Two friends from college, Andrew Barlow and Kent Roberts, wrote a book called A Portrait of Yo Mama As a Young Man that was just published last week. I haven't read it yet but check the except here for a sample. (Not Safe For People Drinking Milk.) E.g., "Yo mama’s CD rack is 90 percent those chocolate CDs her sister’s company makes."
The book's web page is [no longer] here, and an interview with the authors is [no longer] here.
Kent made his name on campus through such acts as his 24-hour one-man standup comedy event, his bid to become dean of the faculty while still a student, and of course his infamous invitation to the 2000.5 Commencement. Andrew has had three humor pieces published in The New Yorker, including one entitled "All I Really Need to Know I Learned by Having my Arms Ripped Off by a Polar Bear." I used to have functional links to them but the powers at The New Yorker have rendered them nonfunctional. [Update: One is functional again.]
I also did a little work with them on Brown's humor rag, The Brown Jug. Check some of their archived material here. [Update: link broken. New issues here.]
update:
After checking my referrer log, I noticed that someone came across this blog post by Googling "andrew barlow really had his arms ripped off." I mentioned it to Andrew, and he suggest that the, well, misdirected web surfer may have been looking for this.
update 2:
Kent submitted the book to be considered for a Pulitzer Prize. He sweetened the deal with a case of Pabst Blue Ribbon delivered to the office of the committee chairman. You can read his application letter here. He ends on a high note: "You should know that I am not just good at putting words together. I am also good at the physical act of writing. Do you have a penmanship award? Is there a separate application for it? Do I need to send more beer, or can you and the board split yours with the penmanship people?"
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