Review: 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin

5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth
by The Oatmeal

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth / 978-1-449-40116-0

I've been a big fan of "The Oatmeal" online comics ever since a friend sent me the links to the hilarious "How To Use a Semicolon" and "10 Words You Need to Stop Misspelling" comics. I loved the quirky combination of zany humor, rough sketching, useful factoids, and utter randomness that the site had on display, and quickly got hooked on the many and varied fun comics featured there.

I love printed compilations of online comics, probably because of the combination of reassuring permanency (the site may go down, but I'll always have my copy!) and the allure of more bathroom reading material, so I was excited to see this compilation of comics from "The Oatmeal". For the most part, this book is simply a compilation (only reoriented for book formatting rather than online formatting) of all the comics on "The Oatmeal" site, although there is some new material included here so that long-time fans have something extra to get excited about. Note that this compilation *only* contains the "comics", and not the longer articles - I was a little sad to see that the "Why We Should Be Eating Horses Instead of Riding Them", "How Twilight Works", and "How to Deal With an Obnoxious Moviegoer" articles are not included here (and if you haven't read them online, do so now!).

This book isn't going to appeal to everyone: there's a broad range here from the entertaining-yet-informative panels explaining cheese, cats, coffee, and caffeine to randomly-silly-and-potentially-offensive comics such as "6 Ways to Fight a Crack Whore". Still, if you're willing to overlook the occasional "miss" (according to your own personal tastes), you're sure to find plenty of "hits" here. If descriptions like a baby on an airplane "screaming like a Nazgul" tickle you, check out the wonderful comics online at "The Oatmeal" and consider buying this excellent compilation piece.

NOTE: This review is based on a free Advance Review Copy of this book provided through NetGalley.

~ Ana Mardoll

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