Book Review: Stick to Drawing Comics, Monkey Brain! by Scott Adams

I got this book from MiniBookExpo - BIG THANKS to Lex and Penguin!

“Stick to Drawing Comics, Monkey Brain” by Scott Adams

Published by Penguin Group Canada

Rating: 3.5 stars

Scott Adams is the creator of the infamous Dilbert comics, which I must admit to never having read. If anything though, not being a Dilbert groupie makes me an unbiased reviewer. The title of Scott Adam’s latest book is pretty reflective of its contents: funny, silly, self-deprecating and slightly offensive. The book contains over 150 short pieces which are not so much stories as they are random musings on human behavior, dating, sports, travel, dieting and everything in between (and some topics that I could definitely have lived without, such as Chinese striptease funerals). Adams also includes some Dilbert comic strips and provides some background explanation and commentary on them, which I found pretty interesting.

Adams is a good writer and there were quite a few times when he did make a good point or provided some interesting insight. Then I would question my opinion after reading on to a crazy comment, such as the idea of the asterisk being the most obscene letter in the English language (I wasn’t aware that it was a letter…hmmm). But to be fair Adams adds that “the asterisk protects you from seeing naked cuss words that would otherwise blind you and put you on the slippery slope to porn addiction”. Thanks for clearing that one up Mr. Adams :)

On a serious note, this book cannot nor should not be taken too seriously. It’s intended to make people laugh and so it succeeds. There were some sections I loved, others I liked, some I found offensive and others just left me dumbfounded - but for the most part, still laughing. No matter what my specific reaction was though, I think the point is that I did react. It made me think. It made me laugh. It made me blush.

It is my understanding that all of the pieces in the book originated from Adams’ blog which would explain the over all offbeat nature of the writing topics, which definitely makes it a unique read.

This book is a good one to leave on your night table and read every once in a while for a good laugh or in some cases a good scare. It’s the kind of book that can be picked up at any time and read in any order over and over again, which I probably will.

Finally I’ll leave you with Adams’ thoughts on marriage (from the back cover):

“Now I’m married, and that means I have to explain myself a lot. I can no longer leave a hot iron on my shirt just to see how long it takes to burn it, then draw more comics and buy another shirt. Suddenly that sort of thing is wrong”.

For more of Scott Adams’ humor, visit his blog