Calculating How Big Of A Tip To Give Is The Easiest Thing Ever, Shout Out To My Family & Friends

by Steve Roggenbuck

Stories and such by Steve Roggenbuck

Genres: Poetry, Short Stories

70 pages, Paperback

First published February 16, 2015

About the author

https://gumroad.com/steveroggenbuck

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my opinion, Steve Roggenbuck is a true visionary and champion of poetry. His video poems and performances are legendary (check YouTube) and extremely life-affirming.

Calculating How Big Of A Tip To Give Is The Easiest Thing Ever, Shout Out To My Family & Friends is a hoot. The titles alone of the pieces collected herein are pure gold - and generally have nothing to do with the stories themselves ("How Many Creed Neck Tattoos Is It Going To Take" is a personal favorite).

This book appears to be a slapdash collection of brief nonsensical tales, but is actually a very accurate portrayal of the 21st century mindset. Which is to say: defined by almost zero attention span, bits of this and bytes of that, and the whole thing presented like a series of text conversations between a couple of very sincere (and stoned) vegans. And I mean that as a compliment.

[Ju$tin · Rating 5 out of 5]

well I gotta admit I watched a video with Mr. Roggenbuck (sweet last name btw, reminds me of a mythical creature) well anyways I was watching a video with him talking about stuff and I wasn't really impressed? and I was excited to read him poetry and hate it but I loved it. the end.

[Kevin Bertolero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Complete nonsense, but I loved it.

[Alexandre Alphonse · Rating 5 out of 5]

First time I've listened to an e-book. Cool experience for a book like this, but far from my cup of tea, bien sûr.

[Ellé · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been the book of my summer. It's a good size and shape to carry around anywhere, and the short stories are perfect for when you only have a moment to read.
More importantly, though, the stories are extremely entertaining, whether they have hidden meanings, obvious metaphorical value, or none whatsoever. I would rather there be a sequel of this book than a sequel of To Kill a Mockingbird.
Before this book, I saw Steve Roggenbuck primarily as a bad ass poet and orator, but now he is a story teller too(?!?!?). This guy just can't stop. This book also inspired me to quit dairy, which was a great move. Thank you Steve, thank you.
This book is available to anyone with an internet connection because Steve Roggenbuck reads it in its entirety on Youtube. You can find that here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5vR9...

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I struggled on whether to give 4 or 5 stars, really I would give it a 4.5. This book is wonderfully humorous and wonderfully thoughtful. The main thing keeping me from full enjoyment is that there are much more poop, clown, and masturbation references than my sensibilities are accustomed to. But this is such a minor element and a very extremely minor gripe!! There is pure heart in so many passages of this book, particularly as you get towards the end, and I love it. My most favorite poem-stories from this book are "How Many Creed Neck Tattoos Is It Going To Take" and "if you kept a log of when you pooped, it would be called a poop log." I felt those poem-stories breathed life in a very special way.

Definitely recommend

[Alexander Thorne · Rating 5 out of 5]

once upon a time there was a boy who went to church
"this sucks" he said and started texting satan
satan invited him to his own youth group
the boy fell off of his bike on the way there
when he looked at the broken wheel he saw he rock wedged in it
he picked out the rock and it read "satan"
"you fucker" said the boy
he didn't know who to trust anymore
he ran home crying and started googling things to fill the void in his life
he realized all sorts of horrible truths
most of which i can't put here
because truths are subjective
he created books
non sequitor books
books that make you wonder if there is a truth
or there simply is a is

[Adom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can understand why some people would find this pointless or difficult to enjoy, as the randomness is kind of superficial and the errors can be a bit much, but reading this is just so fun, and that's enough. I'm choosing to view the typos as a statement that technical things like spelling aren't actually important to stories when they don't impair understanding, rather than a bad attempt at being funny or cute. Best read aloud, free-styling punctuation and deciding in the moment which "errors" to maintain and which to "fix".

[Logan]

I laughed aloud at every page! Steve employs the misspellings, memes and surreal humor that first captured our hearts and weaves in a current of activism and social justice, at once sincere, direct, and playful. Steve's first major publication inaugurating his activist direction. This book is the BOOST that's good through and through. Also, the material of the first edition is a real treat for the tips.

[Suzanne]

An 'Aesop's Fables' for the internet age.

With this book, Steve shares a series of random stories that would almost seem mundane or pointless if it weren't for the refreshingly un-preachy way he weaves his ideology into all of them. This book is hilarious, and Steve is earnest and gentle in the way he communicates his views through these parables.

If you have yet to be introduced to Steve's work, this is a good place to start.

[Jonathan Byrd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read for anyone who still enjoys dada style poetry. I mostly enjoy the commentaries on our society that are placed/hidden in each poem.

[Shannon Donovan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know what to say about this really but your life will probably improve a lot if you read this.

[Sarah Ahmed · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun read, but even better listened to (he published it on youtube, and it's a excellent audiobook/performance)

[Harrison Rip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as unlocked as past work, much more conscientious and preachy

[fff · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5