World Famous Comics: Who Cut the Cheese?: A Cutting Edge Way of Surviving Change by Shifting the Blame
Who Cut the Cheese?: A Cutting Edge Way of Surviving Change by Shifting the Blame
By: Mason Brown Publisher: Simon & Schuster Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Simon & Schuster Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 96 Publication Date: September 15, 2000
Who Cut the Cheese? uses a delightful little fable to encapsulate the fundamental rule of modern American management and the new economy: "Survive change by shifting blame."
The fable revolves around two malevolent rats and two spiteful "Punypeople" who find themselves trapped together in a maze, fighting over a dwindling supply of constantly moving cheese. Some characters adapt readily to this treacherous, shifting environment -- blaming the weak and overpowering the helpless. Others perish in horror, praying for death. Read this book and live!
Written for all ages, the story can be understood by even the youngest reader: The "maze"is a metaphor for life, and the "cheese" is a metaphor for whatever you desire in life -- be it worldly goods, spiritual well-being, or unspeakable sexual encounters too deviant even for the Internet.
The more advanced reader will also understand the secondary message of the book: "Resistance is futile." As soon as change happens, we must accept it immediately or suffer the consequences. This heavy-handed lesson is designed to engender unquestioning obedience to authority, and makes the book an ideal gift for subordinates.
Large companies would be well advised to give this book to each and every one of their employees, especially if they are considering a restructuring to bolster shareholder value. Extremely short, even including illustrations, the story takes less than an hour to read, but its unsettling conclusions on the nature of humanity should last a lifetime!
Gross This book is in poor humor. It is intended to be a comic parody of the book "Who Moved My Cheese." I found it to be gross and disgusting. Buyer Beware!!!
A Sophisticated Demolition of Corporate Values Mason Brown's parody only occasionally uses "toilet humor"; vulgarity is used no more than any other literary device in this short volume. Rather, the whole point of Brown's writing is to expose how extended and simple-minded allegories are used to smuggle into a conversation indefensible premises. Flatulence is only one of many unpleasant implications of the WHO STOLE MY CHEESE? allegory. Brown shows what would happen if people in real life fully accepted the premises of American corporate culture: cutthroat competition, the acceptance of any "change" authority hands out, and the cult of the CEO. The painful passages are not about gassy diets but at the end where the references to HEART OF DARKNESS as middle management jerks cut each other down and tear down civilization.
In addition to "vulgarity" and sophistication, there are nice subtle touches, such as sly references to real life corporate disasters like Long Term Capital and Swedish Match Company. Brown is listed as the author of fictional books teaching the same quick fix cutthroat lessons of corporate business for other parts of life; my favorite is: CRY WOLF AND WIN! HOW TO FALSELY ACCUSE RELATIVES OF MOLESTATION AND GAIN ATTENTION AND SYMPATHY. Brown shows us that such immoral tactics are the ultimate meaning of the Jack Welch Way.
WHO CUT THE CHEESE? is, in short, a brilliant morality tale for our times. By the way, someone should tell Amazon that the Forward's author, Krubenaker, is not a real person.
Crass, ugly. Don't spend your hard earned cash on this book. Yes, it is a parody of "Who Moved My Cheese". But buy this book only if you are looking to read juvenile bathroom humor, or worse, humor that is sexist and crass.
useless toilet humor a second star is given for the two times it made me chuckle. but if you're trying to decide wether to spend your 13 dollars on this book or in the diner down the street on a cheeseburger and a strawberry shake, opt for the cheeseburger.
unless you are a fan of fart jokes and toilet humor, which i haven't found funny since the age of 9, don't buy this book. there's simply not much there.
Brilliant! My boss forced me to read the original, and it practically killed me.
This book took some of the pain away (though not the recurring nightmares).
As for some reviewers charges of "crudeness" and ethnic stereotyping, I found Brown's coarser jokes to be a refreshingly politically incorrect tonic. It's also what I would expect from the managing editor of National Lampoon. Funny and edgy.
I also liked the parallels to "Heart of Darkness," and the progression into madness and death, but maybe that's reading too much into a parody book with a fart pun for a title.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tailipoe
Trevor
