# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/21 "2006-07-26T14:37:42Z")
**Woody Allen!** I haven’t read him in years but, the three books I have read (Without Feathers, Side Effects and Getting Even) were so outlandishly hilarious that I re-read them at least 3 times. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/22 "2006-07-26T15:17:20Z")
Tom Holt is pretty good, kind of a Douglas Adams type of thing (but not quite as Douglas Adamy as Douglas Adams). [Expecting Someone Taller](http://www.edlin.org/holt/books/someonetaller.html) is a good one to get the feel for his style. Nerdy little English guy hits a badger that turns out to be the last of the frost giants (in disguise). I loved the review from that page > [@](#): > > I read this book over the easter-holiday and I can assure you that it was a very nice way to spend the evenings, not as good as plain sex, but still much fun ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/23 "2006-07-26T16:16:09Z")
The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks (Mel’s son) and another enthusiastic vote for Patrick McManus. ---
**Author:** ![Future\_Londonite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9dc877/32.png) [@Future\_Londonite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Future_Londonite)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/24 "2006-07-26T16:53:53Z")
Robert Rankin…especialy the Brentford Trilogy series (though they are hard to find in the US) ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/25 "2006-07-26T17:28:14Z")
Another vote for the Bob Grant/Doug Naylor Red Dwarf books. I was very entertained by them. I’d also like to nominate Robert Asprin’s **Phule’s Company** and **M.Y.T.H.** series. The former is sci-fi, the other fantasy, but both are quite amusing. ---
**Author:** ![Emeria](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@Emeria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emeria)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/26 "2006-07-26T19:28:07Z")
[QUOTE=Eonwe] [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. 🙂 [/QUOTE] yes, yes, yes! so funny. ---
**Author:** ![Reloy3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c68b51/32.png) [@Reloy3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reloy3)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/27 "2006-07-26T20:11:03Z")
**Steve Martin** , the actor’s, books are good, too. _Cruel Shoes_ has some great stuff in it, and _The Pleasure of My Company_, though a little dry for some, is one of my all-time favorite reads. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/28 "2006-07-26T20:22:01Z")
_To Say Nothing of the Dog_ by Connie Willis. Time travellers of the near future return to Victorian England, the Middle Ages & Coventry during the Blitz–in search of a Victoran object. Mystery, romance, history & wit. With a special emphasis on loopy Victoriana. Willis wrote _Doomsday Book_, using the same Time Lab. But the time of the Black Death was not nearly as amusing. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/29 "2006-07-26T20:28:09Z")
Another vote for Tom Robbins. Even his worst stuff is mighty fine. ---
**Author:** ![Lambo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lambo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lambo)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/30 "2006-07-26T20:48:49Z")
I’ll chime in with a third vote for Patrick McManus. I don’t think he gets the recognition he deserves. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/31 "2006-07-26T21:14:55Z")
Sir Apropos of Nothing by Peter David is good, the sequels less so. I had another one in mind, but it’s escaped me now, as it took five minutes to load this page. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/32 "2006-07-26T21:24:52Z")
_The Phoenix Guards_, by Steven Brust, is a fantasy adventure written in a style that simultaneously mocks and pays homage to Alexander Dumas’s _The Three Musketeers_. It made me laugh a lot. _The Liar_, by Stephen Fry, was also pretty funny, especially if you like pornographic gay humor set in a British boarding school. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/33 "2006-07-26T21:48:53Z")
[QUOTE=Bridget Burke] _To Say Nothing of the Dog_ by Connie Willis. [/QUOTE] Another good amusement from Willis is _Bellwether_. Mystery, romance, fads & wit. And sheep. ---
**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:** [July 26, 2006, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/34 "2006-07-26T23:19:23Z")
You also might like Gideon Defoe’s “The Pirates!” novels…two of them are out now (“The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists” and “The Pirates! in an Adventure with Ahab”), and one’s due out in October (“The Pirates! In an Adventure with Communists”) The books have everything…pirates, adventure, scientists (or Ahab), ham. Really worth a read. ---
**Author:** ![dflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dflower/32/3270_2.png) [@dflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dflower)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/35 "2006-07-26T23:36:52Z")
Fanny Flag ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2006, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/36 "2006-07-27T00:29:32Z")
Try Hugh Cook’s [The Wordsmiths and the Warguild](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1411685415/ref=sr_11_1/103-1000105-5899826?ie=UTF8), a great parody of fantasy novels. It’s actually book two in a ten-book series, but most of the other volumes aren’t as good. This one is laugh-out-loud hilarious from start to finish. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2006, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/37 "2006-07-27T02:49:25Z")
A fourth vote for Patrick McManus. I have a large collection of humor books, his are the only ones that have made me chuckle days after reading one of his stories. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2006, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/38 "2006-07-27T02:53:19Z")
I liked **Waiting for the Galactic Bus** by Parke Godwin a lot. And I love Lewis Grizzard. ---
**Author:** ![luvtinayothers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@luvtinayothers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luvtinayothers)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2006, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/39 "2006-07-27T03:31:48Z")
[QUOTE=Bridget Burke] _To Say Nothing of the Dog_ by Connie Willis. Time travellers of the near future return to Victorian England, the Middle Ages & Coventry during the Blitz–in search of a Victoran object. Mystery, romance, history & wit. With a special emphasis on loopy Victoriana. Willis wrote _Doomsday Book_, using the same Time Lab. But the time of the Black Death was not nearly as amusing. [/QUOTE] I absolutely hated _To Say Nothing of the Dog_ by Connie Willis, but _Three Men In A Boat (to say nothing of the dog)_ by Jerome K. Jerome is one of the funniest books I’ve ever read. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2006, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054/40 "2006-07-27T03:53:57Z")
[QUOTE=don’t ask] 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. [/QUOTE] All Roth books are funny, to varying degrees, which makes even the crappy ones enjoyable. I have to recommend the Zuckerman Trilogy and _The Counterlife_. T.C. Boyle is also very funny, though not as much as he used to be, and he does have an annoying penchant for Dickensian pathos. Try _The Descent of Man_, _Budding Prospects_ or _The Road To Wellville_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-books-out-there/366054.md?page=3)