Review: The Nerdist Way

I've been a huge fan of the Nerdist podcast since shortly after it began almost two years ago. I often bring up the show in conversation, and I've even created an embroidery based on one episode. I've followed Chris Hardwick's progress as he wrote this book through the podcast as well. There was no way I wasn't going to read this as soon as it came out.

This is not a comedian's memoir (although there are plenty of stories from Hardwick's life throughout). This is a self-help book that is hilarious and very easy to read and puts things in terms that nerds will understand. The book is built around the gaming concept of leveling your character (in this case, you) but determining strengths and weaknesses and then expanding upon them.

The concept is nothing I haven't heard before. What made me really enjoy this book, though, was Hardwick's voice. It felt like my nerdy older brother telling me all the ways he had screwed up so I wouldn't have to make the same mistakes. Am I following all the recommendations he made? No, but that's besides the point. At the very least, this book put me in the mindset to make helpful changes to my life (whether they're the changes Hardwick implied or not).

Also, anyone who is a fan of the Nerdist podcast will enjoy this book because of the little glimpses into the Nerdist life. The stories aren't the main reason for the book, but they're quite enjoyable along the way.

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Review: Sad Monsters

Monsters are (or were) people too. They have the same problems as the rest of us, from trouble finding a job to the inability to maintain a healthy relationship to being unhappy with their bodies. They just want a little love - is that too much to ask?!

Frank Lesser's Sad Monsters takes a look at all these sad sacks and gives them a chance to speak. We're privy to Godzilla's diary (by far the funniest piece in the book), which is as existential as any goth teenager's journal. We sit in on the trial of Carl Denham, who lured King Kong to Manhattan, and who must now face the Son of Kong.We get to see the inner workings of Hell, where the demons act quite like a bunch of bankers. And we get to go along on a date with Medusa and see the entire staff of the Olive Garden get frozen in stone.

I laughed a lot while reading Sad Monsters, but I'll admit it, the joke gets a little old after a while. Put the book down and come back later - it'll be funny again.

My one problem with the book is going to mark me as a huge geek, but I'm ok with that. In "Groom of Frankenstein," where Dr. Frankenstein is discussing his upcoming nuptials to his monster, he keeps referring to the monster as Frankenstein. Except, that's not the monster's name, it's his own. The monster is just Frankenstein's monster. There, I've said it. I feel better now.

3/5 stars

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Review: Geek Wisdom

When I first heard about Geek Wisdom, edited by Stephen Segal, I was more than a little skeptic. As a self-proclaimed Nerd and Geek (by my definitions, nerd = passionate about academic subjects and geek = passionate about pop cultural subjects), I've seen how geekery has become widely accepted over the past few years. Often, that means it is co-opted by brands and companies that have no idea what being geeky actually means. So I figured this quirky little sampler of quotes wouldn't necessarily mean all that much to real geeks.

Man, was I wrong. There is so much truth in this book. Each page features a quote or two from famous geek texts (ranging from Shakespeare to internet memes, with plenty of television, movies, and novels in among the mix) along with a brief discussion of why this is important to the hordes of geeks out there or what it has to say about how we geeks see our world.

That's not to say that every single brief essay in this book works. With some quotes, the author's barely touch upon the quote itself and deal with another matter entirely. The best of the essays, though, (and I'll say the majority of the essays are among the best) really touch the heart of the quote in question, distilling the ideas that geeks feel in their hearts, even if the mind can't explain it so succinctly.

For example, the first quote in the book is "With great power comes great responsibility," written by the great Stan Lee. This has become one of the tenants of geekdom (closely followed, I would think, by Wil Wheaton's "Don't be a dick"). And really, it's something we all understand without too much thought. But the authors of the book point out how this affected not just Spiderman, but also George Washington, King David, Albert Einstein, and Franklin Roosevelt (and that Paris Hilton has somehow not come to understand it at all).

Even if you don't care about the discussion, this is a great collection of geeky quotes. I kept saying to myself that a particular quote was my favorite quote, but then I'd turn the page and find one I liked even more. I just have so much love for this book! It really is the perfect gift for any geeks in your life (in fact, I'm thinking I should just buy a box to have on hand as ready-made gifts).

5/5 stars