yes, i emailed him two days ago. still waiting for a response...

just got a response from the author. my original email is in blue and his reply is in red...

Mr. Fabiano,

I have a question pertaining to your article, "Warning; Anti-Carb People May be Hazardous to Your Health", from July 11, 2004. Should we take your article at face value - an attack on low-carb diets and dieters, or was it actually a spoof on the lengths anti low-carbers (i.e. the low-fat camp) will go in exaggerating claims against low-carb diets? Your commentary on low-carb diets and dieters seems so outrageous that it's hard to believe that you could have been even slightly serious. I realize that you were going for a laugh, but what is your true stance on this particular topic?

There is a lot of misinformation on diet out there and I don't think your article has done anything but muddied the waters. The misinformation disseminated by health organizations over the last forty years has had dire consequences on our collective health and I hope you would consider this the next time your preparing to write on diet-related issues. Perhaps an article on the absurdity of quitting smoking would be more sensible.

By the way, why is it exactly that "anti-carb people" are hazardous to our health?

Thanks, Nolin Nae

---------------------------

I am glad you liked my work even though you did not like the subject. By the way, I lost 30 lbs. on Atkins
and am now on South Beach in order to retain the loss. I am a humorist who writes from what he observes. Even
though some people take offense by my work if they think about it I think a smile would appear on their
faces. I had a book released on July 16th. The title of the book is, “Laugh It Off”. It is a comical view
of modern suburban life in New England. I have a weekly column in southern Maine and New Hampshire that
many people enjoy because it mirrors a lifestyle that sometimes focuses around a lawn, garden, and surviving
Maine winters. Of course, you could change the name of the state and it would still mirror the comedy of
modern suburban life. The book is fully illustrated by a Maine artist to keep the reader involved with the
stories.

If you like my work and would like to see more you may just enjoy my book. You can find it on Amazon.com or
Barnes & Noble.com. It can also be purchased at most Barnes & Noble stores. It is the first of hopefully
many.

Again I am glad you enjoyed my work.

jim fabiano

So I wrote to him to find out if it was humor or not this is what he wrote back:

I am glad you liked my work even though you did not
like the subject. By the way, I lost 30 lbs. on Atkins
and am now on South Beach in order to retain the loss.
I am a humorist who writes from what he observes. Even
though some people take offense by my work if they
think about it I think a smile would appear on their
faces. I had a book released on July 16th. The title
of the book is, “Laugh It Off”. It is a
comical view of modern suburban life in New England. I
have a weekly column in southern Maine and New
Hampshire that many people enjoy because it mirrors a
lifestyle that sometimes focuses around a lawn,
garden, and surviving Maine winters. Of course, you
could change the name of the state and it would still
mirror the comedy of modern suburban life. The book is
fully illustrated by a Maine artist to keep the reader
involved with the stories.

If you like my work and would like to see more you may
just enjoy my book. You can find it on Amazon.com or
Barnes & Noble.com. It can also be purchased at most
Barnes & Noble stores. It is the first of hopefully
many.

Again I am glad you enjoyed my work.

jim fabiano

I also wrote Mr. Fabiano and got the identical response.

Well I think its funny that we have to write to someone to find out if its funny or not. Anyway, I was right to laugh it seems, so glad to hear that my senior moments don't extend to my sense of humour. But even if he said he was dead serious I still would have found it funny, but for different reasons.

He must have had quite a few bewildered people writing to him.

Val

well, i guess you were right to laugh. he didn't explain himself very well. all in all a very crude attempt at humor. if there were even nuggets of truth to his descriptions of low-carb dieters (i.e. bad breath or constipation) it might have gotten a gurgle out of me, but as it was it left me pretty limp...

my vote is for not funny

if the writer were spoofing extreme attitudes and over the top claims made against LC by the "experts" he would have ended the article by refuting their statements, but he just ended it without giving another point of view.

therefore to me it came off as a rant cloaked in a humourous style--hardee har! :p

My vote is for "trying to be funny, but falling flat on his arse".

Trying, but falling short is what I think about it. For me, to be funny he could have talked about the symptoms mentioned above (breath) but also the religious ferver that many of us have for our way of eating. You could easily work in a warning to not notice the weight loss, don't say anything or else you'll get an hour-long lecture on the mysteries of ketones, insulin-resistance and the evils of bread/potatoes/diaticians/AHA/ADA/ignorant doctors/low-fat...

Dave Barry could do this really well, but this guy's writing shows why he's still only published in Maine. (no offense meant to the people in Maine) :) Or maybe it's a regional sense of humor that as a Midwesterner I just don't get.

To make it funny you either exagerate known characteristics, or if you want to denegrate the anti-carb people, you have to go much more over the top exagerating their criticisms. (hoards of brain-dead low-carbers, crawling around gnawing on jerky and mumbling rants against sugar-alcohols while the cholesterol leaks from their ears.) Now you know why I'm not a nationally-syndicated humorist. :rolleyes:

Plane Crazy

Sound like some kind of canned response, either that or the guy is hopelessy deluded. No where in your letter do you say or even imply you enjoyed his work.

At least he takes a moment to market his book at you!

The response feels kinda Adam West-ish. :lol:

Trying to be funny, but
 

not quite making it. The last line was what told me it was a spoof..(attempt)

Pass the cauliflower...

In some ways, maybe the fact that he did the diet is part of why it sorta falls flat. He may have some anger at being viewed as incoherent, foggy... It could be a sarcastic expression for people who gave him a hard time about the diet..

exactly, it's the last line that let's you know he's poking fun at himself too. I thought it was funny. He's making some observations about culture right now, and he doesn't exclude or place himself higher.