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.
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.
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.
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”
All five parts of the “Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy” trilogy.
Coldfire
“You know how complex women are”
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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!”
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
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
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
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?
The best fiction-The Illuminati Trilogy
The best non-fiction-Allan Sherman’s The Rape Of The APE*(American Puritanical Ethic)
“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
Wodehouse for sure, and Westlake’s Dortmunder novels, and of course The Mouse that Roared (I played Professor Kokintz in high school).
Bob the Random Expert
“If we don’t have the answer, we’ll make one up.”