fuche_bu's Full Review: Larry Wilmore - I'd Rather We Got Casinos: And Oth...
Sometimes I stumble across books by accident. I was completely unaware of this book until it was recommended by amazon.com on a page for one of Jon Stewart's books. I was curious so I went over to that page and ended up ordering this book. I have only been vaguely familiar with Stewart's TV show. I learned that Larry Wilmore is Senior Black Correspondent for The Daily Show. He's also written for TV shows like Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Bernie Mac Show.
The title of the book is Wilmore's response to February being Black History Month. Was 28 days of acknowledgment enough? His response was "I'd rather we got casinos." Wilmore is a witty writer who finds some amusing angles to analyze current events. I like his entire notion of hurricanes being racist. He questions the whole idea of the hurricanes starting off the coast of Africa and ending up in the American South. It's a familiar tale to him.
In this book, we get Wilmore's thoughts on why black people never report UFO abductions and his quest to have the NAACP change African American to chocolate. He writes numerous unanswered letters and emails to that organization. His reasoning is that chocolate just sounds better and people will feel more comfortable using it.
Wilmore can be very irreverent in his writing. He writes of America's love affair with the Shetland Negro. These are people like Gary Coleman and Emmanuel Lewis. His piece on the government cover up to eliminate accounts of black people reporting UFO sightings is also over the top. I was laughing throughout. Wilmore addresses many issues of race but never gets preachy or indignant. He addresses white guilt and many of the nuances of racism and race relations in this book.
One of the funniest pieces in the book is on talking back to movies. He writes of the phenomenon of black people talking to characters in movies. He does it through interviews with the people who get offed in movies because they don't follow the advice to not go in there or to not open that door. The actors per the interview are traumatized by the audiences harassing them every time. It's a silly piece that is very amusing.
He also does a Guide to Angry Black Churches and includes a search for Black Jesus. He writes on how Black Weathermen make him feel happy but later has a change of heart and writes of how sad black weathermen make him feel. He has also developed a non-racist hatred for blacks who work at Airport McDonald's.
There is a light hearted tone to most of the writing although Wilmore does touch on some very serious social issues. I found him to be an engaging writer with a wicked sense of humor. I recommend this book for fans of the Daily Show and also for fans of irreverent humor in general. Wilmore is a talented writer. I hope he writes another book real soon.
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