I’ve been slightly down lately, and want to read some humorous books. Without getting into a Pit-style rant, I will condemn the majority of stuff in the bookstores’ “humor” section:
Half-ass transcripts of stand-up comedians’ acts.
Numbnut complaints-stretched-into-a-book about men, women, office politics, or scatological insecurities.
Folksy and/or ethnic paeans to the idiosyncracies of Minnesotans, southerners, rednecks, Jews, Catholics, etc.
Photos of cats in different costumes.
Collections of newspaper comic strips (I do actually enjoy about 5% of these).
Collections of jokes, actual Bob Hope style setup/punchline jokes, of the “two guys walk into a bar” variety, with a cartoon on the cover of someone holding the book and laughing, in case you didn’t get the idea from the title “101 Jokes For All Occasions”.
There is such a thing as verbal wit and clever humorous writing, isn’t there? I’ve found a few things mixed into the literature section, but it’s never segregated into a category of its own, unless you count “humor” section, which I don’t as explained above. It’s always a damn hunt for something funny to read.
So I’m looking for recommendations. What is the funniest, rolling on the floor, book you have read?
The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy By Douglas Adams is probably your best bet for a good pick-me-up. You could also try reading anything by Terry Pratchett, his Discworld work are usually pretty satisfying.
I’ve also heard Dianetics is pretty funny
Terry Pratchett (see this thread for suggestions about where to start)
Christopher Moore (I particularly like Coyote Blue)
Ben Elton (A bit darker than the others - try Gridlock or This Other Eden)
David Lodge (If you are in an academic environment - read Trading Places and follow the series)
Matt Ruff (Ayn Rand fans will hate Sewer, Gas & Electric, but I loved it)
John Welter (The Night of the Avenging Blowfish is fun, but can cut a little close to home if your love life isn’t all you want it to be)
Connie Wills (Everything But The Dog is quite reminiscent of the screwball romantic comedies of the forties and fifties)
John Kessel (Corrupting Dr. Nice ditto)
David Foster Wallace (The Broom of the System is quite funny, but distinctly off kilter. For heaven sakes, don’t start Infinite Jest until you KNOW you like his style.)
From this list, Pratchett, Wills, and Kessel would be found in Science Fiction/Fantasy sections of most bookstores and libraries. Elton, Lodge, Welter, and Wallace would usually be in the regular “Fiction” or “Literature” section. Moore and Ruff might be in either place (I have usually seen Moore in fiction, and Ruff in SF, but I can’t give a good reason for why that happens).
There is a pretty good series of books called "The Straight Dope’ which are marginally funny. I recommend them. But then, I like Calvin and Hobbes and ‘The Bathroom Reader’, too.
Although this may fall under your first and second categories, I have to say that George Carlin’s Brain Droppings actually made me roll on the floor laughing. YMMV.
I think you mean “To Say Nothing of the Dog,” by Connie Willis. I loved it - one of the funniest “science fiction” stories I’ve read, right up there with Douglas Adams, though the style is very different. I understand some of her other work are rather depressing though, like the “Doomsday Book.”
Speaking of Douglas Adams, I actually like the Dirk Gently series better than the Hitchhiker series. The plot is very complex and strange - so intricate that you have to read it twice to really get it, but I like doing that anyway. Douglas Adams is even better if you hear the audiotapes read by the author.
If you have any science background, you might try “A Random Walk in Science” edited by Robert Weber.
Someone above mentioned Ben Elton. I read his book called Stark a couple of years ago. The first part of the book was very funny in places - the sort of humour that the British do so well. Highly recommended.
Also check out Spike Milligan. I read his war memoirs series of books, starting with the memorable title Adolf Hitler, My part in his downfall. Peppered with side splitting moments, as well as poignant observations at the absurdity of military life. Also highly recommended.
Portnoy’s Complaint (Phillip Roth) and Catch-22 (Joseph Heller) are both probably among the 10 funniest books ever written. And, more importantly, both have something very important to say.
Just to make this post a little dumber, I will toss out Dave Barry’s name - his collections of Humor Columns are entertaining (in the Humor section) and his recent novel, Big Trouble, is a good, quick, silly read.
“If At All Possible, Involve a Cow: A History of College Pranks” by Neil Steinberg. He also wrote a book called “Complete and Utter Failure”. That one had me cracking up in the first chapter.
I also vote for Dave Barry, especially the exploding whale.
I highly recommend Ian Frazier if you are looking for well-written, intelligent humor. He’s got two collections of essays out: Coyote V. ACME and Dating Your Mom. He also wrote this piece in the Atlantic Monthly, which is quite possibly the funniest thing I have ever read about kids.
Going back a ways, I also really enjoyed Woddy Allen’s Without Feathers.
I heartily echo DVous’s reccomendation of Spike Milligan’s war autobiography series: insane but hilarious (like Spike himself). You knew, of course, that Spike is the disciple urging the mob to worship the sandal in Life of Brian.
It depends on what sort of humour you like: dry, urbane stuff like Robert Benchley or Dorothy Parker is great, if a little dated in places; no-one can yet hold a candle to S.J. Perelman for biting command of the English language.
Some gentler humour in the British vein is “Diary of a Nobody,” by George & Weedon Grossmith; P.G. Wodehouse’s Jeeves, as already mentioned is great, but don’t overlook his Psmith stories; the Reggie Perrin books by David Nobbs are super, great! I’ve always loved reading and rereading A.P. Herbert’s brilliant take-offs of British law Misleading Cases, and More Misleading Cases, being the misadventures of one Albert Haddock in the law courts. These are now Public Domain, apparently, so here’s a link to one: The Negotiable Cow. (It may be an aquired taste).
Another favourite is The Henry Root Letters, by William Donaldson. In the 1970s, Donaldson wrote a series of bizzare and deliberately obtuse letters to prominent politicians, entertainers, clergy, etc., under the nom de plume of Henry Root, a wet fish dealer. The (real) answers were published, and make very funny reading. The recent “Letters From a Nut” is essentially the same thing, updated and with an American slant.
I also laughed out loud reading both of Al Franken’s books, Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and Why Not Me?.
George MacDonald Fraser’s Flashman books are quite funny, especially if you like historical fiction.
I’d recommend Tom Robbins also - I particularily liked “Jitterbug Perfume.”
Anything you can get by Fran Lebowitz, Jon Scieszka, or Simon Shaw. The only thing I’ve read by Terry Pratchett was co-written with Neil Gaiman; it’s called Good Omens and was hilarious.
I hate to sound populist, but the Harry Potter books are really funny, too.
Patrick F. McManus writes a humor column for Outdoor Life magazine, and they are regularly gathered into books. Unfortunately, many people seem to overlook him because of the hunting/fishing topics, thinking they won’t enjoy them if they aren’t hunters or anglers.
Not true. Every person I’ve ever seen pick up one of these books laughed out loud. Don’t read them when anyone in the house is trying to sleep.
He has a website, of course. He posts a sample story from one of the books there, so you can see if you’ll laugh before bothering to hit the library or bookstore or whatever you use. It’s http://www.mcmanusbooks.com
I can’t read Dave Barry withour breaking out laughing. Some of his books are collections of his weekly newspaper column. Others are written specifically on a particular subject.
I endorse the Dave Barry suggestion heartily. He makes me laff out loud.
Also, when he’s not trying to be either pretentious or excessively Minnesotan, Garrison Keillor can be very funny. “The Book of Guys” had me in stitches.
Did you ever read either one of Joe Bob Briggs’ collection of reviews, “Joe Bob Goes to the Drive-in” and “Joe Bob Goes Back to the Drive-in.” In addition to hilarious movie reviews, his picture of life in Grapevine, Texas is priceless. And you’ll see just how many words you can attach the suffix “-fu” to.
