Greasy Mad Stuff

by William M. Gaines

vg++ Signet 1963 edition paperback 1st In stock shipped from our UK warehouse

Genres: Humor, Comics, Comedy

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1963

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing up, there were always Mad paperbacks floating around my house. My dad loved them. Like many books at that time, I would read them and pass them around to my friends. I recently picked up a lot of them from the 50s/60s and starting going through them (they make excellent bathroom readers!). Snarky, satirical, Mad at the time skirted on the boundaries of taste and often found itself in lawsuits (copyright infringement, etc.), but usually prevailed; satire is typically considered 'fair use'.

Greasy Mad Stuff takes aim at 'before and after ads', schemed inspired by 'painting by the numbers', the ad industry in several set pieces, 'household repair tips', and a prison yearbook. I love the snark and how they took on Madison Avenue here. In the 50's and 6o's, advertising took on a new form (think Mad Men) as corporations sought out new markets for their products. Fun stuff, and I will be going through a whole stack of these! 4 snarky stars!!

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the early days works from the 1950's. They look at The Price is All Right, poetry, going into space, grandstand football, before and after ads, teen thoughts, prison, household repairs, and painting by numbers. Don Martin is here with his silliness.

I always enjoy MAD paperbacks. I like the variety. Some of this was a little hard to read because it was so small. I am amazed at how timely it remains after 60 and 70 years. Classics never go out of style.

[Michael David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably the wittiest and among the most mordant MAD books I have ever read, but it is probably the most intelligent. It satirizes the lies that advertisements propagate through selective information, and makes fun of literature by juxtaposing it with ads. It is the best MAD I have read.

[JSK · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a moderately funny book, but be warned some of the material is seriously dated. It originally appeared in MAD magazine back in 1959, and because of that, there are sections that might seem completely foreign to some. One such feature is a spoof on teen magazines, and it's full of references to pop culture idols at the time like Sal Mineo, Ricky Nelson, Tab Hunter, and Fabian - not exactly household names anymore! Some of the more familiar sections of MAD are not here because they haven't been developed yet, like Spy vs. Spy. The only humorists that were familiar to me in this one were Don Martin and Dave Berg, although it was an early contribution from Berg, not part of his "The Lighter Side" series. Overall it has some good laughs here and there but some of it didn't get much of a rise out of me.

[StephenPaul ChaseJr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I still love parodies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[FranklinTV · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think these were a way for MAD to republish stuff from the 50s and 60s in the 70s. So, to a young teen, a lot of the cultural references didn't (and some still don't) make sense. Still, some amusing stuff but nothing memorable (except that it was probably the very first one I bought).

[Jay-r Trinidad · Rating 4 out of 5]

classic mad!