Title: Cranky Superpowers: Life Lessons Learned from the Common CrankaTsuris Chronicles
Author: Steven Joseph
Publisher: Enigami Publishing
ISBN: 979-8987611753
Pages: 220
Genre: Humor, Help yourself, Inspirational
Reviewed by: David Allen

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Author Steven Joseph, a master raconteur, comedian, and attorney, gifts readers with a multifarious crazy smorgasbord, replete with dishes of every variety, in this paean to whining, to tsuris (Yiddish for ‘problems’), to the celebrated art of kvetching.

Joseph breaks it down like this. Optimal ‘CrankaTsuris’ – Steven Joseph’s birthright, franchise (he’s published other titles under this rubric), and stock in trade – when handled effectively and properly focused, can be a superpower.

CrankaTsuris is a sensibility. It is a way of looking at and experiencing the world. The CrankaTsuris approach – namely, finding the side-splitting humor and irony in every fate – or God-given situation – can be applied to a variety of life situations. (If not all!) There are CrankaTsuris tips for driving in traffic; for daydreaming, for when the going gets tough, for pet peeves, for axes to grind… and for oh so much more. There is even a chapter dedicated to Self-Help CrankaTsuris and the author, in his largesse and bountiful clowning, has thoughtfully provided ‘A GrownUp Guide to Effective Crankiness.’

Let’s scope down. There is a grand tradition of this kind of raillery; its multifarious roots spring from burlesque, from vaudeville, from Second Avenue Yiddish theater way back in the day. More recognizable antecedents to the Joseph brand of humor would constitute a most esteemed laundry list, including Groucho Marx, the two Larrys (Seinfeld and David), and in the strictly prose realm, Mark Leyner’s My Cousin the Gastroenterologist, which set the high bar for freewheeling mashug(nutty) Jewish family- based memoir.

The author, who has studied Buddhism, mentions in an introductory chapter how human suffering is inextricably linked to desire and ignorance. He might have added, our suffering is immeasurably increased when we can’t laugh at ourselves.

 There are all kinds of stories here. Mobster stories, zany family stories, wry ripostes made at deathbeds. For example, discussing a daughter’s wedding: “Ursula, I hear your daughter is getting married! That is such good news!” “Zelda, at first, it was good news. But I can tell you after meeting the bum, the only thing I can think about is that she can do so much better!” These colloquies, these maunderings, these all-too human deliberations that go back and forth yet seem to go nowhere, are the stock in trade of this stand-up sit-down narrative comedy. There are no sacred diadems in this universe: Joseph’s voice is alternately critical, joyous, shaming, and absurd. It is the near perfect accompaniment – in personal philosophy and charming anecdote – to our very chaotic time. The language, the mirth, the intimacy of the writing is real, accessible, and recognizably droll.