It's like Punk'd for the Interweb

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you hit “reply” to those Nigerian e-mail scams to strike up a conversation with the sender? Have you ever thought about responding to a classified ad, just to harass the ad placer in an outlandish way? Does the idea of pushing people’s buttons via the anonymity of e-mail appeal to you? Do you just like laughing at stuff that’s funny? If so, David Earthman might be the kind of guy you’d want to have a few beers with. And his book, E-mails from Hell, might be the kind of book you’d enjoy.

Using his crass online alter-ego, “William Wyndell,” Earthman spent the last few years compiling hundreds of e-mail exchanges with unsuspecting strangers ranging from college students looking for roommates, to bands searching for drummers, to people selling lizards, to online scam artists and everyone in between. The best of these often cringe-worthy conversations are now recorded in book form for your reading pleasure.

Admittedly, some of the e-mails in the book fall a bit flat in our opinion, but others are pretty freaking hilarious. At any rate, it’s interesting to see just how much abuse people will tolerate if they think they’re going to make a buck or two. Yeah, it’s cruel. It’s even a bit juvenile. But it’s funny. As the author himself writes, “It’s nice to finally have the no-brainer of all reads – one that requires very little brainpower, yet will provide humor and laughter time and time again.” Those of us with little brainpower to spare couldn’t agree more.

Earthman, who lives in Austin, will be at BookPeople on Sunday afternoon celebrating the release of E-mails from Hell. Attendees will have a chance to win Spam blocker software for keeping your inbox free from unwanted e-mails (unless, like Earthman, you need them for your next book). Bring in the strangest classified ad you can find, and maybe you can supply the author with his next victim….

E-mails from Hell Release Party
Sunday, July 1st
BookPeople
3pm – 5pm