LET THERE BE FACEBOOK

Facebook seems to be everywhere these days -- but what if it was everywhere for all of history, from the creation of the universe to, well, Lady Gaga's time as a baby?  Let There Be Facebook by Travis Harmon and Jonathan Shockley is a comic take on what would happen if the omnipresent social site had always existed.

The format for Let There Be Facebook is pretty simple: Take the biggest people in history and have them post on Facebook -- along with pictures, responses, and Internet slang to their comments.  The results include God and the Big Bang discussing the creation of the universe, Alexander the Great's friends thinking he may have an addiction to conquering, Davy Crockett getting many comments about his hat by someone who may be a raccoon, and Wilbur Wright discussing the first flight while Orville complains how few babes there are at Kitty Hawk.  There are also newsfeeds (such as the one for World War 2), likes and dislikes, and attending/not attending stats for different events.

Let There Be Facebook is a one-joke book -- but it's a joke that's done well.  It's easy to imagine what historical folks would say on the site, but it's pretty funny when those veer into unexpected territories, like the fake proposed works of Shakespeare and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, states talking on Facebook about letters a Pony Express rider is struggling to deliver, or Babe Ruth avoiding a dying kid's request that the Babe lose some weight.  Let There Be Facebook is a quick read that's good for quite a few chuckles.

Overall grade: B-
Reviewed by James Lynch