How To Beat Up Anybody (Enhanced Edition): An Instructional And Inspirational Karate Book By The World Champion (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
I like Judah Friedlander's character on 30 Rock, so I thought I'd give this book a go. I realised about a third of the way through the blessedly short book (whose content is mostly pictures) that I really couldn't be bothered wasting my time on reading through the constant stupidity. Some parts were marginally funny, but the slog wasn't worth the payoff. I'd rather spend a couple of hours reading Cracked online. Disappointing. I'm a huge fan of 30 Rock. I saw an interview with Judah Friedlander (on Letterman, I think) where he was plugging this book. Judah is funny, and he wrote the book, so I felt it was logical to assume the book would be funny.And oh, how it probably would have been, if not for the Internet.The book reads very much like any number of "uber-manly" websites (which I tend to find hilarious). The problem is, it just didn't seem quite as funny as a lot of those sites. Maybe things are funnier when viewed through my monitor? I dunno. In any case, I found myself wishing I were reading Seanbaby over at Cracked.com instead. Or maybe even Maddox at The Greatest Page in the Universe.In the Letterman interview, Judah was hilarious. But in the printed word, he seemed a step below a lot of the Internet guys.The problem could also be that I sat down to read a 200-page book and I just got overloaded; if I think about it, I probably wouldn't wanna read straight through 200 pages of Seanbaby articles, either.I got through about 40 or 50 pages and realized a few things:1. I hadn't really laughed at anything yet.2. The jokes were dragged out way too long. (It took several pages to explain the champion's meal he was preparing; I could have watched a Youtube episode of Epic Meal Time instead and been considerably more entertained.)3. Going at my established rate, it would take me another 2 hours to finish the book, which isn't that bad.4. It was clear I wasn't going to take anything away from the book when I was done. Except maybe regret."Regret" proved not to be a strong enough reason to continue. Yeah, it would only take 2 more hours to read the book, but I wouldn't have fun doing it, so why not get started on one of the other books I snagged from the library?In the end, I think it might make a decent coffee table book (or bathroom book), but it's not the type of thing you want to just sit and read through.
What do You think about How To Beat Up Anybody (Enhanced Edition): An Instructional And Inspirational Karate Book By The World Champion (2010)?
A book by Judah Friedlander, the dude who played Frank in 30 Rock. Kind of funny in a goofy way..
—Jen
Honestly the concept was a good one but it ran out of steam very soon.
—crazykat
Good for cheap laughs, especially if you didn't buy the book.
—catasofi
