# What were the funniest books you've ever read? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 4, 2001, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585 "2001-06-04T22:48:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2001, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/1 "2001-06-04T22:48:59Z")
What were the funniest books you’ve ever read? The Boat That Would Not Float By Farley Mowat The Dog That Would Not Be By Farley Mowat The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove By Christopher Moore Any book by Thorne Smith A Conneticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court By Mark Twain ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2001, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/2 "2001-06-04T22:58:04Z")
**Observations from a moving vehicle** by The Sandman, a comedian/character from the Australian radio station Triple J. I left Australia in 1998 and I still get all his books sent over. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2001, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/3 "2001-06-04T23:28:24Z")
I recently read _High Fidelity_ by Nick Hornby (didn’t see the movie.) I rarely laugh out loud from reading fiction but I was cracking up throughout this book. Haj ---
**Author:** ![Azura\_Borealis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ab992/32.png) [@Azura\_Borealis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azura_Borealis)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2001, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/4 "2001-06-04T23:59:31Z")
I have this little paper book, with a 50’s type approach called “The Art Of Kissing” Wherein in describes a plethora of kissing types, and the methods used to secure and execute said type of kiss. :eek: It kind of runs right along side that .wav file called “The F Word” (and if you don’t have it, i’ll share) Probably the most Leave It To Beaver-ish Hilarity, That You Could Only expect or appreciate From the 1950’s approach to anything sexual. ---
**Author:** ![Grok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/96bed5/32.png) [@Grok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grok)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2001, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/5 "2001-06-05T01:02:44Z")
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is the only book I can remember that ever made me LOL. ---
**Author:** ![BigGiantHead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b4bc9f/32.png) [@BigGiantHead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigGiantHead)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2001, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/6 "2001-06-05T01:12:26Z")
Hitchhiker’s Guide was a good one, (R.I.P., Douglas :() As were many of the Discworld books by Terry Pratchett - _Mort_ was the first one I read, IIRC, and definitely stands out in my mind. But within the last couple years, the only real aching side-splitter I’ve gotten my hands on has been _Naked_, by David Sedaris. I literally laughed so hard I couldn’t focus on the book anymore. Oh, yeah, I should mention Carlin’s _Brain Droppings_, but it seems kind of like a cheat since it’s basically just a collection of his stand-up material with some new similar thoughts. - Dave ---
**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:** [June 5, 2001, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/7 "2001-06-05T01:15:21Z")
Illegal Aliens _by Phil Foglio_. The aliens in question are not black, yellow, white, red or brown. They are green. Foglio is a comic genius. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2001, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/8 "2001-06-05T01:16:35Z")
_The Lost Continent_ by Bill Bryson. I chuckled and laughed my way through that one. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2001, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/9 "2001-06-05T01:17:17Z")
Practically anything by Terry Pratchet or by Flann O’Brien. Or Iain Banks, strange though it might seem! ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2001, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/10 "2001-06-05T01:56:52Z")
When I was a kid: _The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank._ - Erma Bombeck. (She had a line about her neighbors dog that pooped as big as Mt. Vesuvius. I didn’t know what a Mt. Vesuvius was, so I asked my mom and when she told me, I nearly peed my pants. Poop jokes are always big with adolescents) Teen Years: \*Sunshine Soldiers \* I thought this wildly entertaining about a Reserve during Vietnam. I’m sure if I read it again I wouldn’t be so amused. I haven’t seen the book in nearly 15 years. \*Babies and other hazards of sex \* Dave Barry. Nearly peed my pants laughing so hard. Lately: Anything PJ ORourke, Dave Barry and I just read Steve martin’s “Pure Drivel” which was brilliant and a quick read. oh, and how about “Goat Porn” by Scylla. Sorry, I don’t have the link. ---
**Author:** ![nineiron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e56c9b/32.png) [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2001, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/11 "2001-06-05T02:03:45Z")
When I first read Heller’s “Catch 22” (on a train from Munich to Berlin), I laughed heartily–out loud–about once every five minutes. The other folks on the train had gotten quite tired of me by the time the train pulled into the station. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2001, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/12 "2001-06-05T02:03:57Z")
I don’t think it’s supposed to be funny overall, but one book that always cracks me up is Stephen King’s _Waste Lands_, the third book in the Dark Tower series. The parts where Jake is trying to figure out the Choo Choo book, and the Blaine the Mono stuff always has me laughing out loud. _A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again_, collection of essays by David Foster Wallace, also gets me going. Just about anything by Daniel Pinkwater is usually very cheery and often hilarious. **Shirley** , I was also a big fan of those Erma Bombeck books when I was a kid. I haven’t read them as an adult, but I often wonder why exactly I found so much humor in the whole suburban Mom thing, I mean, it’s not like I could relate to her stories about stretch marks, carpools, and panty hose when I was nine. ---
**Author:** ![Cap\_n\_Crude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Cap\_n\_Crude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cap_n_Crude)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2001, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/13 "2001-06-05T02:22:19Z")
The _Hitchhiker’s Guide_ series. _How To Be A Superhero_, by Mark Leigh and Mike Lepine. _The Tick Omnibus_ “And then he threw a chimney at us!” Just about any _Dilbert_ or _Bloom County_ collection. Some stories by Harlan Ellison, George Alec Effinger, Larry Niven, Philip Jose Farmer, Roberta Lannes, Spider Robinson, and anybody who has had a story in one of the _Chicks In Chainmail_ books. _Anguished English,_ a collection of anecdotes by some guy whose name I can’t remember. I can keep going, but for two reasons: (1)There are many more LOL books I’ve read than I can remember right now, and (2)I’m getting damn tired of making all those italics. Never be afraid to laugh out loud at the written word. ---
**Author:** ![Jadis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@Jadis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jadis)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2001, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/14 "2001-06-05T02:22:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by delphica \* > **_A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again_, collection of essays by David Foster Wallace, also gets me going.** I adore DFW, even though I still can’t make it through Infinite Jest. Have you read Girl With Curious Hair? I liked that series of short stories better than the essays in ASFTINDA. As for my own vote on funniest book, I’d have to go with _A Prayer For Owen Meany_ by John Irving. The Christmas Pageant is absolutely classic. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BGo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/848f3c/32.png) [@BGo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BGo)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2001, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/15 "2001-06-05T02:26:52Z")
Anything by Patrick O’Rouke Anything by Patrick MacManus ---
**Author:** ![urban1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d07c76/32.png) [@urban1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urban1)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2001, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/16 "2001-06-05T02:28:55Z")
Adrift In A Boneyard - Robert Lewis Taylor. ‘There’s nothing as old as yesterday’s gnus’, said Mr. Robinson. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Creant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@Miss\_Creant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Creant)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2001, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/17 "2001-06-05T02:29:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cap’n Crude \* > \*\*The _Hitchhiker’s Guide_ series. > > _How To Be A Superhero_, by Mark Leigh and Mike Lepine. > > _The Tick Omnibus_ “And then he threw a chimney at us!” > > Just about any _Dilbert_ or _Bloom County_ collection. > > Some stories by Harlan Ellison, George Alec Effinger, Larry Niven, Philip Jose Farmer, Roberta Lannes, Spider Robinson, and anybody who has had a story in one of the _Chicks In Chainmail_ books. > > _Anguished English,_ a collection of anecdotes by some guy whose name I can’t remember. > > I can keep going, but for two reasons: (1)There are many more LOL books I’ve read than I can remember right now, and (2)I’m getting damn tired of making all those italics. Never be afraid to laugh out loud at the written word. \*\* _strains of Etta James singing ‘At Last’_ Oh my lord there is a god! I couldn’t even wait to finish reading the thread before I posted. There is another human who’s read How to Be a SuperHero (ex. Try to have your parents gunned down in front of you ala ‘Batman’) And THE TICK Cap’n, I have a tattoo of Little Wooden Boy on me and if you’re not married, come on over and find it!! ---
**Author:** ![Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c67d28/32.png) [@Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weird_AL_Einstein)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2001, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/18 "2001-06-05T02:30:05Z")
“Doon” and “Bored of the Rings”, both by the Harvard Lampoon, and parodies of Dune and Lord of the Rings, respectively. There may be others I’ve forgotten. * * * I think sex is better than logic, but I can’t prove it. ---
**Author:** ![Booker57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Booker57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Booker57)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2001, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/19 "2001-06-05T02:35:06Z")
Rape of the A_P_E this book is about sex. Fun stuff about sex,not rape in the context of sexualy over powering someone. IIRC it was written by Allen Sherman of “Hello Mudder, Hello Fadda” fame. I read it in high school. Early '70’s. A_P_E stands for American Puritanical Ethic. ---
**Author:** ![hardygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@hardygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hardygrrl)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2001, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/20 "2001-06-05T02:36:14Z")
The "Letters by a Nut " series by Ted L Nancy “Naked Pictures of Famous People” by Jon Stewart [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585.md?page=2)