# Funny Books **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 26, 2004, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-books/261586 "2004-08-26T13:03:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-books/261586/21 "2004-08-26T15:46:38Z")
Writers I would recommend are Donald Westlake Carl Hiasson Bill Bryson (not novels but very funny) Tom Sharpe (South African living in England and may be more to British tastes but I find him consistently laugh out loud funny) Mordecai Richler (Canadian) Philip Roth’s _The Great American Novel_ about a fictional baseball team. Dave Barry. [Here is](http://www.bookbrowse.com/index.cfm?page=browse&browseBy=category&categoryID=31&view=text) the list of humorous books at Bookbrowse, which is a great site when you are looking for new stuff in a familiar genre. They have heaps of information about all the books, good summaries and usually several pages of excerpt to see if you like the author’s style. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-books/261586/22 "2004-08-26T15:59:43Z")
Thirding or fourthing Janet Evanovich. _Tom Jones_, by Henry Fielding is extremely funny. _Virgins_ is, I think, the funniest book I’ve ever read. But I grew up Catholic so that definitely helped. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-books/261586/23 "2004-08-26T16:07:44Z")
Charles Johnson’s MIDDLE PASSAGE. Hilarious. Should be made into a movie but Hollywood would never dare make a funny movie set in the 1830s about a black stowaway aboard a slave ship. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-books/261586/24 "2004-08-26T16:09:21Z")
I just read _Sex Lives of Cannibals_ by J. Maarten Troost, and it was pretty funny. Many snort-out-loud moments. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-books/261586/25 "2004-08-26T16:27:15Z")
Po Bronson’s _The First 20 Millions Is Always Tthe Hardest_ and Douglas Coupland’s _Microserfs_. Two brilliant parodies of life in Silicon Valley. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-books/261586/26 "2004-08-26T17:08:31Z")
They’re short story anthologies (actually, they’re compilations of his magazine columns) rather than novels, but all books by Patrick F. McManus are dangerous to read when others are sleeping. You won’t be able to just chuckle softly. His subjects are either being a kid in Idaho or being an outdoorsman, but you don’t have to fish and hunt to find his stuff hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-books/261586/27 "2004-08-26T17:11:58Z")
> [@Saltire](#): > > They’re short story anthologies (actually, they’re compilations of his magazine columns) rather than novels, but all books by Patrick F. McManus are dangerous to read when others are sleeping. You won’t be able to just chuckle softly. His subjects are either being a kid in Idaho or being an outdoorsman, but you don’t have to fish and hunt to find his stuff hilarious. Especially the one where he’s riding his bicycle with a deer strapped onto him. That one hurts, it’s so funny. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-books/261586/28 "2004-08-26T17:24:47Z")
It’s not quite a classic for the ages, but I had quite a few good laughs reading [**Mike Nelson’s Death Rat!**](http://www.michaeljnelson.com/home/deathrat.aspx). ---
**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:** [August 26, 2004, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-books/261586/29 "2004-08-26T18:09:33Z")
Most books by comedians are awful beyond belief. Standup routines don’t work without the atmosphere and the intonation. Two exceptions: Before he got Politically Incorrect, Bill Maher wrote _True Story: A Novel_, a roman a clef about the early days of his generation of comics. Funny, bitter, and black. Jon Stewart’s collection of humor pieces, _Naked Pictures of Famous People_, is surprisingly good - surprisingly only because he hasn’t had anything else in print. Calvin Trillin, on the other hand, is a professional humorist rather than a comedian. His collections of columns are terrific, his novels are very funny - my favorite is _Floater_ - and he even has a collection of political poems out. Another humor columnist worth the effort is Libby Gelman-Waxner, who does a movie column in _Premiere_ magazine. Libby is actually Paul Rudman, the male and openly gay screenwriter and novelist, which makes the column even funnier when you know the joke. She/He has a collection, _If You Ask Me_. Peter Benchley, author of _Jaws_, tried to break free of the box he put himself in with two very black comedies, _Rummies_ and _Q Clearance_. Neither sold worth a damn and he gave up and went back to writing shark books, but give the guy a break and hunt them down. Around the same time Christopher Buckley, yes, William’s son, started writing political satires with _The White House Mess_. Other titles are _Thank You for Smoking_ and _No Way to Treat a First Lady_. They’re not meant to be anything other than light entertainment, but quick reads are fun. He leans to the right, of course, which may or may not appeal to you but most every other comic writer leans left, which also may or may not appeal to you. In mainstream fiction, T. Coraghessan Boyle is maybe the biggest name, or at least the longest. _Drop City_ is acidly funny, and his entire output is first rate. True satires are hard to come by these days when everything is too large to be satirized, but Max Berry’s _Jennifer Government_ socks it to libertarian capitalism and Ben Elton - co-writer of _The Young Ones_ and _Blackadder_ - has done a bunch of environmental satires. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-books/261586/30 "2004-08-26T18:38:00Z")
[The Road To Mars](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0375703128/qid=1093544715/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-1834596-2004124?v=glance&s=books) Not only is it funny, it is instructive about _why things are funny._ [The Crime Studio](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1568581483/qid=1093544797/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-1834596-2004124?v=glance&s=books) --lunatic & savage, & all about Chicago’s seamier side. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-books/261586/31 "2004-08-26T19:05:15Z")
Speaking of Christopher Buckley, **Exapno** , I really liked [_Little Green Men_](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060955570/qid=1093546968/sr=8-4/ref=pd_ka_4/103-8959341-0054251?v=glance&s=books&n=507846). ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-books/261586/32 "2004-08-26T19:06:31Z")
Check out Donald Harington. He wrote a series of novels that all take place in the fictional town of Stay More, Arkansas. Not all of the Stay More books are funny, but most of them are, and they’re all good. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-books/261586/33 "2004-08-26T19:19:35Z")
Thanks, Teeming Millions. I picked up 3 books from early in the thread, but will keep this bookmarked for times when I need to crack a smile on my daily NYC subway commute. So if you see someone laughing out loud reading a book, it just might have been your suggestion. Starting with: Janet Evanovich One for the Money Richard Russo Straight Man Christopher Moore Lamb… ---
**Author:** ![Ultraviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/c77e96/32.png) [@Ultraviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ultraviolet)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-books/261586/34 "2004-08-26T19:34:43Z")
Try the Adrian Mole diaries by Sue Townsend. The first couple of books in the series are great. They tend to drop off in quality once Adrian hits about twenty-five or so, but they are some of my favourite books. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-books/261586/35 "2004-08-26T19:38:33Z")
I agree with most of the choices so far, particulary McManus, Evanovich, and Christopher Moore. I would like to add James Lileks (the guy behind [The Institute of Offical Cheer)](http://www.lileks.com/institute/index.html) very funny stuff. Also I would like to mention [The Geographer](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/1891262017/ref=cm_cr_dp_2_1/103-8876648-3157402?%5Fencoding=UTF8&me=ATVPDKIKX0DER) by Jim Riva. This is flat out on of the funniest book I have ever read. ---
**Author:** ![Roberta\_Plant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c89c15/32.png) [@Roberta\_Plant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roberta_Plant)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-books/261586/36 "2004-08-26T20:26:55Z")
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis This is probably THE funniest book I have ever read. There is a section in the middle that had me sobbing with pain, I was laughing so hard. I envy anyone who has yet to read it the first time! ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-books/261586/37 "2004-08-26T20:52:43Z")
> [@Ultraviolet](#): > > Try the Adrian Mole diaries by Sue Townsend. The first couple of books in the series are great. They tend to drop off in quality once Adrian hits about twenty-five or so, but they are some of my favourite books. That’s what I was gonna suggest. I don’t think the quality really drops off in the later books but the tone changes a lot as Adrian grows up and matures. The Jeeves and Wooster stories by PG Wodehouse make me laugh outloud everytime I reread them. I picked up [THe Night of the Avenging Blowfish](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1565120507/qid=1077668055/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-7257551-9831237?v=glance&s=books) at a used bookstore and laughed through most of it. It’s not always consistent but parts of it are extremely amusing. [No Time for Sargents](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0807120324/qid=/sr=/ref=cm_lm_asin/002-7257551-9831237?v=glance) is a comedy classic that became an extremely funny movie starring Andy Griffith. (I’m gonna hafta go rent this again this weekend.) ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-books/261586/38 "2004-08-26T21:32:00Z")
Neil Pollack’s [Anthology of American Literature](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060004533/qid=1093555359/sr=ka-1/ref=pd_ka_1/002-4551189-2504022) is one of the funniest I’ve read in years. It’s a brilliant send-up of that particularly irritating brand of pompous, condescending, post-Ivy League _Harper’s_-esque journalism that had me literally weeping with laughter to the point where my wife forbid me to read it in bed. I’ll second the classics “Catch 22” and “A confederacy of dunces.” Woody Allen’s books, which are collections of humor pieces and essays he did for mags like _the New Yorker_ in the seventies are achingly hilarious. Start with “getting even” and “without feathers.” Also, check out Jean Shepherd’s [In god we trust; all others pay cash](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385021747/qid=1093555716/sr=ka-2/ref=pd_ka_2/002-4551189-2504022) and [Wanda Hickey’s Night of Golden Memories (and other disasters)](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385116322/qid=1093555716/sr=ka-1/ref=pd_ka_1/002-4551189-2504022). These are the books from which the the episodes that make up the classic 1980’s Christmas movie, “A Christmas Story” were taken - and who doesn’t love that movie? They’re absolutely hilarious. Not to start debates, but could someone defend David Sedaris? I kept hearing how “hilarious”, “laugh-out-loud funny”, and even “side splitting” his books are, but in reading the entirety of “Naked”, “Me Talk Pretty One day”, and “barrel fever”, I don’t think I even cracked as much as a smile _once_. What am I missing? ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-books/261586/39 "2004-08-26T21:43:43Z")
You might try G.K.Chesterton’s _The Man Who Was Thursday_ if you like old British stuff. Yeah, Chesterton was an anti-semite and a nasty, nasty guy, but man oh man, could he write! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-books/261586/40 "2004-08-26T21:56:29Z")
> [@Freejooky](#): > > Not to start debates, but could someone defend David Sedaris? \ What am I missing? Try the audio books instead. His stories are a lot funnier when you hear him tell them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-books/261586.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-books/261586.md?page=3)