Official Review: If Life is a Game I Don't Think I Made t...

[memory]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "If Life is a Game I Don't Think I Made the Team" by William Schmitt.]

---

3 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

If Life is a Game I Don't Think I Made the Team by William Schmitt is a series of short commentaries detailing the author's opinions on life as he sees it. The book is a comedy even though it touches on serious topics such as marriage, money, death, politics and religion. Each of the shorts were originally posted on a blog site and have since been fleshed out and combined into a book. I really appreciated that the author gave credit to his wife for editing the book and providing suggestions as to the content.

My favorite commentary of the more than forty essays was titled "Father of the Year" where the author details two highly entertaining occasions when he felt that perhaps he should return his "Father of the Year" certificate. The first was not properly appreciating the "music" being performed by his son's fifth grade band and the second was not having faith that another son would manage to get the game winning hit in his baseball game.

Many of the commentaries touched on topics that the vast majority of readers can relate to including family, aging, and the need for a healthy dose of irreverence. I really enjoyed the chapters detailing his relationships with his wife and children because they reminded me of my own somewhat irreverent family. Another highly relatable chapter was the one about dealing with Verizon's tech support. Anyone that has ever tried to fix an internet connection with tech support over the phone will smile ruefully while reading it. I felt that the humor included in the first three sections really seemed to flow and did not seem at all forced. The author also did a good job tying the chapters together with those that proceeded it. Even though the topics were different, each chapter transitioned nicely into the next.

Unfortunately, some of the later chapters that dealt with religion and politics were not as successful as the chapters in the first three sections. It seemed like the author was trying too hard to get the laugh and the jokes just fell a bit flat.

I rate this book a three out of four stars. The book was well written, well edited, easily relatable, and very entertaining. I really enjoyed all of the chapters that talked about the author's relationships with his wife, children, and large extended family. I would recommend this book to an adult audience that enjoys humor and social commentary.

******
If Life is a Game I Don't Think I Made the Team
View: on Bookshelves

Like memory's review? Post a comment saying so!

[ALynnPowers]

The title of this book is awesome and pretty much sums up how I feel about my life.

[bluemel4]

Great review. Were the last chapters really bad enough to lose a rating point? It seemed like you really enjoyed the book.

[Tanaya]

I agree with ALynnPowers. I also don't think I made the cut. Anyways, great review! Sounds like an interesting book.

[Rachaelamb1]

Sounds like a great book! Politics and religion are 2 very difficult subjects to write about...but it sounds like the other topics were a lot of fun

[zeldas_lullaby]

Great review!