The Event: an epic joke

by Sam Pink

Where do YOU stand?

103 pages, Paperback

First published January 22, 2024

About the author

Sam Pink is the author of The No Hellos Diet, Hurt Others, I Am Going to Clone Myself Then Kill the Clone and Eat It, Frowns Need Friends Too, and the cult hit Person. His writing has been published widely in print and on the internet, and also in other languages. He lives in Chicago, where he plays in the band Depressed Woman.

Reviews

[Ian Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool to see Sam doing 90's-style hysterical realism here.

Politically inscrutable though. Not sure what this book is trying to say aside from "Hey politics/America/the world is crazy and everyone's crazy. Isn't that crazy?"

That's not an incorrect thing to say. However, I haven't seen it done yet without the author coming off as smugly above-it-all, or as secretly giving credence to one side over the other.

Sam narrowly avoids that here. Doesn't unprecedentedly subvert it or anything, but avoids it.

The final page of this is what saves it. The book ultimately ends on a funny, uplifting note that minimizes the smugness and lets you come away without a bad taste in your mouth.

Still, very weird book.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruthless. Hysterical. Had to put it down a few times to compose myself because my dog thought I was crying (I was laughing)
Sam Pink does not miss.

[Bob Comparda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sam Pink does politics and in lieu of picking sides he chooses to point out the absurdity and idiocracy of American politics with satirical refrences to political figures, movements and events, and a preposterous and humorous storyline.

"The cartoon continues"

[Zadignose]

I'm very sorry to say this book is a major disappointment for me. I'm a Sam Pink fan, having read all or almost all of his book-length fiction (I did miss one of his collections of short works). But there is a sort of cliche going around that today's social and political world is already so absurd as to be beyond parody. Well, this book proves the cliche. It doesn't work. It turns out to be a mostly unfunny farce, with maybe a little tepid half-redeeming humor at about the 2/3 mark (carnage in a shopping mall), and then builds to a kind of spoof-Hollywood-ending which also doesn't satisfy... followed by a little bit of messaging. Now, when it comes to the politics of the book, the kindest thing I can think to say is that it is irrelevant.

I eagerly await Pink's next book in the hope that he pulls off a successful rebound from this one.

[Mitchell Waldman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who else to pull the veil back on the absurdities of life in modern day America than Sam Pink? Because in The Event that's exactly what Sam does. Mass shootings are now a boring part of everyday life, entertainment, but when a post goes viral about an elementary school kid punching a girl in the belly for cutting in line at lunch, it's just what America was looking for--the next Event. Author Pink, through this parody of modern life in the U.S. of A. shows us all the absurdities and the great side taking divides of life in this nation, perfectly showing between laughs the fractured noncompromising black and white sides of our populus these days. Return violence with violence. Stand the Line. Don't give in. In the process, with cameos from very recognizable public officials and personalities, the author lays it all out for us and we wonder, question, where have all our values gone? What extremes will we go for our side to "win"? Funny, but at the same time a warning of what we've become and where we are headed as a society.

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hilarious premise with a few good laughs, but overall I found it to be too ludicrous to be able to get into. Good satire is hard to nail because you don't want to be too on-the-nose while still making your point, and I think this fails to really hit that balance. That said, I had a few huge laughs!

[Billy Pedlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super fun beach read about the fall of America. Sam does an expert job of satirizing our cultural descent into schizophrenia, and putting the experience of being online to paper in his trademark style. In all the explosions and dangling balls, many will miss the intrigue of the main character. Is he truly lurching forward into absurdity or does he see the levers that pull the world? Does he have ideals or would he push the button for fun? This tension gives the book a mysterious otherworldliness, despite it featuring a number of the most important figures of our time.

[Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

In less than 24 hours (including a solid six hours of sleep and teaching a class in that time), I finished this book but it will stay with me for years.
Wit is, for me, the highest form of intelligence, and this book, then, was so, so smart. This is no parody. This was an intellectual criticism of the sheer shit-fest our culture has become. It’s a brutal take-down, blowing up our selfish, bored, combative psychologies.
This book is a punch in the stomach in the best possible way ever.

[Myles · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most I’ve laughed out loud at a book in a very long time. Thoughtful and tapped in without ever feeling like it’s trying to Say Something. Sam is so fucking funny and so good at getting to the heart of all the tip-of-your-tongue feelings and phenomena that come with being alive right now. Good shit man

[Eric Algeo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sure, Gergens is an American hero, but what will Sam Pink put out next? Kinda over the hype tbh

But seriously

Brazen, steadfast, a balls on the lawn chair kinda novel. It's another classic Pink, what do you want me to say? That I loved it? That it made me chuckle and think about how bizarre this country is? Then you came to the right place bozo. Strap in!

[David Catney · Rating 5 out of 5]

laughed a lot while reading this. just finished reading a book about the troubles in northern ireland before picking this up, which added to my enjoyment of this story, i think. glad i read this.

[John "Painter" · Rating 5 out of 5]

--Get this one quick, before it's banned. (Just kidding. Sort of.)--

This fiery tale packs live rounds and a laser focus. Lampooning our current pop-culture preoccupations with rage-violence and the ultra-fast rush to public-shaming, this narrative is something of a departure from the author's previous works. And a successful departure it is.

I laughed more often (also harder, longer, and with greater pleasure) while reading this book than I have for a long, long time.

Irony and satire are heaped to overflowing. The language is taut and biting. The characters would seem too insane to be plausible, even as fictive inventions, if this book were written any time prior to the last three U.S. election cycles. (I'm writing this review in 2025.) At no point did I find myself anywhere close to being certain about, or for that matter even caring about, what politics, if any, were held by its author.

This is a very human book about living in what, too often lately, feel like frighteningly inhumane times. Sam Pink has done something more than merely productive with that collective fear. He's written something wildly intoxicating, yet soberly prescient. Grab it while you still can.

_____

[Downward · Rating 4 out of 5]

the event is a violent satire in a kind of chris morris silhouette that points out the patterns that we get caught in bc of our needs to not face social problems with any logic or sense but look at them through the lens of 'sides,' which my faulty description makes it sound like it's trying to do some bill maher shit but i promise that it's not, it's unpretentious and very funny and does social ventriloquism on people like alex jones really well, filtering the whole thing through an honestly almost kind of believable scenario that we trend through social media lightning quick before disappearing and escalating it to civil war proportions. it's good. it's short. read it.

[Henry Blickle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m surprised this hasn’t been banned.

The Event is sharp, surreal, hilarious, and horrifying all at once — like looking in the mirror after too many nights out. It’s the kind of book only Sam Pink could pull off: ninety-three pages of unpredictable, dead-on commentary that entertains while still saying something real.

It’s Sam Pink. Do I need to say more? Stop reading reviews and go read the book — you’ll have a much better time.

[Tim Flagg · Rating 5 out of 5]

America take a look at yourself in the mirror.

Wink at yourself.

Laugh and then scowl.

Mr. Pink loves you.

And hates you too, equally.

We think.

Artist, Poet, Painter, Teacher, Philosopher.

Who’s a better writer in America currently?

Probably no one.

Teach this book in every public school in America.

We need it.

[Timothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

America look at yourself in the mirror.

Wink at yourself.

Laugh and scowl and cry.

Mr. Pink loves you.

And hates you, equally.

We think.

Artist, Laborer, Poet, Comedian, Teacher, Philosopher.

Who is a better writer in America?

Probably no one.

We should teach this satire in public classrooms.

We need it.

[Russ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sam pulls off something really difficult here, a parody of online culture wars - he manages to mock both sides pretty equally. To the point where its hard to guess what his actual political views are. If had picked a side, this could've come off preachy. Instead, it's a short silly read with some good laughs.

[hyper gaucho · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's only a matter of time till news of the Event arrives thru TikTok this decade. The nation will aerosolize into hyper-demented consumer warfare. Uphold the Line! This book is funnier than a pink plate carrier.

[Maxx McKinley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is hilarious from start to finish- seriously is a must read for every American.
Sam Pink continues to be one of the best and only contemporary writers that seems to evolve with each release.

[mai · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 21st century is so stupid and sam pink knows it.

[Bobby Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a fan of Sam’s stuff but this one is a different beast. A very funny and satirical look at our pointless culture wars with the pace of an AR-15. I devoured it.

[Emma Foley · Rating 3 out of 5]

EXTREMELY PERTINENT TO OUR TIME AND FUNNY. Like captain underpants for twitter users

[Jared Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just, man, ya know what it is, sometimes I find myself wishing my enemies had a better estimation of me. Or that I could estimate myself higher based on the caliber of my enemy.

[Jessica Haas · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best Chuck Palahniuk book in 25 years

English teachers are gonna LOVE this one

Ps: I did this on audio and listening to the narrator pronounce "balaclava" as "baklava" was physically painful

[cobo · Rating 5 out of 5]

it’s like 90 pages just read it

[ddr ☃ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sam pink with his creative chaos once again. you know you've crossed the line when the elves bring out their AR-15

[Edward]

Lol

[AutomaticSlim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A riveting thriller from the author of I'm Going To Clone Myself Then Kill the Clone and Eat it.

Pink is rocking semicolons here people, watch the fuck out.

The event is another beast, a different style - and it works, no joke about it.

[Amanda M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book, like it's author, is a REAL TREAT.