An oldie but a goodie, I always enjoyed National Lampoon’s Bored Of The Rings. It has been out of print for a few years, but you can find it if you look hard enough. Even better now that the trilogy has been made with all the CGI and what not, but I can honestly say that every time I have loaned out my copy of the book it never gets returned.
This is honestly a sit down, get stoned and piss yourself laughing book. IMO.
I no longer loan out any books. AT ALL.
Bridge of Birds, by Barry Hughart, is a hilarious romp through a fantasy China. The adventures of Master Li and Number Ten Ox are funny enough in themselves, but the style in which they’re described puts them right over the top. I’ve read it many times over the years, and it still makes me laugh. The other two books in the series, The Story of the Stone and Eight Skilled Gentlemen aren’t quite as funny, but are still excellent stories.
(For fans of the books who also like PC games: You might check out an older game called Jade Empire. I don’t know if material was lifted with permission or not, but the game incorporates several names and ideas from the books, notably Henpecked Ho and the Marvelous Bamboo Dragonfly. The game is pretty fun in itself, too, in parts.)
My favorite funny book of all time is The Milagro Beanfield War, by John Nichols. I’ve probably read it five times and it cracks me up every time. Perhaps it’s just my odd sense of humor.
Christopher Buckley, Boomsday. If you enjoy skewering of the baby boomers and generational politics.
Speaking of bears, how about The Bear went over the Mountain by William Kotzwinkle. It’s a send-up of the publishing industry, featuring a bear who steals a manuscript and gets it published.
And of course, almost anything by Terry Pratchett.
Anything by Patrick McManus…A Fine & Pleasant Misery, The Night the Bear Ate Goombah, Never Sniff a Gift Fish. A master of the short story, Pat McManus writes about his experiences growing up in rural Idaho during the depression. My favorite stories are about his childhood adventures with his friend Crazy Eddy Muldoon. (My all-time favorite is The Skunk Ladder).
Wonderful stuff.
Love, Phil
The linked thread mentioned Christopher Moore, and specifically Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal. Which was indeed funny but had a sad overtone because, well, you know what’s going to happen to “Josh” (and of course Biff doesn’t know about the whole resurrection thing, so there’s a lot of grief on his part at the end). I’ve only read one other - “The Stupidest Angel, A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terrror” and that was pretty funny too.
Anything by Christopher Moore is a great read (and impossible to not quote from). I discovered him with Island of the Sequined Love Nun and immediately knew I had a new favorite author. Start with his lighter early books - Practical Demonkeeping, which you could follow with The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove and The Stupiest Angel - they all take place in the same locale. Or you could start with Bloodsucking Fiends, followed by A Dirty Job and You Suck, a lovely series about young vampires and Death, all loosely related and set in a San Francisco you’ll really enjoy visiting through his eyes. One of my favorites that I really have to re-read is Fluke, or I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings. It’s an amazingly imaginative story about a marine biologist - but that falls so short of a decent description. I’d suggest you read the exerpt in the link and let it convince you. His next book Fool comes out in February, and I’ll be pre-ordering it from Amazon as soon as it’s available.
Try any of The Pirate adventures by Gideon Defoe. I was in hysterics nearly every other page of the ones I’ve read. This has two stories in one book, so would make a good starting point.
carl hiassen. any of them.
Tom Robbins, Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates Amazon.com
He’s just wonderful.
Seconded.
ETA: Though it’s Hiaasen, if you’re looking for his books.
I, Lucifer, Glen Duncan - the devil gets a chance at redemption, providing he can live a blameless(-ish) life for a month as a dissolute writer in London - but does he actually want to? (Glen Duncan has some very dark books to his name, but this one’s nicely pitched.)
The Vesuvius Club and The Devil in Amber, Mark Gatiss (one of the writers/actors from the League of Gentlemen) - the sordid and thrilling adventures of a bisexual raconteur and spy extraordinaire as he repeatedly saves the world.
Rock On: An Office Power Ballad by Dan Kennedy. It’s about the time he spent in marketing at a record label. It’s hilarious.
Just about anything by David Sedaris, but I find I like his books on tape much more than his books. Half (or more) of the fun is in his delivery of his own material. Try Barrel Fever, Holidays on Ice and Naked before his later stuff.
Another vote for P.G. Wodehouse, if you like sly, dry British humor. The Jeeves and Wooster books are great!
Pat Conroy’s The Great Santini and The Lords of Discipline are serious books, but both have very funny scenes that left me laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes.
Douglas Adams of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy fame co-wrote (with Mark Carwardine) a very funny nonfiction book about endangered species called Last Chance to See. Highly recommended, even if you didn’t like Hitchhiker’s.
A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby is a truly hilarious book about suicide. Seriously! Well worth a read.
Brainiac is a very funny, very well-written nonfiction book by Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings, about his many appearances on the show and society’s enduring love of trivia.
Tuf Voyaging by George R.R. Martin is the funniest science fiction book I’ve ever read, with a serious message (about overpopulation, environmentalism and the dangers of absolute power) but a lot of laughs along the way.
Ah! I was away on a long, computer-less weekend (camping though, so it was glorious) and returned to so many goodies. Thanks. A few responses:
LOVED The Bear Went Over the Mountain. Think I got that one of that previous thread too. It lasted two days. Barely. Ha…ha…sorry.
Left Hand of Dorkness: I understand that. I really enjoyed the pedagogical bent in his writing and think the characters still shine through, but to each his own. For my money, I’ve always found Tom Robbins a bit maddening. I feel like his novels have so much promise and then just kind of peter out at the end—Fierce Invalids was still great though. I feel like everyone should give him a try but he doesn’t give me that “must read” feeling, personally.
Thudlow: Thanks again. HS has been purchased for at least 5 people in my life, all to rave reviews. Like I said, truly my favorite book. And non-fiction would be just fine.
I too love Buckley. Thank You For Smoking, obviously, is a gem, but so are Little Green Men and Florence of Arabia, the latter of which is quite timely right now.
And yeah, keep 'em coming.
On the music tip:
An Arky: we’re doing the always glorious Black Cat (the little room) on October 5th. Come say hi if you do come. I’ve got a mop of black hair, play the bass, keys, banjo & mandolin. Should be easy to find.
Wordman: Drat. And double drat. That’s it for us, unless we find a college or two to pay us (and pay for our gas home). We’re trying though.
The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie (aka Dr. House). A very funny James Bond-style spy novel done in quirky British style. If you like British humor, you’ll probably like this.
