Official Review: Oh and That's Another Thing: What Buddha...

[MsTri]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Oh and That's Another Thing: What Buddha Forgot to Say" by Fallacious Rose.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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I think it's part of the human condition to want to be better people. Whether we want to be kinder, more empathetic, more charitable, or more sociable, we want to improve ourselves. However, not many of us admit it, let alone write a book about our quest to do so. This is where Fallacious Rose comes in. In her book, Oh and That's Another Thing...What Buddha Forgot to Say, Rose documents her weekly attempts to “be better”. Specifically, Fallacious wants to earn enough karma points to come back as the best creature of them all, a cat. She figures she'll need about 500 points to attain her lofty goal, and she documents the process on a weekly basis.

Oh and That's Another Thing...What Buddha Forgot to Say is not a completely serious book. It's very tongue-in-cheek, as noted in the author's “brief word of warning”. In her words, “However, not everything in this book is strictly true: there is a reason why the author calls herself Fallacious. You know when someone tells a great story at a dinner party, and then their wife spoils the whole thing by saying ‘Henry, come on - you’re exaggerating!’? That’s the relationship of this story to the author’s actual life.”

Completely true or not, I thought this was an excellent book. There were many times where I had to look at the cover just to be absolutely sure that I didn't write it because I swear Rose is myself. She's irreverent, disrespectful, lazy, sarcastic, and pleasingly plump. She also hates cooking, thinks being nice to people is a goal, and has prolonged conversations with herself. She is me. Aside from Rose/myself, this book is full of characters who are actually “imaginary advisers”. They include Guru Fred, Madame Sputnik, and Father O’Flaherty. I thought Rose did a great job with each of the “advisers”, giving them the proper personality and voice that such people would have. Other advisers – whom I think are real people – include Violent Violet and Captain Savage. Violet is verbally violent, frequently cursing and being tactless in general. Captain Savage is the friend who tallies Rose's points towards cat-hood but also dispenses advice as he sees fit. Additional people in Rose's circle include her children, Mr. F and Ms. M, as she refers to them, and her frequently mentioned “Demon Ex” who remains nameless.

Some of the ways in which Rose tried to be better included complimenting people, being nice to strangers, visiting a nursing home and making nice with a specific, “adopted” resident named Arnold, and being a Kids Mate (something akin to a "Big Sister") to a needy child called “Beetle”. She did better in some areas than others, but each week was filled with hilarity, and I enjoyed reading about her accomplishments as much as her failures. I also greatly enjoyed reading how each of her advisers responded to each week's attempts at betterment.

Another thing I really liked about this book were the illustrations sprinkled throughout. Many of the chapters included an appropriate picture done in a simple, childlike style, and I found them to be almost as funny as the writing. I also appreciated their presence because one of the things I miss most about being a child is picture books.

The only negative I found in this book was its lack of complete editing. The errors were mostly in punctuation, though there were occasionally either missed or extra words. Still, I was enjoying the book so much that the mistakes didn't take away from it at all.

As much as I'd like to give Oh and That's Another Thing...What Buddha Forgot to Say a glowing 4 stars, I have to go with 3 out of 4 stars because of the aforementioned grammatical errors that are prevalent throughout. I do highly recommend this tome for readers who enjoy comedy, a quirky writing style, and self-improvement books. For my part, I also intend to read anything else that Fallacious Rose puts out.

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Oh and That's Another Thing: What Buddha Forgot to Say
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Like MsTri's review? Post a comment saying so!

[MarisaRose]

It sounds like you had an easy time connecting with this author! I like the idea of the sarcastic/humorous tone of this book, but I'm not sure about all the errors. I also think it's interesting that there are some illustrations. Great review, thanks!

[Alice Heritage]

This sounds like a humorous take on betterment - I wonder if any of Fallacious' attempts to do good ever go wrong? I can already tell from the characters' names that they are colourful, and the main character is clearly multifaceted and relatable. It's always a shame when errors irritate throughout an otherwise good book.

[kandscreeley]

You know, this book is not at all what I thought it would be based on the title. It sounds really interesting. It might be something I would enjoy as it has humor sprinkled in. Thanks for the great review.

[Marissa Michael]

Yes every human wants to be better although they refuse to openly admit it. Glad to know that you can relate with the author. Thank you for your review.

[bookowlie]

Great review! I especially liked reading your opinions because I had considering choosing this review book recently. In this type of book, illustrations can really add to the whimsical, humorous theme. It sounds like the author could use a good editor to polish up what sounds like an interesting book!

[Insightsintobooks729]

I like books on betterment. I think I would like this take on it as it differs from the norm. Thank you fir the review.

[Sahani Nimandra]

According to your review, what hasthat got to do with the title? I actually attempted to read this review, which was by the way good review, because of the title. But I dont see a connection between the title and the story, please enlighten me on that!

[MsTri]

Thanks for your comments, everyone. This book really did appeal to my love of all things off the beaten path.

@Sahani Nimandra, my apologies. I didn't want to make an already lengthy review even longer. But the author's inspiration was Buddha and the Prologue mentions him. I think the thing he forgot to say was the whole points system, but I could be wrong because she never spells it out exactly.

[Sahani Nimandra]

Thanks for your comments, everyone. This book really did appeal to my love of all things off the beaten path.

@Sahani Nimandra, my apologies. I didn't want to make an already lengthy review even longer. But the author's inspiration was Buddha and the Prologue mentions him. I think the thing he forgot to say was the whole points system, but I could be wrong because she never spells it out exactly.

Oh that paints a certain picture, thank you! @MsTri

[Mtsweni Nelsy]

Reading an interesting book, and facing grammatical errors can be irritating. You seemed to identify a whole lot deal with the book. Thanks for the review, i think yue book is inspiring.

[CommMayo]

This sounds like a total beach read...toes in the sand, beer in the cooler, and people looking at me strange as I laugh out loud. Of perhaps I'm just tired of it being below freezing for the last month!

Thank you for your fun write up and review of this book. Too bad about the editing issues.

[Whippet]

Fun review of what seems to be a fun book. Will definitely take up your recommendation and have a read of it!

[MrsCatInTheHat]

I could use a little dose of attitude improvement right now.... this sounds like a good one.