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160 of 167 found the following review helpful:
 Area Man Enjoys Book About Areas Nov 13, 2007
By doomsdayer520
Are you tired of world atlases that lie about how every country is full of scenic and cultural riches, with charming and friendly people? Wouldn't you like to see an atlas that tells the truth about how dreary and desolate the world really is, with 99% of the human population facing endless suffering and exploitation until their dying breath? Well the erudite social realists at The Onion have delivered an atlas that tells it like it is. For example, you were probably unaware that the leading cause of death in Tanzania is lion tipping, and that Georgia is even more Christian than the other Georgia. Of course The Onion is known for its subversively satirical humor, and here that cracked yet strangely intelligent worldview is applied to the Earth in a fashion similar to the historical coverage of their earlier comedy masterpiece "Our Dumb Century."
Sure some of the national entries in this atlas are built on thin stereotypes (Poland is subjected to never-ending Polish jokes) or cheeky one-issue gags that run out of steam (the entire entry on Jordan is about what a hottie Queen Rania is). But overall, Onion fans will certainly appreciate the depth of humor in this book, because to get the most out of the humor you need some real knowledge on geography and history (for instance, you'd have to know something about mapmaking to figure out why the entry on Greenland is so funny). Meanwhile, that Onion intelligence shines though, sarcastically, in entries for the most suffering countries on Earth (for instance, the genocidal slaughters in Rwanda and Sudan were peacefully resolved because you went to that rally), and there is sinister political satire in the entries for all the many countries that currently have wars going on. WARNING: Read this book with a magnifying glass, and a knowledgeable sense of satire. [~doomsdayer520~]
34 of 34 found the following review helpful:
Banned at Junior High School Apr 30, 2008
By ebe1
Apparently social satire is not a popular topic among today's educators. Our son was suspended for three days from Junior high school for bringing this book to school and showing it to some classmates.
My wife and I did not go through the book in detail and realized (too late) that it does contain some offensive language, pictures, and racial references. It was a lot easier to find this offensive content after a school district employee spent an afternoon flagging all of the offending pages with post-its. In my opinion it was all (well mostly all) relevant social commentary, but offensive non the less.
We thought the punishment pretty extreme, given the offensive content is minimal compared to an episode of "South Park" or any version of Grand Theft Auto. I guess you can chalk this one up to bad parenting. Too bad really, as the book humorously attacks some pretty serious issues, it easily engages young adults, and promotes a lot of good discussion.
23 of 28 found the following review helpful:
Huge Book Nov 01, 2007
By Matt Lohr
When I first saw that that the Onion had done a spoof atlas book covering every country in the world, I thought it would be moderately funny. I mean, how are they going to make jokes about places most people know nothing about?
Somehow, they manage to do it, and what results is a f-in hilarious, HUGE book.
So much better than the Colbert book.
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
Not for the thin-skinned Apr 27, 2008
By David in Thornhill
"David"
This book is hilarious but it's also about as un-PC as it gets. If you're sensitive about that, it isn't for you. ODW is funny from cover to cover, and some of it is laugh-out-loud, in the manner of an insult comic's take on the world. The Onion cleverly and often outrageously exploits every national, ethnic, and cultural stereotype there is, both historic and present day. If you can get into that, don't miss this book, and don't miss a word of it including the tiny map notations. If insult comedy bothers you, and no corner of the globe escaped their merciless barbs, spend your money on something else.
I've bought 3 more copies as gifts for family members. When I showed them mine, they so enjoyed leafing through they couldn't wait to borrow it and show it to others themselves. I doubted I'd get it back, though, so I got them their own. It's a terrific gift, as long as you're sure you won't be inadvertently stepping on tender toes.
73 of 96 found the following review helpful:
 Quantity way over quality... Nov 08, 2007
By BMP
As a big fan of the Onion, I eagerly anticipated the release of this book and admittedly had high expectations for it. Over the past couple of days I've spent about an hour or two looking through it (one doesn't "read" a book like this), and I've pretty much had enough of it. The quality of the material is just not very good when compared to the Onion's other books (that's to say the weekly, topical/"area man" material) and especially the brilliant "Our Dumb Century," which is the Onion's other "concept" book (which is really not that different; it just uses historical eras/events for material).
"Our Dumb World" can be easily compared to the Daily Show's "America: The Book"--especially since the Daily Show book has a whole chapter on the "rest of the world." It's almost like the Onion took the "International House of Horrors" chapter from that book and bloated it out into 200 "dense" pages of mediocre, painfully obvious jokes about every country in the world. Have you ever noticed how the word "dense" can have two meanings? So much of the book is this level of humor, based on these kinds of observations: southerners are stupid racists, the Irish are drunks, and "thank God I don't live in Africa." (I imagine that there must have been at least some discussion over how to address the subjects of genocide, poverty, and famine prevalent in so many regions of the world in a comedy book. Apparently those pitching for the photo-shopped "children feasting on the carcasses of the dead" images were more persuasive in these discussions.)
Ask yourself: What makes the Onion funny? What do its writers do well?
Then think about whether a 200+ page atlas parody could possibly be an effective vehicle for these strengths. I actually think that this book is about as good as it possibly can be based on the inherent weaknesses of the idea. So many of the pages are filler material and endless variations of the same jokes... and jokes that were already made much more elegantly, tastefully, and effectively in the Daily Show's "America: The Book."
I think that "Our Dumb World" may actually appeal more to casual readers (or those unfamiliar with the Onion), than to actual fans that expect a high standard of humor and who know how good its writers can be.
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