I left school with a giant bag of books to read, all chosen from the school library and with the help of fellow teachers. Total, I went home in May with around 20 books.
I read four of them.
Instead, I spent my summer reading fanfiction and a lot of humor-type stuff. Granted, I also read The Sixth Extinction and Lord of the Flies, but those were high quality reads in the midst of a lot of garbage.
Still, I greatly enjoyed myself.
Two of the books that stood out of this mess were comedian Jim Gaffigan's books Dad is Fat and Food: A Love Story. I'm a big fan of Jim Gaffigan, mostly because I love food almost as much as he does (though I am one of the described "skinny people" he criticizes in Food: A Love Story because they can stop after only *one* donut). His comedy doesn't rely on being vulgar or the shock value of saying something disgusting, and I appreciate that. Don't get me wrong, I love raunchy comedians too, but when one says 'fuck' every other word, I lose interest. If a joke needs the F word that many times, it's usually not funny.
Anyway. I picked these up because I like Gaffigan's stand up. If you aren't already a fan of his, you've probably heard of him thanks to his "Hot Pockets" routine, which is what got him started.
He talks mainly about food and family, which sounds boring, but his deliveries are great. He uses this little "inside voice" that's supposed to sound like someone in the audience; usually this person is easily confused or offended by his comedy, and it's hilarious.
Now, I've read a lot of comedians' books -- George Carlin's When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops and Napalm and Silly Putty, both of Stephen Colbert's books, Lewis Black's Nothing's Sacred, and others -- and I've found that I'm usually disappointed.
So many of these comedians write just as they perform, which means that they lose a lot of voice on the page.
Others don't bother to include much new material, and so reading their books is just a rehash of their stand-up.
Sadly, it's into this category that Jim Gaffigan's books fall.
It's not that I didn't enjoy Dad is Fat. The book just didn't offer much that was new. Instead, it's a lot of his normal stuff about his family, normal meaning that it's in his stand-up. And I've seen ALL of his stand-up.
So there's not much that was new, which I guess I should have seen coming. But beyond that, his work loses something when it's on the page.
The delivery is off, his 'inside voice' has vanished which leaves it sounding critical and mean, and there are moments when the funny gets lost inside his love and cuddles for his family.
I'm a little conflicted about that part of the book. Often, after he's made about a dozen jokes about how much trouble it is to raise 5 really little kids, Gaffigan will then spend a few pages talking about why he loves them so much. I don't really have a problem with that -- better than he likes those 5 kids, let's face it -- but I wasn't expecting such a cuddly book when I picked it up.
I don't generally read warm-fuzzy type books, which I'm sure is indicative of my own mindset about warm-fuzzy feelings. Anyway. I don't read them because I generally think they're boring -- something has to happen in order for life to be interesting. Think Jonathan Tropper's This is Where I Leave You -- I'd much rather read that than a guy babbling about how much he loves his kids.
So I wasn't a huge fan of Dad is Fat.
Then there's Food: A Love Story.
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| The cover of this book cracks me up. |
But those 300 pages are all old news if you already watch all his stuff.
There's little here that isn't fresh. Some parts, like his discussion of BBQ around the country, has been expanded to include more areas, but for the most part, it's still much of what I've seen and heard from his comedy over the years.
I know that his comedy about food and family is what made him famous, but I'm looking forward to his branching out a little. He's had some funny bits about being lazy and working out, and I'm always amused with his takes on religious holiday traditions like Christmas trees and bunnies for Easter. I would love to read something of his that's new, that's never been performed before, and I'm sure I'll read his next book too.
Overall, what stood out about these two books was just how much I didn't like them. I was expecting to really enjoy them, given how much I enjoy the author's comedy. But I didn't.
I would still recommend them as books, but I would ask if you were a fan a Gaffigan's first.
If you've never heard of him, then read away! It's funny stuff.
But if, like me, you're already a fan -- just boot up Netflix and watch his stand-up, or his new show, instead.
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