Mardesia C.

I recently was sent a copy of Weirder Than Marshmallows by Dan Fogg of NightFire Publications to read and review.

Before you break out the sticks and start the fires the Preface explains what the book is about: “But this book isn’t about marshmallows, despite the ramblings above. This book is about stories. Stories that are, like marshmallows, strange, mind boggling, but somehow appealing to the public at large. Hard to explain, impossible to ignore.”

From the moment I read the synopsis of this e-book, I knew that I had to read this book. There are people who are doing stupid and/or ignorant stuff and need to be ridiculed? Well then sign me up! My dear hubby has the nickname around our house of Sarcastro and I must admit that I could easily be Mrs. Sarcastro. What can I say, it’s my super power?

The Mr. Fogg definitely raises some interesting questions/observations in his 5 essays about the things that people do and the curious warnings found on product packaging. Many times I found myself smiling and nodding as I read his words.

http://www.keepingyourcents.com/

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Leah S.

I was given the chance to review the book “Weirder than Marshmallows” by Dan Fogg. Put together with the help of Deborah Carney. The first thing that caught my eye about the book was the title!! Who doesn’t love marshmallows??? Each of the stories in this book are witty, sarcastic and true!!

Beyond the front cover and title there is nothing in this book regarding marshmallows. But inside you will find five essays that will make you laugh out loud and wonder how can people really be that stupid?? It is not the type of book that is leaving you hanging wondering what is coming next, but it is the type of book that will leave you wanting more!

This is perfect book for bathroom reading. A friend who is kind of down would get a laugh out of this book! And lets face it, who doesn’t love reading about someone else’s stupidity?

http://clairsfreebies.blogspot.com/

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Katie H.

I recently received the eBook Weirder Than Marshmallows by Dan Fogg from NightFire Publications to read and review. I really had no idea what to expect going in, but was pleasantly surprised at the well written and humorous take on things that Dan had.

The book itself is a compilation of essays and observations written by Dan Fogg that were compiled and edited by Deborah Carney. Dan’s life was tragically cut short in 2002, but his legacy lives on among his friends and family, and hopefully through the publishing of this book, society will also hear and read the words of a man who spent most of his life confined to a wheel chair, but observed the world around him with the eyes of a cynic and comedian.

Dan shows an obvious sense of humor and heart of a comedian in his take on life and random things around us. From his thoughts regarding the unusual warning signs on products and places in our lives, to the stupid actions of society in general at times, he looks at things with a cynics heart and what I consider to be a much more honest view than most of what we read and hear. His take on peoples disabilities and how there is a tendency for “groups” to stick together and make themselves stand out more rather than being diverse and incorporating into society really hit home. It was refreshing to see someone who himself suffered a disability be honest about how it is taken advantage of and exaggerated. Yet, on the same token, not discounting or overlooking the disability itself.

Overall, I was very impressed with this eBook. The quality of writing is excellent. Both Dan in his creativity and honesty and Deborah in her editing skills managed to pull together a great book of humor and well, weirdness that I truly appreciated. This book is long enough to read a few pages a day, or short enough to read in one sitting. My only complaint or drawback has to do with the use of foul language in a few places. Although I understood the placement and get the reasons behind it, I still felt it was unnecessary to get the point across in the book. This brought the book down to a 4 star for me.

Weirder than Marshmallows is definitely a great eBook to grab as a gift for the comedian in your family or just what I would call a “coffee table” book for yourself. Something light and fun to read when you want to unwind or could use a few laughs.

http://brewingdaily.blogspot.com/

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Deborah H.

When I received this book to review, I was very excited because the title totally caught my attention, I love books that leave me thinking about those oddities of human behavior, those things we all do, but few of us would actually admit to, and if we do, we’re just all the prouder because that is what makes us unique…

I laughed hysterically in the beginning. I found Mr. Fogg to be truly funny. He had a talent for writing up things, that were not just weird, they were genuinely kick me funny but not so much in a mean way.

As the book went on, I found less humor, and more of poignant side to Mr. Fogg’s writing. I was touched by some of the stories he had to tell. Particularly those of being helped in New York as disabled person, but then thoroughly confused a while later as he talks of being lost and alone in the same city.
Over all, I felt that some of the stories could have benefited from a bit of order adjustment, because there were times I was left scratching my head in wonder of what the author was talking about. But don’t let that deter you from buy this book because it is well written, and the author’s knack for painting a picture in his short essays, and drawing you into his mind is above and beyond just mere imagination.

This book is a quick read, and worth the time for sure.

I give it a definite thumbs up!

http://itsreallyonlymyopinion.blogspot.com/

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Leslie R.

Weirder than Marshmallows is a book of essays by Dan Fogg. It was really enjoyable and pokes a little bit of fun at everyone. It’s an easy read, which I like, and each essay is short. This is nice with a little one to chase around the house.
I like Fogg because he tackles serious ideas with humor and fun. Great read, and I was happy to receive a copy!!

http://oneyeartodisney.blogspot.com/2011/11/weirder-than-marshmallows-indeed.html

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Kelly O.

This is the fifth book I have read as part of challenge no. 21 of my 52 things in 52 weeks challenge.

Bet you haven’t ever really thought about what goes into marshmallows, have you?

I’ve only just started to get into chemistry as part of my uni, and a few of our experiments involved the modification of a colour of an item using various other chemicals. Reading this introduction from Dan literally made me stop for a bit, and wonder why blue 1 would be needed. Seriously…anyone know? Did anyone else ever actually stop and look at ingredients for any food item in particular, only to wonder why a particular ingredient was actually necessary?

The rest of the book is a collection of stories ranging from the ponderings of other everyday occurrences that we never stop to really think about, or the bizarre moments in life (being certain you were in a specific place at a particular time, and someone else who was there at that exact same time not ever seeing you). There’s a lot in there that you’ll find that you think “oh yeah – why is that?”

This was the first time I’ve used an e-book in my 52 in 52 challenge, but when an offer was made for me to receive the book for free in exchange for my honest opinion, I definitely wasn’t going to turn that down! Reading an e-book was quite a different experience to be honest. I used my iPhone, and I definitely struggled as it came in a PDF format (on the iPhone you can’t change PDF font sizes using iBooks). However, if you had a dedicated e-book reader with a larger screen (iPad, kindle etc) you wouldn’t have the same problem. In addition, if it came in a format that was a bit more friendly to the iBooks app so that I could change the font size then it would be a lot better. There’s a kindle version so I would expect this problem would be resolved using the Kindle app.

Overall the book was quite enjoyable to read, and I found with the portability of the iPhone I was able to read little bits here and there. It’s not a book that will keep you gripped to your phone until you’ve finished it, but it’s still great for those moments when you want something light-hearted that will give you a laugh here and there. There was also one moment in the book where I finished the chapter, sat back and realised how lucky I am. I won’t give it all away, but the writer, Dan, lived his life in a wheelchair and shared a story of one of those moments where he completely relies on others for assistance. It truly made me feel blessed that I have every limb in my body, and my own problems seem greatly insignificant. Sometimes we all need a bit of a wakeup call so we can reevaluate our lives, and realise that most of our problems really are quite small in the grand scheme of things.

http://amyo.id.au/kelly/booksmovies-etc/52-in-52-weirder-than-marshmallows-by-dan-fogg-plus-win-a-free-copy

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Kathleen

I love reviewing books! So I couldn’t wait to print out Weirder Than Marshmallows make a cup of coffee and get lost in a book of what I thought would be about marshmallows. Boy was I wrong! The book is actually about everything but marshmallows except for the first page. Once I started reading it I couldn’t put it down. I found my self bursting out laughing at parts, which led to odd looks from others in the room. The book being only a short 28 pages printed front and back ended far to soon. I found myself relating to some of the chapters and thinking to myself are people really that stupid? Laughed again and said to myself yes just look at today’s television shows. This is a must read book for anyone who enjoys or needs a good laugh.

http://kathleensblogspot.com/2011/10/02/weirder-than-marshmallows-book-review/

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Melissa T.

Who doesn’t love marshmallows? You can toast them, make cute crafts and yummy treats with them. But now you can enjoy marshmallows in a different way. Read the E-book, Weirder Than Marshmallows, by Dan Fogg.

This book of essays is an E-book for your Kindle reader. It will be available in other formats in the future.

If you like humor that makes fun of the stupid things other people do, then Weirder Than Marshmallows is for you. Lets face it we all do stupid things every now and then, but some do it more often than others. Things that no one should ever need to be told not to do. You know what I am talking about. Like the tag on the blow dryer that says keep away from water. Is that something we really need to be told not to do? Obviously because if someone hadn’t done it, the tag wouldn’t be there. Do you think someone really attempted to put a blow dryer in water, or do you think someone has a really cool job sitting around thinking up dumb things people will do with their products? I think it is the first.

These are the types of true stories told in, Weirder Than Marshmallows. I won’t give too many details, because I want you to read the book for yourself. You will laugh, scratch your head, and even wonder if something you ever did belongs in this book. I am sure I could qualify for a couple. Like the time I rode on a four wheeler with no helmet, shorts on, and no shoes. Yes, I crashed and my legs looked like burnt toast. It is things like that, for which all these safety stickers, signs, and funny books are made of. So get some tissues, you will need them from laughing so hard. These are all unique essays, of really dumb things people have done. I have never heard of these, that is how new and dumb they are. It is also not too long, so you won’t get tired of laughing at others. I had a good laugh at the expense of others, you can too. It can be our little secret.

http://melissashomeschool.blogspot.com

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Jonathan

The products keep piling up, here at The Daily Serge, so expect a lot of reviews in the next few days! Today’s is another book entitled Weirder than Marshmallows. As a compilation of short stories, Weirder than Marshmallows brings light the observations of Dan Fogg, who passed away in 2002 at 22 years old. What I enjoyed about reading these stories is that he speaks of the everyday truths we see all day. Heck, the first few chapters are about the idiocy of signs like ‘Do Not Park On Railroad Tracks’ or ‘Harmful if Swallowed’ while referring to gasoline…

There is pretty good humor sprinkled in, too. You wouldn’t feel like you’re reading a book, but rather listening to a friend while at Happy Hour after work. Each story is only a few paragraphs long, so he gets to the point, hits you with some humor, and leaves it open for your response…if this guy was at a party, everyone would want to sit near him to hear what he has to say next.

All around, I really enjoyed reading this. It is just long enough to be worth the read, but short enough so you’re never let down. It is like Seinfeld: Finishes on top….and not like The Office, which reuses ideas and should have ended four seasons ago……

Therefore, I feel compelled to give Weirder than Marshmallows 5 out of 5 Thumbs Up!

http://www.thedailyserge.com/2011/10/daily-review-weirder-than-marshmallows.html

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Nikki

This book is a great read, it is humorous, insightful and the book says what we are all thinking at some time or another but don’t actually want to say it out loud! It is a fun read and I recommend it to anyone that is looking to relax and read a book that isn’t complicated to read! I am a fan of books that are easy to read because most of the time I am reading when my crazy boys are making a lot of noise, which was the case with this one as well but it was fun and I was able to read through it without any issues understanding it.

I have to say that I am sad that the writer passed so suddenly and that it is nice that his mother has released some of his work. The story behind the book is also included in the book at different areas throughout and I appreciated the inside look at what Daniel’s life was like, who he was, and what happened to him. It makes the book more personable, I think.

Overall, a great read!

http://www.nickelanddimingwithnikki.com/2011/12/review-giveaway-weirder-than.html

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