# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2001, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/21 "2001-06-05T02:43:26Z")
Hitchhiker’s Guide is real roll on the floor stuff. But what I can add that’s new are the MYTH books. Hooey did I crack-up when the leads friend noticed that he got along real well with the unicorn they had captured, a little too well. heeheehee Glen Cook’s Garrett series has some of the best one liners and situations I’ve read. God how I wish Harrison Ford could play him in only 1 movie, please please please, with whip cream and a cherry on top. ---
**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:** [June 5, 2001, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/22 "2001-06-05T02:44:06Z")
Have to agree with Weird Al Einstein about **Bored of the Rings**. absolutely hilarious parosy of LOTR. **Doon** , on the other hand, missed more often than it hit (and it’s not by Harvard Lampoon – it’s by National Lampoon). Harvard Lampoon DID do **Alligator** , a spot-on parody of James Bond novels. Unfortunately, it’s damned near unobtainable. I also hve to agree with \*\* Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court\*\*. Twain’s best stuff is his less-read output. Alan King’s books **Help! I’m a Prisoner n a Chinese Laundry** and **Anybody who Owns his own Home Deserves it** Most of Dave Barry’s output, especially **Dave Barry’s Book of Bad Songs** A. Whintney Brown’s book. Tom Weller’s **Science Made Stupid** and **Cvltvre Made Stupid**. That these books are out of print is a crime. There are a lot of books of headlines – Jay Leno’s, National Lampoon’s, but the best ones are the ones by Columbia Journalism Review (they don’t need commentary): **Squad Helps Dog Bite Victim** and **Red Tape Holds Up New Bridge** are flat-out hilarious. And the titles are actual headlines, of course. ---
**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, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/23 "2001-06-05T02:44:19Z")
Ok, I’ve had my cold shower. Confederacy of Dunces The Tick - Mighty Blue Justice Any and all David Sedaris-I read ‘A plauge of tics’ while on the recombent bike at the gym and fell off (no, really, I’m ok) Almost all Dave Barry with a particular affection for Dave Barry Slept Here-A sort of History of the United States-the ultimate in history books…(see sig) My paycheck I know its not a book, but if I don’t laugh I’ll cry. I gotta go think some more. ---
**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, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/24 "2001-06-05T02:46:40Z")
I can’t believe we’ve all neglected to mention the obvious Everything ever written by Cecil Adams (course, maybe that was a given) ---
**Author:** ![Dragon\_Phoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Dragon\_Phoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragon_Phoenix)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2001, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/25 "2001-06-05T02:50:53Z")
I’ll second Douglas Adams (some of his work) and Terry Pratchett (most of his work), with special mention to \* Good omens \* by Pratchett and Gayman. Not mentioned so far, but my all-time fave, is \* Riotous assembly \* by Tom Sharpe, a hilarious spoof on the South African ‘justice’ system during the Apartheid years. And for bridge buffs, the menagerie series by Victor Mollo. ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2001, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/26 "2001-06-05T05:12:03Z")
[“Moses May Have Been an Apache, and Other Actual Facts”](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1555620531/qid%3D991717258/002-9413169-1987242) by Cully Abrell and John Thompson. A spoof on Ripley’s Believe It or Not, containing such gems as “The world’s shortest lived dance craze was the ‘Expectorate’.” [“The Beaver Papers: The Story of the Lost Season”](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0517549913/qid%3D991717462/002-9413169-1987242) by Will Jacobs and Gerard Jones. Episodes of “Leave it to Beaver” as written by famous authors. Has to be read to be believed. [“Confessions of a Dangerous Mind: An Unauthorised Autobiography”](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312162146/qid%3D991717689/002-9413169-1987242) by Chuck Barris (of Gong Show infamy). Three plot lines: his game show days, his constant persuit of sex, and his undercover work as a CIA assassin…no, really! Massively entertaining, if not entirely believable. ---
**Author:** ![Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tequila_Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2001, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/27 "2001-06-05T05:39:47Z")
I second the McManus nomination here. I prefer, especially the first book in Aspirin’s Phule series _Phule’s Company_ over the Myth series, though i throughly enjoyed the Myth series. Just had never really laughed aloud until that one. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2001, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/28 "2001-06-05T05:55:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by nineiron \* > \*\*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. \*\* I read _Catch 22_ in Italy. Point made only for information. The misses was mad. I kept waking her up with my laughing. I often wonder which is more important, books or wife? Yes, wife. But books are a VERY close second. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2001, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/29 "2001-06-05T07:22:57Z")
Aside from all the ones aleady mentioned- well I laughed out loud quite a bit at Dan Savage’s “The Kid”. And I just now tonight finished Chuck Palahuik’s new book “Choke” (he also wrote “Fight Club”) which I thought incredibly funny. In a horrifying kind of way. ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2001, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/30 "2001-06-05T07:31:17Z")
“The Story of the Stone” by Barry Hughart “Practical Demonkeeping” by Christopher Moore ---
**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, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/31 "2001-06-05T09:29:14Z")
Sweetheart, I own Little Wooden Boy himself! At least, a copy that an artist made and auctioned off. Maybe we should get together and … **SPOOOON!!** And I forgot _Bored of the Rings_ in my previous list. Just the introduction (“Concerning Boggies”) is enough to leave me in tears. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2001, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/32 "2001-06-05T11:25:08Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Cap’n Crude \* > \*\* > Anguished English, a collection of anecdotes by some guy whose name I can’t remember._\* Richard Lederer a/k/a “Attila the Pun”. His books _Anguished English_ and _Fractured English_ are the funniest I’ve ever read. They make my belly ache from laughing so hard. He also has several others along the same lines, _Crazy English_, _More Anguished English_, etc. Other very funny books \*Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy \*several of the “Myth” books by Robert Asprin Any _Far Side_ collection by Gary Larson _Split Heirs_ by Lawrence Watt Evans and somebody else ---
**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:** [June 5, 2001, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/33 "2001-06-05T11:45:36Z")
I see that a lot of people list “Hitchiker’s Guide” on their lists. A big influence on Dougklas Adams was sf/fantasy writer Robert Sheckley, and if you haven’t read him you should. In particular, read **Dimension of Miracles**. When I read “Hitchhiker’s”, my first thought was “Hey, he just rewrote Dimension of Miracles!” I know a lot of other people felt so, too. There was some truly inspired insanity at MAD magazine, but I couldn’t pin down any one book. Nevertheless, things like “43 Man Squamish” (I forget the writer, but the artist was the much-neglected George Woodbridge) should never be forgotten. Dan Simmons even worked a reference to it into one of the books in the “Hyperion” series. I have to agree with Allan Sherman’s **The Rape of the A_P_E** \*. Informative _and_ funny. ---
**Author:** ![deepbluesea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ba9def/32.png) [@deepbluesea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deepbluesea)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2001, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/34 "2001-06-05T12:07:21Z")
Well, first to second some already-mentioneds: **Douglas Adams** - particularly _Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_ and _Last Chance to See_. **Terry Pratchett** - particularly _Guards, Guards_ (why has no one listed this one?) and _Good Omens_ (with **Neil Gaiman** , which is btw how his last name is spelled). His latest stuff has pretty much sucked, though, IMO. **Bill Bryson** - love that travel humor. **David Sedaris** - _Me Talk Pretty One Day_ was great. And I loved his story “The SantaLand Diaries” - it’s one of two humor books I read every December, just to keep my perspective on the Season o’ Madness. **Dan Savage** - his _Savage Love_ collection o’ columns was great, especially for those who started reading him in the latter days. **Erma Bombeck** - my introduction to humor as a kid, and I also wonder why I found her writing so entertaining when I was 9. **Barry Hughart** - _Bridge of Birds_ was my favorite, but _Story of the Stone_ was pretty good, too. **David Foster Wallace** - I gave _A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again_ to my sister, who used to work on a cruise ship. Wonder if she ever read it? **Dave Barry** - an obligatory mention on any list of humorous writing. Some not-yet-mentioneds: **Connie Willis** - when she’s trying to be funny, she’s funny. I thought _To Say Nothing of the Dog_ was hysterical. **Jerome K. Jerome** - _Three Men in a Boat_ is early travel humor, and it will make reading the above Willis book even more fun. **P.G. Wodehouse** - laughed myself sick through the Bertie and Jeeves books as a kid. **Tim Cahill** - _Jaguars Ripped My Flesh_, etc. More travel (this time, adventure) humor. **Donald Westlake** - the Dortmunder series is just about the funniest thing every to happen to the mystery genre. **L. Sprague De Camp** and **Fletcher Pratt** - _The Complete Compleat Enchanter_. **Grant Naylor** - _Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers_. I read this before I saw the TV series it was based on (Red Dwarf), and love it do death. **Helen Cresswell** - the Bagthorpe series (first four books only) was one of my early introductions to humor, and probably a major reason why this list is so long. **Helen Fielding** - _Bridget Jones’ Diary_. So popular it’s almost embarrassing to mention it, but I did find it funny. Um…I could go on (and on) but I think I’ll stop here, while I can still pretend I have, you know, a life. So you’ll all be spared any further discussion of my obsession with travel humor, not to mention all the zillions of humorous children’s books I love. (Look, when you’re living with a children’s librarian, children’s lit becomes a major feature of your reading life.) ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2001, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/35 "2001-06-05T12:21:11Z")
I remember busting a gut over _Without Feathers_ and another whose title I’ve forgotten by **Woody Allen** … The absurdity of his writings cracked me up. Now I’m going to have to dig them out and see if my sense of humor has changed in 28 years… ---
**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:** [June 5, 2001, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/36 "2001-06-05T13:17:14Z")
**Getting Even** was Woody Allen’s first collection. **Without Feathers** was his second, and **Side Effects** his third. (see [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-keywords=Woody%20Allen&bq=1/ref=aps\_more\_b\_2/104-6212052-0203153](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-keywords=Woody%20Allen&bq=1/ref=aps_more_b_2/104-6212052-0203153) ) A lot of funny stuff in his first two, especially stuff like 'The Whore of Mensa". The third fell off a bit. ---
**Author:** ![curwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@curwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curwin)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2001, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/37 "2001-06-05T13:22:37Z")
Scott Adams Dilbert book with text - The Joy of Work The Onion – Our Dumb Century Al Franken – Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot Scuse Me While I Kiss this Guy (only the first one in the series, the rest seemed somewhat forced) ---
**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, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/38 "2001-06-05T13:25:08Z")
Dan I LOVE YOU! We MUST MEET!! I just wish I still had my hand puppet of Handy _“Read a book! You’re making us look like jerks!”_ Plus, it would be nice to meet someone who didn’t say, “Why do you have a tattoo of Gumby?” The guy did a great job. The nail/fingers and the wood rings are perfect! ---
**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, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/39 "2001-06-05T13:28:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miss Creant \* > \*\*Dan > I LOVE YOU! We MUST MEET!! I just wish I still had my hand puppet of Handy _“Read a book! You’re making us look like jerks!”_ > > Plus, it would be nice to meet someone who didn’t say, “Why do you have a tattoo of Gumby?” The guy did a great job. The nail/fingers and the wood rings are perfect! \*\* **DAN?** Who the hell is Dan? And what’s he doing in my post to the Cap’n! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2001, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585/40 "2001-06-05T13:39:24Z")
These I can (and do) read over and over again and always laugh: • “Hollywood Girl” and “Show Girl” by J.P. McEvoy • “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” and “Gentlemen Marry Brunettes” by Anita Loos • “Little Me” by Patrick Dennis • Dorothy Parker’s collected book and play reviews • Bea Lillie’s memoirs, “Every Other Inch a Lady” • “Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York” by Gail Parent • “Ho-Hums” and “More Ho-Hums” (those collected press goofs from the New Yorker) • “Red Tape Holds Up Bridge” and “Squad Helps Dog Bite Victim” (press goofs from The Columbia Journalism Review) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-funniest-books-youve-ever-read/67585.md?page=3)