This was a funny, interesting, facinating book. Filled with an amusing mix of facts and story, I have to say it's easily one of my favorite books of all time. If you're going on an extended train, bus or plane ride then this is the book for you. Neil Steinberg is a genius!

If you ever "won" in a spelling bee, this book is a must read. Neil Steinberg captures the curious tragedies of life, however much they might try to masquerade. He finds the blunders obscuring the genius in patents, products and people. I do have to say that Mr Steinberg overuses his own experiences as the prism through which to view the world of stumbling. But then, I think he also needs and relishes criticism, and I don't want to disappoint. Overall, I want to thank Neil Steinberg for the occasional out loud chortle that surprised and disturbed both my family and strangers on airplanes as I read his book.

A wonderful, hilarious, beautifully written, and inadvertently profound book. Neil Steinberg, previously the author of an eye-popping compendium of college pranks ("If At All Possible, Involve A Cow"), takes what would seem the most dismal of subjects and turns it into an empathetic and celebratory meditation on an underappreciated trait that binds us all together, the capacity to screw up, time and time again.

Plus, how can you not love the writing of someone who describes Hostess SnoBalls as "without corollary among the foodstuffs of the planet" and "unique to the point of freakishness"?

Like a lot of other people, I suspect, I loved this book so much I bought 20 copies and gave them out as presents; I'm actually glad it's out of print, for the sake of my bank account.

I made the mistake of lending this book to a friend of mine who moved out of state. If you chance upon a copy, buy it by all means. It's rare to find a book that can cause you to laugh until tears stream down your face, and this is such a book. In a world where winning is usually assumed to be the only worthwhile goal, Steinberg has shown the often poignant and sometimes pathetic side effects that accompany those who "go for the gold." The chapter on spelling bees was worth the price of admission. It's a crime that it's out of print.

No matter what anybody does, anywhere, there's an anthropologist or journalist watching... Fortunately, in this case, the result is a book that is not so scholarly it's dull, nor so fluffy 101-psychobabble it's dull. It goes through the early days of colleges and relates student pranks and misdemeanors of those days, and then takes us to the present, with a large assortment of the high-tech/low cunning pranks pulled at M.I.T. and Cal Tech. For those who sigh for the good old days when young people were decent and respectable, the history part might be disillusioning. For students, the entire book will be inspiring (one hopes) though it is not a how-to. For administration and professors, it might cause mild insomnia. (Don't worry, though, read a few student papers, the insomnia will pass.) For anyone looking for an interesting, funny book that might be shelved under Applied Humor, check this one out.

This hilariously entertaining and meticulously researched book is a "must read" for the college-bound. In fact, I would recommend reading it even before deciding where to apply. It surely gives a better sense of the atmospheres at many colleges than any admissions package ever could. It is a sad, sad shame that this book is out of print -- it is truly a classic. Steinberg is a devilishly clever and insightful author. In addition to chronicling the outrageous exploits of the students at our institutions of higher learning, he thoughfully includes guidelines for executing pranks of your own. Get your hands on a copy of this book now!!

Steinberg illuminates the halls of academia where the true creativity is, well, really WAS taking place. It is both a view of a time long forgotten-where students were trusted to push boundaries-and a lament for that loss of exuberance. Universities have become too serious, too cautious, when compared to the antics this book aptly depicts. One truly wishes to be a member of the Harvard Lampoon pranksters, the UCLA students crazily running through USC with blue paint for Tommy Trojan, or the MIT students scaling thier dome. This book celebrates the creative energy that is possible in a college setting, not the bookish individualism that is the predominate image found elsewhere-and is too alive and well.

Neil Steinberg is annoyed. Not irritated, bothered, vexed or harassed. He's angry, in the same fashion as Mark Twain, who wrote the following: "I don't ever seem to be in a good enough humor with anything to satirize it; no, I want to stand up before it & curse it, & foam at the mouth -- or take a club and pound it to rags & pulp."

Fortunately for his book, "The Alphabet of Modern Annoyances," Steinberg doesn't take a club to politicians, the workplace, victims, Disney and Elvis. What he does do is line them up, in alphabetic order, no less, and bash at each of them for a couple of pages -- short, measured doses of hilarity mixed with fact -- before moving on to the next target. In the court of law, Steinberg would be convicted of drive-by satirizing.

And yet, Steinberg indulges in the non-humorist's attribute of fairness. Almost all his essays have that quality of giving his target an even break. Although always disliking Disney in general ("Disneyland seems like hell to me, the Hieronymus Bosch "Garden of Earthly Delights" version, with weird creatures and tortured denizens scrabbling over each other trying to find a way out."), he's not satisfied with leaving it there. He forces himself to articulate his passionate hatred of all things Disneyfied: its blandness, its desire to take our basic cultural heritage and drain them of the things that make them interesting in the first place to make them most appealing to the widest possible audience.

Even that, to Steinberg, is not enough. "We live in a world of bland smarm. Disney is no worse than -- I don't know, "Hello Kitty," or "Polly Pocket," or "My Little Pony," or any of those warm fuzzies designed to pick the pockets of the young."

He even looks to the left-wing Disney critics, and finds them more abhorrent than the object of their criticism.

Finally, Steinberg zeroes in on the undercurrent of totalitarianism that underlies the Disney "experience." The theme parks have taken the idea behind mass entertainment -- the letting loose of strictures, the temporary rebellion against society's constraints, and perverted it into something that's more constrained, more limited than real-life. "The implication is that our society has decayed so much that people will fly to Florida and pay $33 to walk down a main street that isn't cluttered with crack vials and dozing junkies."

(Maybe, but another thought came to mind as I was writing this. Perhaps we live in a society where the mockery of cultural values has become an everyday occurrence, not something performed the week before Lent. We have corporate honchos who crow about the number of loyal employees they've axed, pop stars acting as poster children of sluttery, professional athletes caught with prostitutes and drugs and awarded with multi-million dollar contracts, and painters, sculptures, "performance artists" and architects to whom craftsmanship and beauty are as taboo to them as revealing how much you make in a year is to anyone else. Is it any wonder that people willingly shell out the bucks to experience a society that not only is rigidly controlled, but dedicated solely to entertaining the people who pay its bills?)

Steinberg's alphabet is a catalog of cultural misdeeds that's compulsive to read and to read out loud. By revealing Oprah as the smarm-queen she is, UFO buffs for the ill-educated louts they are, and invasive, insensitive TV journalists for the vultures they have become, Neil Steinberg has performed a public service that's as funny and it is true. After the fall of the American civilization, one hopes that his book will be found among the rubble to show that not everyone fell for the cultural bottom-line.

In the interests of full disclosure, let me say: A) I know the author; B) He did not ask me to do this. Mostly, I'm motivated by the completely idiotic Kirkus review -- of course the author doesn't offer serious solutions. It ceases to be funny and turns into a policy paper if you offer solutions. Steinberg's take on the post office in "B is for bureaucracy" is dead on, as is "O is for Oprah." What the Kirkus review claims is the one bright spot, the terza rima parody, is the singular unfunny chapter in this book. And as for going over familiar ground, no one that I've seen has gotten to the heart of Oprah as has Steingberg. This isn't literature, and thank God. It's a hilarious, often mean-spirited look at what annoys the hell out of the author, and it doesn't pretend to be anything else.

Some of what Steinberg writes about has already been done to death by the media ("Oprah" and "McDonalds") plus he is just plain wrong in at least one instance (while it is true that most adults who abuse their children were themselves abused, it is not true that all or even most of these adults inevitably go on to abuse their own children). I also disliked his double-standard with regard to fat: apparently it's okay as long as you are male and don't weigh more than Steinberg himself does. However, the book is certainly worth reading, the sections on "Advertising," "Bureaucracy," "Idiot," "Litter," "Quackery," "Traffic," "UFO's," "Yugoslavia," and "Zealots" are insightful, humorous, interesting and well-written. My favorite chapter, "Computers," is laugh-out-loud-funny in places, in particular the part on Socratic dialogue in AOL Lobby 35. It's a good book for an evening or for reading aloud during a car trip.

Mr Steinberg wrote an interesting little true tale. I especially enjoyed two sections of the book. The first section being the look into his father's past. It was well placed in the middle of the book. Until that time the only view given was of the present. I enjoy seeing how a person changes from a brave, young man to a fear-driven, elderly man. The other part I enjoyed was the dialogue between father and son. It is interested to see how they relate to each other. Some of the book is a bit slow. I found the descriptions about the boat alittle too detailed. I know there will be people who absolutely love boats and they will disagree with me. Overall story is interesting and well written.

Neil Steinberg's "Don't Give Up the Ship" is a good read, but not an easy one. If you are looking for a book which revels in syrupy emotionalism and demands little from the reader, then this is not the book. But, if you want an open and honest accounting of of an emotional journey, then this is your book. As usual for Steinberg, the book uses clear language to make its points. This isn't one of those books where you aren't sure what the author was trying to say. What I valued in the book was how Steinberg reflected on his relationship with his Dad and came away knowing more not just about himself, but also about life in general. The story about Steinberg and his father retracing his Dad's journey to Europe on a ship is far more than a travelogue. It's a journey into better understanding the human condition. Well worth reading!

I ordered this book along with, "Police Officer Exam California : The Complete Preparation Guide (Learning Express Law Enforcement Series. California)," for my brother as he was taking the test to enter the academy. I must say that he did pass his test with help from these books, but it took him a couple tries, and I don't think this book accurately prepared him for testing. But it did help a little. I would say that these a generous three stars.

Most of the stuff in this book is some of the things you would hear from a law enforcement officer, like I do (dad is a cop and I will be the 1st female in the family). This book is pretty good if your want to see what a real exam will look like. It also give alot of tips for you application and interviews. It tells you what your training will probably be, and gives you tips on how to do some physical training, with alot more information on other things. So, if your getting into law enforcement, I can say this is a right book to get. But if you know a police officer asks them for some insight on the field, too.

AND FOR ALL THE WOMEN OUT THERE IF IT'S YOUR DREAM OR THIS IS THE PROFESSION YOU WANT TO GO IN TO I COMEND YOU, FOR I AM A WOMAN, AND I BELIEVE IF YOU FEMALE OR MALE GO FOR YOUR DREAMS AND THE THINGS YOU WANT IN LIFE!!!!!!!!!!