When I was in Portland, up on NE 23rd Ave, I was in some store when I came across the rather provocatively named ‘Fuck this book.’ I always seem to run into interestingly named books in Portland. In the summer you might remember I posted about finding a book called ‘c*nt’ (I don’t mind swearing – I just can’t bring myself to say that word) and ‘The stripper guide to looking great naked.’ But this latest book topped both of them because it made me laugh before I even picked it up.

The book is the creation of a designer and photographer from LA called Bodhi Oser. The book is very simple, juvenile and profane some might say, and in truth it would take some arguing to defend against that claim. Basically Oser has taken a bunch of photographs of various different signs mischievously altering their message by using stickers with the word ‘fuck’ on them. It sounds very stupid, and it is, but right there in the shop as I flicked through the book I laughed right out loud a few times.

In answer to the rather apt question of “What the fuck?” Oser said “I don’t know, just had the idea one day and thought it would be funny. So I printed out stickers in a bunch of different sizes, took them everywhere with me, and started taking photos. It quickly turned into an obsession, and I ended up with a book.”

The author is quite open about the fact there is nothing clever or artistic behind it. Among my favorite signs were ‘Please fuck the cashier before pumping gas’ and ‘Fuck you for not smoking’ though it’s fair to say that you really have to see them to find them as funny as I did.

In fact it would appear that there will be another book, titled I would guess, ‘Fuck this book too.’ Oser has created a website at fuckthiswebsite.com where anyone can submit their own defaced picture for consideration.

I didn’t actually buy the book, but I did tell my brother about it via email that night. He then hunted it down on Amazon and sent it to me as a birthday gift along with some vouchers, for Amazon, not the other thing! So it now sits in my lounge where it raises an eyebrow then many a laugh from my visitors. Even my conservative parents found the book amusing!

Upon seeing the book my friend David then said he’d email me a picture of a memorial stone he had seen in Paris last year while he was looking for old departed relatives headstones. I know we shouldn’t laugh, but sometimes you just can’t help but it. ‘Fuck this book’ won’t go down as a classic by any standards I’m sure. But it raised a few laughs with my friends and I, and to that end I think it served its purpose.

—

Fuck this book at Amazon.com
Fuck this website