Happyslapped by a Jellyfish

If all of the accolades earned for the book Karl deserves a special shout out for Having the World's Roundest Head! Who knew a walking, talking orange could achieve such glory? Domus Roundus, we salute you.

America needs Karl now more than ever. In this upcoming election, we need someone who can tackle the REAL issues that keep Americans up at night. We are not concerned with our floundering economy, the "war" on terror or how we are now less popular globally than Alton Towers. We ARE worried about: - Curfews for gays (The Killing of Georgie law) - Snails eating our postage stamps - Shadows that push people off of bikes - Octopi in jam jars - Big heads and webbed hands - Split tennis balls - Organized fun - Little Turkish fellas that eyeball your girlfriends All of these things have been ignored by our current administration. I am spearheading the "Do We Need Him?" campaign for Karl to run for the American Presidency. "Do We Need Him?" - you bet your jaffa cakes we do! Lest anyone think we can't get Karl into office, please look at who we have now. Over 50 million people voted George Dubya into office - twice! Americans obviously love and relate to the genius of being stupid. G. Dubs has got nothin' on Lil' Karly Pilkoids! Can you imagine, in a hundred years from now, Karl's little face on a ten dollar bill? Or better yet, the roundest penny ever created! A plea to Ricky - please bring Karl to America with you this summer. We need him now more than ever before. Don't let Manchester, Kent and London (where he lives) have all the fun and that. Bring the World's Roundest Head to the Big Apple! Alright? Alright. OOOHH!!! CHIMPANZEE THAT!!! Pilkington for PRESIDENT!!! Yer ffff... (buy Happy Slapped...it's good)

If you are a fan of the "Ricky Gervais Show" series of Podcasts then you absolutely must purchase this book. It is made up like a sort of travel book where Karl has gone on vacation (or holiday, whatever), and what he liked/disliked about it. The book is full of original illustrations done by Karl, as well as photographs, diary extracts, and my favorite, poems. Here is one of the poems Karl has written that is in the book: SUZANNE'S MAM AND DAD'S PUB Lots of smoke and strange folk Regular laughing at his own jokes Dog on a rope Fruit machine broke Old man in corner who never spoke If that poem made you laugh, purchase this book, as it is full of more Pilkington hilarity!

I must be an idiot, because according to Ricky Gervais, "If you think he's (Karl) a genius, then you're an idiot." Well, Karl is a comedic genius. At least I hope that's what it is. Either way, if you've heard the podcast or read his first book, then you've got a pretty good idea of what to expect. However, in this it's a travelogue, not transcripts of the podcasts mixed in with Karl's cartoons, etc. Very funny. Certainly worth the read. I say that even though I hate reading.

I preferred this book to the first, because there is more original material (i.e., it's largely new material from the podcasts). Karl's illustrations, as always, are incredibly unique and there were quite a few times, particularly in the beginning of the book, where I literally laughed out loud. I'd highly recommend this to anyone who's got a quirky sense of humor.