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On Sunday, January 28, I dropped 162 envelopes in the mail. Each envelope contained a single page from Sir John Hargrave's literary masterwork, Prank the Monkey. Hundreds of volunteers stood by their mailbox, ready to help with this massive project: Reviewing an entire book. A lot of new reviews are in! I'm now going to begin putting the page reviews in order. Some new reviews will have to be tucked in between here as I receive them. Enjoy! (back to page 1) |
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| Pages | Review | ||
| 25-26 | This is terrible, I used to work retail and man, if a guy came in and immediately asked for a $16000 purchase off the bat, I would pee my pants with glee, im sure much like this indian man did. Upon the customer signing NOT AUTHORIZED for the transaction, I would have had possibly the most disappointing story of my life to share. Bravo. | ||
| 27-28 |
I instantly recognized these pages as the end of the credit card prank, a
Hargrave classic, the first that I read in fact. I was really hoping to see
some of his brand new material in these pages, but oh well. Definitely a good
read, describes attempting to sign for a $16,800 purchase with "NOT
AUTHORIZED" and how this is the first time a store actually checked his
signature. Should be old hat to anyone familiar with Zug or Sir John's work,
and I am definitely looking forward to reading the rest of the book. It's a
steal at $9.95! I am mondo glad I got to take place in this, when I saw that
too many responses had been gathered, and that some review pages had already
been posted, I feared that I had missed out. But my joy was incredible when I
saw the small envelope from Rob Cockerham.
Big Rob from Michigan |
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| 31-32 |
Dear Rob and Cockeyed fans, Wow! What a page I got. I was worried about
getting the table of contents or a section that made no sense without the
context of adjoining pages. Not only was I lucky enough to be charged with
reviewing a section that stands on its own pretty darn well, I also got one
describing a prank against one of my least favorite institutions; Starbucks.
Pages 31 and 32 within the “Starbucking the System” prank section boast a
handsome inset graphic of a hoax business plan that was (I believe) actually
presented to the folks at Starbucks corporate by the ZUG pranksters. Mocking
the ubiquity of Starbucks and deriding its hegemonic destruction of the
availability of coffee variety, the faux plan hilariously suggests that the
only potential way for Starbucks to earn higher profits (short of “injecting
coffee into fetuses”) is to create a sort of hierarchy of customers and
charge more for an elite, speedier coffee delivery service within Starbucks’
actual stores. Complete with clever writing, splashy pie-charts, and
nauseating brand-management speak, this page will make you sick, just like
Starbucks’ coffee does. Sure, I’m against the corporate behemoth-ness of
Starbucks but, much more importantly, their product is chalky and burnt
tasting. I suggest buying your coffee, smooth and delicious, at the local
Dominican joint on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Rosita, the shy one on
the left of the photo, could give lessons to any barista. - Lon Hughes
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| 35-36 |
Sometimes just a taste is all you need to know if the cow and the badger are
fixin' to bake a cake. That being said, pages 35 and 36 feel like they
represent the entirety of the book pretty well. The prank seems to revolve
around setting up a coffeeshop within a coffeeshop. I enjoyed the absurdity of
the concept as well as the lengths to which the pranksters went to pull it
off. However, the book reads more like a good web site one secretly visits
during his workday rather than something you would want to go through the
trouble of actually buying.
Pages 35 and 36 did make me curious as to the other pranks in the book, and while not written to my liking, it sure beats the bullshit they try to push on pages 83 and 84! (pics to follow) |
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| 43-44 |
Pages 43-44 were hilarious. A prank is being played on several clothing
manufacturers, and a shirt that has been worked out in for a week is being
sent back due to unpleasant odors. I have to get the book now, as I need to
know what happened before and after my pages. The prose flows, and I like this
guy's style. Thanks!
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| 47-48 |
 Pages 47
and 48 wrap up a prank involving attempts to return a shirt to various
clothing stores. I'm not sure I really "get" the prank to begin
with, but there's some pretty good jokes in this part of the writeup. I also
enjoyed the helpful tables summarizing Hargrave's retail experiences. If you
are reading this book, then you'll probably want to cover these two pages,
just so you know how the prank ends.
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| 49-50 |
I had heard that you weren't sending out pages to everyone who had given you
their address, so after I saw the first reviews pop up I concluded that I
wasn't one of the blessed winners of this homework assignment. However, I
was delighted when I found a wee envelope containing a page of Prank the
Monkey! It came to me in the mail! Getting mail is always fun, especially
when it doesn't want money from me.
Inside was a folded-up page of the book, and a bitty orange thank you note. Unbeknownst to most, if you use your secret decoder ring on this peice of paper, you get a secret dirty joke. Page 49 contains a reproduced form letter from L.L. Bean to John Hargrave, and a check for $2.44. Presumably, wacky hijinks ensued in order for John to receive this wacky amount of money. Wacky. I found this page to be somewhat piquant, with a hint of oregano. Page 50 is the start of a new section of the book titled, "Fight the Power (Company)". Here John expresses his dislike of the power companies, and especially their bills. A copy of what is presumably his bill is included. A final paragraph starts to relate his call to the power company to complain. I can only quake in wonder at what crazed queries John presents to the stuffy CSR. I found this page to be overly rich. Perhaps less olive oil should have been used. After receiving my page, I made color photocopies of the envelope it came in, the page from the book, and the orange thank you note. I then promptly shredded the original documents, to keep them from falling into terrorist hands! I mailed the shredded documents back to Rob, for safekeeping. I was going to send photographs of my experiences with the mystery-page, but I lack a camera. Perhaps Rob should send out cameras to each of his reviewers next time. Thanks for including me Rob! Thanks for writing a book for me to say stupid things about John! Please feel free to review the separate paragraphs of my review per your whim.
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| 51-52 |
I laughed. I cried. I couldn't put it down. Arvil Saylor -- Florence, KY |
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| 57-58 |
 I was
very elated when I received my little packet of ZUG. Page 58 features a
full-page photo of the infamous Sir John himself, taken by a guy that looked
like the Quaker Oats guy. It is even a color photo!...well, if you happen to
be wearing colored 3-D glasses... So the previous page, page 57, picks up in
the middle of a prank in the 'Corporations' section and provides some
hilarious insight into the photo, although the complete structure of the
prank is not contained on the page. I loved the final sentence of the page
that described his reaction following this part of the prank: "I felt
electric."
I've also provided some photos to document this divided review. ~Jeremy Apgar, Bethlehem, PA |
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February 8, 2007. Terms and Conditions
Copyright 2007 Cockeyed.com
I
will most likely end up checking this book out to read about the rest of
this prank, and end up enjoying everything else! It has a great transcript
style that helps to enhance the funny-factor in these pranks.