Word: almanacs
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Almanac's satires nail a broad range of fictitious characters that represent much of what is "establishment" in America. Underlying many of the scenarios that Baker concocts is a fundamental cynicism toward the nation's more materialistic values and the routines they create. He observes...
Baker's anecdotes and almanac-ish tips depict a world less evil than crazy and people afflicted less by self-interest than by tunnel vision. But even his most pointed observations are, at bottom, funny. When he satirizes network news in an anecdote showing how television "covered" the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden Eden, it is with the lightest of touches. Baker's ability to portray the less palatable sides of American life while keeping readers chuckling at his insights has made him America's funniest social critic; it also makes the Almanac splendid reading...
...ALMANAC'S political commentary, if less omnipresent than his jibes at social behavior, are equally insightful. Baker writes of the Washington rumor mill...
...also chosen to reprint the guide to political rhetoric that appeared in the first Almanac, and his translations of "that strange tongue, Politigabble," remain as funny as ever. Among Baker's translations...
Tying Baker's disparate observations on society and politics together are the Almanac's running volleys on linguistic absurdity, historical parodies, and solutions to "Problems in Etiquette." These permeate the book, with Baker offering us tidbits like...