Review: Hyperbole and a Half -- THE BOOK

Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened by Allie Brosh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As others have mentioned, this book is a great mix of our favorite Hyperbole and a Half stories (like "God of Cake") and completely new material ("Letter to My Future Self"). If you're already a fan of her writing, you don't need me to talk about the text. What I want to talk about, what I really, really love about this book, though, is its construction. The physical book itself is quite impressive.

[If it's not already obvious, attempting to read this on an e-Reader will not do you any good as a big piece of Brosh's charm are her illustrations.]

The paper is thick and glossy. The book itself has heft; it could be used as a weapon should one need to defend herself while out and about (and reading). The pages for each story or "section" are different colored, all bright and Crayola-looking, leaving no doubt that this book is the Hyperbole and a Half we all know and love. The pages only change color when a new story is introduced, making it very easy to thumb through the book and read each story as one sees fit. We don't need no stinkin' linear reading!

All in all, my feeling is the book was expensive to produce. Prices range from $9 (Amazon Prime paperback) to $20 (hardcover). I think I paid around $14 for my copy. No matter how you slice it, the price (any of them) is a "heckuva deal!" (to quote my step-dad).

Do yourself a favor and buy this in hard copy; laugh and cry with Allie's humor and "unfortunate situations"; enjoy the glossiness of the page; and keep it with you should you need to give someone a concussion.

View all my reviews