just realised my overall tone was overwhelmingly “this is great, but”
sorry 'bout that!
I forgot Dickens. Though I can’t specify one particular book, he has a tendancy to pop in an tongue in cheek description here and there out of the blue. Tale of Two Cities had a few of them (the show down between miss. pross & mrs. Defarge was ridiculous) - it was the first book of his I read (coughstruggledthroughcough) and the humor here and there threw me completely off, I thought it was supposed to be utter doom and gloom. It ultimately turned me on to his writing.
:: Blinks myopicly at the screen whil re-reading the thread::
Okay, y’all, this is good, but…
Have you all COMPLETELY forgotten Bill Watterson? Calvin and Hobbes is some of the funniest, wryest wit I’ve come across. I own all the books and there isn’t a single strip I don’t like.
As for novels, after the obligatory “Hitchiker’s” ackowledgement, I must say that “Good Omens” is without a doubt the funniest book about armageddon that I’ve ever read.
Besides The Far Side and Calvin & Hobbes, the only book that has made me cry from laughing was Neil Gaiman’s and Terry Pratchett’s “Good Omens.” I just loved it to DEATH
Tried reading Pratchett’s stuff alone, and couldn’t get into it, tho.
This was really a comic book, but since it was collected into several graphic novels it seems fair to include:
The Trouble With Girls by Gerard Jones and Will Jacobs
By the authors of The Beaver Papers, this was the stories of Lester Girls, a reluctant Renaissance Man, who with his sidekick Apache Dick battled such nefarious foes as the Asian triumvirate consisting of the Lizard Lady, General Poon Tang, and the slippery Ben Wa.
Of course Adams, Pratchett et al.
When I was a kid the books I laughed hardest at were Richard Armour’s fractured history/Shakespeare summaries (“they vanished into thin air, making it slightly thicker”) and Bored of the Rings, previously mentioned.
Oh yeah. And of course Rude Tales and Glorious by Nicholas Seare, a gut-busting, milk-snarfing send-up of the Arthurian legends. I bought it during my first visit to England, and have rarely laughed that hard in my life.
I wanted to third (fourth?) the nomination of Patrick F. McManus. And not just because we share a last name (but no relation).
I’d also like to remind the McManus fans that all his kid stories took place in the town he grew up in: Sand Point, Idaho. That’s the spot where a bunch of children recently held off the sherrif for days. I guess the kids there aren’t as amusing as they were in the first half of the 20th century.
Also, a hearty second to Connie Willis’ To Say nothing of the Dog. I just finished her Doomsday Book as well, and even though that’s not as pure a comedy, it’s laced with very funny stuff throughout, and a great book overall.
On the comics front:
SCUD: the disposable assassin
The occaisional Dilbert,
All of Bloom County
For the RPG gamers in the audience:
Knights of the Dinner table
“The Princess Bride” by S. Morgenstern (William Golding)
“The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” and all four subsequent books in the trilogy.
Any “Asterix & Obelisk” books.
Anything by Dr. Seuss. I love Dr. Seuss.
I haven’t seen Paul Reiser’s “Couplehood” and
“Babyhood” mentioned. For anyone who liked his
character in Mad About You, he is actually even
funnier in print. Both these books with really
crack you up. Also Ellen Degeneres’ “My Point…
and I Do Have One” is hilarious if you find her
humor entertaining.
Second the motion on Bored of the Rings. As a previous poster found the prologue hilarious ("*either Arglebargle I or somebody else.") I busted a gut over the map inside the cover. Actually, the laughs decrease deeper into the book, like the authors got bored with their creation.
When I was about 12 (a few decades back) I read The Egg and I and was convulsed with side-splitting laughter. Haven’t touched it since, and I’d be curious to know if I’d find it as funny now.
S.J. Perelman–I’ve got a collection of essays, The Most of S.J. Perelman, with some real priceless stuff.
Mark Twain’s essays on “James Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offenses”, and “The Awful German Language”.
Bookstore browsers of T.R. Pearsons’ books might be (initially) turned off by his writing rhythm which includes paragraph long single sentences; but I guarantee you’ll understand his choice of style before the end of the first chapter.
Early works center on the average, ordinary, and not so ordinary people of rural North Carolina; I highly recommend:
Gospel Hour
Call and Response
Cry Me A River
etc
etc
p.s. Be careful of his humor land-mines; you’ll be reading along, bump into one of these things, and promptly snort your mouthful of popcorn (beer, or nachos) right though your nose as you start convulsing on the floor. Be advised.
The Zork Chronicles, by George Alec Effinger. (The same one who Badtz Marid mentioned) Yes, it’s technically a licenced product book, but don’t let that fool you. It has the same almost nasty, half mocking tone that the Marid Audron books had, but even more so. It’s only real consession to Zork is the Grues . . .
Hmm. Someone
And since the type/comic barrier has been broken, I feel compeled to mention Fred Perry’s Gold Digger. And Masahiko Kikuni’s Heartbroken Angels . . .
Anyone remember who wrote So You Really Want to be a Hero? I rember finding it funny years ago, but lost my copy at some point. (It’s probably rotting in a storage shed in MA along with my old comic collection)
Cap’tn Crude beat me to How to Be a Super Hero! (I failed to save the universe. I want my money back!) so I’m reduced to pointing out the Drake Majistal (spelling way off) books by Walter Jon Williams. Some of Robert B. Parkers books and almost all of Ed McBain’s books have thier funny moments as well . . .
–
“AUUGH! I’ve taken a minor wound to the heart area!”
OH MY GOD! I MET DAVID SEDARIS LAST NIGHT!
My sister and I went to a reading and book signing.
It was AMAZING. The man is way too funny. He was so cool, he took a picture with us. My sister bought a bunch of his books as gifts for friends, all guys. Mr. Sedaris (hey, it is **Mr.[\b] Sedaris, he is a god) asked if any of them were gay (they weren’t but one was questionable) so he (Mr)
signed that guys book with, “we all know you’re really gay”
Guess you had to be there, it was great.
He signed mine ‘don’t mess with Texas’ and in Naked he wrote ‘now your walk is more distincter’ (part of a poem about dogs) I don’t care IT WAS SOOOOO COOOL
Am I the only one who has read the mysteries written by the same Texas Jewboy who sang such classics as “They Ain’t Making Jews Like Jesus Anymore?” The bizarre sense of humor
is apparent in all Kinky’s writings, be they songs or books.
The only person I know of who has a cult following in two separate genres.
Isn’t there an Andy Sedaris, too? Are he and David related?
I heard a Sedaris commentary on NPR a few months back, that may have been the funniest thing I’ve heard on public radio. He was talking about living in Paris, and the huge number of movie theatres showing American films…
“…so on Easter morning, I tried to get in to see The Greatest Story Ever Told, but it was sold out. So I went across the street, and saw Superfly. The Second-Greatest Story Ever Told.”
