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The Force is Middling in this One: And Other Ruminations from the Outskirts of the Empire
What happens to a kid who isn't quite good enough with the force to be a Jedi? What is it like to live in the worst city in the United States? If we aren't allowed to test shampoo on monkeys, how will we ever know if our monkeys are clean?The answers to these and other questions can be found in The Force is Middling in this One, a raucous romp through the mind of author, software developer and gopher exterminator Robert Kroese.Laboriously compiled from three years of blog posts from MattressPolice.com, this collection covers topics as varied as the Incredible Hulk, perpetual motion machines and Satanism, and is sure to keep you running back to the bathroom for more. In fact, we've even included (on page 187*) a laminated card that PLEASE EXCUSE MY FREQUENT TRIPS TO THE BATHROOM AS I HAVE A SEVERE BOWEL AND/OR URINARY TRACT CONDITION. This will allow you to read in peace without having to face embarrassing questions from your family and friends.*If your card is missing, please check all of the other pages. If you still don't find it, address the proprietor of the book shop sternly as "SIR OR I AM SHOCKED TO FIND THAT THIS BOOK CONTAINS NO CARD INDICATING THAT I HAVE A SEVERE BOWEL AND/OR URINARY TRACT CONDITION. WHAT, SIR OR MADAM, ARE YOU TRYING TO PULL, EXACTLY?" If you are still unable to get satisfaction, please purchase a copy of the author's critically acclaimed, bestselling novel Mercury Falls. The card is on page 119. WE PROMISE.
310 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 22, 2010
39 people are currently reading
400 people want to read
About the author
Robert Kroese
70 books632 followersRobert Kroese's sense of irony was honed growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan - home of the Amway Corporation and the Gerald R. Ford Museum, and the first city in the United States to fluoridate its water supply. In second grade, he wrote his first novel, the saga of Captain Bill and his spaceship Thee Eagle. This turned out to be the high point of his academic career. After barely graduating from Calvin College in 1992 with a philosophy degree, he was fired from a variety of jobs before moving to California, where he stumbled into software development. As this job required neither punctuality nor a sense of direction, he excelled at it. In 2009, he called upon his extensive knowledge of useless information and love of explosions to write his first novel, Mercury Falls. Since then, he has written 18 more books.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
July 22, 2010
The best book I've ever written, except for maybe Mercury Falls, which has a shorter title.
July 31, 2010
I pretty much don't read blogs, well except for one that my friend writes, because he's my friend. I don't think I would have found it or read it otherwise. Occasionally people send me links to blog articles, which may be interesting or fun, but tend to be the exception that proves the rule that most blogs are repetitions of the inanities of a relatively boring person's life.
Robert Kroese, or Diesel, as he insists others call him, without the street cred to back it up, incidentally, is probably also a relatively boring person. That, however, doesn't get in the way of his writing clever vignettes (which I was sure I was going to misspell, but my spellchecker add-on hasn't put an accusatory red squiggle underneath, so it must be okay, or I've used a word so completely out of context, but spelled it properly that it just glassed over it. Someone needs to invent a contextchecker, but one better than MSWord's, that won't just damn listen to me when I yell at it, screaming, "But I like expressing myself in passive voice you stupid piece of crap!" But I digress. A lot.)
So, clever vignettes. Slices of life that would make Studs Terkel green with envy. No, he was not The Hulk's second cousin. You have Wikipedia. Look him up. *ahem* Slices that run the gamut from unrealistic to less than realistic, but told in a way that underlines the commonalities of human experience, particularly that we all, regardless of IQ, have to deal with egregiously stupid people.
Thank you BobRobDiesel, for making me laugh a lot, and for stealing my repeated joke about ripping tags off you-know-whats, which I'm pretty sure I stole from some 1970s commedian, which is probably where you got that too ...
I might even visit your blog on occasion.
Robert Kroese, or Diesel, as he insists others call him, without the street cred to back it up, incidentally, is probably also a relatively boring person. That, however, doesn't get in the way of his writing clever vignettes (which I was sure I was going to misspell, but my spellchecker add-on hasn't put an accusatory red squiggle underneath, so it must be okay, or I've used a word so completely out of context, but spelled it properly that it just glassed over it. Someone needs to invent a contextchecker, but one better than MSWord's, that won't just damn listen to me when I yell at it, screaming, "But I like expressing myself in passive voice you stupid piece of crap!" But I digress. A lot.)
So, clever vignettes. Slices of life that would make Studs Terkel green with envy. No, he was not The Hulk's second cousin. You have Wikipedia. Look him up. *ahem* Slices that run the gamut from unrealistic to less than realistic, but told in a way that underlines the commonalities of human experience, particularly that we all, regardless of IQ, have to deal with egregiously stupid people.
Thank you BobRobDiesel, for making me laugh a lot, and for stealing my repeated joke about ripping tags off you-know-whats, which I'm pretty sure I stole from some 1970s commedian, which is probably where you got that too ...
I might even visit your blog on occasion.
September 16, 2010
Current Events, Historical Events, Fictional Events, whatever type of event you want...It is all here, and all written through the incredible disturbed lenses of the sharpest humor writer that I have had the pleasure of reading in years.
Page after page is filled with laugh out loud moments, causing me to basically read the entire book cover to cover out loud to my wife. We are talking about intelligent humor here. I'm sure any old idiot would enjoy it as well, they would just miss the layers and layers of satire.
This book will remain in the bathroom for years and years of re-reading enjoyment. It's short entries make it ideal for any length bathroom break. And guests will be thrilled to have such quality writing to entertain them while they ruin my bathroom.
Rob Kroese never fails to deliver the funny. I highly recommend anything he has ever written, including his blog at www.mattresspolice.com!
Page after page is filled with laugh out loud moments, causing me to basically read the entire book cover to cover out loud to my wife. We are talking about intelligent humor here. I'm sure any old idiot would enjoy it as well, they would just miss the layers and layers of satire.
This book will remain in the bathroom for years and years of re-reading enjoyment. It's short entries make it ideal for any length bathroom break. And guests will be thrilled to have such quality writing to entertain them while they ruin my bathroom.
Rob Kroese never fails to deliver the funny. I highly recommend anything he has ever written, including his blog at www.mattresspolice.com!
September 21, 2010
I picked up this book because Ironic Catholic suggested the author. It is a collection of posts from his mattress police blog which I had never previously read.
I did enjoy the material in this book from start to finish which was very funny. There were plenty of laugh out loud moments and as a good humorist he hits all sides while making some pretty good points. Dispersed through out are "Sock Drawer" post which are paragraph sized humorous observations. Since the author is an Application Developer as I am I really loved his H.G. Wells Time Machine comparisons between the Morlocks (I.T. Department) and the Eloi (Application Developers).
He is also funny when he talks on religion and unlike so many humorists is a Christian believer, though his language doesn't always reflect this some cussing involved. Regardless I quite enjoyed the book which I bought for $1.99 as an ebook on Amazon.
I did enjoy the material in this book from start to finish which was very funny. There were plenty of laugh out loud moments and as a good humorist he hits all sides while making some pretty good points. Dispersed through out are "Sock Drawer" post which are paragraph sized humorous observations. Since the author is an Application Developer as I am I really loved his H.G. Wells Time Machine comparisons between the Morlocks (I.T. Department) and the Eloi (Application Developers).
He is also funny when he talks on religion and unlike so many humorists is a Christian believer, though his language doesn't always reflect this some cussing involved. Regardless I quite enjoyed the book which I bought for $1.99 as an ebook on Amazon.
August 15, 2010
I couldn’t keep a straight face when I read this. It was laugh out loud funny. I was surprised that this was a compilation of blog posts. I’ve read witty and funny blog entries before, but these are extraordinary in their wit and diversity in subject matter. They fully deserve to be in book form. The author covers a little bit of everything: Adam & Eve, shampoo testing on monkeys, spam elements in the periodic table, the freakiness of the Incredible Hulk…science, politics, economy, gardening, entertainment…like I said, everything. It was a smorgasbord of humor. I didn’t want it to end.
August 2, 2022
Not a lot of funny
Seems to find that sweet spot between funny and corny and only crosses either border on occasion. Amusing??? Maybe if you put mildly in front of it. Compiled from older blog posts, many of the references seem a little dated and some so politically incorrect that they seem racist by today’s standards. Maybe I am a little sensitive about the Chinese baby joke since we are parents by international adoption. Still there is stuff to offend Latin Americans and middle eastern too as well as defense of the world retard.
Seems to find that sweet spot between funny and corny and only crosses either border on occasion. Amusing??? Maybe if you put mildly in front of it. Compiled from older blog posts, many of the references seem a little dated and some so politically incorrect that they seem racist by today’s standards. Maybe I am a little sensitive about the Chinese baby joke since we are parents by international adoption. Still there is stuff to offend Latin Americans and middle eastern too as well as defense of the world retard.
September 6, 2010
The Force Is Middling In This One was birthed in the annals of the blog, Mattress Police. A blog which helped Robert Kroese cut his teeth on humor writing. Also one that was consistently funny as he didn’t feel the need to post every day (except during the peak of the blogging craze when there was some sort of law that would have you picking up virtual soap in a virtual lockup if you broke the virtual ordnance, but enough of my virtual fantasies.) In other words, it was the lamaze class before cutting the umbilical cord of his excellent Mercury Falls.
Parts of Force may be familiar to a few since it’s basically an expanded edition of his first attempt at self publishing, Antisocial Commentary. Much like this review, the book is part of its original with rearranged contents, a few added extra paragraphs and repackaged as something unheard of: the remastered, extra-bonus track, re-release book. Oh, wait, King did that with The Stand. Nevermind.
Still this book — with its ADHD essays — could be defined as love. Love is, of course, defined in many different ways. Some love because of dependence. Others love because it is the only perfect emotion in the human spectrum and drives many to the highest in artistic achievement when that perfection is lost.
Kroese’s writing falls no where near either of these definitions of love. Kroese is the Attention Deficit Disorder poster child of love with a book that covers anything that damn well pleases him. Many would call that being a virtuoso, a prodigy or idiot-savant. In fact, due to the flying bullets of topics flying all around the reader, he covers all three of the aforementioned much to the chagrin and ugly envy of his fellow writers who would decry Kroese’s ability to make the reader laugh not only at the cornucopia of topics, but also — and most importantly — at the mundane.
Not many humor writers match this ability sans one. Kroese has defined his niche and it is as the heterosexual David Sedaris. Yes, that statement is as surprising as Elton John, Nathan Lane, Ricky Martin or Leslie Jordan coming out, but can be proven. Just peek between the covers. The book’s, not Martin’s.
The love here is strong and reading The Force Is Middling In This One is like sleeping in fresh sheets every night next to the person of your most impossible fantasy: Abe Vigoda.
Parts of Force may be familiar to a few since it’s basically an expanded edition of his first attempt at self publishing, Antisocial Commentary. Much like this review, the book is part of its original with rearranged contents, a few added extra paragraphs and repackaged as something unheard of: the remastered, extra-bonus track, re-release book. Oh, wait, King did that with The Stand. Nevermind.
Still this book — with its ADHD essays — could be defined as love. Love is, of course, defined in many different ways. Some love because of dependence. Others love because it is the only perfect emotion in the human spectrum and drives many to the highest in artistic achievement when that perfection is lost.
Kroese’s writing falls no where near either of these definitions of love. Kroese is the Attention Deficit Disorder poster child of love with a book that covers anything that damn well pleases him. Many would call that being a virtuoso, a prodigy or idiot-savant. In fact, due to the flying bullets of topics flying all around the reader, he covers all three of the aforementioned much to the chagrin and ugly envy of his fellow writers who would decry Kroese’s ability to make the reader laugh not only at the cornucopia of topics, but also — and most importantly — at the mundane.
Not many humor writers match this ability sans one. Kroese has defined his niche and it is as the heterosexual David Sedaris. Yes, that statement is as surprising as Elton John, Nathan Lane, Ricky Martin or Leslie Jordan coming out, but can be proven. Just peek between the covers. The book’s, not Martin’s.
The love here is strong and reading The Force Is Middling In This One is like sleeping in fresh sheets every night next to the person of your most impossible fantasy: Abe Vigoda.
September 13, 2014
Humor tends to be rather specific to one's taste and I am generally not a good sell for comedic movies and shows because my sense of humor doesn't tend to jive with a lot of what's considered funny. On the flip side, however, I love stand-up, and that's what I'd compare books like this to rather than popular comedy serials or movies. They are moments of funniness. If something isn't funny to you, just keep going because the next segment might make you howl. On balance, I love Kroese's humor, and most of these were out-of-the-park wins. Not all of them were, though, and that's why this didn't earn five stars. Also, I couldn't decide if I liked or resented the "sock drawer" moments that would interrupt the section you were in. The part of me that likes to be linear was constantly ignored. The part of me that likes to be on the iPad while I watch TV, was all "Ooh, something new! What's this?" I think the part of me that was linear won the war and I ended up more annoyed than titillated, and thus another reason for not giving that last star. That said, I read them all and as they came up: I didn't go back and read them once I was done with the section.
If you want some crazy and very smart humor, try this.
If you want some crazy and very smart humor, try this.
September 5, 2010
Robert Kroese's writing has, rightfully so, been likened to the works of Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, and Christopher Moore (to name just a few top humor writers). But in his collection of essays, "The Force is Middling in this One: And Other Ruminations from the Outskirts of the Empire", Kroese's prose ranges between the anecdotal genius of David Sedaris and the whimsical panache of Steve Martin.
The book is peppered with pop-culture references, self-deprecating humor, and other hyphenated-descriptor phrases. In one twenty- five page span Kroese gallivants from reminiscing about his childhood days in Michigan (the state shaped like a hand), to sharing what it's like to live near the worst city in America, to bemoaning the trivialities of dealing with neighbor kids and building inspectors, to joyously describing how he likes to kill small, defenseless (albeit evil) gophers. His observations can shine a light on the mundane and bring the spectacular down a peg or two. Robert Kroese is the kind of writer I wanna be when I grow up.
I highly recommend this book!
The book is peppered with pop-culture references, self-deprecating humor, and other hyphenated-descriptor phrases. In one twenty- five page span Kroese gallivants from reminiscing about his childhood days in Michigan (the state shaped like a hand), to sharing what it's like to live near the worst city in America, to bemoaning the trivialities of dealing with neighbor kids and building inspectors, to joyously describing how he likes to kill small, defenseless (albeit evil) gophers. His observations can shine a light on the mundane and bring the spectacular down a peg or two. Robert Kroese is the kind of writer I wanna be when I grow up.
I highly recommend this book!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 7, 2010
I won this book for my husband in a first-reads giveaway because he likes dark humor. He enjoyed it!
July 30, 2019
A relative, knowing how much I enjoyed the The Big Sheep series by this author, got me this as a gift. Because that was extremely thoughtful, I finished this book, even though I did not care for it.
I guess it's supposed to be a collection of humorous essays, ala Dave Barry. Which is to say, I found some of the early stuff funny, but the later stuff went from tedious to irritating and then he kept going.
Which is to say: if you enjoy the SF, you can avoid this. (I know I know, it's not shocking that an SF author isn't someone I would like in person. But somehow I am still surprised.)
I guess it's supposed to be a collection of humorous essays, ala Dave Barry. Which is to say, I found some of the early stuff funny, but the later stuff went from tedious to irritating and then he kept going.
Which is to say: if you enjoy the SF, you can avoid this. (I know I know, it's not shocking that an SF author isn't someone I would like in person. But somehow I am still surprised.)
February 1, 2023
This is a compilation of blogs that Robert Kroese posted on his blog site. They cover a wide range of interesting topics. Some use language that I don't care for. Lots of good humor.
March 3, 2023
Nothing about Star Wars.
Poor ramblings from a writer trying to throw a bunch of thoughts together, hoping one will be to your liking.
Poor ramblings from a writer trying to throw a bunch of thoughts together, hoping one will be to your liking.
November 27, 2016
The Force is Middling in This One is the second book from author Rob Kroese. Kroese's previous book - the novel Mercury Falls - was one of the absolute best books I read last year, so I was eager to see how Kroese's wicked sense of humor would translate in a non-fiction setting.
The book is essentially a collection of Kroese's blog postings, where he riffs on subjects ranging from his hometown to evil gophers to Jedi washouts to Harry Potter and Satanism to the craptacularity of Thundarr the Barbarian. These (very funny) essays are peppered with brief (and very funny) "from the sock drawer" observations and copious (and very funny) footnotes. The dry wit and pop culture observational humor that was so prevalent in Mercury Falls is abundant here. It's like a non-musically obsessed Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto or a non-religious Stuff Christians Like.
There were a couple of sections that I didn't love, and Kroese's attempts at self-censorship (the f-bomb is implied, but never spelled out) were curious, but for the most part I found The Force Is Middling in This One to be an absolute blast. It's pretty rare that a book has me actually laughing out loud, but this one had me doing it pretty much from start to finish.
If you enjoyed Mercury Falls, you're probably going to love this one as well. If you're not familiar with Kroese's work, but like to, you know, laugh at stuff, you should grab a copy of The Force Is Middling in This One. Fan of Chuck Klosterman, Kevin Smith and Jonathan Acuff in particular should get a kick out of Kroese's humor.
The book is essentially a collection of Kroese's blog postings, where he riffs on subjects ranging from his hometown to evil gophers to Jedi washouts to Harry Potter and Satanism to the craptacularity of Thundarr the Barbarian. These (very funny) essays are peppered with brief (and very funny) "from the sock drawer" observations and copious (and very funny) footnotes. The dry wit and pop culture observational humor that was so prevalent in Mercury Falls is abundant here. It's like a non-musically obsessed Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto or a non-religious Stuff Christians Like.
There were a couple of sections that I didn't love, and Kroese's attempts at self-censorship (the f-bomb is implied, but never spelled out) were curious, but for the most part I found The Force Is Middling in This One to be an absolute blast. It's pretty rare that a book has me actually laughing out loud, but this one had me doing it pretty much from start to finish.
If you enjoyed Mercury Falls, you're probably going to love this one as well. If you're not familiar with Kroese's work, but like to, you know, laugh at stuff, you should grab a copy of The Force Is Middling in This One. Fan of Chuck Klosterman, Kevin Smith and Jonathan Acuff in particular should get a kick out of Kroese's humor.
July 3, 2011
The Force is Middling in this One by Robert Kroese is not bad, I have to say. Kroese is a talented voice in humorous essays. I found myself laughing aloud in places, and that is a mark of at least some degree of success in humor writing in my eyes, since I am not prone to that. That said, I did find the collection of essays a bit uneven. It was almost as though Kroese was experimenting with different styles of humorous essay in places. When the essays teetered close to angry rants, which only happened a couple of times, I found myself skipping forward. That is what caused me to give the book only three stars instead of four. I also found the Star Wars thread he tried to run throughout the collection as a means of connecting it all a bit weak, but not enough to be a distraction.
So overall, I would recommend The Force is Middling in this One to fans of humorous, observational essays in the vein of Dave Barry. I do plan to check out Robert Kroese's novel Mercury Falls in the near future, in hopes that the different editors may have smoothed out his presentation of his very real talents.
So overall, I would recommend The Force is Middling in this One to fans of humorous, observational essays in the vein of Dave Barry. I do plan to check out Robert Kroese's novel Mercury Falls in the near future, in hopes that the different editors may have smoothed out his presentation of his very real talents.
July 22, 2013
Entirely composed of a "best of" compilation of blog posts from the author's blog and tied together with quotes and thoughts from the Star Wars movies,
The Force is Middling In This One
is a fun bit of reading designed to be read exactly as it was written: in small doses. This book is perfectly constructed for reading while standing in line (which I did with my smart phone and my kindle app) or any other time when you just have about 5 minutes to read.
The topics are all over the place, covering topics such as Star Wars, motorcycle riding on the freeway, the author's brain and its lack of focus, the construction of an addition to his house, his life in the least livable city in the United States (Modesto, CA - and yes, it was named that by a survey), Home Improvement Store employees, why gophers are literally evil and a whole lot more. Nearly every posting is interrupted by a totally different very short thought called "From the Sock Drawer."
Read more at: http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2013/...
The topics are all over the place, covering topics such as Star Wars, motorcycle riding on the freeway, the author's brain and its lack of focus, the construction of an addition to his house, his life in the least livable city in the United States (Modesto, CA - and yes, it was named that by a survey), Home Improvement Store employees, why gophers are literally evil and a whole lot more. Nearly every posting is interrupted by a totally different very short thought called "From the Sock Drawer."
Read more at: http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2013/...
October 29, 2012
Even though I am a huge fan of Robert Kroese's 'Mercury' series, I had resisted this book. Having only a cursory familiarity with and enjoyment of the sci-fi genre, I had assumed that this book wouldn't be my cup of tea. Boy, was I wrong! This collection of blog posts/essays/musings is seriously laugh-out-loud funny from start to finish and completely relatable, even without getting some of the uber-geek references. The topics range from the mundane to the absurd, and every one is given Kroese's signature smart, sarcastic spin. This book is tremendously readable---the pacing and structure reminded me a bit of George Carlin's work (except for the censored F-bombs).
Bottom line: read this book. If you have a sense of humor, you'll love it. Even if you don't, I dare say Kroese could at least manage to make you grin a little.
Bottom line: read this book. If you have a sense of humor, you'll love it. Even if you don't, I dare say Kroese could at least manage to make you grin a little.
February 10, 2011
Some friends of mine passed this book onto me, and I'm glad they did. Robert Kroese is the author of an online blog called mattresspolice.com. This book is an apparent compilation of his postings. I don't know if its because I read this while recovering from being sick in bed for a few days and was particularly vulnerable, but I laughed out loud all though this book. I'm going to buy a copy for my friend who lives in Detroit as I'm sure she will appreciate his snarky comments about MI and Canadians.
P.S. Mr Kroese, if you read these reviews, I would just like to add: =)=)=)=)=0 LOL!!!! You are TOO funny! ;)ROFL.
P.S. Mr Kroese, if you read these reviews, I would just like to add: =)=)=)=)=0 LOL!!!! You are TOO funny! ;)ROFL.
March 19, 2013
I really enjoyed both Mercury Falls and Mercury Rises but unfortunately this compilation of Kroese's blog posts didn't hit the spot for me. There were some funny parts but I found myself skimming a fair bit.
However, it did remind me that I haven't read Mercury Rests yet, so I've moved it up on the TBR pile.
However, it did remind me that I haven't read Mercury Rests yet, so I've moved it up on the TBR pile.
August 13, 2011
Fifty percent very funny, fifty percent so annoying you'll want to slap the guy. Which is which will probably vary depending on who you are.
Enjoyed the pop culture references, but disagreed with him on nearly every political one.
He jumps back and forth from telling stories about how he's a knucklehead and has trouble dealing with the world and then ones where he is smarter than the avenge person. He keeps jumping back and forth and so neither one feels very convincing.
has enough actually amusing bits to keep me reading, but left me with no great urge to track down his other books.
Enjoyed the pop culture references, but disagreed with him on nearly every political one.
He jumps back and forth from telling stories about how he's a knucklehead and has trouble dealing with the world and then ones where he is smarter than the avenge person. He keeps jumping back and forth and so neither one feels very convincing.
has enough actually amusing bits to keep me reading, but left me with no great urge to track down his other books.
September 13, 2010
I won this book as a giveaway. The three stars are kind of an average score. As I am of the same generation, and a tech geek, I understood his cultural references (Hulk, Thundarr, Captain America), and the cover letters from Kenny Skywalker applying for positions throughout the worlds of the Star Wars movies were hysterical. Yet other stories were just OK. It was an odd-mix, but a fun read all the same.
October 12, 2010
They say the Kurt Cobain was a voice of a Generation. I beg to differ. You need to take a look at The Force is Middling by Robert Kroese. The book was funny, insightful and referenced part of the most important film of my generation "Star Wars." Recommend to anyone who has seen the films and lived through the 80's and 90's and today. I know I am sounding like a top 10 radio station. Hurry up and pick a copy of this book. Also check out his novel Mercury Falls.
September 19, 2010
**Won a first-read copy** The blurb is amusing, the book is amusing. I enjoy the off the wall perspectives on everyday things. As an "all in one sitting" type of reader, this book just didn't click with me as it is a series of writings from his blog. It was too easy to put down after a section because there was no pull to continue reading and find out what happened next. As a blog, this works well; as a book, not so much.
March 31, 2011
This could be the funniest book I've read since that other funny book I read. Seriously, for a book compiled from blog articles it holds it's own. Not really sure what exactly it's holding, but that just adds to the hilarity.
Rarely do I come away from a humor book actually wanting to read more of the author's work, but I'm putting Mercury Falls on my wishlist.
Not to mention that any book with a Star Wars theme is automatically awesome.
The Force is Middling in this One is lol. :)
Rarely do I come away from a humor book actually wanting to read more of the author's work, but I'm putting Mercury Falls on my wishlist.
Not to mention that any book with a Star Wars theme is automatically awesome.
The Force is Middling in this One is lol. :)
October 24, 2011
Long live sarcasm, I say! While I prefer his more straight-forward testimonies to his "scripts" of humorous situations, I enjoyed this read. I am a huge horror fan, and sometimes I use books from the humor genre to cleanse my palate. I am definitely adding Robert Kroese to my go-to list for laughs. His rant against Thomas Kincaid is my favorite! This is just the right amount of snark, without being too cruel.
February 4, 2012
I'm not normally much of a blog reader but Kroese's collection of previous blog posts from his Mattress Police site is hugely entertaining. He has a great, quirky sense of humor with numerous science fiction references and you really do laugh out loud while reading this book. I like to read funny books when I'm stuck in waiting rooms and apparantly I laughed out loud enough to have several people ask what book I was reading. HIghly recommended.
July 20, 2013
The quality is fair to middling in this one. I liked "Mercury Falls" and looked forward to this one as I knew Kroese would put a lot of sci-fi geekdom in it. But, with the exception of some very funny parts, this book really dragged for me. There were parts (like the Morlock & Eloi tech part) that were just outstanding. There were other parts that were weird or just not funny. Its hard to get through just to get to the gems.
December 31, 2016
I had a hard time getting into the groove with this book at first. But when I decided to "hear" it as routines from a stand-up comic, I enjoyed it much more. Maybe I just got into a better frame of mind, or maybe the book got better as it went along, it is hard to tell.
Anyway, these stories were a lot of fun. The book doesn't have an overall theme or progression to the stories, but I didn't expect it to, and it doesn't need it. Just enjoy a bunch of fun stories.
Anyway, these stories were a lot of fun. The book doesn't have an overall theme or progression to the stories, but I didn't expect it to, and it doesn't need it. Just enjoy a bunch of fun stories.
May 30, 2013
Love the thoughts behind it. I enjoy reading peoples blogs and their opinions. The reason is I enjoy either agreeing or disagreeing and not getting into a discussion over it. I enjoy hearing peoples opinions and then deciding if they are worth my time or not.
I liked this one because it was funny and I really thought it matched me. Thanks for the fun read.
I liked this one because it was funny and I really thought it matched me. Thanks for the fun read.
January 30, 2011
Robert Kroese had a humorous blog. He took his posts and self-published. He did pretty well with his self-publishd book and a publishing co. wanted to publish his book. He agreed.
I enjoyed the book. The section that discusses motorcycles is particularly funny. Some parts dragged, but it was a fun read overall. He's wry and witty.
I enjoyed the book. The section that discusses motorcycles is particularly funny. Some parts dragged, but it was a fun read overall. He's wry and witty.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews