A book review? No! Not quite at least. Memes are definitely a big part of geek culture, and what bigger meme is there as of late than Grumpy Cat. I am a huge fan of Tardar Sauce. Memes made using her many, many pictures have always entertained me. Grumpy Cat is the internet’s most famous cat, recently making public appearances in SXSW and other places. As you can imagine, my excitement peaked when I found out that an official Grumpy Cat book was being released. I got my dirty hands on it today. How is it? Does it bring the grumps?
First, some background. I have worked in retail for 13 years. I have dealt with many angry, dumb, and just misguided people. This is just so you know that I am well versed in the ways of the grump. ‘It’s not you, it’s me. I don’t like you”. That’s me. That’s one of the nicest things I’ve said in my retail career. I’m well qualified for this review. The book states it includes “Disgruntled tips and activities designed to put a frown on your face”. So it is with much…grumpyness that I went into the book. So what does it include?
This book spreads out tips for being grumpy(including ways of finding the bad in good things), pictures of Tardar Sauce, games(a crossword puzzle with…the best of answers), de-motivational posters, many, many memes using the same two pictures…and that’s about it. Spread evenly, repeat, grump, and repeat some more. This is pretty much all that’s in this book. I breezed through the whole thing in about 20 minutes. Does it do a good job? It kind of does…but not for all the right reasons.
There are many creative pieces in here that had me laughing(French Grumpy Cat? Gold!), but unfortunately, the constant use of memes as filler(and not even the best I’ve read) really hurts the book. The only thing missing from this book is more use of the creativity that made sections like “Think Grumpy”, “Grumpy in Translation”, and “Getting in a grumpy mood”. Almost all of the creative stuff in this book is great. It’s funny and it brings on the grumps. Maybe I’m asking too much for this book, maybe I’ve set my expectations too high. Don’t get me wrong. I still really enjoyed the book as a whole, it just left me wanting more…grumps. In that regard, it definitely succeeded.
I give the book a solid four shots out of five. It is out now, and can be purchased for $12.99. I would recommend waiting for a sale and/or coupon. The grumps here are worth about $9.99 in my view. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go through the book again…for the fifth time…so leave me alone.