Iron Joe Bob by Joe Bob Briggs

by Joe Bob Briggs

The real founder of the Men's Movement is Joe Bob Briggs, famous drive-in movie reviewer and Texas sage, who now publishes his long-awaited volume on relationships among the "assorted sexes". This book is the result of years of male encounter groups held in various Texas topless bars.

Genres: Humor, Essays, Nonfiction, Comedy

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

John Irving Bloom, known by the stage name Joe Bob Briggs, is a syndicated American film critic, writer, and comic performer.

Reviews

[Mathew Herndon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first time reading anything by Joe Bob. From meeting him and watching Last Drive In this is exactly what I wanted and expected. He makes leaping from topic to topic and Olympic sport and I hope he never changes.

[Weston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I understand the negative reviews, but if you like when Joe Bob goes off talkin’ ‘bout somethin’ that ain’t got much to do with nothin’… you’ll like this book. It’s funny, and now I have learned the ways of Iron Joe Bob I am a man ready to take on the world.

[Hayley (Strange & Unusual Book Club) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this as much as A Guide to Western Civilization, but it was fun. This is less of a story and more of a series of essays connected by the theme of Iron Joe Bob's men's movement. If you're a Joe Bob fan, check it out.

[Will Cantrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a rough read. It takes a die hard Joe Bob fan to even finish it. Joe goes on and on if you know what I mean, and I think that you do. 2 1/2 stars. Joe Bob says check it out.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Drive-in movie critic and trailer park denizen, Joe Bob Briggs, takes shots at the drum-pounding modern man. We're pretty much sitting ducks.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1986 Bill Cosby had a massive hit book with Fatherhood. While that's not his greatest sin, it should probably rank on his list somewhere. It created a land rush where every comedian or comic persona was expected to drop a book. Now, most of them are just rehashing the comics stand up routine, some are autobiographies with some jokes, or in this case, a comic persona writes a book about something that was big at the time. Most of these books range from mediocre to bad. So, how does a book written by a comic persona who is supposed to be neanderthalic age after 30 years? Yeah, not particularly well. There are a few chuckles, but overall it lands flat and comes across as rambling (I know its supposed to, but some things work better on TV than on the page) It's an interesting curio of the time, but that time is a long time ago. If you want humor from the time period that ages well I'd recommend trying the collected works of Dave Barry.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

My enjoyment of the whole Joe Bob character is strictly limited to his movie-related output. This "satire" of a men's self help book is dull, largely unfunny, and only fitfully entertaining. The humor is just so dated. It's not even that it's mean-spirited, it's just that these were easy jokes even in 1992.

[Oscar Maquito · Rating 4 out of 5]

*3.9/5

[Raymond · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good. It had me laughing and I could hear his voice as I was reading. It is setup as a “Male self help” book.

[David Matheny · Rating 3 out of 5]

one thing about reading a book by joe bob briggs is. The entire book reads in his voice like he is talking directly to the reader and this isn't a bad deal.

[Daniel Shapiro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun read. He was right about Trump.

[Damon Noel · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you’re a fan of Joe Bob you will be a fan of this.

A rambling, Gonzo-esque satire of style over substance.

[Mark Dunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unless you're a creepy fan ,like me, could afford to pass this one by. The three stars is in relation to other Joe Bob books and humor books in general ,not Shakespeare.

[Rodney Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious and insightful! No "modern man" should go any longer without having read this book.

[Curt Bobbitt · Rating 2 out of 5]

A few of the chapter titles reveal the crass, low-brow humor in this parody of Robert Bly's pretentious Iron John: A Book about Men:

The Legend of the Limp Spear
Slaying the Inner Weenie
Women Are Crazy: Get Used to It
Lengthening Your Spear"
Withdrawing from the Wooly Forest


Weird colloquial spellings create the ethos of the tasteless narrator: "probly," "Mesicans," "bullstuff," "goldurn."

To parallel Bly's use of the tale "Iron John" by the Brothers Grimm, Briggs manufactures an Indian legend from a fictional tribe in west Texas.