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How could a trying-to-be-tongue-in-cheek humor book making fun of ’80s L.L. Bean catalogs end up being so not funny?
And it’s supposed to be funny.
It definitely hits the style of the L.L. Bean catalogs, which do sometimes tend to go off on a tangent about special virtues of Chamois Cloth or something and get pretty silly.
I remember seeing so many of these types of parody books – has the internet really spoiled me that much, is just lost on me now? If I had a chance to re-read the Preppy Handbook today, would I think it’s just as dumb? (Does anyone remember “Save an alligator, kill a preppy”?)
I picked this up at a sale the last time we went out. It must have been some sort of hit, since this is the second one in the series. I might have loved this book in the ’80s and I can understand why it’s cherished by some people … but maybe humor doesn’t always stand the test of time.
Eartha Kitsch said,
February 11, 2012 @ 10:50 am
Huh! Interesting to mull over. Maybe Reaganomics had us all in a slap-happy state of mind. The other day, the movie “Baby Boom” starring Diane Keaton came on mid-day cable. I was super stoked when it came on (sad to admit) because I remember thinking it was hilarious in the 80′s. This time: Meh. It just gave me the “nervous titters” as they like to say in the ad above.
christina at yardsalequeen.com said,
February 13, 2012 @ 7:31 pm
The Preppy Handbook is a very good seller on ebay. I would have bought it!
Melissa said,
February 17, 2012 @ 1:40 pm
Yep, The Preppy Handbook is an eternal bestseller! I resell my thrift store copies to Powell’s all the time. Of course, now that I have said that I will probably never see another one in the wild again.
Somewhere in my book boxes I have a hardback slipcased first edition that I am planning to sell to fund my retirement.
RealHousewifeofOK said,
March 26, 2012 @ 2:25 pm
Ok, the knife and the bird pate’……both epic fails. I’m not even sure what is *supposed* to be funny about the knife?! *shakes head* On the other hand, I initially read the beginning as ‘a book making fun of 80‘s era L.L. COOL J’……I guess my mind filled in the rest, after L.L………which caused me all sorts of confusion and angst for a minute or two.