Our Dumb World: The Onion's Atlas of the Planet Earth, 73rd Edition features incorrect statistics on all of the Earth's 168, 182, or 196 independent nations. It also features maps, including a fold-out world map at actual size. Readers will learn about every country from Afghanistan, "Allah's Cat Box," to the Ukraine, "The Bridebasket of Europe."
Today's news-parody consumer cannot possibly understand made-up current events without the context of fake world history and geography. That is why The Onion is publishing a world atlas: to help us. Our Dumb World is an invaluable tool for any reader interested in overthrowing a weakened government in East Asia, exploiting a developing nation in Africa, or for directions to tonight's party at Erica's. It is a reference guide to 250,000 of the world's most important places, such as North Korea's Trench of Victory, the Great Human Pyramid of Egypt, and Saudi Arabia's superhighway, the Mohammedobahn.
About The Onion
Every week, three million readers turn to the world's most popular news organization for a much-needed dose of Onion news and entertainment coverage. In a history spanning 15 years, six popular books, and 10 Webby Awards, The Onion has attracted legions of loyal fans drawn to its fearless reporting and scathing commentary on world events, human behavior, and journalistic convention.
The first all-new publication from the Onion's stable of mad satirists since 1999's Our Dumb Century, this globe-spanning volume raises the bar for topical humor. Known for their savage, irreverent newspaper parody, the Onionstaff delight in playing up stereotypes and skewering perceptions, and they have picked an enormous playground in which to do so; this skewed world atlas compiles enough fictional facts to tickle-and probably offend-just about everyone. Profiling every country in the world-from the United States ("The Land of Opportunism") to Greenland ("The Largest Land Mass on Earth") to "The Who Cares Islands"-this handsome parody is visually indistinguishable from genuine reference materials, but with jokes crammed into every inch, from topographical maps ("Largest Mayan Casino in Mexico") and tiny vital statistics boxes (Syria's ethnicity: "Anti-Semitic Semites") to historic timelines (Ireland, 1387: "Luck of the Irish runs out") and photo captions ("Emergency shipments of food, water, and Bono reach Sudan"). The group's humor can demand a rarified kind of knowledge-as in the entry for Nicaragua, which revolves entirely around the now-ancient Nintendo game Contra-ensuring that some jokes will fall flat; for anyone with a cultural pulse, however, the hit-to-miss ratio will be high. Eminently browsable and compulsively rereadable, this is an essential book for fans of Stewart, Colbert and (of course) the Onion. (Oct.)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business InformationThis isn't just any atlas; it's the Onion's atlas. Readers familiar with the satirical newspaper and its previous publications will here find the intelligent and biting humor they've come to expect. The book is a quality product with a seemingly built-in market. But the market for readers who would read an atlas for entertainment is small, and the number of Onionreaders in that market's subset, probably smaller. In the Library of Congress record, the publisher states, today's news-parody consumer cannot possibly understand made-up current events without the context of fake world history and geography. That is why the Onionis publishing a world atlas: to help us. Fair enough. Libraries with a large contingent of Onionreaders will probably do well to consider this purchase, and certainly some readers will be clamoring for it. But it is recommended only for public libraries and postsecondary academic institutions. Although the Onionhas hooked many savvy high school readers, Our Dumb World's strongly objectionable content (e.g., a manipulated image of George W. Bush performing a sexual act with a Saudi leader) negates its appeal for school libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ6/15/07.]
—Audrey Snowden
gunny50
Posted December 25, 2009
I Also Recommend:
funny and a little educational. took off the boxing gloves a little bit but pretty funny stuff.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Paisley
Posted December 6, 2009
If you are easily offended, this is not for you. But if you are fairly well informed about the world and have a sense of humor about it, then this is for you. I don't think they omit offending any country or human being on the planet. I went back the next week and bought another one for a gift.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.The parts of this book that relates to you and where you are from are so funny that it will take you forever to read. My husband and I read aloud to each other about the different places we lived. We were in tears from laughing so hard. Now the rest of the book is a different story. If you are not from a place or don't know a certain place very well than you will not appreciate the humor at all. We read and laughed at about 6 places in the book.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted November 24, 2009
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted November 11, 2009
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted October 25, 2009
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted December 5, 2009
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted December 10, 2009
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted December 10, 2009
No text was provided for this review.
Overview
The world's most definitive fake world atlas: a repository of all known information about the planet Earth (except where covered by clouds).Our Dumb World: The Onion's Atlas of the Planet Earth, 73rd Edition features incorrect statistics on all of the Earth's 168, 182, or 196 independent nations. It also features maps, including a fold-out world map at actual size. Readers will learn about every country from Afghanistan, "Allah's Cat Box," to the Ukraine, "The Bridebasket of Europe."
Today's news-parody consumer cannot possibly understand made-up current events without the context of fake world history and geography. That is why The Onion is publishing ...