Book #106

Why We Suck
by Dr. Denis Leary

That's right -- Dr. Denis Leary, proud alumnus of Emerson College in Boston, has received an honorary doctorate in humanities and letters. He's a Doctor. So now you have to do what he says, just like Dr. Phil. Unlike Dr. Phil, however, Dr. Denis is hilarious, insightful, and in almost every instance, absolutely correct, if a wee bit brutal.

Because we do suck. We suck a lot, and Dr. Leary has a hundred reasons why. The most prominent are: Americans are fat, lazy, loud, and stupid, and getting worse all the time; our celebrities are all of these things and a bag of chips on the side, and our worship of them is not only inane and depressingly pathetic, but also harmful; and lastly, because we have no idea how to raise our children. Because of these things, not only has America lost its way, but the rest of the world knows it, and hates us when we stick out big stupid rhinoplastied noses into their business, and laughs at us when said foreshortened nose is crammed up our own backsides.

The book is hilarious, as all of Leary's comedy is. The nice thing about a book is he gets to go a little bit more in depth in his ranting than he does in his stand up routine, and the deeper Denis goes, the funnier he is. This book actually made me laugh out loud, something that almost never happens; even when it wasn't doing that, I was usually either giggling, chuckling, or nodding as I read.

The only place where Dr. Leary and I disagree is on gender issues. He is of the opinion that men are the grunting, meat-eating, sports-obsessed thoughtless clods that so many comics make them out to be; he does take the next step and point out that men are also strong, brave, and hardworking along with these things, which I appreciated. But Denis's experience of maleness is not mine; it might relate to the respective collar colors of our upbringings, or simply a difference in our basic structure. His understanding of what makes women tick also does not coincide with my experience of women, most particularly my wife -- but again, simply a difference in our experiences. For the men and women who parallel the roles Dr. Leary ascribes to them, he's got it down, so even if my life is different, it was still fun to read. I loved it, and I would highly recommend it.