George Hrab writes his book of essays like he makes his music, produces his podcast, and conducts all his affairs--with professionalism, wit, and LOTS of profanity.

His 18 essays in "Non-Coloring Book" cover a variety of subjects, from something he was watching on TV, to things that happened to him at a gig, to odd lists and bits of humor that are hard to categorize. He may start with seemingly mundane topics, but the treatment he gives them is anything but. The essays are scathing, scatalogical, hillarious, informative, thought-provoking, and one of them is unexpectedly poignant.

Two of the things I enjoyed most in the book are the drawings, done by George, and the essay about his visit to The Daily Show. Those items alone are worth the price of the book, in my opinion. At less than $16 dollars for a hard copy (less than $4 for an electronic copy), the book is dirt cheap for all the compositional goodness you're getting.

The new material is pretty cool. It consists of a new forward, and a new chapter. If you didn't get a copy of the very rare first printing, then this is the one to buy.

Two minor points of critique: One, he writes with caps A LOT. It gets a bit distracting. And, two, he does re-use some elements from his blog. A few. Since I'm not much of a blog reader, and most of the essays are new material, this didn't bother me overmuch.

If you've never heard of George Hrab, but you like essays, humor, humorous essays, beans, George Wendt, or George Wendt eating beans, give "Non-Coloring Book" a chance.

If you're already a George Hrab fan, you should be buying your own copy RIGHT NOW instead of reading this review.

Seriously.