My Goodness

A Cynic’s Short-Lived Search for Sainthood

by Joe Queenan

Hyperion, 208 pp., $21.95

Satirist Joe Queenan atones in his latest book for a lifetime of vicious attacks against pop-culture pretense. The results are predictable but amusing as the author backhands the self-congratulatory (Sting, Bono, Susan Sarandon, and Alec Baldwin), and pokes giant holes in virtue marketers (such as Tom’s of Maine, The Body Shop, and Ben and Jerry’s). Loaded down, however, by a slew of irreverent RAKs (Random Acts of Kindness) and SABs (Senseless Acts of Beauty), this high-concept affair does not succeed the way Queenan’s 1998 lowbrow odyssey Red Lobster, White Trash and the Blue Lagoon does. For those who prefer Queenan’s overhand smash, however, all is not lost. It just so happens that the prolific GQ contributor and regular Politically Incorrect guest also has released a new paperback. Confessions of a Cineplex Heckler is a blistering collection of film essays previously written for Movieline and The Guardian. In the title essay, Queenan is accosted during a screening of the film Alive — the true story of the 1975 Andes plane crash that forced survivors to eat the frozen flesh of the deceased — because he has yelled aloud, “Eat Vincent Spano first!” Heckler does not disappoint, and serves as a worthy companion to Queenan’s 1994 magnum opus, If You’re Talking to Me, Your Career Must Be in Trouble.

This article appears in February 18 • 2000.

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