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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Jennee T.

Do you know what I find weirder than marshmallows? The fact that marshmallows is spelled the way it is spelled yet we call them marshmellows. Why is that? Have you ever wondered about the strange things in life? Been in awe of the stupidity of humanity? Been easily amused? If you answered yes to any of those questions, then I have a solution for you.

Weirder Than Marshmallows is a collection of essays and observations by Dan Fogg. The collection was put together by Deborah Carney. Ignorance, lack of common sense, and downright inhuman stupidity run rampant in this country and around the world. I watch people, and I hear stories, and they beg, beg, beg to be mocked and ridiculed. This excerpt and thought really gives the vibe of the essays. The categories covered in the collection start with Weirder than Marshmallows and end somewhere around Weird Stuff. Each categories has little blurbs about something stupid or strange. In Technology Sucks, there is a story about a possessed phone.

I’m sure we have all experienced something similar!

The book is witty and sarcastic. With such fun little blurbs, dare I say that it is excellent bathroom reading! Seriously, this is the kind of book I’d like to find at some strangers house while I visit the lavatory. It’s a short read but just remember that some of these odd observations will come to mind for the rest of your life! I’ve already seen some of the observations and chuckle to myself because Dan’s writing is right on.

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Melissa R.

For anyone that has a sense of humor, or likes a good laugh every now and then…this book is for you! I absolutely funny situations/stories and this book truly made me laugh out loud on several occasions. A short, but funny book that truly tells it like it is. Some of the short stories even had me picturing the author as a stand up comedian 😀

Humor aside, the author also does a great job of sharing what life with a disability is like. Dan Fogg was in a wheelchair and he knew first hand what it was like to live with disability for most of his life. And he also made a great point, by stating that we all want to be treated like equals – and you know what, everyone deserves it too. It is so sad that this young man died at such a young age, due to a car accident.

I would highly recommend this book to ages young adult and up. Its funny, corky and sometimes downright witty.

http://frugalfabulousfinds.com

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Amanda

Dan Fogg is a great writer. It’s a great loss to us that he passed away in 2002, but his amazing Mother has given us the ability to read his words and see the person that he was. Weirder Than Marshmallows takes to heart all the things you wish you could say, but never do. The stories are at times raw and amusing, but the fact that they make you feel is the sign of a good book, plus I love his categories. The Title of the book and the title of these Categories are incredibly humorous.

“Writers write.” It’s a two-word creed spoken by journalists and novelists and screenwriters alike, spoken from all around the world. Writers write, it’s what they do.Not because they want to, though I imagine most of them do. Not because they like to, though I can’t see why they wouldn’t. Writers write because they have to. Writers write because they have no choice.”

There is such a deep sense of honesty in Dan Fogg. Although most of his essays are written to amuse, you can see behind them into the person he must have been. A profound thinker that saw the world realistically and sometimes in ways we want to deny to ourselves that it is; or as an Observer which seems to be what he would have titled it. Weirder Than Marshmallows explores these situations, stupidities and sometimes hard truths in a light hearted manner I think you’ll really enjoy.

http://www.inrandom.com/2011/10/weirder-than-marshmallows-book-of.html

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Connie G.

I was given the opportunity to review the book “Weirder than Marshmallows” by Dan Fogg. This book had me laughing outloud! I’m a huge fan of sarcasm and Dan’s writing style 100% fits the bill!!

It even had Eli my 18 month old grandson laughing… Nonnie can make any book sound like Dr. Seuss! When I laughed, Eli would laugh and clap. Course… you really can’t judge any book by Eli’s laughing… he thought the electric bill was hilarious!

I was in love as soon as I read the introduction of Weirder than Marshmallows: “Ignorance, lack of common sense, and downright inhuman stupidity run rampant in this country and around the world. I watch people, and I hear stories, and they beg, beg, beg to be mocked and ridiculed”.

I applaud Dan Fogg’s mom Deborah Carney, for compiling this truly enjoyable book and getting it published after Dan passed away. Dan’s writings need to be read.

This book is a fun, sometimes sad, quick read. The book is a series of “5 musings” that will make you go “DUH”

Please go check it out you will need this book the next time you want to use lighter fluid. (Dan woulda liked me…. I’m funny!!)

http://www.peanutbutterandwhine.com/2011/10/weirder-than-marshmallows.html

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Tiffany C.

This book thinks alot like I do about common sense signs. Like at a railroad track, don’t stop on the tracks everyone knows that well at least if you payed attention in driving school. Or when you see a fire zone no parking and you park and get towed and wonder why? well you parked there you made those decisions now you pay the price right?! When I saw the headline made me want to go upstairs and grab some those HUGE marshmallows they just came out with! This book is so hillarious I haven’t read such a funny book in a long time. This book just makes you wonder why all those common sense/why did they do that stuff for people who don’t think. Of course NO one reads anything nowadays on the roads causing more deaths. My favorite one in this book is that “Pink McDonalds”. This book has alot of great work into it, from day to day to why are humans so lazy!!

http://freesamplesreviews.com/2011/12/01/review-weirder-than-marshmallows/

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