What’s the funniest book you’ve ever read? I vote for
A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES by John Kennedy Toole
and
THE GOOD SOLDIER SCHWEIK by Hasek
Anything by Fannie Flagg is hilarious beyond belief.
Catcher in the Rye is my all time favorite book of humor. The part where Holden is describing the movie that he saw is gut splitting.
Thats easy.Or not. Birchism Was My Business by Gerald Schomp. Even Amazon doesn’t have it listed.He was a John Bircheer and went thru fun experiences before he realized what a bunch of nuts they were.
“Good Omens” by Neil Gaiman (sp?) and Terry Pratchett. Can’t really describe it, you’ll just have to read it yourself.
The first four Hitchhiker’s books, and the two Dirk Gently books by Douglas Adams.
Chaim Mattis Keller
ckeller@schicktech.com
“Sherlock Holmes once said that once you have eliminated the
impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be
the answer. I, however, do not like to eliminate the impossible.
The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it that the merely improbable lacks.”
– Douglas Adams’s Dirk Gently, Holistic Detective
P.G. Wodehouse. Top choices would be THE CODE OF THE WOOSTERS or RIGHT HO, JEEVES. The latter contains one of the funniest set-pieces in comic-novel history, Gussie Fink-Nottle’s speech at Market Snodsbury Grammar School.
Michael Dirda, the very fine book critic at the WASHINGTON POST, lists Terry Pratchett and Donald E. Westlake as runners-up to Wodehouse for best 20th century comic writer, and I won’t argue with him.
Stephen Leacock is also good. And A.J. Liebling.
Uke
Catch-22. Anything by Douglas Adams. And, if you’re a Star Trek fan, or better yet, if you’re not, then check out an Original Series novel called “How Much for Just the Planet”.
Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady by Florence King. Or really anything by King, but Confessions is the best place to start.
Bored of the Rings.
“Argle bargle morble whoosh.”
Adams’ Hitchiker series
Close second Robert Aspirin’s Myth series
Tenacious, like a coonhound tracking a poodle in heat.
Another vote for Catch-22 as the funniest overall. However, if you like moments of grinning humor in an otherwise tragic novel, I recommend The Prince of Tides, by Pat Conroy. All of Conroy’s books are great, but this one is stellar. Ignore the crappy Mecha-Streisand movie and get the book. I still rate it as the best book I’ve ever read.
For light, topical humor, you can’t beat Dave Barry. His early books are the best (Taming Of The Screw, Babies & Other Hazzards Of Sex, Dave Barry Slept Here, Homes & Other Black Holes, etc.) If you’re in the right mood, these are hilarious. Not very intellectually stimulating, but funny nonetheless.
I know this is going to sound intellectually pretentious but I am pretty sure the funniest book I ever read was “The Poor Mouth” by the Irish humourist Flann O’Brien. Originally written in Gaelic it is a tale of a poor Irish boy’s life. There is no Gaelic in my heritage but I thought this was extremely funny. My second choice would be a P.J. O’Rourke book. I guess I’m Irish on St. Patrick’s day.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, by Anita Loos
Show Girl, by J.P. McEvoy
any Robert Benchley collection
The Portable Dorothy Parker
Little Me, by Parick Dennis
I’ve read {i]Little Me,* Flora; I’d love to find a copy of it with the endpapers intact (Belle has her boobs immortalized at Graumann’s Chinese Theater!) One could expect a ridiculous book when the woman who posed for the shots (Jeri Archer) actually did develop a womanly figure by the age of twelve!
My vote would be for The Mark Twain Comic Reader; especially the stories “When I Edited an Agricultural Paper” and “Punch Brothers Punch.”
“If you drive an automobile, please drive carefully–because I walk in my sleep.”–Victor Borge
Dirty Devil mentioned Dave Barry, but I would like to suggest a different Miami Herald writer: Carl Hiassen. I think his best work is probably Double Whammy.
“The problem with the world is that everyone is a few drinks behind.” - Humphrey Bogart
If you want a funny ‘comedy’ book, may I suggest, “Lose Weight Through Great Sex With Celebrieties (The Elvis Way)” by Colin McEnroe.
I also heartily recommend just about anything by P.J. O’Rourke.
For light fiction, I always liked the Stainless Steel Rat books.
Dave Barry’s Book of Bad Songs has to figure here. It’s a sidesplitter–especially with the chapter about songs people get wrong; he says the Beach Boys’ song “Help Me Rhonda,” which he likes, sounds as if it begins:
“Well since she put me down, there’s been owls pukin’ in my bed.”
(To me the refrain sounds like
“Happy Hanukkah, Hap-,hap-py Hanukkah…”) 
“If you drive an automobile, please drive carefully–because I walk in my sleep.”–Victor Borge
Ike: Second you on the Wodehouse. Bertie and Jeeves are two of my favourite characters…
Seconds on the Catch-22 and Catcher in the Rye, too.
Thank You for Smoking by Christopher Buckley. Read it now and thank me later.