OOF: An Online Outrage Fiesta for the Ages

by Strobe Witherspoon

Award-winning novelist and cultural critic Strobe Witherspoon interrogates his own profession. It goes terribly.

"Wildly entertaining ...Sometimes sad and sometimes hilarious, Witherspoon's timely metafictional novel explores the ways (mis)information can shape public discourse in the digital media age." – Booklife by Publishers Weekly

”Strikingly original ...an innovative literary experiment that supplies a thoughtful commentary on the 'discourse virus' of our age ...Witherspoon tackles a broad spectrum of media, including comically scathing excerpts from tweets, podcasts, blogs, and even academic journals and also keenly exposes the ways in which Strobe, the character, is implicated in his own online assault, due to his obsessive attachment to public life.” – Kirkus Reviews

OOF explores the role of satire in a society lurching from one ridiculous crisis to the next, where media outlets rely on clicks to stay alive and everything is filtered through a lens of anger and misinformation.

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Strobe Witherspoon just sold his latest satirical novel for a lot of money. The book in question, FLOTUS: A Memoir, is a fictitious autobiography about a former first lady of the United States reflecting on years of misery at the hands of her much older POTUS husband. When a chapter is leaked in advance of the book's publication, an Online Outrage Fiesta (OOF) ensues via mainstream news outlets, blogs, Twitter, troll farms, and everything in between. Witherspoon has his life placed under a microscope. Family secrets are exposed. Now, an anthology has been put together to document Witherspoon’s downfall—and settle the score.
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”an impressive achievement of unflinching honesty from a noteworthy talent, as resonant and relevant as it is entertaining ...OOF tugs at the threads that connect American cynicism with radical extremism and weaves a character-rich tapestry of insight ...Each voice, whether of a New Yorker journalist or an Internet influencer, is rendered with uncanny fidelity. Perhaps most masterful is that key events are not depicted but merely alluded to, allowing the text to provide an elegant framework for a more personal story painted almost invisibly in the negative space.”– BlueInk Review

"a work of pure creative genius, engaging and thought-provoking ...You know that you are in for a treat when an author makes fun of himself, as Witherspoon wears two hats as an inquisitor general and heretic at the same time." - Readers' Favorite (5 out of 5 stars)
 
"a sly satire that imagines a world overrun by Internet toxicity." - Foreword (4 out of 5 stars)
 
"cutting and reflective, a close-to-the-bone societal mirror ...A valiant attempt at satirizing the almost-too-ludicrous-for-satire world of the online hot take." - IndieReader
 
"entertaining and thought-provoking, OOF combines satire and serious social inspection in a novel format that will intrigue literary, political, and social issues readers alike." - Midwest Book Review

"Those interested in "the low art of chronicling human stupidity" will not be able to put this book down ...Fans of works like Dear Committee Members will immediately find a new favorite in this book." - US Review of Books

Genres: Humor, Fiction

276 pages, Paperback

First published March 31, 2021

About the author

Witherspoon’s first novel, furtl, was a 2014 Kirkus Reviews book of the year selection. The absurd near future of that novel became not-so-absurd one year later.

OOF: an online outrage fiesta for the ages will be released by Marginal Books.

Reviews

[Píaras Cíonnaoíth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-crafted social satire...

Underneath its farce, OOF: An Online Outrage Fiesta for the Ages by Strobe Witherspoon is a curiously passionate jibe at the herd-instincts and herd clangor of a social media age. It doesn't seem possible to inject a large quantity of heart appeal while simultaneously triggering the socially sensitive in a heavily gagged-up comedy, but the author does it to perfection. Very highly recommended and a well-deserved five stars from me.

[Gregg Sapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

“OOF” is a satire about a satire about an unpublished book that triggers mass hysteria based upon wild theories about its author, who in addition to being a character in the book is also the real book’s author. It’s a story without narrative, for all action takes place offstage, and is then reported or commented upon via sundry online sources, most of which are egregiously biased, even delusional. Furthermore, the introduction is written by the real author about the fictional author. Got it?

Strobe Witherspoon, the character, is an author of middling success who has written what promises to be a blockbuster. “FLOTUS: A Memoir” is Strobe’s titillating novel in the form of a memoir written by a former Slovakian supermodel who becomes First Lady. Pre-publication hype, stoked by a leaked passage, sparks backlash from manic conspiracy theorists. Partly due to his own self-aggrandizement, Strobe becomes a polarizing figure, the object of partisan scorn and populist hostility. This supercharged controversy ignites an Online Outrage Fiesta, an “OOF.”

Witherspoon, the author, recounts the OOF through spot-on parodies of the contents of various networked media including tweets, texts, email, vlogs, podcasts, internet news, academic articles, and a New Yorker feature as well-written as the real thing. An internet troll adjures his followers, the FUPATRIOTS, to battle deep state legions allied with Strobe, “By whatever means necessary.” A vlogger named Lisa Liberty rallies her forces to “boycott all related entities and stand with me in calling for the treasonous Strobe Witherspoon to be strung up…” The apex of this madness is “The Book of Strobe,” a massive exegesis linking Strobe to a reckoning called the Hellfire Prophecy.

Strobe defends himself by pointing out that, as a satirist, “My ridiculous ideas are openly and unapologetically ridiculous. Your ridiculous ideas are masquerading as thoughtful discourse.” That’s the challenge of satirizing today’s over-the-top ideological extremism. It is difficult to lampoon that which is already tin-hat caliber nonsense. Humor is almost too dull a sword to counter idiocy.

Nevertheless, the author employs clever comic technique. By organizing Strobe’s tales around snippets of information created for short attention spans, he finds humor not only in the material, but also the media responsible for fostering such sheeplike stupidity.

Let me summarize my review in the form of a meme: Read “OOF” Before the Deep State Cabal of Pedophiles who Rule the World Send Demons to Gouge Out Your Eyeballs.

[Janelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of messages, blogs, articles, chat rooms, emails and more all replicating a social media outrage following the release of an excerpt of Strobe Witherspoon’s novel ‘Flotus, a memoir’. It’s in many ways a clever satire of the stupidity of the conspiracy theories that seem to flourish in online communities. I was hoping it would be funnier, it was actually pretty depressing because I could see so much of it coming true as stupid outrage over nothing is such a brilliant distraction from reality.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh My! Oh My! What a book! This was completely unexpected, the cover throws you off big time, it looks like journal that would make for rather dry reading, what you actually get is a scarily accurate portrayal of just how the Internet has broken humanity’s grasp on reality. The Strobe Witherspoon in the book has written a novel, a parody of sorts about a former first lady of the USA, no names are given in the book but it is obvious who this first lady is and the ensuing chaos and outrage from “that President’s” loyal supporters makes the basis for this book (OOF not the one about the first lady). Using some innovative writing techniques we get an outrageous story that couldn’t possibly happen…but if you sit back and think about the state of social media and it’s cancel culture of guilty without needing evidence, this book becomes a warning, humanity is on a precipice if we don’t stop with being so dumb ALL the time then we’re gonna tip over the edge and armageddon will be our reward.

Strobe uses tweets, podcasts, blogs, interviews and emails to tell the story, you’d think this wouldn’t work but we are trained to read a story from tweets, blogs are structured in a way that flow nicely and are comfortable for readers and podcasts…are just fun, great when they get out of hand. One weird thing about this book is you have a lot of characters but you only really know 4 of them, the rest are just like in real life, a faceless entity behind a computer screen, Strobe has handled these well and you can get a sense of who they are in how they write. The book has many many many good lines, think of those eye catching headlines and the tweets that make you reply with an LOL. My favourite has to be:

“Hysterical is now the new normal”

I certainly get that feeling when I check out the threads when something is trending…that is a quote that deserves to make it onto a T-shirt.

I have really enjoyed this book, it is very clever and leaves the reader unsure of what is real and what is fake news. One sign of just how good this was is by the time I was halfway through I was already recommending this to everybody.

Blog review: https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2021...

[ManOfLaBook.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

For more bookish posts please visit: https://www.ManOfLaBook.com

OOF: An Online Outrage Fiesta for the Ages by Strobe Witherspoon is a satire of the online outrage machine so prevalent in today’s world. This is Strobe Witherspoon’s second novel.

Strobe Witherspoon is about to publish a new novel called FLOTUS: A Memoir. While fictional and nameless, FLOTUS is clearly inspired by Melania Trump.

The book is not even published, when a frenzy of conspiracy theories arise in cyberspace. Some say this is a thinly disguised biography based on Witherspoon State Department work. After a chapter is leaked, journalists dig into Witherspoon’s past in attempts to discredit him.

From there, the world as we know it turns upside down.

Unfortunately for all us of, and like all good satire, OOF: An Online Outrage Fiesta for the Ages by Strobe Witherspoon is not far from the truth. Not necessarily in subject matter, but in analysis of the fake outrage machine that has been building for decades.

Old literary mechanisms such as sample chapters, articles, and letters (emails) are being used, as well as new ones. Tweet storms, blog posts, and vblog transcripts are also transcribed (which I guess could be equivalent to opinion pieces). Sadly, these highly emotional opinion pieces are replacing legitimate news sources, if there are any left.

While the premise of the book is outlandish, it is not out of the realm of possibility in this crazy, partisan world. Our only saving grace is people’s short memories, as well as the need to move from one fake outrage to another very quickly.

This clever books attempts, and succeeds, to mimic the online reality by having the reader constantly question what is true. I don’t think we actually ever get a straight answer, as everyone in it are unreliable narrators. Strobe Witherspoon himself is found to falsify information, and others promote conspiracy theories and conjure up “truths” which they claim are between the lines. Putting together unrelated events, people, and “news” they want to believe, which roam around in the echo chambers they visit.

The author’s fictional book, FLOTUS, is being ripped apart before it’s even released. No one knows what it’s about, it’s not well written, and it might have just disappeared from public consciousness if they were just leave it alone.

OOF, however, satires the low hanging fruits of Internet politics and “experts” very well. The circus which ensues, while fictional, is believable and I could easily see how it could come to pass.

It was very concerning how this satire is so close to reality. That being said, our culture, especially the Internet crowd, certainly deserves to be exposed, and what’s better than comedy as a warning?

[Bandit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah. I mean, OOF. This satire might actually be as clever as it purports to be. At the very least, it cuts through the modern state of affairs in the US like hot knife through butter. Mind you, the sociopolitics of the last few/several years are the proverbial low hanging fruit, ripe for being satirized, but nevertheless kudos to the author for doing it so well.
With a multimedia compendium structure of WWZ, though interviews, tweets, blogs, etc. OOF tells a story of one author’s descent into infamy which provides a catalyst for the country’s descent into abyss of its own making.
To think, it all begins with a book. Not an especially well written book, even, but a politically charged one. And before it even sees the light of day, it’s not merely ripped to shreds, but those shreds get embroidered into the very fabric of the social media obsessed, paranoid, conspiracy mad culture, serving every ugly bias, every crazy notion, every lamentable discourse.
The ensuing circus is determined to destroy the book, the author and those around him, ugly ignorant people doing ugly ignorant things to each other in the name of their own ugly ignorant version of truth and justice. The distinctly American way.
OOF is almost too good for its own good. It’s a satire that’s too close to reality. Wildly messed up and yet disturbingly plausible. It makes for a somewhat uneasy read. Fun, but uneasy. It’s an ode to the age of misinformation, spectacularly unbreachable ideological division and pervasive toxicity of social media.
The metafiction approach only maximizes the effect. The culture we live in absolutely deserves to have the strobelight exposure. Just slap a seizure warning on it and dare people to read it. A very interesting very timely read. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's quite uncommon to find a book that's a bit "off the wall" and incredibly entertaining. This is one of them.

This novel starts off with a *somewhat inoffensive* chapter of a novel supposedly written by the First Lady of the US (albeit implied) leaked online to the public. What happens next reads like an absurdity of far-fetchedism taken too far, until you realise that there's a lot of truth in the satire the author creates.

Everyone has an opinion, a story, a hunger for revenge. This is shown through the use of tweets, blogs, emails etc, as every keyboard warrior in the land scrabbles to be the first to persuade their followers to see things their way. And you see that the stupidity of the followers allows things to get completely out of control. And so the spiral of oneupmanship in the stakes of delving deeper into the personal lives of the author and his family begins.

This is a well-thought-out and-written novel, easy to read, and completely thought-provoking as to how quickly hostilities can arise through the evil intentions of those "influencers" of the media.

I'm definitely looking forward to reading more of this author's work.

[Ivana S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most interesting books I have ever read! It completely shocked me. Part social satire with a healthy dose of comedy and angst, “OOF” tells the story of one of the evils of our time: the media, which instead of informing, misinforms us and keeps us waiting in front of a device to see what happens next.

This piece of writing is very well-written and the author selects some tweets, podcasts, blogs and academic journals to analyse critically. He is cynical, serious, humorous and in some parts, ironic in his attitude towards the subject.

All in all, I would say that this is a book that I would recommend because it opened my mind about things that maybe I did not tend to think about.

[J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to both #NetGalley and Marginal Books for providing me a copy of Strobe Witherspoon’s (real name?) second novel, OOF: An Outline Outrage Fiesta for the Ages, in exchange for an honest review.

#Outlineoutragefiesta is a fresh and witty take on the prior administration, the future of American politics, the ethics of journalism, and the continuous spread of disinformation in the digital era. The plot is told through a collection of various media, including podcast transcripts, tweets, blog articles, email threads, and chapters from the author/protagonist’s satirical novel within a novel, “FLOTUS: A Memoir.”

This book (more so a novella) is quite literally a whirlwind. For readers who are sick of the news, the rise of stupidity, and politics, I urge you to read it regardless. While it may not be the best story ever written, it does provide levity to a serious situation and is quite creative. It is also told from multiple perspectives, so you gain insight into how groups, such as the “Contras,” think, which is reflective of their real-life counterparts.

The one disturbing detail about the novel is that similar to the protagonist, the author does not have a digital footprint. This leads me to believe that the work was written by more than one author or by a group of writers/editors working at the publishing company. Either way, the sections that contain the fictional memoir are by far the most hysterical. Overall, an entertaining read of our rapidly deteriorating society.

[Mike MacDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the all-time best personal believers in make believe

I love when I can compare fictional characters to non-fictional people. Early on, I saw Strobe as a life compared to one of my favorite characters, the late, great Andy Kaufman. Perhaps I am in a completely different direction than Strobe was seeking, but I hope he takes this as the utmost praise I can bestow on a willing fraud. Thanks.

[Jennyfer · Rating 5 out of 5]

To begin in a somewhat meta manner, Strobe Witherspoon (fictional) has written a parody of a memoir of a former First Lady to a controversial, polarising President. The hyperbolic, hyper-driven media, encompassing traditional journals, broadsheets, tabloids, bloggers, vloggers, podcasters and the like, latch onto the IDEA of the book, spinning story after story, more manic than the previous, escalating hype and outrage to frightening levels.

Over an idea. Not even the book itself.

This is a cleverly crafted tale, told in transcripts, news clippings, reports and tweets. It is a stark reflection on modern media practices of hype, misinformation and manufactured outrage for clicks. We've seen these players in recent times, watched in horror as they escalate for fever-pitch. This book is both a clever satire and a time capsule for the ages. Witty, thought provoking and utterly gripping, this is a must-read.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A scathing, biting satire of all the noise and nonsense that permeates our news and social media. His imitation of the myriad voices omnipresent on the internet is pitch perfect, if not downright genius. This is a virtuoso — of cultural observation, of writing — at work. But then the book starts to fall down the meta rabbit hole and, brilliant as it is, it began to lose me. Actually, I’m not sure if it’s the book that lost me or the world it reflects that does, the thought of which makes me sad. But there’s no denying the talent and genius on display here. And many thanks to Marginal Books for my Advance Reader Copy.

[Ashley Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creative satire

OOF: An Online Outrage Fiesta for the Ages is a meta-fictional by Strobe Witherspoon. OOF is essentially a response to a memoir released dictating the life of the author’s imagined FLOTUS—and I’m sure you can guess which one. Outrage sparked on one side of the socio-political spectrum sparks ire on the opposite, back and forth until everything is burning.
Before I read this book, I read a review labelling it as “strikingly original”. I think those are the best words I could think of to describe it. This social satire is just the right kind of bleak and hilarious, both emotions heightened by how Witherspoon, both the book’s author and memoir writer, skates along edge of our reality.

[Märtha Custis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strobe Witherspoon’s OOF: An Online Outrage Fiesta for the Ages, is a brilliant work of satire.
The story centers around a former FLOTUS’s memoir and the bidding war that publishers get into over it, and in particular, writer Strobe Witherspoon.
The book is cleverly crafted to show the inane bias of modern media and how easily the masses can be influenced by misinformation/selective representation of facts.
I was a bit nervous at first that the book would be overly political, but was happily surprised to see it give a balanced, though humorous outlook on the state of current affairs.
Overall, an entertaining and well written book, OOF is sure to make you laugh and maybe grimace a little at its accuracy as well.

[Pegboard · Rating 5 out of 5]

OOF: An Online Outrage Fiesta for the Ages by Strobe Witherspoon is a political satire. Usually, when you write anything political, people will hate you or love you depending on their stand. This book is different. Although you "know" who it may be about, the take on the book isn't the characters. What you take away from this book is the frenzy behind the media that turns social media into war. There are so many outlets to give your opinion. People disconnect from the reality that a name and face represent a real person. Life under the microscope becomes an uncomfortable situation. Every move is witnessed and commented upon.

[Nela · Rating 5 out of 5]

“OOF: An Online Outrage Fiesta for the Ages” by Strobe Witherspoon is a unique and original parodical novel, where the main character is the author making fun of himself. He masterfully delves with the role of social media in the digital age society, especially in cases of misinformation and exposure. I think he takes satire to the next level.
The type of writing is quite original since part of the narration is done through tweets, podcasts, blogs and academic journals. I was impressed by this imaginative and specific storytelling.
To sum up, I was pleasantly surprised by how interesting the book turned out to be. It was a mind-boggling and shocking read!

[Vier (Ri) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not only about the comedic approach; this is a paradox that reveals a lot about humanity that will get people either laughing or shaking their heads because it’s so true. Most importantly, this will get people thinking about our current state and how can we collectively do better, even with disagreeing opinions.

Read the full review here .

[Ale · Rating 4 out of 5]

ENG
The book is an anthology of articles, blog posts, tweets, vlog transcriptions, email etc. written as a reaction of leaked chapters of a novel Strobe Witherspoon just sold, the novel is not yet published.
The novel title is ‘FLOTUS: A Memoir’, and is the story of the former FLOTUS (first lady of the United States) about her family, how she decided to go to the US, her life as the FLOTUS.
After a chapter is leaked, the Online Outrage Fiesta happens: newspaper articles, tweets, blog posts, email etc try to give their opinion to what is really behind this chapter and this story.
Still the novel is not published.
I found this collection of opinions quite interesting, they do not read the novel as a novel with, fictional characters, but they see other aspects: the Strobe previous job, family issues, conspiracy theory until the, dramatic, that was dramatic, peak: another theory of Strobe’s family that made everyone really go crazy.
I agree with other reviews saying it is really contemporary and not that fictional, we can really see it: people convinced of “theories” and actually living in a “parallel” world of craziness.
I almost binge read this book but I suggest you read it, please read it, but not binge read it, I had a really bothersome dream last night.
I found really funny memes description, yes there are also memes description, some article or vlog transcriptions too, while articles where they claimed “I made research”, “I have proof” or super long were a bit sad, everyone being a super expert.
I was really happy to read about two things that made me think about my beloved Korean dramas: the first one is Strobe’s blog (it does not exists) name ‘Hell is other people’ is the title of an amazing drama, and then Mitch, Strobe’s son, quotes Nietzsche ‘And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee’, I watched the super amazing drama ‘Through the darkness’ and they quote the same sentence in a more “complete” way, ‘He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee’.
Please, read this book!
Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

ITA
Questa recensione nel nocciolo è lo stesso di quella inglese.
Il libro è una raccolta di articoli di giornale, post su blog, trascrizioni di vlog, c’è la trascrizione di un'intervista radio anche, tweet etc in reazione a capitoli trapelati del nuovo romanzo di Strobe Witherspoon, che lui ha appena venduto a una discreta somma, il romanzo non è ancora stato pubblicato.
Il romanzo ‘FLOTUS: A Memoir’ (Memoria della first lady degli Stati Uniti d’America) è la storia della precedente first lady: la sua famiglia, come diventa modella in America e la sua vita come first lady.
A seguito del capitolo trapelato c’è una reazione, da qui il titolo della “antologia”: articoli di giornale, tweet, post su blog, mail, meme (che vita sarebbe senza meme) che cercano di dare una loro opinione su cosa vorrebbe veramente dire questo capitolo e questo libro, già.
Parole e parole sono scritte riguardanti: il precedente lavoro di Strobe, la sua famiglia, complotti fino ad arrivare a un picco drammatico che genera follia tra le persone.
Ho letto altre recensioni e condivido il fatto che sia molto contemporaneo e non così campato per aria: vediamo molto bene persone che si convincono di teorie complottiste e vivono in un modo letteralmente parallelo e folle, oppure ognuno che vuole dire la sua e da una interpretazione del “possibile” fatto creando una serie di opinioni e distogliendo da quello che realmente è successo.
Ho maratonato il libro, leggetelo ma non maratonatelo, stanotte ho fatto un sogno abbastanza fastidioso.
Ho trovato molto divertenti le descrizioni dei meme, i tweet e alcune trascrizioni di vlog, mentre gli articoli dove affermavano “Ho fatto le mie ricerche” oppure “Ho le prove” erano un po’ tristi, molti esperti del nulla.
Nel libro ho trovato due cose che mi hanno fatto venire in mente i miei adorati drama Coreani: il primo è il nome del blog di Strobe ‘Hell is other people’s blog’ (non esiste), il titolo ‘Hell is other people’ è di un gloriosissimo (è un trip pazzesco) drama, si chiama anche ‘Strangers from Hell’; il secondo a un certo punto il figlio di Strobe cita Nietzsche ‘E se tu riguarderai a lungo in un abisso, anche l'abisso vorrà guardare dentro di te.’ nel drama, molto bello, ‘Through the darkness’ citano la stessa frase in modo più “completo” ‘Chi lotta contro i mostri deve fare attenzione a non diventare lui stesso un mostro. E se tu riguarderai a lungo in un abisso, anche l'abisso vorrà guardare dentro di te.’
Leggete questo libro!

[Paige Bookman · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars for the part where the young guy trying to find himself gets a Nietzsche quote tattooed on him in Sanskrit

[Mardi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well that was a journey that will be forever repeated. Witherspoon is spot-on with the snowball of BS that rains on a simple parade. The argy-bargy of media wanting to be the winner of taking someone down. The BS that manipulates the masses and flicks the hysteria switch. Herd mentality is frightening and very real. This is an emotional rollercoaster with some deep seated truths. 3.5/5

[Chelseyam · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like satires then this is one of the best. The writing is tight and well crafted while it brings up so many touchy subjects that it might make you forget, for a moment at least, the crazy world that we live in. This book will fly by while leaving you cracking up for days after you reach the final page.

[Celeste · Rating 4 out of 5]

OOF: An online outrage fiesta for the ages - S. Witherspoon
“OOF: An Online Outrage Fiesta for the Ages” is a thought-provoking and out-of-the-ordinary novel written by Strobe Witherspoon. The book presents in an amusing and intelligent way a sharp critic to the era of information, or may be “misinformation”. It reflects how public opinion and means of communication can shape reality and create discourses that are later replicated and modified by people and social media.
After a chapter of his latest novel is leaked, the internet has a lot to say about it and about Strobe Witherspoon. This event will have a great impact on the author’s life. The writer’s story develops under the eyes of society and it turns into a global issue.
What I enjoyed the most about this book is the writing style. The plot is developed through narration and also other types of writing such as tweets, newspaper profiles, book excerpts and academic studies. I found this way of narrating and constructing the novel very clever and appealing. I really liked it and I recommend it.

[Conscientious · Rating 4 out of 5]

OOF: An Online Outrage Fiesta for the Ages by Strobe Witherspoon is humorous fictional novel casting attention to issues of the current digital media age. The lead character Strobe Witherspoon has landed a contract for a novel for a memoir and what commences is a highly typical battle among the publishers and a rampage on social media unfolding into the cancel culture which takes place and how it operates. This story showcases the reality of cancel culture and who plays roles and the importance of awareness of what this is causing society to become.

When I started reading this book, I felt equally terrified, aghast, and found it humorous too. This book has served as a gateway for me to think about issues which remained absent from my vision. The author has an excellent narrative style which has made this book into perfection. A well written, passionately assembled, and unabashed truth of our current world, Witherspoon’s book is a highly recommended read.

[Almiria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel grabbed me right from the very beginning – the “Note to the Reader”. The author Strobe Witherspoon has created an entertaining, unusual, and bitingly satirical novel that is, at the same time, cleverly metafictional. While some reviewers have mentioned that they find the unusual combination of different social media formats and the short chapters that jump around in the story disjointed, in my view, this is exactly the intended effect, reflecting the disjointed nature of our online communications. I found the political scandal and online meltdowns depicted in the novel both entertaining and frightening.

Witherspoon demonstrates with this novel that the barrage of news snippets and facts we are bombarded with online, and our own discourses and responses to them, are about as connected to reality as a work of fiction. Highly recommended.

[Michael P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a reasonably well-done satire of today's world of misinformation, internet outrage, and conspiracy theories. Essentially a modern version of an epistolary novel, it traces a controversy over a novel about former First Lady Melania Trump (never named but very obviously the basis for the story) that gradually escalates into a QAnon-style conspiracy theory that destabilizes the country.

Witherspoon does a good job of capturing various writing styles ranging from Twitter threads to right-wing blogs to New Age vlogs. All too often, the novel's bizarre events feel like something that could happen. His decision to name the main character after himself is a bit odd at first, but he does a good job of making the character well-fleshed out rather than just an author avatar.

[Amy Koller · Rating 4 out of 5]

“OOF: An Online Outrage Fiesta for the Ages,” by Strobe Witherspoon is a hysterical satire that will truly keep you laughing and highly engaged with each and every turn of the page. I really was not quite sure what to expect from the get-go, but this one came to me via a very enthusiastic recommendation from a friend. I have to admit that I wasn’t sure I’d like it, but I gave it a shot and I’m so glad that I did. Whether you’re a fan of political satire or not, this book is a hysterical read that you are sure to enjoy.

[Nuffy · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who gets sucked into online drama and is just in awe of how crazy it can get, I feel like this book might have been written for me. It's written as if someone collected all the juicy bits you'd have to scour the internet for - articles, tweets, vlog and podcast transcripts, leaked emails, etc - and compiled them into a cohesive story. I thought that the premise has a political tilt, I would get frustrated by it, but thankfully, that's not the focus, just a tool to get polar opposite sides of an online discourse.

This would have been five stars if the ending had come together a bit better for me. I kind of saw it going the way it does, and I'm on board with it, but endings are hard, and it's a bit clunky to get to the end point. Despite how differently it's written, most of the book works really well and flows smoothly as a story, but when it gets to the end, there were, imo, a few speed bumps to my reading enjoyment, but it in no way ruins the experience.

[Ceeceereads · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one looked interesting but ultimately was not for me. It reads like a collection of newspaper articles, blog posts, and messages, all cleverly replicating the online world and the outrage phenomenon. Interesting and witty concept, but the format didn’t grab me. It felt like reading a bunch of opinion articles online that I would normally skip past or, at the very least, skim through. Thanks to Netgalley for the arc.

[Juan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first thing I would like to say is that this is not a book for everyone since it’s quite unusual, however, this doesn’t make it any less attractive or captivating.
The way in which it’s written is one of the points I enjoyed the most. It includes tweets, journal’s news, conversations’ transcriptions and emails.
The originality of this piece of work is unquestionable as well as its captivating content which combines humor, satire and social inspection.
As regards the cover and type of narrative, I strongly believe the author did a great job with them.
I read this thought-provoking book in a day and immediately told a friend about it.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Feels too real ...

A sequence of how current Internet-based conspiracy cults look ... This is intended to be Satirical, but feels real. In a Qanon world, with people waiting for JFK Jr. to turn up as not only not dead, but a MAGA republican - it's hard to describe anything that will be satirically exaggerated