How to Confuse the Idiots in Your Life

by Ben Goode

Book by Wayne Allred

Genres: Humor

93 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[James McIntosh Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this book in a little store several years back and just had to get it. It looked like it would appeal to my odd sense of humor, and I was not disappointed. Although I will say it can be a bit harsh and perhaps repetitive at times, for the most part it is pretty funny. I go back to the book every now and then, sometimes reading it all the way through and sometimes just taking jabs at sections to add a bit of humor to my day. This type of humor is not for everyone, but it suites me well.

(What I don't understand is why copy has a different author listed - Ben Goode - even though the ISBN is the same.)

UPDATE: I just finished reading the book again. I still think it is very funny! A few other points to mention: There are some grammatical errors, but they do not distract too much. Some of the humor is funny social commentary, and some of it is just funny. And finally, this is a short, quick read if you do not want to get into something big and long at the moment.

[Peter Wolfley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Some books are so unfunny that they are funny. This is not one of those books.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although there are some genuinely good laughs in here, much of it was repetative. Allred tries to insult everybody, but he especially has a hard time with vegetarians and animal rights people. There are no corresponding insulting jokes about meat eaters and sport hunters. When he makes fun of Democrats, he then turns around and makes fun of Republicans -- one time, in the same sentence. He also makes fun of atheists and pro-choice people, yet where are the jokes for the so-called Godly and the anti-abortionists?

There are also some tiresome dead animal jokes. I fully admit that I'm a hypocrite, since I don't mind dead people jokes.

The cartoon-like illustrations were not very good. There was only one at the beginning of a chapter -- one of which was of a pet cemetery, which was a buzzkill.

Every now and then, a gem would pop up, such as this real saying in Wyoming on page 87:

Never give someone a piece of your mind without first stopping to consider whether or not you can get by on what's left.

This was first published in 1999, so advice like don't ask airport security to look at your cool bomb as a joke was eerily pertinent.

The copy scanned into the Internet Archive has this interesting sticker on the cover:

TABLE COPY. PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE. Books by Wayne Allred available at cashier.

Don't look now, but someone removed the table copy.

[Costanza Kuke · Rating 1 out of 5]

Perhaps because of language differences it was difficult to me to find something to laugh about in these lines. Sorry, didn't enjoy it. But I'm not a native English speaker. That could have influenced.

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cover was the best thing about this book. I was really looking for some witty advice.