Review: Not What I Expected
Rating: 1 out of 5
Date: 10 29, 2012
Weirder Than Marshmallows Book of Essays has been the latest book that I have been reading. When signing up to be one of the reviewers for this book I was expecting it to be a quick and funny read. However, it turned out to be just the opposite. Not to mention the fact that since the book has so many good reviews I thought it was something that was actually going to be good. But, in my opinion this book is not a must read and it definitely was not funny. However, I can say that some of these stories were weird.What I Didn't Like About The Book and What I LikedWhen reading the preface of the book I expected that it would be funny and weird as it explained what was the meaning of the title. However, by page 14 I was wondering just what this book had in store for me when I came across the phrase, "Because face it, kid's aren't bright. They're dumb-asses. You know they are, we need to protect them, hell, we need to lock them all in cages til they turn 21″. This was something that I found to be rather disturbing. Maybe  this is because I am a mom who would never refer to kids in this manner.Reading further into the book though I did feel as though the author made some great points, however.  For example, he states " All people should be treated equally, we try to teach that everyday. Then we go home and separate ourselves into groups with common traits. In order for others to treat us as equals, we must treat ourselves as equals as well".Lastly, when nearing the end of the book I ran across something that really made me decide that this book was definitely not funny and not what I expected. This was when the author tells a story about a kid in school who wrote out a hit list and even listed how he would harm them. The author reveals that the story ends as follows, "The page has been removed from the net, the boy has been suspended from school. And parents want more. They want him expelled, or, better yet, thrown in jail. Let's ignore the 1st Amendment Rights. This is still completely absurd". That statement is not even the beginning of the worst. The author then reveals that he feels as though not all kids who say they are going to kill actually will and it is not something that can be prevented so there is no need to try to avoid this. I feel the total opposite. For example, if a child seems to be troubled and writing these sorts of things on the web as in the book something needs to be done. Innocent lives could be loss such as in the Virginia Tech shootings.Final ThoughtsOverall, I would not recommend this books to other moms because of the points that I have pointed out above. Basically, I did not find it funny as others who have left reviews have stated. But, if you find the points that I pointed out in this review funny then it may be a good read for you. I just did not see the humor in them.I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.