Oh, the Humanity!: A Gentle Guide to Social Interaction for the Feeble Young Introvert

by Jason Roeder and Dashka Slater

"Are you uncomfortable engaging in conversation? Do you have trouble making friends? Have you longed to have your deeply rooted social anxiety eliminated by a slender paperback you can read... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1582975116
• ISBN13: 9781582975115
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: TOW Books
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.1" x 7.1"

Customer Reviews

Funniest book ever!

I love this book. I love it so much that I bring it to uncomfortable social situations and read it instead of interacting with actual people. But not because I'm incapable of interacting with actual people. Oh no. This book has completely eliminated any tendency towards introvertedness I once had and inspired me to greatness. Plus, it made me laugh.

Amusing little item to offset all the "Self Help" books on your shelf.

I was bouncing around the Internet, following blog links, when I came across Jason's blog. He's a got a nice mordant sense of humor, with echoes of Benchley, Dave Barry, and National Lampoon humorists like Henry Beard and P.J. O'Rourke. Just for a lark, I ordered this book, hoping for more of the same. That's what I got, and it's pretty good. Roeder knows how to walk the line between good natured parody, post modern humor and misanthropy. He's also got the conventions and dramatic structure of the modern "How To Win Friends And Influence People" line of business zombie books down cold, and he knows just how far to push his parodies before they become heartless and mean. Some passages are howlingly funny if you are in the right mood for this kind of humor. I like the book a lot, and I'll certainly stay on the alert for future writings from this author. But I'll be careful of my audience when (and if) I quote passages from the book...the more strait-laced among us aren't going to, um, 'get' it.

Mighty tasty humor

Reviewed by Connie Anderson Okay, truth first. It's been a LONG time since I was a young introvert, but that didn't stop me from enjoying Jason Roeder's effort at telling his story. The book is filled with lots of tongue-in-cheek (at least I hope so), quirky, edgy, smart-alecky advice. This book is divided into three parts. Part I: Essential Qualities You Lack looks at confidence, humor, curiosity and empathy. Confident people have overcome their fear-or come to terms with it, or do things in spite of it. Drinking for confidence (never drink and drive-unless of course the Red Bull and vodka totally cancel each other out, pg. 13). Part II: Conversations for People Who'd Rather Be Home Fondling Their Record Collection, Knitting Berets for Pets They May or May Not Actually Have, or Just Sitting in a Dark Room, Dreaming of a Darker Room. This chapter title, longer than some books, covers small talk/chit chat, working with difficult people and difficult topics, nonverbal communication, like body language, and how to deal with people from different cultures. Humor can win people over, if you're funny. If not, ouch--unless you learn to laugh at yourself. It's important to "know your audience." Nonverbal communications--gestures that include smiling, eye contact, nodding, posture, physical contact like shaking hands, touching, hugs and kisses. The author introduces you to the unique ways men and women approach each of these! Part III: Making Friends that Last a Lifetime (Or until they just kind of drift); Friends, who is a friend? and where will I find my friend and will you be my friend. This talks about FWB (friends with benefits), acquaintances and pals. His "interview with a Pal) Pg. 130 is fun-but also true. Jason Roeder's humor has been published in many magazines, including Writer's Digest where he wrote a humorous article about how to get out of a book club in a 2007 issue. Armchair Interviews says: Humor for the young that can be enjoyed by the not-as-young.

Surprisingly Relaxing

Forget social anxiety--if you have any kind of anxiety (claustrophobia, xenophobia, Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia) this book actually achieves what it purports to satirize. Within moments of absorbing Roeder's smart, subtle, self-reflexive wit, you've forgotten your fear of sleep or the way styrofoam sounds when it squeaks. Suddenly, you're above the fray, streamlining through imaginative pages like a dolphin at an NRA meeting [see figure 3.2]. Roeder's book is entertaining, unique, and oddly effective. A must-read for the ineptitudes of Generation Me.

A hilarious satire of patronizing self-help manuals

This book satrizes patronizing manuals on interpersonal skills, and pokes fun at the inhibitions and hang-ups those books target in the first place. If you're an introvert, then you know that things like making small talk, correct body language, and nervous chatter are problems. Problems that usually lead to hilariously awkward situations worthy of a television sit-com. But when you get down to it, isn't that just life? And you need a self-help book to tell you that? My advice is abandon the self-help section... for some real perspective read OH THE HUMANITY!