Mike Nelson's Mind Over Matters

March 1, 2002
In the tradition of Mike Nelson's Movie Megacheese, which featured endless takedowns of Hollywood glitterati, comes Mike Nelson's Mind over Matters, some 50 short essays covering up everything from "Portal to Hell: The Radio Shack Experience" to "Grumpy Floppy and the Flo-Flo," or the pet names of friends for their loved ones. Michael J. Nelson, head writer of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 for 10 seasons (and its host for five), has an endless supply of good-natured bile, and here turns it on the annoyances and idiocies of everyday life.

December 1, 2001
Nelson (Mike Nelson's Movie Megacheese) is perhaps best known as the brains behind the cult classic television series Mystery Science Theater 3000. In this collection of more than 50 offbeat essays, he shares his observations about everyday matters such as the media, education, food, and family life. His humor is a cross between that of Dave Barry and of Jerry Seinfeld, and his highly personal style he includes remarks about his wife and his children will delight some readers but annoy others. Nelson also tends to dwell on the obvious. For example, in one essay about modern life he opines about the sounds of autumn, pointing out that fall used to sound like the gentle swish-swish of leaf raking but is now dominated by the cacophony of leaf blowers. In short, this collection of humor is uneven at best. Though some will find it funny, it will likely disappoint many MST3K fans, as it lacks the sardonic repartee for which Nelson is most celebrated on his television series. Recommended primarily for public libraries where demand dictates. Joe Accardi, William Rainey Harper Coll., Palatine, IL

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2002
Despite a previous book, "Mike Nelson's Movie Megacheese" (2000), \plain\f2\fs24\b \plain\f2\fs24 Nelson is famous for the whimsical TV series "Mystery Science Theater "3000 (MST3K), which he served as writer and sometime host. These pieces are longer and more involved than a typical MST3K routine, but not much. Bright, cheery, frequently ironic, and generally perceptive, Nelson's stuff is fresher, more inventive, and better crafted than what Dennis Miller and Bill Cosby have recently collected. Nelson skewers contemporary life from new angles. For instance, for the relentless mellowness that overtook rock music and much of society just as he entered his teens, ready for some kick-ass anthems, he blames the evil weed--"mellowness . . . was very difficult to achieve without smoking . . . half a joint"--says that "until the moment everyone started telling me to mellow out, I had never been tense," and concludes that he "did not deserve the Eagles . . . no matter how severe my crime." Elsewhere he delivers "A Panegyric to Meat," unveils a "Portal to Hell: The Radio Shack Experience," and poses the question "Pessimism: Overrated?"\plain\f2\fs24\b \plain\f2\fs24 (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)