The 7 Secrets of Awakening the Highly Effective Four-Hour Giant

Not so funny. Rehashing old jokes. The guy who ghost-wrote this book is funny, but this book isn't. This just reads like a retelling of familiar jokes from the series with some other nonsense in between.

I've given it three sittings and cannot get more than a few pages through at a time. I'm not laughing.

Sorry gang, this is a failure.

I think my initial expectations for this book were unreasonably high. Since the idea of The Gang writing a real self-help book as a get-rich-quick scheme was completely plausible, I guess I expected this to be a much more focused but completely depraved parody of the stereotypical new age self-empowerment mumbo-jumbo. Instead, it's exactly what I should have expected from these characters: a get-rich-quick scheme without much substance.

The chapters are extremely short and end abruptly, and most of the book is strung together with some weak filler material and attempts at meta-humor that get particularly exhausting after the first few "editor's notes" and footnotes. The rest of it reads like the typical banter of The Gang, and you can practically hear them yelling over each other as you read it. Unfortunately, this is far less entertaining in print than it is on the screen.

While there is a chapter or two from each character that contains the horrible "advice" you'd expect, it's quite scattered and mostly just rehashing old jokes and situations from the series. You don't have to be a hardcore fan of the series to pick up on subtle inside jokes or references in these pages; there aren't any. If you're even vaguely familiar with their most popular episodes, you can expect to be bludgeoned repeatedly with those same jokes for most of the book.

If your sense of humor is mostly regurgitating funny one-liners and pop culture references and you also enjoy watching It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, you're probably going to love this book. If you just enjoy the show and don't feel like reliving it, you should probably wait until you find it in a bargain bin before adding it to your collection.

The thing is, it's intentionally poorly written, because It's written in character buy not especially smart people. This may not be for everyone, highly recommended for massive fans of the series. Otherwise, skip it.

Maybe the book would be more entertaining if you knew the characters better but it did not hold my attention despite multiple attempts. Some elements are funny, but I was still unable to finish the book.

[this review was originally posted on goodreads on 3/6/17] this ...is kind of all over the place in terms of content and how in character everyone seems in any given chapter. there are some really good parts but all in all it probably would have been better if they had tried to put in more new material instead of just an endless list of inside jokes / references from the show. basically if you're a diehard fan you should probably check it out just for fun but make sure you get it secondhand or from the library because let me tell you i would have been pretty annoyed if i had actually spent $14 on this thing. like who are they kidding.

Who gives this book less than 5 stars? Jabronis! that's who! You have to be a fan of the show to appreciate the wonderful book this is (not a pseudo-fan, like "Oh yeah, I like 'It's Always Sunny' and will watch it on TV", but like a "I have seen every episode multiple times and know the characters inside and out" fan). I own all the seasons, can proudly (maybe not so proudly) say I have seen every episode up through season 9 at least 20 times (AT LEAST).

This book is exactly what you would expect...but maybe even better. I laughed my way through the whole thing in a couple hours. Worth every penny...can't say I learned anything (I already knew bird law in this country is not governed by reason) but I think I'm going to try to recipe for Blue Tea a la Charlie tomorrow :D

Literally laughing hysterically out loud while reading it on the subway. It's everything I dreamt it would be, and more. A must for any Sunny fan. So many call-backs to even the obscure jokes that you may have forgotten about, and the character's voices are loud and clear as you read. I want the world to read this.

I was really looking forward to the release of this book, and it has still managed to exceed my expectations. If you love the show, you do not want to miss reading this. They have done an excellent job of translating the characters from TV into writing, without losing any of their unique personality traits. It makes reading the book feel as if you are watching episodes of Sunny, which shows the writer's great attention to detail. It's a fun read throughout, and hopefully there are more of these hilarious books to come in the future!