Congratulations! Now What? A Book for Graduates

Author - Bill Cosby ... [Goo?] [Posters]

This Hardcover Book item from Hyperion was reviewed on 29-Jul-2008.

Search ISBN:0786865725 offer from Abebooks or used books from Alibris. Congratulations! Now What? A Book for Graduates Reference Book. Classifications : General Biographies & Memoirs Subjects Books Essays Humor Entertainment Subjects Books General Humor Entertainment Subjects Books General College & University Education Nonfiction Subjects Books Colle . Click the following link to view the cover of Congratulations! Now What? A Book for Graduates.

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1) Hardcover Book Congratulations! Now What? A Book for Graduates by Hyperion. This book seems to take the parents´ perspective, not the student who is getting ready to be out on his own. It´s not overly helpful but a book that would be great for college grads serious about starting out right is Welcome to the Real World: You Got an Education, Now Get a Life!, Revised and Updated Edition. If the seriousness of Welcome to the Real World is too much for you and you´d like to start out with something helpful but light hearted, then you should check out 50 Ways to Leave Your Mother, a funny, easy to read guide to living on your own, whether you are a college student or just a kid who´s ready to leave home but not quite into studying up on how to do it. Both of these books though, take the kids´ point a view, while the Cosby book sounds more like it´s parent-directed. Mr. Cosby is a very funny man, but this is not one of his best efforts.¤

2) Hardcover Book Congratulations! Now What? A Book for Graduates by Hyperion. The most booked commencement speaker seems to be out of place in this book for college graduates. Rather than giving humorous advice to graduates, he takes the role of a disgruntled parent. While I will not argue with his assessment that the college curriculum has been "dumbed down", Cosby seems to be suggesting that college lacks any purpose. As a consequence of this, graduates are not prepared for anything in the real world. This problem does not even address the greatest contradiction of this book. If this is a book for graduates, why is Cosby´s voice that of an angry parent telling his children to get out of the house.

There are many better books in this mold. I have liked Cosby´s other books and I am in disbelief that he wrote this book. The book is neither humorous, not does the book speak to its intended audience. In reality, the book is just as misguided as the college students that the book allegedly targets.¤

3) Hardcover Book Congratulations! Now What? A Book for Graduates by Hyperion. As Bill Cosby is one of my favorite authors and storytellers I was quite excited to read this book. Having completed this read I must admit to a real sense of disappointment; while the book tries to come across as tongue in cheek it reads more as a rant against higher education.

In fact, it is a clean alternative to George Carlin´s rantings which seem also to have gone from biting and funny to just biting.

The entire book basically rants that your diploma is worthless and a slings out a "might as well give up now" attitude. The more I read, the more I kept waiting for Cosby to yell "Just Kidding!" but it never happened. No, it seems that we are getting a glimpse of the anger building up in him back in 1999 which has been driving his lectures of late.

While the book is funny in a dark sort of way I cannot recommend it as a gift for any new graduate as it would probably not deliver on your expectations.¤

4) Hardcover Book Congratulations! Now What? A Book for Graduates by Hyperion. I´ve had a cloud over my head for quite some time about having a Bachelor of Arts and dealing with the problems of having a full-time job and going to grad school. On page 100, when Cosby talks about "Master of Nothing in Particular" I fell out laughing. There were many times that I laughed out loud at this book. Anybody who has graduated from college (or is in college) who has a sense of humor can see the irony in many of his jokes, from "private"-blocking college security guards, piercings, tattoos, sagging pants ("proudly walking around like you haven´t finished undressing"), dorms, roommates, parents, etc. I really love the man´s sense of humor because he tells cynical jokes but it´s so DOGGONE true that you can´t help but to laugh. There are not many folks that impress me, but I love Cosby!¤

5) Hardcover Book Congratulations! Now What? A Book for Graduates by Hyperion. A quick perusal of the widely varied reviews on Amazon.com shows this book has polarized those who read it into two groups: those who laughed and those who didn´t. Both points of view are, in this case, quite valid.

One of the major "problems" with this book might be the title. This is, in fact, NOT a book FOR graduates. It IS a book ABOUT graduates from a parent´s point of view. The point of view is very important, because it has everything to do with the prism through which the humor is presented. A been-there-done-that parent sees the world very differently from their green-as-grass new grads. A new grad who has yet to pay a rent check to Attilla The Hun can´t possibly know what that´s like, therefore the reference will be unfunny, maybe even a little scary. Therefore, I wonder if the title choice wasn´t made by a publisher marketing suit who hadn´t read the book...

Nonetheless, the book still isn´t one of Mr. Cosby´s strongest efforts. Doubtless, this book would be far funnier in audio format with Mr. Cosby as the reader, as his vocal inflections can paint word pictures worth 1,000 additional words. Unfortuneately, I was left with my own, quite unfunny internal voice that had me smiling alot but never laughing aloud.

I would not recommend giving this as a graduation present to your 22-year-old grad fresh out of the dorms, but their parents might enjoy it.¤

6) Hardcover Book Congratulations! Now What? A Book for Graduates by Hyperion. Just as a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, so a spoonful of humor helps the wisdom go down. In Congratulations! Now What? America´s funnyman Bill Cosby gently ribs college graduates about their time spent--or lost--in the hallowed halls of the university and postulates what four years of higher education have suited them for: "[If no job offer] ever turns up with a four-day week, a three-hour lunch, and a holiday for Count Basie´s birthday, you still might be able to make a few dollars on Jeopardy." But he also assures graduates that their studies were not in vain and bestows advice to job seekers. Those who acquired several piercings while in school are cautioned to make sure the studs and hoops are shined before going to an interview. Those who are buffing their first professional r+¬sum+¬ are advised to strike a tone somewhere between "lyrical lying and fanciful fraud." Cosby, whose successful career as a humorist has always turned on his affection for kids, is a regular speaker at college commencements--in the chapter "As I Look Out at Your Foggy Faces," he says it´s a hobby of his--and this 130-page book collects bons mots and sage advice from speeches given because he has "a feeling for anesthesiology."Graduates--and their now-broke parents--will find a reason to smile on every page. --Brenda Pittsley¤

7) Hardcover Book Congratulations! Now What? A Book for Graduates by Hyperion. Just as a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, so a spoonful of humor helps the wisdom go down. In Congratulations! Now What? America´s funnyman Bill Cosby gently ribs college graduates about their time spent--or lost--in the hallowed halls of the university and postulates what four years of higher education have suited them for: "[If no job offer] ever turns up with a four-day week, a three-hour lunch, and a holiday for Count Basie´s birthday, you still might be able to make a few dollars on Jeopardy." But he also assures graduates that their studies were not in vain and bestows advice to job seekers. Those who acquired several piercings while in school are cautioned to make sure the studs and hoops are shined before going to an interview. Those who are buffing their first professional résumé are advised to strike a tone somewhere between "lyrical lying and fanciful fraud."

Cosby, whose successful career as a humorist has always turned on his affection for kids, is a regular speaker at college commencements--in the chapter "As I Look Out at Your Foggy Faces," he says it´s a hobby of his--and this 130-page book collects bons mots and sage advice from speeches given because he has "a feeling for anesthesiology." Graduates--and their now-broke parents--will find a reason to smile on every page. --Brenda Pittsley¤

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 26-Aug-2008, 07868657259780786865727, 430-730-600-250-Z0B-V0B-8

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