Comedy: 1 win, 1 loss

Comedy is indeed subjective. This is evident after finishing the most recent books by George Carlin and Bill Maher. The former is a 300-page grab bag of collected items titled "When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops". I'd say about 5% of the book made me laugh out loud. What a disappointment! Many of the observations and creative fiction, for example, the Uncle series, are simply inane space fillers. Carlin comes across as a misanthropic, and worse, unfunny, sourpuss past his prime. It's a tedious book. I found myself preferring to put it down and start on my taxes.

On the other hand, Maher's "New Rules" had me guffawing in the worst possible setting--the airplane to and from New York City. I was stifling laughter most of the way there and back home. I'm sure the people around me were thinking "I hope security seized the fingernail clippers from the nutter in 12A." It's a quick read and simply hilarious. His support for the Runaway Bride from Georgia is one of the funniest things I've ever read.