Just finished reading Anthony's book
1 2018-11-27 by throwawaymanthrows
I read it on a plane, as if flying coach isn't miserable enough. Here are my impressions.
The writing is just plain bad. Ant was going for a conversational tone, but the sentence structure makes it really awkward to read and difficult to follow. This is a book that needed a good editor, and it absolutley DID NOT have one. It's pretty obvious that Ant hasn't read very many books as an adult.
What was the point of this book? It's full of stories that his fans already know by heart, so I have to assume he wrote it with non O&A listeners in mind. That would be okay, except that every story requires a ton of context NOT included in the book. He mentions people and places and events without explaining them, so you have to be familiar with O&A to understand what the hell he's talking about. But that begs the question: why would an O&A fan want to read a book full of stories they already know? His Jimmy Jackson stories and tin knocking stories are all on youtube. At least when he told them on the radio they were entertaining. The book presents these stories with barely even an ATTEMPT at humor.
No insight or reflection. This book really cements the reality that Anthony is not a man who is capable of self awareness. He describes the grape fight, and the tweets that got him fired, and his domestic violence arrest as if they JUST happened and he was still in the heat of the moment. These were major events in his life, and he's had YEARS to think about them. But no. He did nothing wrong. He was treated unfairly. Everyone else was weong and he was right. Honestly this is the core of why we a hate Ant. He has zero perspective. Zero ability to see things from any point of view other than his own.
The "rise again" section of the book is so pathetic and forced. He writes about Compound Media as if it's just as relevant and interesting as peak O&A. It's not. He hasn't risen again. If he had the slightest ability to critisize himself, the book would have just been called "the rise and fall" because that'a the reality.
Conclusion: The whole purpose of this book seems to be Ant trying to get his side of the story out there. But it's already out there. He's been heard. Anyone who wants to hear him has done so. If he was trying to write an autobiography, one that can be appreciated by readers who aren't necessarily O&A fans, he failed. The whole thing just feels lazy and rushed.
19 comments
1 Anonymity_01 2018-11-27
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=weong
1 JimandFred 2018-11-27
I think he wanted a book like Howard, Jackie, Artie and Jim and rushed one out because he thought Opie was releasing one. Not to mention, he doesn't have that much to do so it makes him feel important.
It isn't a fun read. I'd rather read a Chelsea Handler book.
1 nomadiqqq 2018-11-27
I would have gone for the in flight magazine.
1 throwawaymanthrows 2018-11-27
I did, at one point. I honestly cared more about where Sandra Bullock likes to eat when she's in Miami than this idiot's memoirs.
1 shawnshankredemshawn 2018-11-27
From what I hear this post was probably longer and more thought out than Anthony's book
1 Not_Anthwan 2018-11-27
I think it's just an effort to get the most retarded and disassociated fans of O&A with no Internet to subscribe to CP Media.
1 ericthemidget_ 2018-11-27
Sounds boring as fuck, did he at least call Opie a faggot? Or mention the sub?
1 throwawaymanthrows 2018-11-27
He didn't mention us at all.
He did trash Opie a bit. Ironically, his primary complaint about the Opester is that he's delusional.
1 lawyerherelistenup 2018-11-27
I concluded that the purpose of this "book" was to throw something together with minimal effort, using ghost writers which then gives him a reason to go on this "book tour" which is just a pretext to try to plug CM in an attempt to bump subs
He's not even talking about the book so far on the podcasts. He likely knows it is shit
1 throwawaymanthrows 2018-11-27
Hahahaha book tour. What an embarrassing failure.
1 556oo 2018-11-27
Yea, I've been trying to come up a reason for this book to exist. It was never going to make any money so that's out. But very little effort seems to have gone into writing it, so it couldn't be some passion project. Pretty good theory you have there.
1 BlueBash 2018-11-27
I read the first 50 pages in an hour this morning, here are a couple sentences I noted were particularly terrible, free PDF version pages in parentheses:
"I let out a scream so loud, it was comparable only to the screams of that little Vietnamese girl running down the street after she was napalmed. That's how loud and brutal my scream was. (28)
"Imagine, if you will, someone squeezing your balls in a slipknot and simultaneously zapping your ass while riding on your back! You're going to want to get that person off you immediately." (36)
"Yes, living with my father had really helped straighten Joe out--not." (46)
1 throwawaymanthrows 2018-11-27
Not exactly Dave Barry, is he?
1 NguyenLevin71 2018-11-27
Shoehorning references so sloppily. The whole reason we know about that little Vietnamese girl running down the street is because that moment was captured in an iconic photograph. No one heard her screams, that was sort of the point...what an awful analogy; he’d have been better off with a Kitty Genovese reference, or not writing a book at all obviously.
1 glimmeringsea 2018-11-27
Not.
1 harriswill 2018-11-27
Post Hill Press has two managing editors, Madeline Sturgeon and Heather King. We need to find out from them that revision process took place for this piece of turd
1 jestersquall 2018-11-27
“The rise and fall...and rise again.”
Was there an editor with a crummy line like this?
1 Ronnybbaby 2018-11-27
It exists because Ant needs reassurance he's a cool, famous guy.
1 EvilioMTE 2018-11-27
I'd call him a failed author but that would give him too much credit.