Bored of the Rings: A Parody of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings

Amazon.com
Written in the gloaming of their college days, just before they started National Lampoon, Douglas C. Kenney and Henry N. Beard wrote Bored of the Rings. It's dated--references to Nixon, drugs, and consumer products circa 1969 crowd every page--but darn it, Bored of the Rings is still funny nearly 30 years later: "'Goodbye, Dildo,' Frito said, stifling a sob. 'I wish you were coming with us.'

'Ah, yes. But I'm too old for that sort of thing now,' said the old boggie, feigning a state of total quadriplegia. 'Anyway, I have a few small gifts for you,' and he produced a lumpy parcel, which Frito opened somewhat unenthusiastically in view of Dildo's previous going-away present [the ring]. But the package only contained a short, Revereware sword, a bulletproof vest full of moth holes, and several well-thumbed novellas with titles like Elf Lust and Goblin Girl..."

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
This little book is packed! Not only is the entire trilogy chronicled (plus important bits of The Hobbit), but nearly every sentence contains a joke or pun as well. If you were to add water to this book, it would balloon to the size of an unabridged dictionary. But you don't want a watery, meandering lampoon, do you? Of course not!

You want the relentlessly clever roller-coaster retelling of the greatest fantasy yarn of the century. Let me be blunt: Bored of the Rings is to satire what the Lord of the Rings saga is to fantasy. It's that simple.

Are you tired of the clich￯﾿ﾽ "I laughed so hard reading it in public that I got strange looks?" Yeah, I'm tired of that, too. But guess what? I laughed so hard reading it in public that I got strange looks!

Truly, the masterful fashion in which Beard and Kenney mercilessly rip the characters and history of Middle-earth to shreds is the ultimate tribute to the richness and depth of the original work. (J.N.)

FROM THE PUBLISHER