# Humorous books out there? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 26, 2006, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054 "2006-07-26T06:05:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/1 "2006-07-26T06:05:33Z")
I like Douglas Adams’ works. He’s about the only funny author I know of (which isn’t saying much, I’m not that well read). My sense of humor banks heavily toward shows like _South Park_, _Curb Your Enthusiasm_, _Reno 911!_, _The Daily Show/Colbert Report_ - in that order (movies: _Office Space_). I know that writing doesn’t convey humor exactly the same way as an image, but there has to be _some_ good humor writer out there I would enjoy. So who is it? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/2 "2006-07-26T06:07:45Z")
Lewis Grizzard, A Great American. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/3 "2006-07-26T06:15:29Z")
Do you like Dave Barry at all? I’ve read several of his books, but I have to do them in short bursts, because after a couple of chapters, I hurt from laughing. I don’t know how you feel about him, but he cracks me right up. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/4 "2006-07-26T06:25:28Z")
Terry Pratchett ---
**Author:** ![BraheSilver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@BraheSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BraheSilver)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/5 "2006-07-26T07:14:57Z")
Seconding Terry Pratchett, and suggesting Carl Hiaasen. Hiaasen’s humor tends to be rather dark, so if you like seeing bad guys getting screwed over in humorous ways he’s a good choice. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/6 "2006-07-26T07:52:41Z")
Red Dwarf and Better Than Life (I know they’re novelisations of a TV show, but they’re not crap, honest). ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/7 "2006-07-26T08:23:13Z")
> [@FlyingRamenMonster](#): > > Red Dwarf and Better Than Life (I know they’re novelisations of a TV show, but they’re not crap, honest). I agree. The fact they’re written by the same people who wrote the series helps. (The first one is called “Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers”.) > [@Oakminster](#): > > Lewis Grizzard, A Great American. I agree. I also like Patrick McManus. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/8 "2006-07-26T11:00:52Z")
Another vote for Terry Pratchett, skip the first couple of Discworld books and try **Guards Guards** if that doesn’t make you laugh out loud then maybe he’s not for you and maybe there is no hope for you Bill Bryson, though not all his books are humourous. [Down Under](http://www.travelliterature.org/reviews/down_under.shtml) is. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/9 "2006-07-26T11:03:39Z")
I thinks Tom Robbins and Kinky Friedman are pretty funny. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/10 "2006-07-26T11:05:03Z")
I didn’t thinks I needed to preview a one-sentence post. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/11 "2006-07-26T12:57:31Z")
[Christopher Moore](http://www.chrismoore.com/). I highly recommend **Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal**. One of the funniest books I’ve read. **Practical Demonkeeping** is good too… er, it’s all good, really. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/12 "2006-07-26T13:19:47Z")
John Hodgman, The Daily Show’s “resident expert” and the PC from those Apple commercials, wrote a book called “The Areas of My Expertise”. It’s supposed to be an almanac, but everything in it is completely made up, so it’s fictional in a way, but it’s not a story. There’s a lot of stuff about the Hobo Wars and Werewolves, for example. It’s dry, but if you like TDS, I think you might enjoy it. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/13 "2006-07-26T13:25:34Z")
Read anything by **David Sedaris**. He writes hysterical non-fiction vignette essays. ---
**Author:** ![Alistair\_McCello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/58956e/32.png) [@Alistair\_McCello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alistair_McCello)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/14 "2006-07-26T13:38:16Z")
Another vote for Terry Pratchett, and as you are a fan of Douglas Adams I would also suggest giving **P. G. Wodehouse** a shot. I may be remembering incorrectly but I believe that Adams reffered to Wodehouse as one of the greatest satirical authors of the 20th century (if nothing else I know he admirred the man and his humour). ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/15 "2006-07-26T13:57:30Z")
> [@HelloNinja](#): > > Read anything by **David Sedaris**. He writes hysterical non-fiction vignette essays. Yep, **Me Talk Pretty One Day** is right up there. And the Onion compilation books are good for a chuckle or three. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/16 "2006-07-26T14:05:56Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > I thinks Tom Robbins and Kinky Friedman are pretty funny. You beat me to Tom Robbins. I adore him. My favorite was _Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates._ He’s different, to say the least. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/17 "2006-07-26T14:12:36Z")
My favorite funny book is [e](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0452281881/sr=1-1/qid=1153923021/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-1032162-3859065?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Matthew Beaumont. It’s hilarious, and takes about two hours to read, since the whole book is done in e-mail exchanges. ---
**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:** [July 26, 2006, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/18 "2006-07-26T14:15:55Z")
Others not mentioned - Canadian Mordecai Richler, banned South African now Englishman Tom Sharpe, Philip Roth - \*The Great American Novel \* got me into baseball, all of Bill Bryson is laugh out loud funny, Carl Hiassen if you like thrillers or maybe Kinky Friedman. ---
**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:** [July 26, 2006, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/19 "2006-07-26T14:17:56Z")
Of course my list of people not mentioned began to include the mentioned, just take that as a further endorsement - in my enthusiasm I forgot. ---
**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:** [July 26, 2006, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/20 "2006-07-26T14:36:25Z")
For Graphic Novels, try– _Plastic Man: On the Lam_ by Kyle Baker > **[Plastic Man: On The Lam by Baker, Kyle](https://www.amazon.com/Plastic-Man-Lam-Kyle-Baker/dp/1401203434)** > > Plastic Man: On The Lam by Baker, Kyle _Birth of a Nation: A Comic Novel_ by Aaron Mcgruder, Reginald Hudlin, Kyle Baker > **[Birth of a Nation: A Comic Novel by McGruder, Aaron](https://www.amazon.com/Birth-Nation-Comic-Aaron-McGruder/dp/1400083168)** > > Birth of a Nation: A Comic Novel \[McGruder, Aaron, Hudlin, Reginald, Baker, Kyle\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Birth of a Nation: A Comic Novel _Girl Genius Volume 1: Agatha Heterodyne And The Beetleburg Clank_ by Phil Foglio, Kaja Foglio > **[Girl Genius Volume 1: Agatha Heterodyne & The Beetleburg Clank: Foglio,...](https://www.amazon.com/Girl-Genius-Agatha-Heterodyne-Beetleburg/dp/1890856193)** > > Girl Genius Volume 1: Agatha Heterodyne & The Beetleburg Clank \[Foglio, Phil, Foglio, Kaja, Foglio, Phil, Snoddy, Brian\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Girl Genius Volume 1: Agatha Heterodyne & The Beetleburg Clank Or, indeed, **any** of the _Girl Genius_ series– [http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=s\_sf\_b\_as/002-4395455-4695261?search-alias=stripbooks&rank=+relevancerank&field-author=foglio&field-title=girl%20genius](http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=s_sf_b_as/002-4395455-4695261?search-alias=stripbooks&rank=+relevancerank&field-author=foglio&field-title=girl%20genius) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054.md?page=2)