The Ball Washer

Presto!: How I Made Over 100 Pounds Disappear and Other Magical Tales - Penn Jillette 5/5 stars




                                                       

     I received a copy of this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Problem was, I had some tablet issues, but once they were resolved I couldn't find the book anywhere. I did manage to find it and here is my review of Presto!

     If you're looking for a how to book on dieting you're going to be disappointed by Jillette's book. What we have is the story of a fat fuck (his words not mine) suddenly losing over a hundred pounds, and not a book telling you how to do it because the way in which he did it is batshit insane! I wasn't looking to lose weight anyway, so that part doesn't bother me, but I wanted to see how he lost the weight, so I got what I wanted out of the book. The book is an amusing, vulgar journey so if you're aren't familiar with Penn's style he sometimes comes off crude, but it's funny. Who knew dieting could be so much fun? There are times I felt as if I was reading the ramblings of a lunatic who would have renounced the majority of this on his own show called Bullshit, but it's all real. The new Penn is lean, mean, and could have an unhealthy addiction to Tobasco sauce.


    Penn tells you not to follow any diet, including this one without consulting a doctor first and there's a reason for that. This was a fat man losing a great amount of weight in a pretty short time which means that all the medication he was once on to keep him alive were now killing him. He also began to get lightheaded and he started losing his hair, and let's go ahead and talk about the two weeks he only ate potatoes because it seems insane, but Penn lost the weight, so we know for him it worked. As you read it you feel as if he's sitting in the same room talking to you. He's honest and tries to scientifically explain how this all works but he ends up fucking it up.


      As a book about one man's journey from fat fuck to skinny it was a great book. I wasn't looking for dieting tips, or a book on dieting so I wasn't pissed off, nor was I offended by Penn's vulgarity or atheism. He doesn't treat you like an idiot. He wants you to read his story, but it's his story so he's presented the only way he knows how. Will I read more books written by Jillete? Hell yeah, he's entertaining as hell even if he eats weird food.