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This page is the original source of this review, though you may also find it on Amazon or other sites. | ||
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Book Review of: Lorin Lee vs. the IRS
We recommend Lorin Lee Vs. The IRS--Round 1, if you would like a few laughs over oneof the saddest ideas Congress ever foisted on the American people. Click on the image to order or find more books like this. |
| Review
of Lorin Lee vs. the IRS--Round 1, a collection of cartoons that
captures the mean-spirited nature of the world's #1 terrorist
organization. Reviewer: Mark Lamendola This book captures both sides of "The IRS experience," with clever and humorous cartoons. Some of the cartoons show examples of the absurd tax dodges people try to get by with. Most of the cartoons portray the mean-spirited, soulless way the IRS tortures, terrorizes, and tramples American citizens. And it makes you laugh in the process! The book is funny because its portrayals of the absurd are so accurate. As voters, we actually put up with this abuse, instead of demanding that Congress do the job they were elected to do. If you're not going to demand that Congress fix the problem, then buy this book and at least have a good laugh about it.
One method Lee uses quite humorously is he starts with an actual situation and simply expands it to its logical conclusion. For example, we all know how a very small tax debt can grow monumentously in just a few years. The IRS routinely violates the Statute of Limitations and gets by with it. So, an overlooked $50 tax debt incurred when you're 18 can come back to haunt you just before retirement and cost you everything you have. Lee illustrates this by showing a homeless man in tattered clothing being told by an auditor, "With interest, penalties, and fines, your tax bill comes to $250,000. Will that be cash or check?" Do you remember the 1984 IRS kidnapping, at gunpoint, of toddlers at a Michigan day care center? That came to mind with one cartoon that showed an IRS agent in a daycare center. In this cartoon, he's holding up three pieces of candy, while a baby cries in the background (taking candy from a baby). He's wearing a button that says, "IRS trainee." His trainer is saying, "Congratulations. You have passed the first part of your agent application exam." There's a New IRS and Old IRS cartoon that hits dead center. And you'll snicker when you see Santa's audit. Lee explores the tax plight of military people, too--they serve their country, then get "served" by the IRS. Some thanks! If you have enjoyed Doonesbury or Dilbert because they hit the bulls eye, you will enjoy Lorin A. Lee vs. the IRS for the same reason. Whether you hate the Infernal Revenue Service or the Eternal Revenue Service, you will love the jabs taken at this useless and ridiculous organization. | |
About these reviewsYou may be wondering why the reviews here are any different from the hundreds of "reviews" posted online. Notice the quotation marks? I've been reviewing books for sites like Amazon for many years now, and it dismays me that Amazon found it necessary to post a minimum word count for reviews. It further dismays me that it's only 20 words. If that's all you have to say about a book, why bother? And why waste everyone else's time with such drivel? As a reader of such reviews, I feel like I am being told that I do not matter. The flippancy of people who write these terse "reviews" is insulting to the authors also, I would suspect. This sound bite blathering taking the place of any actual communication is increasingly a problem in our mindless, blog-posting Webosphere. Sadly, Google rewards such pointlessness as "content" so we just get more if this inanity. My reviews, contrary to current (non) standards, actually tell you about the book. I always got an "A" on a book review I did as a kid (that's how I remember it anyhow, and it's my story so I'm sticking to it). A book review contains certain elements and has a logical structure. It informs the reader about the book. A book review may also tell the reader whether the reviewer liked it, but revealing a reviewer's personal taste is not necessary for an informative book review. About your reviewer
About reading styleNo, I do not "speed read" through these. That said, I do read at a fast rate. But, in contrast to speed reading, I read everything when I read a book for review. Speed reading is a specialized type of reading that requires skipping text as you go. Using this technique, I've been able to consistently "max out" a speed reading machine at 2080 words per minute with 80% comprehension. This method is great if you are out to show how fast you can read. But I didn't use it in graduate school and I don't use it now. I think it takes the joy out of reading, and that pleasure is a big part of why I read. |
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