WHY WE SUCK: A FEEL GOOD GUIDE TO STAYING FAT, LOUD, LAZY AND STUPID PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Dr Denis Leary | 240 pages | 31 Mar 2011 | Plume Books | 9780452295643 | English | New York, United States Pick Of The Week: 'Why We Suck' By Dr. Denis Leary - Icon Vs. Icon How his older brother beat the crap out of him and why he was lucky to make it out of childhood at all. The middle part of the book moves away from the bio angle and becomes more of an observations about life; raising drug free kids or not? Theres also 8 pages of photographs which include shots from his childhood, his wife and kids, Domina Patrick the race car driver? And a comparism between him and Willem Dafoe. View all 13 comments. Dec 15, Lisa rated it did not like it Shelves: not-recommended. You know, I usually find Leary's comedy to be pretty humorous and thought that would translate well into his writing. Not so much. I read about pages and barely chuckled once. The material was dated and stale, stuff you've undoubtedly heard a million times before All families are dysfunctional? Get out! I'm loathe to put down a book I haven't finished, seriously, see my review of The Meaning of Night if you don't believe me , but this just wasn't worth it. The jacket's pull-out You know, I usually find Leary's comedy to be pretty humorous and thought that would translate well into his writing. The jacket's pull-out quotes probably contained the funniest lines of the book. Oh, and sorry Denis, but you're perspective is hardly as controversial as you'd like us to believe. And all the caveats just made them feel even less so. Or maybe I just suck. View all 8 comments. Dec 15, Patrick rated it did not like it Shelves: I still have 80 pages left, but I can already tell this isn't gonna get any better. I'm not that familiar with Leary, but I'm pretty sure he's more talented than this book. PETA wouldn't even have to hire a lawyer to get Leary convicted for the relentless I still have 80 pages left, but I can already tell this isn't gonna get any better. PETA wouldn't even have to hire a lawyer to get Leary convicted for the relentless beating he gives to these dead horses. The only saving grace is the few autobiographical anecdotes he throws in from his childhood. A memoir about growing up Irish Catholic in Boston would have been sooo much better than this tripe. View 1 comment. Apr 18, Mark rated it it was amazing. Offensive, rude, acid tongued. His parodies. His exaggerated views. His acerbic, rapier wit. This book showcases his slaying of victimhood and the self-absorbed posers who invade his world by living in it. By un-pc, I mean he tells it exactly the way things are. He paints the script with just enough exaggeration and ma Offensive, rude, acid tongued. He paints the script with just enough exaggeration and making that he makes you scream out loud laughing one second, and yet makes you think the next. A dual edged sword of comedy. Written with a nice sense of pacing, the punchlines are scathingly funny. I enraged an entire plane of passengers with my howling, to the point that the beefy beehive Stewardess waggled her index finger at me throwing daggers. Escaping this near death experience, I continued on in muffled silence. For edgy social commentary jokes, this is about as fast-paced and ruthless as it gets. Just classic Dennis. Hicks, Carlin, Miller and Leary all have carved out a slice in this raw genre of intellectual humor. The core of this content is taboo topics, and insults of the US celebrity-obsessed culture, and the endless assortment of sappy whiners with a complete lack of responsibility. But Dennis also dishes out some funny childhood experiences that had me rolling, since I could so easily relate to them. If you like this style of comedy, this book is a must own. Jan 09, Andrew M rated it did not like it Shelves: one-book-per-week I was a fan of Denis Leary's comedy when he first became popular in the early to mid-nineties, so I expected this to be a fun read filled with his trademark humour, sarcasm, and offensive observations. Not only is it not funny, but it doesn't even deliver the promised offensiveness or anything remotely witty. Unfortunately this book is undeniable proof that he has completely and totally jumped the shark. One wouldn't think that this would be a difficult thing to do. Instead, he takes easy potshots at celebrities, complains about how things were better back in his day, tosses around the occasional swear word, and honest to god, he actually devotes several chapters to how men and women are different. This book was published in , but reading this made me feel like it was Then when he devotes a chapter to Oprah, at first you might think that he's just planning to tear down another celebrity. Instead he spends a dozen pages talking about how awesome she is. Who is this book supposed to offend? Even when he does say things that are offensive like his bit on how autism isn't real, the kids are just stupid and lazy , it doesn't seem original or funny. It just comes across as Leary trying to be rude and rehashing dumb beliefs that others hold. To make matters worse, the jokes in this book aren't even that funny. There were two or three times that I chuckled a bit, but as comedy writing goes this was a spectacular failure. I suppose the difference between and now is that Leary's misanthropic act now just comes off as curmudgeonly. Fortunately he's a decent actor, so hopefully he will leave comedy and comedy writing to people who know what they're doing. View 2 comments. Mar 02, Gaylene rated it it was amazing. I'm sure this is book is offensive to many, but I found it honest and laugh-out-loud hilarious! Dec 12, Adam Floridia rated it did not like it Shelves: 1-star-books. I just wanted to get that out there before I discuss how awful the book is. Really bad. The difference between oral comedy and comedy in the written form is that an author needs to be able to write. There is little to no coherence either—he spends more time discussing gender differences than lampooning the typical slovenly American. He repeats and contradicts himself. Consider reading the chapter about bullies, which is the most entertaining because he tells humorous anecdotes. Those work well in written comedy—ask David Sedaris or Augusten Burroughs. Get it, neither work very well! If you enjoyed that, you might enjoy the book after all… View all 3 comments. Mar 02, Mike rated it did not like it. I mean with chapters devoted to Anna Nicole Smith, the Church and Republicans I was really waiting for a timely paragraph or two about the quality of food on airplanes. Or what part of the chicken the McNugget came from. Leary used to be really funny, now he just seems to be cashing cheques and trying to prove he belongs with the cool kids. Despite it's title, this book had no unifying theory and only took shots at the most obvious of targets while never taking on the controversial the autism k I mean with chapters devoted to Anna Nicole Smith, the Church and Republicans I was really waiting for a timely paragraph or two about the quality of food on airplanes. Despite it's title, this book had no unifying theory and only took shots at the most obvious of targets while never taking on the controversial the autism kerfuffle was over a single, throw-away line. Maybe it would have been better if Bill Hicks were still alive. Apr 26, Judith rated it did not like it. You start out thinking he's pretty funny and nodding in agreement at the points he makes, but after a few minutes, his point is beaten into your head and he just keeps pounding away until he ends up giving you a headache. He's like the guy who carries the joke too far. Jul 20, Dest rated it it was amazing. After telling a friend that I'd just finished reading two books with heavy, emotional subjects, she suggested I read this. The book claims to be offensive to everyone at some point. That alone made me laugh. Life is serious but we've all gotten way too easily offended and need to see ourselves in a totally different way Because they aren't. Leary manages to simply write things tha After telling a friend that I'd just finished reading two books with heavy, emotional subjects, she suggested I read this. Leary manages to simply write things that are true observations of people in general and while he will write a line or two of "disclaimer" before launching into a diatribe, he doesn't waste time in the book going on and on about something isn't meant to offend and apologize, etc. I like the directness and bluntness that he uses. Were there parts that offended me? Sure, a little. Then I realized that I really shouldn't be offended because frankly, most of it has a LOT of truth to it.