OrangeCoat

Guys, I'm a little disappointed....not by "The Exploding Detective", but by "The Time Machine Did It". I Amazoned it (yes, it's a verb) last week after reading this post because I like to read books by order of authorship, plus technically speaking you gave it the higher review.

So, I'm about half-way through and I'm simply crushed that I'm not in love with this book as I should be. I like the Simpsons. I adore Bear's sense of humor as it is pretty much awesome like mine. For one reason or another I'm just not into this book--perhaps because I haven't finished, but most likely because I assigned the narrator a voice in my head not unlike that of Chief Wigham. Mistake.

All of this is meaningless, of course, as everybody knows that the funniest book in print today is John Hodgman's "The Areas of My Expertise".

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Susan,

I'm not sure if we can be friends anymore.

Your first problem is giving the main character Chief Wiggums voice, if it is any Simpsons character it is, of course, Homer.

That being said, if you read this paragraph

"Later I asked Professor Groggins about this fight. He said it couldn’t have happened and showed me a bunch of equations to prove it. I ran the numbers a couple of times and they checked out. So I guess it didn’t happen. But sometimes, when Groggins isn’t around, when I’m alone in my room with the lights out, and my calculator’s in the other room, I wonder if it did."

and don't laugh. Then you won't find this book funny.

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Well, I think it's safe to say I haven't gotten to that paragraph yet. I'll try with different voices; I think the key is to not channel Hank Azaria.

I truly hope our friendship remains intact.

P.S. You should still Amazon John Hodgman's book. What you didn't know about actuaries and werewolves may frighten you.

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So here's the thing Susan, I like to think of Frank Burley, the main character in the Time Machine Did It, and two other of his (I write his because I don't want to write the authors entire last name) books as the Dude, or el Duderenio mixed with the slightest bit of Homer J. Simpson.

I also listen to most of the "The Areas of My Expertise" on audio book. It was being provided free. I thought it was funny and clever but it didn't make laugh like the TTMDI.

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I think the mistake that Susan is making is
associating the book with the simpsons. Ufortunately,I haven't got hands the book yet,
but I've read the first four pages,and I'm already
in love with TTMDI.

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