Thursday, March 18, 2010

Wanted: Bear Cubs for My Children, by Gary Fingercastle


* Note- Full book title is Wanted: Bear Cubs for My Children. One Hundred of the Weirdest Posts Ever Seen on Craigslist (and Their Responses).

I will admit it. I am a sucker for snark. I especially love snarky websites. The really viral ones, like LOLCats, and Lamebook. I know it is not right to make fun of people, and I often feel pretty darn guilty about it, but sometimes I just can not help it. I am only human after all.

My husband knows my affinity for snark, so he knew this book would be right up my alley.

Basically, this author, Gary Fingercastle, used his evil genius to create fake (and completely ridiculous) listings on Craigslist, to see if people would respond. And boy, howdy, did they respond.

A few times, people may have questioned the legitimacy of the postings, but for every person who was suspicious, I would bet there were 10 responders who were not. Fingercastle varied the types of language used, types of postings placed, and used misspellings to blend in with the online community, so people would not connect all the posts to the same person. The whole thing was really a brilliant exercise in what people are willing to do, willing to buy, or willing to take if offered for free. My favorite postings included in the book were a request for someone to "live my life for 6 months", someone requesting to be made into a giant sandwich, and someone trying to give away a free cutout of Pauley Shore.

The book is lighthearted and hilarious, and an excellent reminder to: 1. not take things so seriously, and 2. be careful of that crap on Craigslist.

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