God Does Have a Sense of Humor
by Rob Ballister
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Book Summary Information
Author: Rob BallisterEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-09-07
ISBN: 0595363431
Number of pages: 248
Publisher: iUniverse, Inc.
Book Reviews of God Does Have a Sense of Humor
Book Review: Rob Ballister Does Have a Sense of Humor Too!
Summary: 5 Stars
I came to Rob Ballister's book "God Does Have a Sense of Humor" looking for a book that would lift the spirit, though not necessarily mine at the moment, and I found it. As a writer who comes from a family of cancer survivors, I know from personal experience, as does Ballister, himself a cancer survivor, that the best prescription for eradicating disease from the mind and the body for as long as you can is humor. And humor is something "God Does Have a Sense of Humor" is chocked full of.
In his chapter entitled "Dating, Boxing and the Eerie Similarities Between the Two" (What? You didn't know that they were similar?), Ballister writes, "If there was a category entitled `Most Consecutive Worst Dates,' Guinness would have beaten my door down years ago." Mine too, Rob!
"Roxanne and I," Ballister writes, "had a great time. She said that I wasn't superficial, that I was caring and understanding. She said that she felt like she could tell me anything. Then she told me that she used to be a man."
We've all worked with people who talk incessantly. People we wish would just get out of our faces so we could get back to the task at hand, Rob Ballister's being a U.S. Naval officer. In the chapter entitled "The Return of Mr. Chang," Ballister writes, "...I never get much done when he is around. Mr. Chang came to my desk one Tuesday morning and started a conversation that ended the following Thursday afternoon."
In the chapter titled "I Knew Enough Spanish Just to be Dangerous," Ballister's writing turns serious, albeit with a twist at the end that will make you smile. He recounts his first deployment overseas as a Naval officer, to the land of the bullfights, Spain:
"For those of you who picture bullfighting as the ultimate confrontation between man and beast, where the brave matador faces down the heaving, pawing bull, stop reading. The truth might break your hearts. What really happens is that while the matador is still pulling on his really tight pants (how does he move in those things?), the bull is being worked over by some seven other junior matadors. After that, two armored horses with mounted picadores (literally, "those who ride the armored horses") run and poke and prod the bull almost to exhaustion. Then the matador comes in for the final kill and all the glory. In Spain, it is actually impolite to cheer for the bull. This is one reason everyone is so happy at bullfights. They must cheer for the matador, and he never loses."
Whether you are looking to be spirited because you or a loved one is ill, just looking for a chuckle and a smile, or to reaffirm your opinion that bullfighting is wrong (!), I recommend "God Does Have a Sense of Humor" to you highly. He certainly does, and Rob Ballister, USN, proves it in this book.
Marc Phillip Yablonka
Author
Distant War: Recollections of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia
(2nd edition soon to be published by Stealth Books)
Summary of God Does Have a Sense of Humor
Author Rob Ballister delivers a touching and entertaining portrait of his journey through dating, growing up in New Jersey, and surviving cancer. Along the way, he learns that God Does Have a Sense of Humor. Follow him:Through surgery?My understanding was that the doctor, while hopping up and down on one foot and singing the national anthem, was going to remove my lymph nodes using a butter knife, a hacksaw, and some 10W-30 motor oil.
Into the confessional?There sat Father Riener, who was technically old enough to have been one of the original apostles. As I began reciting my list, Father began falling asleep. Being only in the fourth grade, I did exactly what I did at home when my younger sister fell asleep. I kicked him.
Through family Christmas traditions?That first year, Dad put up a wreath and Mom put up a tree, and things were pretty much low key that season. Then I was born, and as I grew, so did Dad?s commitment to having the house visible from orbiting spacecraft.
With an incredibly wry sense of humor, Ballister offers a hilarious look at life, guaranteed to make you smile!
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