Frequently Wrong, Rarely in Doubt

Look. I love sarcasm. I speak fluent eye-roll. My love language is passive-aggressive commentary. So naturally, when I saw Alexandra Petri’s Nothing Is Wrong and Here Is Why, I thought, Yes. This. A literary hug for my cynical little heart.

And for about 10% of it? That’s exactly what I got. But then… something happened. Imagine being handed a slice of cake labeled “comedy,” only to realize that it’s made entirely of expired fondant and beneath it is a raw, unseasoned chicken breast. That’s this book.

First, let’s talk about the format. Petri has written a series of satirical essays, some of which are dated like a sad diary from the end times. This might work in print, where you can visually pause, adjust, and say, “Oh, new entry.” But in audiobook form, it’s like being trapped in a car with someone ranting through a tinfoil megaphone while refusing to use punctuation. “Wait, was that the end of the essay or just the middle of another one?” I asked no one, alone in my kitchen, stirring increasingly chaotic tea.

Now, sarcasm done well is a scalpel: sharp, precise, and capable of subtle devastation. But Nothing Is Wrong and Here Is Why is more like someone duct-taping a sledgehammer to a Roomba and letting it loose in a glassware store labeled “Democracy.” The problem is that the satire is so spot-on, so eerily accurate to the horrors of the last several years, that it stops being funny and starts being a stress dream in book form.

By the halfway point, I wasn’t chuckling—I was clutching a throw pillow like a therapy dog. By the end, I wasn’t even mad. I was just… numb. This book is like reading the internet comment section of a crumbling society—but curated by someone with an Ivy League vocabulary and the emotional restraint of a stand-up comic at a eulogy.

Will this book be funnier in twenty years? Maybe! You know, once we’ve collectively healed, processed, and developed a distant, historical detachment from checks notes reality. But right now, it’s a little like being hit with a glitter bomb—sparkly, yes, but also… why is this happening to me in my own home?

Final Verdict: If you’re looking for dark, biting satire with the emotional payoff of shouting into the void, this book is for you. If you’re looking to laugh without spiraling into despair? Maybe just go rewatch Parks and Rec instead.

But hey, nothing is wrong.
And here is why: denial is free, and so is this blog.