Larry WilmoreBesprekingen

humorous essays on Black (or Chocolate) America

I definitely enjoyed reading this one. Wilmore brings some pretty good insights about Black people and race in general. But he adds a strong dose of humor to keep things light. He also makes you think. The book is a pretty quick read. I would definitely recommend it. If you know Wilmore from his work with The Daily Show, then you will likely enjoy the book too.

At least read Wilmore's letters to the NAACP to change the C in their acronym to stand for "Chocolate" and his appeal to start calling black people chocolate people instead.

Can't see what he does with The Minority Report.

Larry Wilmore, aka The Daily Show's "Black Correspondent," can best be described as a comedic cultural pundit. His specialty is race issues from a point of view that can best be describe as "3rd party black." Or maybe "3rd party chocolate."

I love his bits on the Daily show, but it seems that is also the best of his material. "I'd Rather We Got Casinos" is somewhat schizophrenic as Wilmore narrates this book but often switches to third-person description. This is a series of essays and radio shows, some that explicitly contradict each other, like how fat black weathermen make him happy, and how fat black weathermen make him sad -- just about the mirror opposite to the first in every way.

There are some moments, but since he is mostly talking among himselves, it lacks the straight-man dynamic that Jon Stewart adds to his Daley Show bits. Among all of Stewart's correspondents, Louis Black is the most consistently funny in book form -- the rest come up short, like a SNL cast member movie.

I've really enjoyed Larry Wilmore in his appearances on The Daily Show. This book is a collection of short essays on things black, including occasional "Random black thoughts". The funniest to me was the one on Sudoku - he said he had no black thoughts on Sudoku.

I enjoyed the book a great deal. Some of the jokes went on a bit long, as in having four letters to the NAACP trying to persuade them to use the word "chocolate" for blacks.

Fun fast read.

Like the books of other Daily Show alumni that I've read, Wilmore's is a little hit-and-miss, and I think I would have preferred to hear him say the material rather than read it on the page—his delivery adds a lot of punch to his material. As it is, it can be a little bland and static at times, and that's a shame, because when Wilmore's satire works, it works very well indeed. 'Bring Back the Shetland Negro' and 'It's Okay to Hate Black People Who Work at McDonald's at the Airport (It Doesn't Make You Racist)' are probably my two favourite essays in the book, because not only did they make me smile, they also made me wince, and that's what the best satire does.½