What’s life like for a lab mouse on ephedra?   How embarrassing would your ironclad alibi have to be for you to confess to a murder you didn’t commit?   How can daylight savings time kill?  If you’ve been seeking answers to these sorts of everyday questions, look no further than Free-Range Chickens, a slim humor compilation by Simon Rich that serves as a sequel to his critically acclaimed first book, Ant Farm.

In 54 brief essays organized in six broad categories, Rich – a staff writer for Saturday Night Live – delivers his sarcastic take on everyday life.  Highlights include:

I think my teenaged daughter knows I read her diary
Herbert Hoover
World’s oldest profession
What I want my tombstone to say when I die of encephalitis next week

Rich’s bizarre and irreverent perspective on the world had me laughing out loud frequently.   He focuses much of his wit on death, God, Count Dracula and the myriad psychological scars introduced during his childhood.

He also clarifies the rules of boxing:

“Hitting someone in the leg: illegal.  Hitting a man in the ears, neck and face as hard as you can, over and over again, for forty minutes straight: legal.
 
Wrapping your arms around your opponent to try to get him to stop murdering you for just a couple of seconds: illegal.  Hitting someone in the brain so hard, over and over again, that his brain stops working and he becomes unconscious.  Then, the second he regains consciousness you start hitting him again, in the same part of the brain: legal.”

Overall, a strong majority of these essays are skillfully conceived and very funny – even when I re-read them – and it’s actually a bit too easy to read through them too quickly.  I recommend enjoying a few at a time, in order to fully savor each small humor hors d’oeuvre. 

As Rich’s sophomore publication, Free-Range Chickens lives up to the high standards set by its predecessor.  Strongly recommended for fans of clever and sarcastic humor. 



The driftless review of Ant Farm.

Recommended: Yes