Why We Don't Suck

October 9, 2017
Actor and comedian Leary (Why We Suck) is predictably profane and unbridled in this collection of caustic political diatribes—“It took less than one decade for us to go from a family of bipartisan patriots to a feuding bunch of asinine finger pointers.” His riffs on gun control and Trump’s Make America Great Again slogan harken back to his gruff stand-up persona. He is at his acerbic and clever best later in the book, when he dispenses with equal-opportunity bashing and goes where his comedic instincts take him. At times Leary relies on oversimplified stereotypes (“Libertards versus Conservadicks”) and forces solutions to advance his political thesis (“Let’s literally turn the election INTO a contest”). He finds plenty of ripe targets for mocking through an exploration of America’s national cursing habits and hypothetical tweets from earlier presidents (Thomas Jefferson: “What happens in the Big House stays in the Big House #OnceYouGoSlave”). He shares hilarious backstage stories about meeting Rod Stewart and Ron Wood (the stage crew replaced their cups of vodka with water before their wives came back stage) and Beyoncé (who mistook him for singer Bryan Adams), and wearing one of Keira Knightley’s dresses. Leary succeeds in conveying his unique brand of twisted optimism.