My Custom Van: And 50 Other Mind-Blowing Essays That Will Blow Your Mind All Over Your Face (2008) - Plot & Excerpts
Suffice to say I DON’T GET IT.I am so incredibly grateful I read Black’s second novel first. Otherwise, I NEVER would’ve given his penmanship a second chance. Not only was “My Custom Van” utterly not funny, it made no sense to me whatsoever. The book is a collection of arrogant, strange short-stories and anecdotes with no unifying theme or tone. Some are bitter commentaries on past relationships or letters to Celine Dion’s husband, while others focus on hypothetical situations, like a sales job at a retailer of pickled fetuses. What?My reading experience was spent waiting for the one anecdote that would make sense and bring the 100+ pages before it into clear view…but sorry Charlie, no luck. Once I reached the end, I sat in bed thinking “What the hell?” I probably even said that aloud. I have no idea what Black was thinking. Whatever it is, I am so glad he got this crap out of his system and found his forte - hilarious commentary on his personal and professional life. I encourage you to read his other book, “You’re not doing it right.” I laughed, I cried, and I got more out of the first three pages than I ever will out of this entire book. This was my second attempt at reading this book. I started once before, loved it, but never finished because of school or other things getting in the way. It's a quick, fun read. The essays are no longer than 4 or 5 pages and I found most of them really funny. I always enjoy laughing out loud to a book and MIB makes me do just that. That being said, on the second attempt I didn't find some of the essays I had read before as funny the second time around, which brings the rating down a little.My favorite essays are: Taco Party, Why I Used a Day-Glo Magic Marker to Color My Dick Yellow, Testing the Infinite Monkey Probability Theorem, Job Orientation, This Is How I Party, An Open Letter to the Hairstylist Who Somehow Convinced Me to Get a Perm When I Was in Sixth Grade, and Don't Tell Me to Calm Down!!!
What do You think about My Custom Van: And 50 Other Mind-Blowing Essays That Will Blow Your Mind All Over Your Face (2008)?
Sadly, a bit too affected for me. But I'm just not finding humor books that funny these days.
—Jai
The piece on David Sedaris is very funny. And honest, I believe.
—peggy
I love MIB but this book was depressingly unfunny.
—JChris
LOL-funny. Embarrassing to read on a bus.
—ashka_smiles
