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As a longtime "Seinfeld" fan I was compelled to buy this book to learn the true secrets behind the Festivus holiday. Written by Dan O'Keefe, one of the "Seinfeld" writers, this book details the story of the true holiday of Festivus, which his father originated in a pique of whimsy.
O'Keefe corrects the inaccuracies portrayed on the TV show (there was no pole, and there was a floating date, two name but two significant differences) and explains the actual holiday, which is vastly more screwed up than what viewers saw.
The book frequently made me laugh out loud. The non sequitur nature of O'Keefe's sense of humor comes through loud and clear (and makes it easy to envision why he was such a successful writer of comedy); the actual memories of his childhood and the Festivus celebration are both hilarious and enigmatically revealing.
There is a lot of bonus material throughout the book to include transcripts of some of the original "Festivus tapes" (which include many literary and cultural references, such as the famed "Tartar-Mongol Joke") as well as a linguistic history of the word "Festivus" which is not in any dictionary. O'Keefe does make special mention of the southeast Asian bumblebee, the "Bombus festivus" (or "Festivobombus" for those who do not prefer the genus-species name), as well as a fish from South America, the "Mesonauta festivus," which is described as a "'peaceful and graceful cichlid that deserves greater consideration...' and a 'timid fish that should be kept in a fairly tall aquarium.'" So there.
All told, this is a fun, entertaining, and highly quirky book which holds a lot of laughs, especially for "Seinfeld" fans.
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This book is so funny I'm telling all my friends about it.
Jason Alexander who played George Costanza kicks it off with a hilarious introduction, about how he's always being asked about Festivus. It's so George. Any true Seinfeld fan has to read it.
The author of this book wrote the actual Festivus episode of Seinfeld. He based it on his own experience, because his father invented the holiday. It gives the a low-down, behind the scenes look at how Festivus orginated, and how to celebrate it. The author's like a real life George Costanza, it's like he actually lived the Seinfeld episdode.
Tons of funny jokes, little pictures, and short hilarious chapters. An quick and easy, really, really, really funny read. Obviously a good Festivus present...
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If you're going to buy one Festivus book this year (and who isn't?) this is the one to get. It's written by the Seinfeld writer whose family created the holiday that eventually found its way to small screen immortality. It's the Festivus creation story. It's to Festivus what that story about the donkey and the manger and the angels and frankincense and stuff is to that other December holiday, only it totally isn't because Festivus isn't like that. Whatever. Just buy the book.
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I just purchased this two days ago, and I literally couldn't put it down. I figured since it's by a Seinfeld writer it would be funny, and it is, but it's also almost a memoir, and a really personal story that's kind of cool. The way this holiday originated in O'Keeffe's family is really unusual, but really heartwarming - it was originally to celebrate his parents' first date!
My favorite part is the transcriptions of the actual Festivus celebrations from 1976, 77, 80 and 85. They actually tape recorded the whole holiday, and it feels like you're actually there celebrating Festivus with them. Long Live FESTIVUS!
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This book is a hysterically funny explanation of how the holiday Festivus was invented and observed by one very quirky family (whose experiences later inspired the Seinfeld "Festivus" episode written by the book's author). We learn that the origins of Festivus are even more bizarre and interesting than what we watched on Seinfeld!
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