 |
|
Title: Wigfield
ISBN: 1565117727
Author:
Amy Sedaris
Publicate Date: 2003-04-28
Publish: 2003-04-28
List Price: $26.95
Average Customer Rating: 3.5
Format: Audio CD
 |
|
|
|
|
Amazon Lowest New Price: $16.53
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $13.50
Amazon Merchant Price: $26.95
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Customer Review: |
|
1: It's good
It's good, but not as funny as I thought it would be. Stephen Colbert's "I am America and so can you" is so much funnier.
|
2: if you're a fan already - it's a must buy
Great opportunity to hear the voices of these three talented folk from Stranger With Candy - fun story - definitely get it on audio - I think you get so much more out of it. When I finished listening to it - I actually missed some of the zany characters enough to start it from the beginning all over again. Funny Funny Stuff!
|
3: Russell Hokes: Great Journalist or The Greatest Journalist?
Wigfield represents the very best of quintessential small-town Americana. Built at the base of the pricey-but-worthless Bulkwaller Dam, Wigfield boasts sixteen gentlemen's clubs (including the premier T-- Time Show Palace, The Bacon Strip, The T--- Shop and The Muffeteria), several junkyards, a community theater with a troupe of semi-trained rabbits, and even its own local rag, The Wigfield Sporadic. Like many charming small towns, Wigfield is under attack; but the threat lies not in urbanization, suburban sprawl, factory farming or the like. Rather, that which shaped the proud town of Wigfield will soon be unleashed upon it if the government goons have their way. The Bulkwaller Dam is scheduled to come down - oh noes!
Luckily, journalist Russell Hokes is on the case. Sent by Hyperion Books to document the plight of America's dying small towns in 50,000 words or more (it's in the contract), Hokes arrives in Wigfield just in time! Between immersing himself in Wigfieldian culture and sidestepping his publisher, can Hokes prevent the flooding of Wigfield? Does anyone really care?
WIGFIELD: THE CAN-DO TOWN THAT JUST MAY NOT is a supersillious satire of small-town America. Admittedly, the comic stylings of Stephen Colbert, Amy Sedaris and Paul Dinello aren't for everyone, but I pity the fools. If you like Strangers With Candy, The Daily Show or The Colbert Report, then you'll love the saga of WIGFIELD.
In fact, reporter Russell Hokes of WIGFIELD is clearly the prequel to one Dr. Stephen T. Colbert, DFA, of THE COLBERT REPORT fame. From his trusting of the gut to his scorn for books, Hokes is the vision of Dr. Colbert in his early days. Both characters are somewhat dim, self-centered, obtuse, lazy, selfish, racist/sexist/homophobic, upper-crust anti-intellectuals. Even the various skits featured in WIGFIELD resemble those used on THE COLBERT REPORT: at one point, Hokes interviews himself, a la "Formidable Opponent," while Hokes's chat with Representative Bill Farber plays like an installment of "Better Know a District." Throughout the book, you can imagine Stephen the pundit cutting his chops on the story of Wigfield in the visage of Hokes the journalist. Brilliant!
Much like Stephen Colbert's more recent I AM AMERICA (AND SO CAN YOU), WIGFIELD is clearly meant to be enjoyed as an audio recording. Colbert, Sedaris and Dinello give voice to all the characters themselves, at times crossing gender lines. Their collective range is just 360 degrees of awesome. Stephen as man-hating lesbian High Priestess Thea is simply priceless. WIGFIELD the book is hilarious as well, but the audio version will have you LOL!!!1!!!1-ing. If your library happens to have a copy of the print book, it's well worth a looksee, since there are a dozen or so photos of the comedians dressed up as their respective characters. Again, Stephen posing as a nearly-nekked Thea is - well, that alone is worth the price of the paperback. You'll want to blow that photo up and hang it above the fireplace, right next to the portrait(s) of Dr. Stephen T. Colbert, DFA.
"America, bend over and relax, you're about to get a Truthoscopic examination."
|
4: Russell Hokes: Great Journalist or The Greatest Journalist?
Wigfield represents the very best of quintessential small-town Americana. Built at the base of the pricey-but-worthless Bulkwaller Dam, Wigfield boasts sixteen gentlemen's clubs (including the premier T-- Time Show Palace, The Bacon Strip, The T--- Shop and The Muffeteria), several junkyards, a community theater with a troupe of semi-trained rabbits, and even its own local rag, The Wigfield Sporadic. Like many charming small towns, Wigfield is under attack; but the threat lies not in urbanization, suburban sprawl, factory farming or the like. Rather, that which shaped the proud town of Wigfield will soon be unleashed upon it if the government goons have their way. The Bulkwaller Dam is scheduled to come down - oh noes!
Luckily, journalist Russell Hokes is on the case. Sent by Hyperion Books to document the plight of America's dying small towns in 50,000 words or more (it's in the contract), Hokes arrives in Wigfield just in time! Between immersing himself in Wigfieldian culture and sidestepping his publisher, can Hokes prevent the flooding of Wigfield? Does anyone really care?
WIGFIELD: THE CAN-DO TOWN THAT JUST MAY NOT is a supersillious satire of small-town America. Admittedly, the comic stylings of Stephen Colbert, Amy Sedaris and Paul Dinello aren't for everyone, but I pity the fools. If you like Strangers With Candy, The Daily Show or The Colbert Report, then you'll love the saga of WIGFIELD.
In fact, reporter Russell Hokes of WIGFIELD is clearly the prequel to one Dr. Stephen T. Colbert, DFA, of THE COLBERT REPORT fame. From his trusting of the gut to his scorn for books, Hokes is the vision of Dr. Colbert in his early days. Both characters are somewhat dim, self-centered, obtuse, lazy, selfish, racist/sexist/homophobic, upper-crust anti-intellectuals. Even the various skits featured in WIGFIELD resemble those used on THE COLBERT REPORT: at one point, Hokes interviews himself, a la "Formidable Opponent," while Hokes's chat with Representative Bill Farber plays like an installment of "Better Know a District." Throughout the book, you can imagine Stephen the pundit cutting his chops on the story of Wigfield in the visage of Hokes the journalist. Brilliant!
Much like Stephen Colbert's more recent I AM AMERICA (AND SO CAN YOU), WIGFIELD is clearly meant to be enjoyed as an audio recording. Colbert, Sedaris and Dinello give voice to all the characters themselves, at times crossing gender lines. Their collective range is just 360 degrees of awesome. Stephen as man-hating lesbian High Priestess Thea is simply priceless. WIGFIELD the book is hilarious as well, but the audio version will have you LOL!!!1!!!1-ing. If your library happens to have a copy of the print book, it's well worth a looksee, since there are a dozen or so photos of the comedians dressed up as their respective characters. Again, Stephen posing as a nearly-nekked Thea is - well, that alone is worth the price of the paperback. You'll want to blow that photo up and hang it above the fireplace, right next to the portrait(s) of Dr. Stephen T. Colbert, DFA.
"America, bend over and relax, you're about to get a Truthoscopic examination."
|
5: Colbert's Humor Fails In Pure Fiction
Perhaps I'm not a big enough fan of the Colbert Style of humor to appreciate this book. (Yes I realize there are multiple authors, but the humor is in his style)
I do enjoy his send ups of "serious" interviewees on Comedy Central, but in those instances I find the humor coming from a real situation -- i.e., someone who really believes what he or she is saying but is being led over a cliff by an interviewer who the audience knows is only playacting in his seriousness.
Extending this to a completely fictitious situation, where again the narrator is taking things seriously makes me wonder who is the butt of the joke. Is it the fictitious town of Wigfield (which defines trailer trash)? Is it the interviewer? Or is it us?
I've lost my rock in trying to understand this book. Is it a parody of small town America? Is it a parody of the documentaries on small town america? Or is it something else?
Now a bunch of the reviewers did like this book -- though it is a very extreme distribution (a lot of 1s and 5s)
There are occasional anecdotes in the book that do cut through the confusion, but overall there were many more misses and "huhs" than hits for me.
If you're a devoted fan of Colbert or of Sedaris' "Strangers With Candy" as the rave reviewers seem to be, perhaps you'll find my confusion as someone who just doesn't get the joke and you can completely ignore this review. However, if you're only a casual fan or unfamiliar with what to expect, give the downtown of Wigfield a pass and pull off at the next truck stop.
|
|
|
|
|
