# Funniest Book You've Read Recently **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 16, 2012, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book-youve-read-recently/609698 "2012-01-16T15:39:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book-youve-read-recently/609698/1 "2012-01-16T15:39:03Z")
I’m on the lookout for some light-hearted reading. Please direct me to the newest funny stuff you’d recommend (as I might well be familiar with many of the Cafe Society standbys). To start things off, the most recent humorous books I’ve read are “Science Fair” by Dave Barry and “Schooled” by Gordon Korman. Both are kids books and both are hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book-youve-read-recently/609698/2 "2012-01-16T15:52:50Z")
Right now I am reading Bill Bryon’s highly amusing _Neither Here Nor There–Travels in Europe_. I also highly recommend the feelthy and hilarious _Little Me_, by Patrick Dennis. ---
**Author:** ![Private\_Bin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c0e974/32.png) [@Private\_Bin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Private_Bin)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book-youve-read-recently/609698/3 "2012-01-16T16:18:20Z")
_The Wimbledon Poisoner_ by Nigel Williams I’ve just finished. I’ve read most of his books and they are excellent light reading in the vein of PG Wodehouse. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book-youve-read-recently/609698/4 "2012-01-18T16:20:56Z")
_[The Hereafter Gang](http://www.amazon.com/Hereafter-Gang-Neal-Barrett-Jr/dp/1885418213/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326903424&sr=1-1)_, by Neal Barrett, Jr. X-rated but extremely entertaining. It’s basically the story of a loser who gets dumped by his wife and quits his job and wanders around Texas hanging out in bars and sleeping with various women. The dialogue is utterly hilarious. Barrett’s short story collection _[Perpetuity Blues](http://www.amazon.com/Perpetuity-Blues-Other-Stories-Barrett/dp/0965590143/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326903597&sr=1-1)_ is also a winner. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book-youve-read-recently/609698/5 "2012-01-18T17:22:26Z")
Every single comedian working today gets a book deal. Most of them are hastily written piles of skits and rants and aren’t worth your time. Tina Fey’s _Bossypants_ was more of a biography - though with huge pieces left out - and well written. The same thing can be said for Sarah Silverman’s _The Bedwetter_, but it’s even better as a book. Lewis Black writes good funny books that aren’t intended to be more. _Nothing Sacred_, _Me of Little Faith_, and _I’m Dreaming of a Black Christmas_. Sticking with The Daily Show, Larry Whitmore’s _I’d Rather we Got Casinos, and Other Black Thoughts is great. And nobody remembers it any more, but pre-TDS Jon Stewart wrote Naked Pictures of Famous People_, a collection of short humor pieces in the classic tradition that ranks up there with the greats of the past. His fake textbooks, \*America \*and _Earth_, are pretty good as well. And the unclassifiable. _The Remarkable Milliard Fillmore_ by George Pendle. A biography of the 13th president. All fake and remarkably funny. If you’re a science nerd, _Absolute Zero Gravity: Science Jokes, Quotes and Anecdotes_ edited by Betsy Devine and Joel E. Cohen. For parody buffs, _The Satanic Nurses: And Other Literary Parodies_ by J. B. Miller. _The BSAT Official Study Guide: 350 Questions You’ll Never See on the SAT!_ by John Forster and Marc Segan. A mock SAT prep-book with funny questions and even-funnier how to work out answers to questions you don’t know the answer to. _Boilerplate: History’s Mechanical Marvel_ by Paul Guinan and Anina Bennett. A beautifully done mock-coffee table book putting a fake robot into real history. _F in Exams: The Very Best Totally Wrong Test Answers_ edited by Richard Benson. Just what it sounds like, but it made me hysterical and hardly anything makes me laugh out loud these days after reading several thousand humor books. (Literally. I’m a collector.)