Mr. Ed: Dead: And Other Obituaries of the Most Famous People Who Never Lived

By: Barry Nelson and Tom Schecker
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Publication Date: July 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4022-3744-7
Review By: Amy Lignor
Review Date: July 2, 2010

Honesty in reviews is a must. Trying to be elegant with words is also right up there in the top two. With this book review, honesty will stay intact. However, “class” may go right out the window. Why? Because…every page of this book was so funny readers will, literally, wet their pants!

These two writers have done an absolutely superb job of putting together a book that will make you laugh so hard that crying will be your next step. You will look at your moping child – upset because her cell phone has no money left on it; your loud dog, who is barking continuously at the neighbors who refuse to shut up and go to bed; and, everyone else in your life who’s making you crazy, and tell them all to get away from you immediately because you HAVE to read every word of this book. I will not do damage to the authors and give away everything. But, oh, yeah, I have to tell you just an itty-bitty background on some of these fantastic obits.

From Mr. Ed being offered a cameo in The Godfather, but not noticing that only his head is called for in the scene; to the Hamburger Helper Hand teaming up with the Alka Seltzer Boy to stifle the giggle of the Poppin’ Fresh guy once and for all – every page explodes with creativity and imagination. Will Betty Crocker not be able to “rise?” Will the Bionic couple have to be sold for parts? Will Snap, Crackle & Pop be entombed in marshmallow? These are questions that are answered for you so you’ll never have to worry about your much beloved characters again.

Fat Albert has a whole obit for himself about all the things he accomplished while alive; one of the funniest facts was that he won the Biggest Loser Lifetime Achievement Award. The Grinch went out in a “rhyming” manner that you will read again and again; Lassie may finally give up on that moron-boy Timmie who keeps getting himself in trouble; and, a local man eating dots will be taken out by a colorful ghost, leaving Mrs. PacMan hopeless and alone.

The Flying Nun will absolutely leave you in stitches, and knowing that Jack was not as nimble as everyone thought while he jumped over his candlesticks, will make readers laugh until they cry. Not to mention…what happened to ROY G. BIV is something every person who ever went to grade school should read; and, the letter from Helen of Troy should be copied, given out to all your friends, and framed. Yup…I could go on and on. But, I won’t, because every person on planet Earth should be running out to get this one for their personal libraries.

Commendations go out to these authors. In the Dedication, one of the writers – Barry – comments that his wife’s name is Amy and shares the same sense of humor as he does. Again, not surprised…we Amy’s KNOW funny!

Quill Says: What Dean Koontz is to the world of paranormal horror and mayhem, these two authors – Nelson and Schecker – are to the world of humor. In fact, this reviewer wants to hire them to write her own obit. Let’s see…how will I end...