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American Freak Show: The Completely Fabricated Stories of Our New National Treasures
This is not the first book written about quantum mechanics, but it just might be the last. The theory presented inside these pages is so revolutionary that it has stunned the scientific community into reconsidering centuries of thought about the behavior of energy and matter. Prepare to have your mind blown.
Sorry, that’s the introduction to Willie Geist’s next book—the culmination of his life’s work. Look for it next spring, just in time for Mother’s Day. This book is about his other freaks.
When he’s not in the lab, Geist spends his time on MSNBC’s Morning Joe sifting through the wreckage of American politics and popular culture. These days, that’s a big job. With an Alaska hockey mom turning, almost overnight, into a national icon and threatening to move from Wasilla to the White House, with the world’s most famous athlete now associated less with the Masters and more with the strippers, and with reality TV working around the clock to ensure the constitutional right of every man, woman, and child to fifteen minutes of fame, Geist’s business is thriving.
In his hilarious first book, American Freak Show , Geist takes the smart, biting observation loved by his television audience to new satirical extremes. The real-life characters who now haunt our daily lives are cast as stars in completely made-up scenes that, frankly, are not all that far from reality.
Geist treats us to the first look at President Sarah Palin’s unconventional inaugural address, performed live on WWE’s Monday Night Raw after her renegade victory in the 2012 election. We go inside the ballroom for a Dean Martin–style welcome roast of Bernie Madoff upon his arrival in Hell, with Pol Pot serving as sidesplitting roastmaster. Geist provides us with never-before-seen FBI wiretap transcripts of the more mundane, but equally profane, telephone conversations of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. And George W. Bush’s batting-cage-and-waterslide-themed plans for a presidential library are laid out publicly for the first time.
From Obama to Oprah, Afghanistan to Lohan, and Snooki to the Salahis, Willie Geist spares no one as our host of this wild American Freak Show . You’ll laugh out loud while weeping for the future of America.
Sorry, that’s the introduction to Willie Geist’s next book—the culmination of his life’s work. Look for it next spring, just in time for Mother’s Day. This book is about his other freaks.
When he’s not in the lab, Geist spends his time on MSNBC’s Morning Joe sifting through the wreckage of American politics and popular culture. These days, that’s a big job. With an Alaska hockey mom turning, almost overnight, into a national icon and threatening to move from Wasilla to the White House, with the world’s most famous athlete now associated less with the Masters and more with the strippers, and with reality TV working around the clock to ensure the constitutional right of every man, woman, and child to fifteen minutes of fame, Geist’s business is thriving.
In his hilarious first book, American Freak Show , Geist takes the smart, biting observation loved by his television audience to new satirical extremes. The real-life characters who now haunt our daily lives are cast as stars in completely made-up scenes that, frankly, are not all that far from reality.
Geist treats us to the first look at President Sarah Palin’s unconventional inaugural address, performed live on WWE’s Monday Night Raw after her renegade victory in the 2012 election. We go inside the ballroom for a Dean Martin–style welcome roast of Bernie Madoff upon his arrival in Hell, with Pol Pot serving as sidesplitting roastmaster. Geist provides us with never-before-seen FBI wiretap transcripts of the more mundane, but equally profane, telephone conversations of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. And George W. Bush’s batting-cage-and-waterslide-themed plans for a presidential library are laid out publicly for the first time.
From Obama to Oprah, Afghanistan to Lohan, and Snooki to the Salahis, Willie Geist spares no one as our host of this wild American Freak Show . You’ll laugh out loud while weeping for the future of America.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
About the author
Willie Geist
4 books12 followersWillie Geist is the host of MSNBCs Way Too Early with Willie Geist and the co-host of Morning Joe. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller American Freak Show. Geist, who lives in New York with his wife and two children, has been compared to a young Josh Groban.
Boyd McDonnell is a TV development and production executive in Los Angeles, where he lives with his wife and three children. This is his first romance novel."
Boyd McDonnell is a TV development and production executive in Los Angeles, where he lives with his wife and three children. This is his first romance novel."
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
November 13, 2015
Fun book! This is a collection of short, fictional stories involving various tabloid personalities. Some fans of some of these people might possibly object to the portrayals, but Geist seems pretty much on target at least most of the time. I'm not much of a celebrity watcher, so some of the nuances of these pieces may have escaped me. I think my favorite is probably the one about inducting people into the 15 Minutes Hall of Fame. I suspect that most of the jokes will only become more obscure with the passage of time ("Who's Kevin Federline again? And I've never heard of this Snooki woman either.") Best to enjoy it while it lasts then.
November 15, 2022
This book is an underwhelming execution of a confused premise. In American Freak Show, MSNBC contributor Willie Geist looks to capture the insanity of the American zeitgeist (in 2010) through the lens of trashy supermarket tabloids. The fictionalized excerpts comprising this book are styled to parody the different facets of U.S. pop culture, be they reality TV, sports, or politics.
Right off the bat we can see a problem: why are these excerpts fictionalized? The old adage of truth being stranger than fiction comes to mind. While Geist frequently takes the express train to Crazy Town in his short stories, they lack a certain quality that permeates true tabloid trash. Maybe a sense of actually trying? I was under the impression going in that this would be more of a nonfiction look at actual tabloid press of the time, with some comedic editorializing about how far gone we are - that could’ve worked well.
This attempt would ultimately fall flat no matter the conceit due it breaking the cardinal rule of comedy: be funny. More specifically, this book is aggressively, relentlessly unfunny. Most of the jokes boil down to immense Flanderization of political/public figures while pointing and laughing at the resulting caricatures. Add in healthy doses of “explicate the point of the joke right after the punchline” and you’ve got this book’s formula. In fact, I have the perfect metaphor: this is the left-wing version of right-wing comedy, what with the lack of both comedic structure and any subtlety or wit.
Other reviewers suggest Geist is funnier onscreen; I cannot say. What I can say is that this book would get one star if not for the genuinely funny intro (which is, not coincidentally, the only nonfiction passage in the book) and the single chapter that works (the parody of The Bachelorette). Stay away from this unless you’re morbidly curious to see a rotting dissection of America circa the early Obama years.
Right off the bat we can see a problem: why are these excerpts fictionalized? The old adage of truth being stranger than fiction comes to mind. While Geist frequently takes the express train to Crazy Town in his short stories, they lack a certain quality that permeates true tabloid trash. Maybe a sense of actually trying? I was under the impression going in that this would be more of a nonfiction look at actual tabloid press of the time, with some comedic editorializing about how far gone we are - that could’ve worked well.
This attempt would ultimately fall flat no matter the conceit due it breaking the cardinal rule of comedy: be funny. More specifically, this book is aggressively, relentlessly unfunny. Most of the jokes boil down to immense Flanderization of political/public figures while pointing and laughing at the resulting caricatures. Add in healthy doses of “explicate the point of the joke right after the punchline” and you’ve got this book’s formula. In fact, I have the perfect metaphor: this is the left-wing version of right-wing comedy, what with the lack of both comedic structure and any subtlety or wit.
Other reviewers suggest Geist is funnier onscreen; I cannot say. What I can say is that this book would get one star if not for the genuinely funny intro (which is, not coincidentally, the only nonfiction passage in the book) and the single chapter that works (the parody of The Bachelorette). Stay away from this unless you’re morbidly curious to see a rotting dissection of America circa the early Obama years.
December 19, 2012
It pains me to give this book two stars. I'm so sorry Willie. Maybe you should just stick to being adorable on Morning Joe, because dry humor very rarely translate well in book form.
I think with comedy writers tend to over think it and they think every sentences has to be a hilarious line. Which isn't the case. And this satire turned out to be a little too ridiculous (I couldn't even get through the chapter about Tiger Wood's sex addiction).
Not to say there wasn't some truly funny parts, you just had to dig and look past the affectedly vulgar tone. I also might not have enjoyed it as much considering all the jokes were rather time sensitive, and I don't care anymore about half of the people that are made fun of.
Sorry Willie.
I think with comedy writers tend to over think it and they think every sentences has to be a hilarious line. Which isn't the case. And this satire turned out to be a little too ridiculous (I couldn't even get through the chapter about Tiger Wood's sex addiction).
Not to say there wasn't some truly funny parts, you just had to dig and look past the affectedly vulgar tone. I also might not have enjoyed it as much considering all the jokes were rather time sensitive, and I don't care anymore about half of the people that are made fun of.
Sorry Willie.
January 28, 2012
This book is a compilation of fake stories about famous people from politics and pop culture. A few of them were funny, but I was disappointed more than I was impressed, which is a real shame because I love Willie Geist on MSNBC. One of the more interesting stories was right at the beginning when Geist tells you about meeting former Governor Rod Blagojevich - it is the only true tale in the book. I think Geist would have been more successful if he had written from his real life, rather than trying to create fake events.
March 8, 2013
I hate having to give this book such a low rating, because I really like Willie Geist. In fact, I will admit to having a bit of a crush on his very tall self. Some of his premises were really very funny, and everyone he wrote about totally deserves the ridicule, but much of the cleverness was lost in so much profanity and crudeness. It was overdone, in my opinion. I gave it an extra star, however, for the list of people he wished he could have included at the end.
November 30, 2016
I think this is one of the worst books I have ever read. In fact, I usually see books all the way through. This book was obviously written by Willie Geist in one day while he smoked crack cocaine. This is poorly written, unimaginative, and vulgar (which I only mind in combination with the first two).
March 19, 2011
hated it, didn't find it funny, but I misunderstood the premise when I picked it up: I thought it was a book about stories that were false but represented as true, like "Lies Across America" when it is actually just fake stories, like The Onion or The New Yorker's Shouts & Murmers.
February 18, 2012
Portions of this book are laugh-out-loud funny! And, read-out-loud funny, as I "performed" certain fabricated stories for my husband -- when I could stop snorting with laughter. Witty! Worth reading if you're up on history, religion, and culture to "get it."
December 2, 2010
Funny, funny, funny! Did I mention that this book is funny?
I have enjoyed Willie's father's work for decades. Good to see the apple doesn't fall far from the tree in this case.
I have enjoyed Willie's father's work for decades. Good to see the apple doesn't fall far from the tree in this case.
January 24, 2011
hilarious!
September 12, 2011
I loved this book! Absolutely hilarious.... and completely terrifying because its so realistic!
September 24, 2011
Mean spirited. Very disappointed.
June 12, 2013
One word. Disappointed.
September 1, 2013
Parts of this book were pretty funny. Sadly, the humor was kind of hit and miss. If you like satire and enjoy reading "The Onion", there is a chance that you may find this book entertaining.
April 15, 2014
Funny on some aspects, however on other aspects it was just goofy. I was hoping for a book that I could not put down, but that was not the case with this one.
January 4, 2016
Love Willie Geist every morning on the today show. This, not so much. The bit about the presidents was funny.
April 22, 2020
Very clever and funny book. It can be read in parts without losing track.
February 20, 2013
I wish I had listened to this one. I have a feeling it would have been a lot funnier.
October 11, 2015
Some good comic premises which are almost all extremely poorly executed. It was basically torture.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews