I'll Go Home Then, It's Warm and Has Chairs. the Unpublished Emails.

David Thorne is a jerk.Granted, there are a lot of jerks out there making money off of their jerkiness. There are the boys from  Jackass . The main characters from  It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia  and  Arrested Development  and  The League  and  Archer  and  Seinfeld  and  Curb Your Enthusiasm . Tosh.0. The abysmally popular Tucker Max novels. There's even Steve Martin's  The Jerk , although he's less a jerk than an idiot. Not that the two aren't often synonymous.That's the real trademark of a jerk worth paying attention to: intelligence. And if Thorne is a jerk, he's at least a smart jerk. His first book (mostly) contained email exchanges he'd had with co-workers, online roustabouts, and folks who were otherwise just trying to do their jobs (mostly bill collectors). He approached these communiques with the subtle and absurdist wit of Monty Python channeling  John Swartzwelder . Or vice versa. They're a lot funnier if you believe that they're real, and after having read both of his books, I'm inclined to believe. If they're entirely fictional, then I'd be more impressed, although not nearly as amused.Much of  his first book  relied on knowing things about David, such as his coworkers' names and various inside jokes he had with regards to most of them. Certain people -- Simon, Holly, Shannon, Lucius, Thomas -- figure prominently in Thorne's life, but it takes a few reads to figure out how or why, at which point the jokes start to make a lot more sense. Of course, some of his more famous exchanges don't need a whole lot of backstory to work ("Missing Missy" is perhaps his most famous, and for good reason).The first book was also peppered with essays that weren't quite as funny as the emails. Written with a random, absurd, kitchen-sink approach, they're pretty much Thorne being as wacky as he can possibly be. At their best, they sound like some of Woody Allen's older stuff from The New Yorker. At their worst, they're repetitive jokes about how dumb he can make the narrator sound. Overall, Thorne's funnier when he's just being mean to what (I hope) are real people.This book is, I think, much better. For one thing, the ridiculous essays are gone, replaced with true-life tales of both his home life and his experiences with nearly cheating death. They show how well he can find the humor in almost anything without having to resort to bizarre non-sequiturs or wacky nonsense. If you like the wacky nonsense, he's included several picture stories (most about his group of cat friends) that are punchy and hilarious (the best is when the cops pull them over). There are a few pictures of formal notices, letters, and forms that are difficult to read on the Kindle, but they aren't completely illegible. Overall, it's a much better read than the first book, even if it does make David look even more like a jerk than the first book. I mean, I'd hate to be in his life, but I enjoy reading about others who aren't as fortunate.

The pictures on the Kindle look like they were resampled down to the native resolution of a 1987-model HP graphing calculator. But there are more diagrams of Simon than you can shake a stick at, and there are more cats than the previous book. So, on the whole, I would call it a book. Not the sort of book to curl up with next to a fireplace. More of a book to read after the electricity has been out for 6 hours due to a winter storm and your iPad's waning battery makes another round of Angry Birds too much of a gamble. In other words, a must-read for any fan of Thorne's web site, particularly if you haven't read all of his web site before. Just to be clear, there are a number of stories here that aren't on the web site, and they are worth the price of admission. But unless Simon moves to the states to torment David again at his day job, I fear the next book will be at least 30% cat cartoons, David's family recipes for whatever the hell Australians eat, and him trading emails with wealthy princes who need help getting money out of their bank.

There's a good chunk of material here that's been available on the 27b/6 website for some time, but just half the new material in the book would be worth the price of purchase. I laughed myself hoarse even on the re-reads. I think I'd kill the author if I ever had to work with him, but from a safe distance Thorne's narratives are eye-wateringly funny. I felt it got tepid toward the end, but that could have been because I tired myself out reading it in one marathon session - I just couldn't put it down. Fair warning - if you're turned off by cynicism (anyone who got defensive when they read my review title: that's you), even in it's most well-thought-out, satirical forms, you'll hate this book.

In these times it's good to have a laugh, and you can with David's emails. Highly recommend.

This book was amazing. From the moment I read the first page, to the second I closed the final chapter I was enthralled. David's seemingly endless ability to throw subtle quips and satire into his writings makes each email that much sweeter. I could read this man's literature for hours without feeling the need to pee, or stand up and stretch my legs.Unfortunately, the most I can give this review is a 5 out of 5. For a book this good, the score shouldn't be limited to a 1 digit number. If I had it my way, I'd rate it 100/10. Although that makes no sense, people would stop to see the odd rating and feel obligated to buy it to see why it got such an unusual score.In all seriousness though, buy it. It's really, really good.

I nearly died laughed, almost literally. I read some with my daughter-in-law, and we laughed until we were in tears and coughing our heads off.There is quite a bit of course language in the book, but it wouldn't be as funny if it was cleaned up. David Thorne must be one of the most irritating humans on earth to work with. (painting his co-worker's IPhone with liquid paper to make it white.) His creativity in coming up with new methods to torture the (usually) deserving, is both profound and impressive.Some years ago, John Cleese (Monty Python) did a video entitled, "How to Irritate People." David Thorne picks up where John Cleese leaves off.Thank you David for so much laughter!

....because a few of the illustrations, as in evaluation forms etc, aren't really all that readable on it and it doesn't enlarge worth a darn. I still gave it five stars because it is the first thing I have read in years that made me laugh out loud, repeatedly. If half of what is written is remotely true it's a wonder he is still alive but the book is hilarious. The only thing I'd previously read of Mr. Thorne's was the incident with the neighbors light. That made me laugh out loud too so I spent the money and got this book. I'm giving serious thought to giving hard copies to several people next Christmas.

I'll Go Home Then, it's Warm and Has Chairs is the new collection of David Thorne's stories, e-mails and correspondence with unwitting members of the public in which he drives them to the brink of despair. If you've read his previous book or been on his website you'll know what to expect as it is all in the same vein of dark humour.The entries don't take long to read but the stories are all cringe inducing or laugh out loud funny (or both) and have a real page-turning quality to them as you wan't to see what happens next.I knocked a star off the score as I'd seen a fair ammount of the content before on his website and I felt it was somewhat padded out.Overall, a great collection of sardonic humour from David Thorne and a must for fans of his 'work'.

The author would be the first to admit that this book is a collection of already published anecdotes and email exchanges. He openly admits to being lazy but when he does put the effort in there are glimpses of genius.There's not much here that you won't find in the original book "The internet is a playground" or on Thornes website (can't recall the name or be bothered to Google it)I purchased this book knowing all this because I like free thinking and humour and I paid the money in the same way I occasionally throw money to a busker, because it struck a chord and made me smile.

After reading the webpage for David Thorne I felt compelled to order the book, and ordered a few copies for relatives. Despite not having the finesse of a more established author, there is something about it that just makes it work and certainly difficult to put down. This is a book that you will want to keep reading and will (dare I admit) be slightly gutted when you enevitably reach the end, once read you too are likely to become hooked on the David Thorne bug so luckily there is sufficient content on his webpage to hold you over until the next book.I would recommend this product.

Brilliant book, would give it 5 stars if it wasn't for some of the material being available on David Thorne's website. In my opinion there's enough new stories and emails to justify the price of this book.If you've read his website, this book is more of the same style of emails and experiences from David Thorne. If you like that, then you'll like this.Would love to be able to respond to emails in the same spirit as the author, but doubt I would remain employed for long.

Having visited David Thorne's website many times I knew what to expect but this book went beyond my expectations. True, some of the articles are on the website but I could read them time and time again and never get bored. The story about replacing the picture of the dog with a photo of Liam Neeson still makes me chuckle. David Thorne's use of language and analogies in his email exchanges is the true star of the show though. He never resorts to threats or intimidation, just a clever use of words, as he tries to coax his adversaries to see his point of view. By the way the title is explained in the foreword but you will have to buy it to find out.