The History of the World According to Facebook
by Wylie Overstreet
!t / Harper Collins
I certainly wouldn’t rate this LMAO or ROFL, and IMHO it’s not even that Gr8, but every so often it makes me SMH, mostly because I can’t think of a TweetSpeak abbreviation to cover Groaning Out Loud. Now, you might not ask if Puritans would approve of the internet or if the Pope was witty or if T-Rex had opposable thumbs, but that hasn’t stopped Mr. Overstreet. He’s helpfully listed on the cover as (author) along with a splash star announcing “PARODY!!!” That’s three (3) exclamation points, in case you’re still confused as to what’s happening here. I’ll give a few random fair use examples from this slice of pop culture lite: “PHARAOH is now friends with LOCUSTS, FROGS, and 8 OTHER PLAGUES” “MARTY MCFLY Where the hell am I WHOA INDIANS” “THE ‘80S is in a relationship with BAD TASTE (like symbol),” “Stirrup Pants, Mullets, and SYNTH like this” You get the drift.
I’d like to say a basic knowledge of history will help here, but you can always Google people and places you don’t grok. You may not recall who John Pemberton, Leland Stanford, or Elsie von Rohrenbach were, but there’s enough context to jog your memory, and if you miss something you can just keep reading – the flow of microscopically urgent information continues, just like on FB. There are few laughs here, a bit of warped historical references, and the occasional gem like “TITANIC has checked in to THE OCEAN FLOOR.” Groan. Like. It’s polite to like stuff, you know. It makes you social.
