C R A P

Crap. We all have it. Filling drawers. Overflowing bins and baskets. Proudly displayed or stuffed in boxes in basements and garages. Big and small. Metal, fabric, and a whole lot of plastic. So much crap. Abundant cheap stuff is about as American as it gets. And it turns out these seemingly unimportant consumer goods offer unique insights into ourselves—our values and our desires. In Crap: A History of Cheap Stuff in America, Wendy A. Woloson takes seriously the history of objects that are often cynically-made and easy to dismiss: things not made to last; things we don't really need; things we often don't even really want. Woloson does not mock these ordinary, everyday possessions but seeks to understand them as a way to understand aspects of ourselves, socially, culturally, and economically: Why do we—as individuals and as a culture—possess these things? Where do they come from? Why do we want them? And what is the true cost of owning them? Woloson tells the history of crap from the late eighteenth century up through today, exploring its many categories: gadgets, knickknacks, novelty goods, mass-produced collectibles, giftware, variety store merchandise. As Woloson shows, not all crap is crappy in the same way—bric-a-brac is crappy in a different way from, say, advertising giveaways, which are differently crappy from commemorative plates. Taking on the full brilliant and depressing array of crappy material goods, the book explores the overlooked corners of the American market and mindset, revealing the complexity of our relationship with commodity culture over time. By studying crap rather than finely made material objects, Woloson shows us a new way to truly understand ourselves, our national character, and our collective psyche. For all its problems, and despite its disposability, our crap is us.

Crap teaches which types of crap are useful (and which aren't), how to avoid crap when possible, deal with it when it can’t be avoided, and how you can flush it out of your life. You'll learn how to break the crap-cycle once and for all with quotes from noted crap-coping experts like Homer Simpson and Kurt Vonnegut, and even get a few little-known biological and scientific facts about--yeah, you guessed it--literal crap.

From potty-training expert and social worker Jamie Glowacki, who’s already helped over half a million families successfully toilet train their preschoolers, comes a newly revised and updated guide that’s “straight-up, parent-tested, and funny to boot” (Amber Dusick, author of Parenting: Illustrated with Crappy Pictures). Worried about potty training? Let Jamie Glowacki, potty-training expert, show you how it’s done. Her six-step, proven process to get your toddler out of diapers and onto the toilet has already worked for tens of thousands of kids and their parents. Here’s the good news: your child is probably ready to be potty trained EARLIER than you think (ideally, between 20–30 months), and it can be done FASTER than you expect (most kids get the basics in a few days—but Jamie’s got you covered even if it takes a little longer). If you’ve ever said to yourself: -How do I know if my kid is ready? -Why won’t my child poop in the potty? -How do I avoid “potty power struggles”? -How can I get their daycare provider on board? -My kid was doing so well—why is he regressing? -And what about nighttime?! Oh Crap! Potty Training can solve all of these (and other) common issues. This isn’t theory, you’re not bribing with candy, and there are no gimmicks. This is real-world, from-the-trenches potty training information—all the questions and all the answers you need to do it once and be done with diapers for good.

Unhappiness stalks us all, from that first painful slap in the delivery room to the final sorrow of a graveside service. Rather than attempt to alleviate or rise above life's trauma, the Crap Hound Big Book of Unhappiness instead enthusiastically catalogues popular culture s attempts to illustrate, channel and finally exploit our anxieties. Between a brief introduction and the end credits, the Crap Hound Big Book of Unhappiness is pure vintage 20th century imagery, carefully collected from old catalogues, advertising, obscure books, and found ephemera.

Offers a window into the vanity and silliness of almost every decade as expressed by the ultimate status symbol of the car, showcasing the cheapest, tackiest, and most mechanically inept vehicles built from the 1960s to the 1990s.

A humorous look at what happens when taxidermy goes terribly wrong, by the founder of the hit website crappytaxidermy.com. A relaxed toad enjoying a smoke and a brew. A cat with eerily flexible front legs. A smiling lion with receding gums. Whether you choose to laugh or cringe at these spectacularly bad attempts at taxidermy, you won't be able to tear your eyes away from the curiosities inside. This volume brings together the very best of the worst (along with a DIY "Stuff Your Own Mouse" lesson by an Insect Preparator from the American Museum of Natural History), showcasing the most perverse yet imaginative anatomical reconstructions of the animal kingdom you'll ever see.

Nobody knows craps like "Mr. Joe." In this groundbreaking book, he shows you how to walk away from a crap table a winner. His knowledge about the random numbers game we call craps is astonishing.

A ''...Day in the life'' or should I say a ''...Shit in the day'' of our writer, the book chronicles the days events into a succsinct package. These are slice of life ''snippets'', while performing the duty on the throne, that the author has accumulated over the years. Some are more poignant than others, some are cruel, some are sweet while others are vicious, while all are nasty to begin with anyway, ha ha! But they''re almost always funny! Some have a political undertone while others are specific to the job in hand or should I say, more precisely, the job on the bowl. A subtitle used in these ''e-mails from the edge'' on almost every page is SOS., very apropos, don''t you agree?