“Caution, Writer Ahead...and other unprovoked acts of humor” presents humor lovers with a fresh voice, whose topic selections and writing styles are designed to bring smiles and laughs to humor
book buyers. The author, Joel Habush is an award winning freelance copywriter turned into a repeated National and State award winning freelance “pure” humorist. In the lead-off title piece,
Caution, Writer Ahead, the plight of writers who so want friends and family to read their works-in-progress that they run the danger of being shunned by their (soon to be former) loved ones.
The book has five segments, “Caution” being in the first group, titled, “Ah, The Life Literary—It Speaks Volumes...And Reams,” humor lovers will find pieces addressing everything that writers
and readers alike will identify with, from a would be successful author’s imagined, “My Book Tour du Force” to tips on how to give and receive criticism in “Nights of the Round Table.” The
second and largest segment is truly a microcosm of the whole book, designed to take the reader directly to satisfying smiles and delighted laughter in many unique and fresh paths. The title
says it all— “What if? Speculate, Extrapolate, Fabricate.” These flights of fancy take the reader to days of the Roman Emperor in “Blood and Sandals,” where Emperor Equus Gluteus Maximus Caesar
is being besieged by gladiators demanding safety measures be put in place in the Coliseum. Then a leap forward to ancient Britain where another court is in disarray, King Arthur’s. In “Throne
for a Loss,” charges are being made that one of the most renowned of the Knights is winning jousting tournaments through Performing Enhancing Potions (PEP). In the same grouping, readers are
presented with the scenario of 30 year old man who lives in his parents’ basement telling them that he has fallen in love with a corporation (corporations are now people) and he’s going to move
out and marry it (er, “her”). There’s a lot of purported “helpful” how-to pieces also, e.g. “If You Want My Advice;” “How to Weather Next Winter...If You Catch My Drift;” and “How to Speak
Foreign.” It’s always a fresh (and refreshing) take. The majority of these stand-alone humor pieces are short, but long enough to produce laughs before the reader moves on, either in succession
or randomly “cherry picking” from the titles. Though the author is a fan of humor writers, from Laurence Sterne’s 1600s “Tristram Shandy,” through Twain, Parker, Benchley, Wodehouse, and
Pratchett, the style could be likened (and thus liked immensely) to Dave Barry gone wild, seasoned with the outlandish and unexpected full-on approach of Christopher Moore. Readers will be able
to tell instantly that the author enjoyed writing these pieces as much as they enjoy reading them.
