Our Dumb World: Atlas of the Planet Earth, 73rd Edition

By Mark Polanzak

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After years of Onion compendia, it is impossible to laugh out loud while reading the satirical news source's latest reference book, Our Dumb World; Atlas of the Planet Earth, 73rd Edition. A soundless recognition of cleverness replaces the once appreciated guffaw. For those who have not encountered the Onion's brand of irreverent reportage humor, this atlas will entertain, and I can see a youngster jabbing a buddy in the ribs to read aloud a snippet. But maybe not even that.

Our Dumb World more closely resembles a reference book of tired stereotypes than a fresh atlas-platform for inventive lampoons. A longtime Onion reader will find interest in the game of predicting the jokes and gibes in store for each country. Round one: Will there be a joke about the holier-than-thou attitude of the Frenchmen? If you guessed no: you're wrong (drink two glasses of Bordeaux and smoke seven Gallois). If you guessed yes: you're in the money. The Onion calls France "one nation above God," which is, again, clever, but predictable. Round two: What will be the main focus of the Netherlands page? Yes, the section is rife with pot plants and tie-dye. Round three: Will Peter Jackson make an appearance on the New Zealand spread? So on and so forth.

However, the Onion does achieve new levels of shock value in its "Africa" section, while still relying on well-trodden jokes. Is it cutting-edge irreverence to show a photograph of children gathered around a dead boy, who has been half eaten by vultures, with the caption: "Some Congolese children meet up with an old friend for lunch," or simply gross? In this case, the joke is far less potent than the horror of the image. It's here that the book unwittingly threatens to read like an issue of AdBusters (a publication not well known for humor). A reader not versed in the atrocities that Africa has suffered may accidentally take Our Dumb World as a call to duty.

But isn't it the Onion's charge to find humor in any possible scenario, like the Daily Show, for example? Yes. Without the Onion pushing the envelope, we wouldn't know where terror finally overpowers humor. Unlike the Daily Show though, Our Dumb World is not current and can't be by form. This book is intended to sit on a coffee table for months to come. But the book already feels dated; it wouldn't have been fresh a decade ago. The Onion pulled every stereotype off the shelf and crammed it into this volume, laying to rest every "Switzerland is neutral; Italians like lovemaking; Canada is overshadowed by the United States" joke that the world thought everybody was already through with.

In the end, the Onion is just trying to make someone laugh, and that's not a crime even when rehashing some tired shit. The writers are not evil, despite betraying poor taste and occasionally crossing the grotesque line. Our Dumb World is a handsome volume with great layout, design and graphics. Plus the reference book is enormous, almost overwhelmingly comprehensive, cataloging everything, even the nations that the Onion calls "More Fucking Islands." As with the superior Our Dumb Century volume, the Onion team certainly spent a good deal of time and energy on Our Dumb World. This book will likely sit on the backs of generous toilets, and it may make someone chuckle or want to become a missionary. But it's just trying to be a funny thing. And it's just your 30 dollars.