Here I am looking for new reading material so I thought I’d ask your opinion for something light, funny and warm and fuzzy.
A couple I can give you …
“Only Forward” by Michael Marshall Smith.
He spends the first two pages describing crossing the room to answer the telephone.
“It was a long and arduous journey full of trials, setbacks and heroic derring-do on my part. I was almost there at one stage when I ran out of cigarettes and had to go back and get another packet.”
Anything by Nick Earles. Specifically, “Perfect Skin”
One of the characters Katie has a cat that she loves named Flag. So much so that her email address is ‘ktnflag@blah.com.au’ The main character Jon through a series of mis-adventures accidentally treads on Flag and causes serious damage. When he is reflecting he looks at himself in a mirror and says “Oh God, I killed half her email address!”
One that you definitely have to find and read. It’s an aussie author so look hard
There are passages in Infinite Jest (by David Foster Wallace) that are hysterical. But if you want “light, funny and warm and fuzzy”, gather all the copies of IJ in one place and then go to the opposite side of the planet.
naked by David Sedaris. I usually bring a book to classes so I can stay awake and look like I’m doing work and still not pay attention. I once disrupted the class by laughing much too loud.
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. His latest book, I’m reading it now, I’m in stitches.
(basically, anything by David Sedaris)
A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace. It’s a collection of “essays and arguments”, half of which are hilarious, the other half of which can put you to sleep. If he’s written something on a journalism assignment, you’re guaranteed to laugh every time your attention is drawn to a footnote.
And what the hell, while I’m at it, I mentioned this in another thread about two or three weeks ago, but: The Princess Bride by William Goldman
the hitchhiker’s series are definitely great as is The Princess Bride, but I still say the two(oops, make that three) most hilarious books in the world are I’ll Take It by Paul Rudnick The Queen and I by Sue Townsend and of course… Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.
Anything by Terry Pratchett is wonderful. One I highly recommend is Pratchett’s collaberation with Neil Gaiman, Good Omens. It’s hilarious.
I also recommend the script of “The Collected Works of William Shakespeare in 97 Minutes” by the Reduced Shakespeare Company. I saw them in London and… beyond hilarious.
One of the funniest lines I’ve ever read in a book is from Candide, by Voltaire. “What a misfortune to be without testicles.”
Uklele, I love you! I love this book. You should read the variation on it by Connie Willis, “To Say Nothing of the Dog,” which won the Hugo last year. Hilarious take on Jerome K. Jerome and time travel.
My vote goes to A Short History of A Small Place by T.R. Pearson. He captures southern speech patterns perfectly, but I guess as a native of Fuquay-Varina, NC, he should. Sadly, his second and third books don’t live up to Short History.
