New Rule: The next Republican Convention must be held in a giant closet. Every week there’s a new gay Republican outed. I have a feeling that “big tent” they’re always talking about is in their pants. There are so many Republicans in the closet, their symbol shouldn’t be an elephant; it should be a moth.
New Rule: If one of your news organization’s headlines is about who got kicked off Dancing with the Stars last night, you’re no longer a news organization. Sort of like, if you were on Dancing with the Stars last night, you’re no longer a star.
Media, celebrity, Democrats, Republicans, religion, children, marine life, electronics, that couple making out in the next booth—when it comes to lighting up his targets, Bill Maher is an equal-opportunity destroyer. The New New Rules offers Maher’s new and best-loved observations about the world around us, along with some modest tips for its improvement. Because wouldn’t life be a little better if the inside of the office microwave didn’t look like a Jackson Pollock painting, or if fathers stopped signing up their nine-year-olds to win free hunting trips? Scathingly funny and relentlessly unafraid of sensitive topics, Maher’s hilarious brand of realism is more welcome and necessary than ever. So sit back, read on, and enjoy. You may not agree with all his views, but one thing’s for certain: If you’re listening, you’re laughing.
MY REVIEW:
In my defense, I did not really know who Bill Maher was before I picked this book. I mean, I knew of him vaguely – enough to say he was in news/politics, but that was about it. I picked this book because I have been on a humor audiobook kick for a while now. I liked the satirical humor of Denis Leary in Why We Suck, and I thought this book might be similar, but it was not.
Although I have been reading humor books lately, I really appreciate books that challenge me in some way. I have found that humor books often do that by making me laugh one moment and then making me think about something in a new way the next. The New New Rules by Bill Maher, however, did not make me laugh or challenge me in any way. It is simply full of (often crude) one-liners.
If you’re already a Bill Maher fan (or if you have a short attention span), you may like this book. But otherwise, I don’t recommend this book for anyone else.