... VERY CREEPY... AND VERY, VERY (EVEN BRILLIANTLY) FUNNY...IN A CRUDE, JUVENILE WAY...I read a lot... I read everyday and go through a number of books every week. Reading as much as I do, I get a real jolly on when I come across a book like this because it is so different from the usual fare. I'm not sure I can adequately describe the book, but the phrase that seems most apt is "brilliantly stupid"…with "surreal,” "incredibly funny" and "dude that’s gross" clos...

So weird! Like watching a psychedelic train wreck orchestrated by HP Lovecraft and not being able to look away no matter how strange and terrifying it gets.I see some categorize this as Urban Fantasy and I can see that. It is not exactly like the other books I have read in that genre, but it does have some elements. Also, I tend not to care for Urban Fantasy, but I liked this one. I cannot say that I was always following what was going on, but I think disorientation was the point!Also, lots of c...

(WARNING: The following is not a well-balanced, conscientious review.)John Dies at the End dies before it even reaches the first chapter.The story - such as it is - revolves around the typical gross-out paranormal-type activity that made Kevin Smith's "Dogma" such a success (think "It's a shit monster!" and you've pretty much got the idea of what seems to have inspired this book). Within the first 20 pages, the reader is witness to blood, copious amounts of excrement, a flaccid - and gratuitous

this is possibly the worst published book i have ever read. i'm sad to admit it was my ex-boyfriend's favorite book, so i read it to placate him. it took me all of about five minutes to get sick of the author's trite internet-meme-style wannabe-funny bullshit, which is sad because i believe he is the editor of cracked.com (where the writing, though sub-par at times, at least typically makes sense and is somewhat enjoyable to read). at first i thought i wasn't reading it closely enough to follow

“The man-shaped arrangement of meat rose up, as if functioning as one body. It pushed itself up on two arms made of game hens and country bacon, planting two hands with sausage-link fingers on the floor. The phrase “sodomized by a bratwurst poltergeist” suddenly flew through my mind. Finally it stood fully upright, looking like the mascot for a butcher shop whose profits went entirely to support the owner’s acid habit.”The above quote from the prologue sets the tone very nicely for John Dies at

Bullet Review:Bleh. I tried and I tried and I tried to like this disgusting, gory, weird little book, and it just isn't happening. I'm sure there's an audience for this type of book, but it sure as hell ain't me. And, as I've said before, life's too short to be wasted on books I'm not liking.Full Review:I have to write a review for this? Really? And a plot summary? How do I even begin to sort through the batsh!t weird that happens in this book into a cohesive, comprehensive summary? Do I even re...

"This stopped me. The cops called us? What, they got a ghost they want us to check out? Like we're fucking Scooby-Doo?" Premise: David Wong and his friend John are kind of ghost-busters, they see things that others can't. This is because of a drug that they have consumed which is named soya-sauce for the lack of a better name and it does look a bit like that (apparently). I liked it at the start. I really did. The jokes, the way the horror and humor were combined made me keep on turning the p

5 StarsThis is a blast of a bizzaro piece of weird fiction. It is a blend of horror, new weird and psychological madness. David Wong is the name of the author, the name of the narrator, and the name of the main protagonist too (Not necessarily all the same!!!). This read is not for the faint of heart, nor is it intended for those that like things spelled out for them all nice and clear, and then drawn up with nothing but straight lines. The weirdness of this book can be challenging to read and t...

Juvenile humor was only a feature of this novel, not a bug. There were plenty of bugs, tho. That being said, it was a light-hearted frolic in the woods of shit-narnia, and I felt like getting a tattoo of the Pi symbol on my toe. Strangely enough, I agreed with the idea of the last dead guy that first-person shooter games are training us for something... but I just can't figure out what it was... better game-playing? That's probably it. This is a Fun Book, ya'll, even if I was expecting something...

Don't let the spoilerish title fool you... John Dies At The End is full of surprises! Life is full of millions of choices. And while some are instantly recognized as "life-choices" (like getting married or picking a career path), others are deceptively innocent. But even the smallest of choices can have huge consequences. That's the hard lesson David Wong learned when he decided to challenge a hack street-magician at a concert. Had Wong simply rolled his eyes and kept walking, his life may not

"There's nothing new under the sun."If you're an insecure creative person, you'll hear this phrase quite often. Friends will try to build you up, because there's no easy (or friendly) way for them to say, "Maybe storytelling isn't for you, you know? Perhaps take up model-building or lint-collecting?" I used to agree with "There's nothing new under the sun." Really, I did. Hell, I'm even guilty of uttering it once or a dozen-hundred times. The truth is, that sentence is bullshit. "There's nothing...