I’m known for being quite sarcastic. I know that some people find sarcasm to be the lowest form of communication; I’m okay with that. So it isn’t surprising that, as part of a trio of joke gifts (the other items being a screaming pickle and a Jesus refrigerator magnet set), my husband and I were gifted this book by our friends.

It is so bad. I don’t know what they were going for, but unless it was unoriginality, they missed the mark. I know that it is odd to call out a book about insults and comebacks as being too mean … but it is. It’s not clever, it’s extremely lazy. There are certainly things that people should be insulted for – cruelty, racism, bigotry – but that doesn’t really comprise any of the insults in this book. Instead, the authors go for the insults that uphold the status quo. There’s nothing subversive about mocking people who are fat, or ugly, or mentally ill. It doesn’t require any cleverness. I’m guessing that literally anyone reading this review can come up with a (completely unfunny) fat joke at the drop of a hat, because society thinks fat people should be mocked.

For a book of insults to be worth reading, I think it should include the type of insults that really cut to the bone. Figure out insults for the people who mock fat people. Come up with some comebacks to when someone marks on another person’s mental health status. If you’re wanting to joke about hygiene, do something better than offer “you must be a feminist” (like, what?).

You’ll notice this book is available on Amazon for $.01. Save your money – it’s not worth that. ( )

OK, I'm going to admit that this book was simply purchased on a whim with no other basis than the silliness of it. The book is put together very attractively (it looks like an older book, with no dust jacket and the name foil stamped directly onto the front board in a retro font) but, really, the matter is very subjective. It is exactly what the title says it is, a collection of insults to use in everyday conversation and some are funny and some are not, and the whole thing written entirely tongue in cheek. I can't really recommend this to anybody, except people who like some good sarcasm, and even then only thinly recommended. ( )