the Bum Joke Book: A Review

This book is absolute garbage. Just kidding, I love it. It’s got a shallow pretense of a stocking stuffer or something to read in a bar, which it technically is, but there's so much more. For the true jokesters, the ones who can leave political correctness at the door, it’s a beautiful love story that breaks down into five sections: General Life, Food, Women, Baltimore Bums and New York Bums.


Michael Petruzzo and Bronwen Lam team up to CRACK you up. They need not write a chapter regarding Religion.

General Life acts as the book’s prologue, getting the readers warmed up for bigger, better, deeper jokes. The material about Santa Claus is gold. Rev your engines, bitches, the punchlines are funny AND true! And sometimes sad. :’(

The Food part not only illustrates the hypothetical bum’s cuisine, duh, but also jokes about hygiene and education more than the other chapters.... um except Gen Life.

Women, the third chapter, is a tangent about family and modern technology. There is a stressful/frustrating tone in Women, more so than the rest of the book. The punchlines in this section must be shouted.

The Bmore and NY Bum jokes are specifically designed to make its residents laugh and nod, so read these and screw you if you don’t live in either city. ;)



PS: When I mention the book’s “shallow" facade, it is not my intention to say the bar is an inappropriate place to read the BJB. Duh, I read my borrowed copy at Trophy. Also, I think I’m supposed to mention Nathan Hagy, since Michael considers him an inspiration. Nate hangs out at the public library to check his email and save money so he can afford to drink again. Oh and before I forget, I feel it’s necessary to bring a little (just A LITTLE) attention to Urban Dictionary’s definitions of Baltimorean. Google it.


Exclusive interview with authors coming soon.