5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin In The Mouth Mini-Review

Author: The Oatmeal
Release Date: March 1, 2011

Pages: 160

Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Most Appropriate For Ages: Adult
Where I Got It: For review from Netgalley

In Matthew Inman's 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth (And Other Useful Guides), samurai sword-wielding kittens and hamsters that love .50-caliber machine guns commingle with a cracked out Tyrannosaur that is extremely hard to potty train. Bacon is better than true love and you may awake in the middle of the night to find your nephew nibbling on your toes.
Inman creates these quirky scenes for theoatmeal.com, which launched in July 2009 and already has more than 82 million page views. In fact, every 15 to 30 seconds, someone Googles one of theoatmeal.com's creations. Now, 60 of Inman's comic illustrations and life-bending guides are presented in full-color inside 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth (And Other Useful Guides). Consider such handy advice as:

• 4 Reasons to Carry a Shovel at All Times
• 6 Types of Crappy Hugs
• 8 Ways to Tell if Your Loved One Plans to Eat You
• 17 Things Worth Knowing About Your Cat
• 20 Things Worth Knowing About Beer

While possibly offensive to dolphin lovers everywhere, 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin In The Mouth is hilarious. I love theoatmeal.com, and this collection of comics did not disappoint. Loyal fans of the site will recognize a few favorites, as well as some new instant classics. Whenever I wasn't laughing while reading this (which wasn't very often), I was either about to laugh or learning new interesting facts (did you know that vikings thought that when they went to heaven there'd be a goat there waiting to squirt beer into their mouths with his udders?). 5RTPADITM was a quick read that I really enjoyed.

Book Report:

Animation: Good, and it definitely added to the comics.

Writing: Hilarious.

How kid friendly is it? The fact that it's a comic book shouldn't make you forget that this is definitely more aimed at adults.

Should I read it? Yes!

Overall: