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| Getting Even: The Complete Book of Dirty Tricks | 
 enlarge | Author: George Hayduke
Publisher: Lyle Stuart
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $1.00
You Save: $13.95 (93%)
New (2) Used (17) from $1.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 600425
Media: Paperback
Edition: Carol Publishing Group Ed
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 208
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.5
ISBN: 0818403144
Dewey Decimal Number: 818.5402
EAN: 9780818403149
ASIN: 0818403144
Publication Date: June 1, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: slight wear to cover Used - Good
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 best book ever November 10, 2005
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
this is the coolest boy book ever. I got the first one because i thought it would be cool to read and now i am going to get the whole set. Best use of money ever.
Luridly fascinating, but too evil to actually use May 27, 2005
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Important: most of this stuff can get you arrested.
If you see this book in the humor section of your bookstore, that's because it's about the only place in the bookstore where it will fit. This is, pure and simple, an outlaw book for the truly pissed-off. A left-wing anarcho-libertarian bent informs the book (inspired by Edward Abbey's Monkey Wrench Gang), but the book goes to some lengths to point out that what it suggests is not tied down to any one political viewpoint.
So you want revenge? This will certainly give you the means. Stinkbombs, scams, monkeywrench tactics, it's all in here. Some of it is outdated -- this book dates to 1982 -- and a lot of it can get you in a great deal of trouble. But if sabotage is what the situation calls for, this book is a good guide to it. There is some serious potential damage claimed by some of the pranks -- derailed political careers, ruined reputations, money funneled out of pockets. There is some risk to life and limb as well -- there are some creative uses mentioned for M-80s, for example, some of which involve shrapnel.
The author picked an interesting pen name -- it appears Abbey gave his character a name that means "bandit" (hajduk -> Hayduke) in some eastern European languages -- and the tactics within this book are thoroughly scorched-earth and a bit disturbing. It is certainly an interesting book, but I'm not sure I can recommend it -- it mostly appeals to the morbidly curious, the extremely ticked-off, and the borderline psychotic. The first category might want to look at it in a library, and the second two should be kept away from it at all costs.
"Vengeance is mine", sayeth the 'Norch April 1, 2004
14 out of 17 found this review helpful
Back in the day when I faced endless torturous #ell from fellow students at my middle school, I found myself tryin' to figure out ways of getting back at my tormentors. I eventually caught wind of George Hayduke and his many tomes of dirty tricks and pranks to pull on other folks, and hit the local library to give `em a read. I eventually found his `Getting Even' book and read the whole thing in the library (I didn't check it out `cuz my parents probably would have freaked if they caught me with it), in the hopes of finding a really good prank to pull on a few of those scumbags...
Unfortunately, just about all the goofs covered here were a bit too extreme for my pre-teen sensibilities. I'd never even THINK about killing and mutilating a dog and plant it on a guy's property as "evidence" that he's holding dogfights in his basement (as suggested on page 31). And falsely accusing a teacher of child molestation (suggested on pp.192-193), even if he/she was a total douche, is just not cool (though I do like the "messing with the teacher's mind" scenario laid out on page 191). And it didn't help that many of the tricks outlined in this tome required the acquisition of materials that only adults (or minors who could convincingly pass themselves off as adults) could get access to or use (AKA realistic fake IDs & credit cards, fake notary seals, certain volatile chemicals). And if I was able to acquire certain materials, I couldn't afford them; I was only getting two dollars a week allowance, and I was savin' up for that huge TransFormer toy I had a hankerin' for the first time I laid eyes on it!
But despite the fact that I couldn't try out some of the more elaborate ruses, there were a few somewhat pedestrian yet relatively inexpensive methods of trickery that I probably coulda' taken advantage of... had I the intestinal fortitude to do so. Which I didn't, `cuz I was a total wussbag. Ya know, stuff like ruining the water in a mark's swimming pool with dyes as mentioned on pp. 189-190. Or writing very wrong words on a guy's lawn with weed killer, as told on page 113. Or the ol' reusable postage stamp ploy outlined on page 168 (though I couldn't imagine how I'd get revenge on other people with that gag). Or the ol' fake-puking-from-the-balcony-of-a-movie-theater dealie mentioned on page 139 (`course, you'd hafta actually find a movie theater with a balcony, and the guy ya wanna "hit" is directly below you).
But in spite of the elaborateness of most of the dirty tricks and my sudden lack of backbone to attempt pulling any of `em off, I rather enjoyed leafing through this book. I got many a vicarious thrill reading the tales of other folks getting even with their targets, be they the IRS (pp 107-108), the power company (pp 170-171), or the jerky neighbor next door (page 143 and elsewhere). It was nice to see that some folks were fed up and were striking back, no matter how wrong their methods might have been...
Fast-forward several years to last week (as of this writing): I decide to give `Getting Even' another read to review it in celebration of April Fool's Day. As I went through the tome from cover to cover, I realized that due to great leaps in technology, surveillance techniques, and forensic science in the intervening years since this book was first published (1980), most of the stuff discussed here would be very difficult if not impossible to pull off and/or get away with. Except perhaps for the 2000 presidential election, It's kinda tough to screw up a punchcard-processing computer (as suggested on pp. 71-72) when they no longer exist, ya know. And thanks to every little purchase and transaction bein' logged in one computer system or another that's linked to the web, you may as well forget tryin' the credit card shenanigans the author discusses throughout the book, especially the stuff on pp. 75-76. Also, most modern vending machines can tell a real coin from a similar-sized washer, so most of the `tips' outlined on pp. 69-70 are right out.
On the upside, the author has produced quite a few more volumes of dirty tricks books in the couple of decades since this first hit the shelves, many of which outline updated gags that aren't nearly as obsolete as the stuff shown here. So if you're looking for some really extreme goofs to use to get back at those who've wronged you, you might wanna take a look at Hayduke's more recent publications. Otherwise, check this one out if you're curious to see what the quintessential dirty trickster used to do for kicks back in the day, before new technology and harsher legal repercussions put the kibosh on his fun...
`Late
Funny and great for those seeking revenge December 3, 2003
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
I loved this book, some other customer reviews here have said that the revenge tactics mentioned in the book arent practical and yes there are some pranks that require you to pose as a medical profesional at some medical supply store to get some obsecure chemical to give someone explosive diahrea or somthing. Others mentioned are deliciously simple. Most arent that hard but frankly really hardcore serious major league revenge is gonna take at least a little effort. The author isnt gonna do the work for you,just tell you how. I used several of the suggestions mentiond in the book, my favorite being the one where you take a sponge, soak it with spray starch then wrap it in twine tightly until its only a tiny fraction of its original size. Once dried remove the twine and find the tiny condensed dry sponge just waiting to be flushed down your marks toilet where it will expand once in the pipe and (trust me on this one) cause your mark quite a headache. Most pranks are along this line. Read the book if youre serious about seeking revenge, not seriously hurting anyone mind you, just causing your mark a tremendous amount of grief, embarassment or financial strain. The author even points out common mistakes people make when seeking revenge sometimes, like when he points out the best things to dump in someones gas tank to muck up their engine, and what things to avoid throwing in their tank because it will do little damage. Good Luck
Classic Hayduke December 22, 1999
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
Each book Hayduke writes is better than the one before. Some techniques in this gem are rehashes of previously mentioned pranks. But, sometimes, a prank must be seen in a different light before technique emerges. Some people have said this book presents unrealistic scenarios. To them, I say that 'unrealistic' is a word for the faint-hearted. People facing abuse will either turn the other cheek or will NOT turn the other cheek. My cheeks don't turn at all for abusers.
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