Review: A Fun Idea, Three Novellas Written By Their Fictional Characters Through Reviews of Amazon Products
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 4, 2013
This is a collection of the author's first three idiot reviews books,The Village Idiot Reviews,Office Idiot ReviewsandOffice Idiot Reviewswhich if worth checking the price of on those links as possibly their cheaper individually than this set price.The first book Village Idiot Reviews is written as a bunch of fake reviews on Amazon products by random people in a fictional village. You've got a an alcoholic vicar who stalks a woman who went out on a date with him in high school and tells us all about it through products that help him do those things, a juvenile delinquent who wants to grow pot, a crazy old pushing a supermarket trolley around the place lady, a farmer and many other eccentric characters. What works is that there will be many incidents where one character will recount what happened through their review of a product, then a few review entries later another character that was there will mention the same incident with a different point of view of who was in the right and who was in the wrong. Sort of like in real life someone will go on a date with someone and tell you how great it was, how the other person was so into them, then you'll talk to the other person and they'll tell you they never want to see that person again and recount the same events in a negative manner.  This book has already spawned a sequel which is not in this collection.My favourite was the second novella Office Idiot Reviews.  Hogsbottom Plugs is a small company whose workers are all stereotypes of personalities you find in any corporate environment and where the eccentric metre has been increased. You've got the boss who doesn't really know what he's doing and thinks his young secretary sees him in a different light to which she does. She's also got an office stalker and is the fantasy of many other male workers. You've got the dim-witted son of the boss' mistress who only eats bananas and is obsessed with Westlife and the Jackson Five, but not individually. You've got the old lady whose been there for generations before the current boss took over who thinks she knows more than everyone else and has a scheme to get money from the company. A janitor who is getting fed up with someone leaving a giant present for him to dispose of every day in the female toilets, a WH&S; guy who doesn't know his job and some seagulls who, well you best read to find out their contribution.The final book Idiot Government Reviews start at 70% of this box set, so it is a little bit shorter than the first two. Although it still had its moments, I wouldn't say it was a good as the first two either nor as memorable. Possibly as it was a little predictable due to the character traits, and there weren't as many characters (or reviewers of products) as in the other books. The fact it's about politicians also means it's a bit limited to where it can go humour wise too I guess. But as I said it has its moments, like a politician who got caught drying himself down below with a hairdryer by the paparazzi, or the paper airplane attack by one who has a seat in parliament outside of the camera's eye. Amazon products bought and reviewed are to help them through the day, to embarrass their enemies or with their political ambitions.