Chicken Poop for the Soul: Stories to Harden the Heart and Dampen the Spirit

by David Fisher

Is "Chicken SOup" Too Sweet for Your Soul?
When you take the road less traveled, do you get lost? When bad things happen to other people, do you feel good? Do self-help books make you feel selfish and helpless? Congratulations, you're one of us. Welcome to the farthest side of reality -- and the first collection of stories sure to harden your heart and dampen your spirit.
Chicken Poop for the Soul
Here is the story of "Step-Mother Teresa" who turned an orphanage in Calcutta into a sweatshop...and "The True Meaning of Love," romance as seen from a stalker's point of view. Explore the positive side of feeling bad in "The Joys of Depression." Learn the code of the urban teacher who vows "I will never respond to a student's demands, no matter how outrageous, with the phase 'Over my dead body.'" Read the multimillion-dollar government study that discovered that the primary cause of anxiety in America is government studies. And, finally, learn the true secret of happiness.
Ruthlessly hilarious, this is the world's first "sinspirational" book, a guide absolutley guaranteed never to be a selection of Oprah's Book Club.

Genres: Humor, Nonfiction, Comedy, Short Stories

160 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1997

About the author

Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

David Fisher is the author of more than twenty New York Times bestsellers and coauthor of Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies series. His work has also appeared in most major magazines and many newspapers. He lives in New York with his wife and two sons.

Reviews

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think it's due to the fact I have a morbid and evil sense of humor, and that I am offended by nothing, that I found this didn't go far enough into where I thought a book that aimed you dampen your spirit should go. The world is such a horrible horrible place, really. (I mean, really, come on). The author had so much to work with. What he came up with was kind of inexcusably quasi-kind-of-but-not-really-sad. Unless, maybe the book is supposed to be ironic, and the depressing part is that this is the best the author could come up with, because like... everything is usually spun in a positive light? Um.. yeah, I didn't think so.

[Lori Schiele · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Chicken Poop for the Soul" is actually the first in a series of "Chicken Poop" books. It is essentially a parody on all those "Chicken Soup for the Soul" books. Hilarious, sarcastic, and sometimes ironic, these stories may not warm your heart, but they certainly will make you laugh.

[Jamie Jonas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yes, it's a parody. And I've never read any of the 'Chicken Soup' books, but I have glanced at them, and I can see that this collection of sharp-edged absurdism is very well-written as an irreverent counterpoint. I'm also a sarcasm-lover, or have been in the past, which is why I bought the book in the first place. However, especially as I end up on the threshold of my sixties, I have to recognize that there can be too MUCH sarcasm, and that parts of this book cross the civilized line. Suddenly, it seems, the world has become a spiteful carnival of trolls, and so, suddenly, this kind of material, which once seemed very amusing to me, is a whole lot less funny. I still conjured a half-laugh here and there as I was re-reading, but just as often I found these in-your-face jabs at 'the human condition' to be downright depressing. One more book for my thrift store pile.

[Wendy]

Of course, most of these are goofy, some are better than others, but one in particular was awfully spooky. A “senator” speaks on the importance of silencing some media outlets, etc, in the name of free speech. Hm.

[Scott Coffman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weak parody of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. There are a few chuckles, but most of it barely rises to the level of Dad jokes.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Some of these stories were chuckle worthy, strong opening one for sure. Rather subversive material, which is my jam. Definitely something I would've read as a teenager

[Mark A.]

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[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somehow Fisher's book reminded me of skits on Saturday Night Live. And, having a terribly warped sense of humor, I laughed a lot. Sometimes you need chicken soup and sometimes you need chicken poop to put things in perspective.

[Marya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like most parodies, this one works better if you are very familiar with the genre. A few of the stories will make you laugh, some will make you snicker, but most will just leave you with a wry smile on your face. Two stars for not fully exploring the potential of this genre.

[Ridhi]

Hilarious! Although some of the stories were actually quite disturbing, perhaps written to truly dampen the spirit, but a great take on the drab chicken soup series. Don't know why they had to write so many of them! Maybe to facilitate the writing of this book. Must read.

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was terrible. So bad.

[Elizabeth Nesbit-comer · Rating 4 out of 5]

so funny. I wasn't expecting much, so was pleasantly surprised.

[Miramira Endevall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty damned funny.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's was funny in parts a very fast read. It's a parody of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" books.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this. But every story was predictable and that made it lose a lot of its humor.

[Jeff Beland · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you don't feed your cynicism it will die! this is good food for it.

[Kelly]

Humorous parody.

[Amelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some truly hilarious stories in here! Total gems.