If you like Patton, you will likely enjoy this. His stories of his suburban childhood ring true--except I got to see all of those cool punk bands in my suburban hell. The stories will make you laugh and wince. While not everything interesting ... Most of it was worth the price of admission. Hell, if you don't find his stories of headlining in Canada funny, you don't know from funny!!

I love David Cross. He's a brilliant comedian. Just because a comedian writes a book, no one should expect that it be 300 pages of stage material. On the other hand when you're a comedian, chances are your fans are going to buy it with a certain level of expectation. I haven't made it through half the book and I read less and less every night. I'm pretty disappointed. I'll just stick to his stand up performances.

Laughed so hard I broke a rib, not joking.

so buy it!

ZSW is less a coherent book and more of a collection of essays. Patton ruminates on his failures and successes, his epiphanies and failures in a way that is both funny, and also reflective/sad. Because of this the book may not live up to what one thinks when picking it up, I was personally aiming for more comedy, but the moments of reflection are a welcome treat. Oswalt showcases his writing skill often and with ease, a good book with unexpected emotion.

Oswalt has a wonderful talent for words. And he knows it obviously but perhaps he is worried that his readers won't agree. The authors beautiful craftsmanship of words and tone are right and true but if only they were laid down in more of a subtle tone. The reader grasps this hope almost immediately while reading Zombie, Spaceship,Wasteland. As Patton won't give the reader a moments rest from the realization that his prose is so well manicured...so perfect. And so the reader becomes trapped in a world that is not his own and yet surrounded by beauty of language perfected. But when compared to the realities of the reader's real life sense of platitudes, Patton's work comes off as over the top and unrelatable in a very calculated sort of way.

This book was surprisingly poignant and entertaining. I feel like I learned a lot but don't trust that what I learned was true. -Gunnar

Although I found this book amazingly hilarious, I don't recommend this to ANYONE looking for a joke book or a transcript of a comedy central special. Great, interesting piece of work but much shorter than I was hoping for. Literally a 1 hour read through.

As expected. Thanks Patton.