# funniest book **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 11, 1999, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book/9372 "1999-10-11T18:03:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book/9372/41 "1999-10-12T07:08:00Z")
I was thinking “A Confederacy Of Dunces” as soon as I saw the the thread’s topic! Other runners-up were soon listed, too…Great minds _do_ think alike! I believe “Breakfast Of Champions” is certainly a contender. I’ve _not_ read about half the books you folks listed, which is just the nudge I need to get off this contraption get back in the reading groove. If you don’t see much of me for a while, that’s what I’m doing. Thanks, Dopers. ---
**Author:** ![kawliga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea666f/32.png) [@kawliga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kawliga)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book/9372/42 "1999-10-12T08:28:00Z")
Anything by Tom Sharpe: Wilt, The Wilt Alternative, Wilt on High, The Great Pursuit, etc. P.G. Wodehouse: The Ukridge stories are my favorites. Kingsley Amis: Lucky Jim, One Fat Englishman, That Uncertain Feeling. ---
**Author:** ![Moonshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Moonshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonshine)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book/9372/43 "1999-10-12T10:00:00Z")
Second that Kawlige, any of Tom Sharp’s earlier books, in particular Indecent Exposure and Riotous Assembly, those two had me laughing like a hyena in public, rereading the last line and launghing again. Away from that Fran Leibowitz and of course Mark Twain will raise a chuckle anytime. * * * It only hurts when I laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book/9372/44 "1999-10-12T10:10:00Z")
Reading any book by Erma Bombeck is like watching “The Carol Bernett Show”. “The Grass Is Always Greener Over The The Septic Tank” “If Life Is A Bowl OF Cherries What Am I Doing In The Pits” ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book/9372/45 "1999-10-12T11:30:00Z")
All five parts of the “Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy” trilogy. ## Anything by Roald Dahl. Coldfire * * * “You know how complex women are” - Neil Peart, Rush (1993) ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book/9372/46 "1999-10-12T12:55:00Z")
I have to “me too” anything by P.J. O’Rourke. Try _All the Trouble in the World_, or _Parliament of Whores_. I have _got_ to get aroung to reading Douglas Adams. ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 1999, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book/9372/47 "1999-10-13T05:48:00Z")
Florence King, Fannie Flagg and Dave Barry, certainly. Also: Sarah Bird – especially _Alamo House_. Any of Merrill Markoe’s three books. Shirley Jackson – not her horror books and stories, of course! Ms. Jackson wrote two books about children and family life that are among the funniest books ever written. _Life Among the Savages_ and _Raising Demons_. Find 'em and read 'em. you won’t be sorry. * * * ``` Jess ``` Full of 'satiable curtiosity ---
**Author:** ![Narile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@Narile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Narile)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book/9372/48 "1999-10-12T19:29:00Z")
aseymayo, I believe it is supposed to come out in November. I just got _Science of Discworld_ a week or two ago, but haven’t read it yet. (Is not one of those _Science of Star Wars/Trek_ type books, which try to rationalize treknobabble. Is a fairly serious discussion on explaining real life science, from a perspective where commmon sense rather than logic rules.) Dahl is great, yes. Favorite by him is _Danny, Champion of the World_ * * * \>\>Being Chaotic Evil means never having to say your sorry…unless the other guy is bigger than you.\<\< —The dragon observes ---
**Author:** ![Dirty\_Devil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Dirty\_Devil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dirty_Devil)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book/9372/49 "1999-10-12T21:15:00Z")
Fretful Porpentine - you are the only other person I have ever met (other than my mom)who has read “Small World” by David Lodge. Have you read his “Changing Places”? Fantastic book, especially if you know anything about the SF Bay Area. ---
**Author:** ![Avumede](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/avumede/32/7235_2.png) [@Avumede](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avumede)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 1999, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book/9372/50 "1999-10-13T00:10:00Z")
Pretty much any of Stanislaw Lem’s Ijon Tichy short story compilations or books are hilarious. “The Star Diaries” is the best, though - I definately was in a constant state of hysterical laughter reading this book, and I almost never laugh out loud while reading (Dave Barry is another exception). Sample humorous thing I remember: A baby born in a spaceship in zero-gravity that learns to move around by emitting gasses bursts from his various orifices. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 1999, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book/9372/51 "1999-10-13T04:13:00Z")
I second (third? fourth?) Dave Barry, Spider Robinson, Douglas Adams. Also, Gregory McDonald’s Fletch book. _Fletch’s Fortune_ if I had to choose just one. _Couplehood_ by Paul Reiser (waits for the flames) _The Rants_ and _Ranting Again_ by Dennis Miller _The Fictional Writer’s Primer and How to Become a Rich and Famous Author Without Ever Really Writing a Book_ by Darvin P. Harfield and Adam Poszar * * * “The secret of life is, there ain’t no secret, and you don’t get your money back.” ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 1999, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book/9372/52 "1999-10-13T13:20:00Z")
Donald Westlake’s Dortmunder books are great fun, plus crime. Also, I can’t believe Uke or Flora didn’t mention my man H. Allen Smith. _Life in a Putty Knife Factory_ or _Low Man on the Totem Pole_ are classics. * * * Plunging like stones from a slingshot on Mars. ---
**Author:** ![leafrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cab0a1/32.png) [@leafrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leafrog)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 1999, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book/9372/53 "1999-10-13T13:27:00Z")
I can read Dave Barry Does Japan over and over (being a long term resident here…bleh) and can put myself into convulsions just thinking about the phrase “It looks like she is being attacked by a wolverine!” ---
**Author:** ![CatInHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@CatInHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatInHat)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 1999, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book/9372/54 "1999-10-13T19:59:00Z")
I can’t believe that no one has mentioned Patrick McManus’ _The Grasshopper Trap_ and _They Shoot Canoes, Don’t They?_ Very funny short stories about the outdoors. I also love anything by Terry Pratchett, P.G. Wodehouse, Dave Barry. * * * The Cat In The Hat ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 1999, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book/9372/55 "1999-10-13T21:26:00Z")
I used to find books by Earle Tempel, collections of humorous headlines, classified ads, and text of stories. I have found: NEBRASKA OFFICERS BEST BANK BANDITS HONEST VALUES $28 Roadster…$150 “The District has no figures as to the number of married students who are pregnant. Almost all of them are girls.” (from the South Bay _Daily Breeze,_ in southern Los Angelss County, CA) * * * “If you drive an automobile, please drive carefully–because I walk in my sleep.”–Victor Borge ---
**Author:** ![mikehardware](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5fc32e/32.png) [@mikehardware](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikehardware)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 1999, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book/9372/56 "1999-10-13T21:37:00Z")
I recommend the “Dark and Stormy Night” series of books. They’re collections of entries to the annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. This is an international annual event to find the worst possible opening sentence for a hypothetical novel. There are categories for lots of different genres, like sci-fi, children, action/adventure, romance, historical fiction, vile puns, and detective. To see samples, enter, or for more info, check out: [www.bulwer-lytton.com](http://www.bulwer-lytton.com) ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 1999, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book/9372/57 "1999-10-14T03:09:00Z")
Twinkle, Twinkle Killer Kane by William Peter Blatty. (Yes, the author of the Exorcist.) Hilarious, but quite serious. Avoid his rewrite of the book. Also, Wrong Way Goldfarb Please Come Home by the same author was pretty funny. How about The Mouse that Roared? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 1999, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book/9372/58 "1999-10-14T11:51:00Z")
The best fiction-The Illuminati Trilogy The best non-fiction-Allan Sherman’s The Rape Of The A_P_E\*(American Puritanical Ethic) ---
**Author:** ![Gail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Gail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gail)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 1999, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book/9372/59 "1999-10-14T14:16:00Z")
“I’m just a stranger here myself” by Bill Bryson—Bryson’s other books are funny too–He lived in England for 20 years and it’s interesting to read about the differences between the U.S. and the U.K. I also enjoyed “Whisper of the River” by Ferrol Sams–another funny, southern novel. * * * Gail “Any major dude with half a heart surely will tell you, my friend– Any minor world that breaks apart falls together again…” -Steely Dan ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 1999, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book/9372/60 "1999-10-15T06:09:00Z")
Wodehouse for sure, and Westlake’s Dortmunder novels, and of course The Mouse that Roared (I played Professor Kokintz in high school). ## One of my favourite series comes from Kinky “Ace Private Big Dick” Friedman, [http://www.kinkyfriedman.com/](http://www.kinkyfriedman.com/) . Hard-boiled and pretty surreal at the same time. Bob the Random Expert “If we don’t have the answer, we’ll make one up.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book/9372.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-book/9372.md?page=4)