Municipal Bondage

by Henry Alford

Book Overview

A collection of original essays is written by an adventurous author who, among other exploits, took a dog-grooming test, invented a new snack food, and became an ear-lobe model. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679415092
• Release Date: February 1994
• Publisher: Random House
• Length: 231 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.8" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Laugh out loud funny

This is one of the most hilarious books I have ever read bar none. First, Alford provides some incredibly witty accounts of different "investigations" he conducts in New York City, such as hiring a clutter consultant, trying to get some fake heirlooms auctioned off at Sotheby's, trying to find a good bed and breakfast in Manhattan, hiring a nude housecleaning service, etc. In between each of these stories are some hilarious lists, such as "What if Frank Sinatra taught acting at UCLA" or "What if unemployed actors worked at banks instead of restaurants". The whole thing is great. I found myself consistently laughing at some of the things Alford did in his investigations, such as gauging what happened when he asked the nude housecleaners to do things like bleach his tub or wash his windows from the outside. All in all, this is a very satisfying book for any fan of humor.

Satisying, dessert-like

I enjoyed this book immensely, as I might a large piece of pie. The author is obviously desperate for attention--but in the most charming way. I felt for him, at times; this work is shot through with a Chaplinesque pathos. His targets (with the exception of a funny-enough treatise on snack foods) are obscure but ripe. I'd love to see him write those crazy travel articles like SJ Perelman used to do. Reading this book has made it difficult for me to say the word "egress" without irony.

Pretty funny

A lot of this book is like a really good magazine article. The list part was high-larious. One question: What's Coco?

Henry Alford=God

One of the stories in this book--"You'll Never Groom Dogs in This Town Again"--is, without a doubt, the funniest piece of prose I have ever read.

Brilliantly funny

This book made me laugh out loud 27 times (I counted). Alford's sense of humor is absurdist and very deadpan; what's fun about the book is that it is a series of actual adventures that he goes on--he registers for gifts at New York City department stores, even though he is not getting married; he takes the National Dog Groomer Association Test, grooming a real dog for the judges, etc. My favorite line is from one where he learns how to dance the rhumba from a videotape; he says that when you dance the rhumba, your facial expression should be "simultaneously tragic and urgent, as if you have been shot in the stomach but are late for an appointment." If you like David Letterman's or Calvin Trillin's or David Sedaris's sense of humor--ironic but not mean spirited--you will like this book. Some of the writing is gorgeous, too; he can really turn a phrase. I gave this book to five of my friends as Christmas presents--two of them fell totally in love with the author's writing style and the book, two of them really, really liked it; and one is using the book as a coaster. But this last friend called me this fall and told me that Henry Alford is the host of a show on VH1 called "Rock of Ages" where he shows rock and roll music videos to strange groups of people like the Hells Angels and the New York Philharmonic. Kind of a weird guy, but definitely hilarious.