Zuckerberg's domain

You know how sometimes you'll read or hear something funny, and right as you're about to start laughing, you realize that the person totally intended to be funny and they KNOW that what they said/wrote is funny, and they're probably just THAT much more of a pompous jackass because of it, and then it suddenly ceases to be funny anymore? (If you followed that, you've clearly had your coffee today. Good job!). That's pretty much The Facebook Book: A Satirical Companion in a nutshell. You want to laugh, but you know the authors, Greg Atwan and Evan Lushing, are trying so damn hard to get a chuckle out of you that any urge to react is just stifled. And all you can do is shrug your shoulders and go, "Meh."

I've been an avid Facebook user since 2004, and remember the days before groups, wall posts, and many other current Facebook staples. Though you don't have to be a longtime FB user to read this book, you should be a user, period. Though on the surface it looks like it might be a good starter kit (chapter titles such as, "Profile of A Profile," "Facebook Etiquette," "People of the Book"), the jokes will definitely fly way over your head if you've never before set virtual foot on the site (though really, who ISN'T on FB anymore?).

While The Facebook Book is mostly a collection of bad jokes and satires so far off base that they couldn't even imaginably be entertaining, there are a few redeeming gems that make it a good way to pass the time on the subway or as you get a pedicure. One such spot is the grid that tells you what the most appropriate marital status (Single, In A Relationship, In An Open Relationship, It's Complicated, Married) is for your situation. So for example, if you're pregnant and it's mostly likely his but you never got his name, it's complicated. However, if you're pregnant and it's most likely his and you're going to turn into a werewolf in 3 days, you're definitely in a relationship.

Perhaps the thing that most bothered me about this book is that constant use of terminology that I'm pretty sure they made up exclusively for writing the book. For instance, have you ever referred to a Facebook user as a "Bookster?" No, you haven't, because that's incredibly lame. Are you going to start using it after reading it 8 million times in this book? Absolutely not.

All in all, this book is one that may give you a laugh or 2, but from a book that's supposed to be funny, that's not a great success rate. Reading this book also requires a certain amount of confidence, because people who see you reading it in public are going to assume you're not exactly the brightest candle on the menorah. But if you're okay with this, and you don't have anything better to do, then...go for it. I guess.