I loved this book! Many of the haiku are laugh-out-loud funny (if you find sarcasm and snark plus wordplay and pessimism funny). I plan on getting it for my library and reading it aloud to whoever is nearby.

I really enjoyed this book while I was reading it. It was clever, funny, cutting. And it has some Haikus from some famous and funny comedians. That said, I think the impact of a comedic Haiku is blunted in the age of Twitter. The syllable limit is not the same as a character limit, but the search for short, clever, punchy, surprising jokes is very similar. So this was a fun collection, but I think it has a similar half-life to that of a tweet, and, similar to tweets, a week after reading as I write this review I can't remember a single poem.

This collection was
Quite fun but insubstantial.
Eating Salad Drunk

Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for access to this arc.

While the drawings are cute, unfortunately I found the haikus very uneven. Overall, I just didn't enjoy them much and didn't finish the book. DNF

There’s something about haikus. They’re either brilliant, or they feel like they’re written by a third grader. There’s hardly a middle ground. There were a handful in each category that I was like “OOH YUP!” - but unfortunately, many were a miss for me.

Entertaining & super quick read as everything is a haiku. Most are pretty funny & made me laugh out loud. If you're looking for quick comedy to read, this is for you. Thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

This was cute but ultimately not as funny as I expected. Many of the haikus struck me as obvious — which likely isn’t fair, since I know how hard it is to write with very clear guardrails.

That said, here are a few that actually had me laughing out loud:

“I order five books
While I am reading one book
I then read no books.”
—Ian Fidance

“Therapy’s not cheap
But neither are the weighted
Plush sloths I buy drunk.”
—Sierra Katow

“When I hear the word
Algorithm I picture
Al Gore swing dancing.”
—Giulia Rozzi

“Not listening is
Crucial if you’re going to
Be right all the time.”
—Rosebud Baker

“Mimosa is French
For ‘drunk girls crying before
Noon on a Sunday’.”
—Giulia Rozzi

“They tried to make me
Go to rehab, and I said
Yeah, you’re right, good call.”
—Dave Holmes

And apparently, the first-ever written haiku, which wow, why didn’t I learn about this in my college-level writing courses:

“Even at the time
When my father lay dying
I still kept farting.”
—Yamazaki Sókan, a Buddhist monk



Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the advance copy!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read and review.

Comedians writing haiku poetry. What's not to love?

Short and witty poems
Make me so happy to be
Short and witty myself

I found this book to be hilarious as each author’s voice really came across in their submission. It was such a light hearted read and i really enjoyed it.

I always thought Haiku were meant to be thoughtful, concise, philosophical and wise expressions which follow a specific pattern. Turns out that they were originally created to express humor. Who knew?!?

Gabe Henry has collected hundreds of Haiku from comedians, and they made me laugh out loud! How fun! How refreshing! It's been a tough 2021, and this book brought back my laughter and joy. Thank you - I needed that!

My sincere gratitude to St. Martin's Griffin for permitting me to access an ARC via NetGalley. All opinions are my own and are freely given. The book is scheduled for publication 2/22/22. I hope you'll read a copy and laugh as well!

Eating Salad Drunk is an edited haiku anthology by comedians on the subject of "screen time," "food," "friends & family," "modern romance," "the struggle," "nature [calling]," "entertainment," "words of wisdom," and "self love & loathing." Notable contributors include: Jerry Seinfeld, Mike Birbiglia, Maria Bamford, Margaret Cho, Aubrey Plaza, Ray Romano, and Chris Gethard. There a quite a few gems in the 112 pages, but many of the poems feel a bit underdeveloped and are centered about the tired "internet bad" theme.

Some got a laugh, for example:

"My sleep-tracking app
Says I lose the most sleep when
I check my sleep app."

"If I stop eating
Sugar, would I ever stop
Talking about it?"

"Three in the morning
Refrigerator's humming.
Must not know the words."

"When my Wi-Fi says
It cannot connect I'm like
Are you my father?"

Some felt a bit flat, for example:

"The military
Is training teens through TikTok
For the dance army."

Genuinely, reading this feels a lot like scrolling the Twitter feed, and I don't think that's particularly outside of what they were going for, but it amounts to stumbling across a few gems per chapter and the rest of it being just not as good or engaging.

I did love a few if the haikus, and another handful were pretty funny, but I think the way this was curated was a miss - there's jokes about not understanding TikTok and starting a TikTok account just a few haikus from each other, there's some very fresh takes right along side pretty obviously reworked Twitter and/or Tumblr posts and some takes that feel very "old man yells at cloud". It may be that I'm too on the internet, or even just too young, to be the audience here -- it it may be that a lot of it just felt tired.

Also, I'm not sure what purpose including a chunk of the haikus in the forward and/or introduction was supposed to have, but there's just not enough content in this book to repeat like that. It was strange to see them later in the book, and since they're meant to be jokey, they fell a little flat.

Gems - two faves I want to highlight, certainly not the only good haikus in the book, but the only ones I screenshotted to keep for later

Three in the morning
Refrigerator's humming.
Must not know the words.
- Laura Silverman

Thought I saw Groucho.
Moustache, glasses, funny walk.
Close, but no cigar.
-Elayne Boosler

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

This was a really fun read! Eating Salad Drunk is a collection of Haikus written by comedians, and the profits go to “Comedy Gives Back.”

The Haikus were very entertaining. It was great to read something that was simply funny and didn’t require a ton of thinking. Every one of them made me smile, and a handful of them even made me audibly laugh. Even though I didn’t recognize all of the comedians, they were all very funny!

It was a very quick read, but it would be a great book to keep around on a coffee table. Pictures are scattered throughout, so it makes for the perfect gift, even for people who may not love reading.

Having girl problems? Take comfort knowing you have Jay Z’s sympathies. —SCOTT ROGOWSKY


A collection of haikus written by comedians, This was a light fast read that I enjoyed more than I thought I would.

Haikus are fun. The ones in this book are funny. My favorite chapters were Food and Friends & Family.

In order not to overdose, I had to read a few pages per day instead of all at once.

I recommend you not read the lengthy introduction at first; save that for later.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for along me to read this. I’ll be back to re-read the haikus!

This book was such a fun book to read! The haikus were clever and I couldn't stop giggling. I loved how all the haikus were so true-to-life and relatable. I would love to have this book on my coffee table to re-read!

Initial response: This book is a comedic genius! It’s wit and real life scenarios will empathize with anyone going through similar situations.

Afterwards, I felt like this was the best kind of poetry I ever read because it wasn't meant to be taken too seriously. It was a lighthearted, funny read.

While Haiku purists may occasionally cringe, if you're a Haiku purist what are you really doing with your life anyway?

Gabe Henry's "Eating Salad Drunk: Haikus for the Burnout Age by Comedy Greats" is a weird and wonderful joy from beginning to end.

"Eating Salad Drunk" is a quick read. We are talking about Haiku, after all.

"Eating Salad Drunk" is the kind of book idea that comes buzzing into your mind after your fifth Starbucks of the day or after your third late-night bender in a row leaves you hallucinating little green gnomes dancing on your forehead.

A normal mind would never think of "Eating Salad Drunk."

Apparently, Gabe Henry is not normal.

The same could be said for a good number of the comedy greats, some incredibly well known and others of the "I've heard that name somewhere" variety, who've chosen to enthusiastically participate in this short but entertaining book in which these comedy greats tackle haiku in a variety of subjects such as :

-Modern Romance
-Friends & Family
-Screentime
-Nature Calls
-Food
-Entertainment
-The Struggle is Real
-Words of Wisdom, and
-Self Love & Loathing

The results are often hilarious, occasionally touching, once in a while quite snarky, but never less than unique and engaging.

The haiku (purists would also note that the plural of haiku is haiku NOT haiku - which makes appropriate grammar darn near impossible) are surprisingly faithful to the traditional format of haiku - a first line of five syllables, a second line of seven syllables, and a final line of five syllables.

Three lines. A whole lot of laughs.

While "Eating Salad Drunk" may not actually be a five-star book, it's ingenious comedy AND all author proceeds go toward Comedy Gives Back, a nonprofit that provides mental health, medical, and crisis support resources for comedians.

That, my friends, makes "Eating Salad Drunk" an absolute must-read and an absolute five-star in my world.

The book also features wonderful illustrations by New Yorker cartoonist Emily Flake and a foreword by comic and actor Aparna Nancherla. Contributors include Jerry Seinfeld, Michael Ian Black, Aubrey Plaza, Margaret Cho, Maria Bamford, Ray Romano, Aparna Nancherla, Ziwe Fumudoh, Chris Gethard, Sasheer Zamata, Colin Mochrie, Zach Woods, and many more.

Destined to be one of the best humor books of 2021, "Eating Salad Drunk" is an inspired and entertaining collection and all for a good cause.

Besides, who doesn't adore self-love and loathing in 17 syllables?

I wish it was longer! This book was a really fun read. I laughed out loud so many times! I can't believe all the comedians involved! I will definitely be on the lookout for books similar to this. This is like a book of essays, but better, because they are shorter.

What an absolute laugh. Truly a great coffee book for when you feel like commiserating about the small funny miseries of life over a glass of 10$ wine

This was a laugh out loud book I didn't want to end. I thoroughly enjoyed each of the haikus and would have continued to read had there been more. This book for sure needs a sequel!