New Layers of the Onion Unpeeled

Dispatches from the Tenth Circle—the newest Onion compilation—delivers all of the uncannily mundane humor which has made the newspaper wildly popular.

Some have feared that the paper’s independent midwestern spirit (it was started in Wisconsin) would die when its founders moved it to New York, signed film deals and reportedly discussed TV deals with HBO and NBC.

But the Onion, while perhaps a sell-out, still has its edge.

Unlike some so-called humor publications—the Lampoon, a Sorrento Square semi-secret social organization which used to occasionally publish a magazine, definitely springs to mind—the Onion is readily accessible to anyone and everyone living in America today.

In a stunning mix of right-on, punchy stories, this compilation delivers social criticism with headlines like from “Republicans, Dadaists Declare War on Art” to “Lab Rabbit Strongly Recommends Cover Girl Waterproof Mascara for Sensitive Eyes.” These stories hit us where we live, with what we condone, the problems we have and never really get around to solving. It is a biting parody of ourselves.

The Onion’s format as a newspaper also offers a sly critique of the formulaic constructions that comprise a modern paper, where content is sometimes contrived for content. For example, the “Point-Counterpoint” section shows how clearly inappropriate this supposedly controversy-raising section can be. Paired offerings in this section included “We Must Do Everything We Can For The Children”—“Children, Schmildren” and “You The Man”—“No, You The Man.”

While the edge hasn’t gone from the Onion, in some places it may be too sharp for good taste. Headlines such as “Fun Toy Banned Because of Three Stupid Dead Kids” and “Loved Ones Recall Local Man’s Cowardly Battle With Cancer,” provoke that horrible smirk-shudder reaction, and the book might be better had they been left out.

Still, the Onion’s genius lies in its ability to stand on the edge of appropriate, look at our everyday lives and say the thing that we do not say—and they succeed with flying colors.

In their amazingly funny, but still mostly tasteful, issue about the events of Sept. 11, articles such as “God Angrily Clarifies ‘Don’t Kill’ Rule” and “Not Knowing What Else To Do, Woman Bakes American-Flag Cake” perfectly point out the convoluted nature of killing in the name of God and the feebleness of our well-intentioned patriotic response to terror.

Clearly no one, not even God, is safe from the jokes of the Onion. But its humor gives us a new perspective on ourselves, and some laughs, even at a time when sadness dominates.

DISPATCHES FROM THE TENTH CIRCLE: THE BEST OF THE ONION

edited by Robert Siegel

Three Rivers Press

174 pp., $16