# What is your favourite funny novel? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [March 14, 2024, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832 "2024-03-14T13:43:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/21 "2024-03-14T16:12:11Z")
The OP doesn’t actually specify a timeframe, which I assume is intentional, so: It’s a few decades since I read it, but I remember laughing so hard that I was completely debilitated: [Puckoon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puckoon) by Spike Milligan. And without wanting to sound _utterly_ pretentious, The Life And Opinions Of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne is (at times) howlingly funny, as well as being (at times) inexplicable; and (fascinatingly) a couple of centuries ahead of its time. j ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/22 "2024-03-14T16:12:26Z")
Probably _Cranford_ by Elizabeth Gaskell, but that came way before _Catch-22_. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/23 "2024-03-14T16:14:09Z")
(Two people thinking exactly the same thing at the same time. Interesting). j ---
**Author:** ![epbrown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@epbrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/24 "2024-03-14T16:21:03Z")
My favorite is PG Wodehouse’s “Mating Season,” one of the Jeeves novels. My favorite Moore is “Bite Me,” my favorite Adams is “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency.” ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/25 "2024-03-14T16:24:04Z")
I generally don’t like funny novels, nothing against comedic writing but there is something about the intersection between the long form novel and comedy that doesn’t mesh with me. That said, when I was a teenager I loved Dalmiro Saenz’ novel “Yo tambien fui un espermatozoide” (I was an spermatoza too), which begins “Writing a book on yourself is a bit uncomfortable, I usually prefer writing on a desk” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/26 "2024-03-14T16:30:49Z")
Carl Hiassen’s books are generally very funny. His stories invariably take place in Florida, a place where I think he only lives so he can write about the idiotic things Floridians do. I remember laughing like a loon when I read _Auntie Mame_ (Dennis) a hundred years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/27 "2024-03-14T17:17:07Z")
I’m surprised that neither the NY Times article, nor anyone in the thread (that I saw, anyway) mentioned Kurt Vonnegut. I’ve read many of his books and he never fails to keep me laughing, despite the often bleak subject matter. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/28 "2024-03-14T17:19:36Z")
Excellent choice, but Douglas Adams was better for me. I had read pretty much every Vonnegut and loved many of them. Cat’s Cradle would be my top pick for him for funny. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/29 "2024-03-14T17:28:09Z")
_Cat’s Cradle_, yes. Some of Vonnegut’s novels, though—maybe most of them—really don’t have a lot of material that seems to be played for laughs (_Mother Night_ in particular comes to mind). But there’s plenty of absurdity to be found throughout his work, and on the basis of just using his imagination, he accounts for himself very well. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/30 "2024-03-14T17:45:29Z")
Definitely Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, followed by Douglas Adam’s non-hitchhiker novels (Dirk Gently) Also Terry Pratchett (though the quality of them does go downhill in the later ones, he wrote _a lot_) ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/31 "2024-03-14T17:54:03Z")
> [@Tride](#): > > Saw that and had a similar reaction. For me? _Cryptonomicon_ or any earlier Christopher Moore, especially _Dirty Job_. I appreciate and admire your taste in books, since it overlaps a lot with my own. Minor quibble on your Stephenson choice, as I prefer the earlier novels where they benefit from having an editor to cut down the meandering, but I have on occasions read the part of the intro about “stupendous badass” and the later section about the giga-molars outloud to friends who ended up LOLing and on occasion, doing so with tears in their eyes. Still, I’d have mentioend Zodiac or Snow Crash first. And you’re 100% right about differentiating between early and late Christopher Moore if you want to load on the funny - I’m not saying later Moore is _bad_ and I have a copy of Lamb (@carlb’s suggestion) but the later stuff IMHO is more _clever_ but less LOL. A good question though is brought up by Cal Meacham: > [@CalMeacham](#): > > **Bored of the Rings** , if you count parody. Because direct and style parodies are hugely amusing to me. Or ones that invert and send up genre tropes. While the level of writing is often not enough to meet the standards of the authors mentioned in-thread, I love the books [Illegal Aliens](https://www.amazon.com/Illegal-Aliens-Nick-Pollotta/dp/1933274131) and [Villians by Neccessity](https://www.amazon.com/Villains-Necessity-Eve-Forward-ebook/dp/B07JYF8ZWR/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3JFY7755OFY8O&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.KHyezDTcPqaZrIhS13TwpiQW5bNMM-e84nOGKMRyQVU.hRr09OVF8uIu0vcM2ICLChb9ogZwhvfE8u5dBP-FV0Y&dib_tag=se&keywords=villains+by+necessity+by+eve+forward&qid=1710438795&s=books&sprefix=villains+by+ne%2Cstripbooks%2C117&sr=1-1). ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/32 "2024-03-14T17:56:35Z")
> [@carlb](#): > > “[Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamb:_The_Gospel_According_to_Biff,_Christ%27s_Childhood_Pal)” is my Christopher Moore nominee, but to each their own. I like all of his work but _Lamb_ also gets my vote. > [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > And Connie Willis’s **To Say Nothing Of The Dog**. What I was going to post. My favorite Sci-Fi novel, and _very_ funny in a somewhat understated way. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/33 "2024-03-14T18:01:59Z")
Believe it or not, the works of Mark Twain. Generally not all the way through. But parts of _A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court_ are great. So sare parts of _Life on the Mississippi_ and _The Innocents Abroad_, although those aren’t novels. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/34 "2024-03-14T18:04:31Z")
The James Herriot books are hilarious, in parts. Other parts are very sad, so I wouldn’t call them comedic novels, but the funny stuff is very good. Tristan always slays me. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/35 "2024-03-14T18:14:00Z")
OMG, some of Twain’s writing about his times in Nevada and California had me laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe. Otherwise a lot of my faves have been named here. Stephenson’s description of ‘The Deliverator’ in _Snow Crash_ is one of my faves. I also thoroughly enjoyed James Kennedy’s _Confederacy of Dunces_ ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/36 "2024-03-14T18:21:46Z")
A few people have mentioned funny fantasy novels. If you like that genre, check out the _Tales of Pell_ series by Delilah Dawson and Kevin Hearne; _Kill the Farm Boy_, _No Country for Old Gnomes_ and _The Princess Beard_. ---
**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:** [March 14, 2024, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/37 "2024-03-14T18:22:37Z")
Adams never clicked for me. Moore, Pratchett, Dorsey and Holt are more my style. But yeah, _Lamb_ by far. But I’ll give a shout-out to _Illegal Aliens_ by Nick Pollatta and Phil Foglio. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/38 "2024-03-14T18:31:47Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > But I’ll give a shout-out to _Illegal Aliens_ by Nick Pollatta and Phil Foglio. A fellow fan I see, but I got there first! (unreasonable smugness satisfied) Oh, and I came back to the thread after a DUH moment, but in terms of loving style homages, I’d have been remiss to not mention The Princess Bride novel, although it’s overshadowed in many ways by the amazing film version. And for fans of amusing fantasy, I always suggest the writings of Steven Brust, especially the various novels of the Jhereg/Vlad Talos/Dragaera series. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/39 "2024-03-14T18:37:42Z")
I love _Gentlemen Prefer Blondes_, by Anita Loos. The novel is far funnier than the movie. It’s written in the first person as Lorelei Lee’s diary, and she tries to conceal a lot about herself and unintentionally reveals a lot, which reminds me a bit of Thackeray’s _Barry Lyndon_. Anita Loos was a master of funny, crackly dialogue, which is why Jean Harlow liked to have Loos on staff to write lines for her. I re-read it every once in awhile to laugh all over again. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/40 "2024-03-14T18:41:52Z")
_Mason & Dixon,_ by Thomas Pynchon (1997), is actually really funny, in at least ten sequences that span five or ten pages each. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832.md?page=3)