Books that made you laugh

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Other than the usual Wodehouse and Dilbert books I have a few more good ones like Ulysses, Catch-22 and Lolita but other than that my collection seriously lacks in this department. I'm in real need of some good recommendations for humorous books. Help!

― Fred, Saturday, 17 April 2004 08:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Jerome Jerome. I remember saying this, before, years ago, somewhere.

― Ally C (Ally C), Saturday, 17 April 2004 10:05 (twenty-one years ago)

The King, by Donald Barthelme, was the last book that made me laugh.

― otto, Saturday, 17 April 2004 14:15 (twenty-one years ago)

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
Scoop - Evelyn Waugh

Bit obvious I'm afraid.

― holojames (holojames), Saturday, 17 April 2004 15:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Know it's been discussed a couple of times here but "A Confederacy of Dunces" made me laugh out loud regularly, even in public.

― winterland, Saturday, 17 April 2004 15:42 (twenty-one years ago)

"The Young Visiters" (sic) by Daisy Ashford made me roar and roar.

― Baravelli. (Jake Proudlock), Saturday, 17 April 2004 16:18 (twenty-one years ago)

I second Jerome K. Jerome (my favorite of his being "Three Men in a Boat To Say Nothing of the Dog") and would add, on a related note, "To Say Nothing of the Dog" by Connie Willis. I also recommend James Thurber, David Sedaris, and Dorothy Parker.

― Sara L (Tara Too), Saturday, 17 April 2004 19:32 (twenty-one years ago)

P.G. Wodehouse, Oscar Wilde, Edward Gorey

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

"Good Omens" by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

"Stiff" by Mary Roach

― Natalie (Penny Dreadful), Saturday, 17 April 2004 20:58 (twenty-one years ago)

winterland OTM

― jed_ (jed), Saturday, 17 April 2004 21:05 (twenty-one years ago)

A Walk in the Hindu Kush - Eric Newby for some giggly nonfiction.

― sandy mc (sandy mc), Monday, 19 April 2004 09:35 (twenty-one years ago)

Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut, so very good for you!!

― annina, Monday, 19 April 2004 09:38 (twenty-one years ago)

"A Walk in the Hindu Kush - Eric Newby for some giggly nonfiction."

I liked this too. At the end he bumps into Wilfred Thesiger and gently pokes fun at his own cowardice.

― Mikey G (Mikey G), Monday, 19 April 2004 10:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Comedy books, S/D

We last talked about this stuff on that thread. Some good recommendations.

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Monday, 19 April 2004 10:53 (twenty-one years ago)

This is really hard, because other people probably don't have the same sense of humor as you and/or what's funny to one person might be to another. For example, "The Tetherballs of Bougainville" was listed on "Comedy book, S/D", so I tried it out. It was funny for a little while and I smiled now and then, but in the end I wasn't all that happy with it.

Personally, I've always thought Richard Russo could write humor particularly well. I like "Straight Man" the best.

― Vermont Girl (Vermont Girl), Monday, 19 April 2004 11:06 (twenty-one years ago)

I am reading Wodehouse at the mo and he is still one of the only authors that does REALLY make me laugh aloud. Jon Ronson, Douglas Adams and Louise Rennison spring to mind who make me laugh internally.

― Archel (Archel), Monday, 19 April 2004 11:29 (twenty-one years ago)

I second (or third or whatever) Douglas Adams. The scene where Arthur Dent is at Victoria Station and thinks the guy oppsouite is eating his biscuits is brilliant (and apparently based on reality). I also like this quote about his childhood, "school was what was happening in the background while I was listening to the Beatles."

― Mikey G (Mikey G), Monday, 19 April 2004 11:36 (twenty-one years ago)

I read a copy of Damon Runyon stories while waiting for jury duty. The Clerk gave me dirty looks for laughing out loud. Amazingly, I didn't end up having to "sit in judgement".

― john wilgus (jeep), Monday, 19 April 2004 19:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Kingsley Amis's letters are a hoot, especially the ones to Philip Larkin. You wouldn't believe what a gigglin perv that kid was.

― Ann Sterzinger (Ann Sterzinger), Tuesday, 20 April 2004 00:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Redmond O'Hanlon - Into the heart of Borneo.

― kath (kath), Tuesday, 20 April 2004 01:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Steven Foster Wallace "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again". It is the most hilarious collection of essays from his days as Harper's darling boy. Jamaica Kincaid's book "A Small Place" had me giggling, but it is also heartwrenching.

― aimurchie (aimurchie), Tuesday, 20 April 2004 01:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Agree wholeheartedly that Wodehouse, "Hitchhiker's Guide," and "Good Omens" are classics. Many years ago I read a book that made me laugh so much on the subway that I became embarrassed and had to finish it at home: "Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York." It was a big seller at the time but a very bad (unfunny) movie was made of it, and it disappeared. It's worth looking up.

― Carol Robinson (carrobin), Tuesday, 20 April 2004 16:02 (twenty-one years ago)

"Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York" is hilarious!!! I read that years ago, and had forgotten the title. I was trying to remember it just the other day. Thank you! Another I had mentioned somewhere here is Clyde Edgerton's "Walking Across Egypt." It is one (besides "Sheila") that had me rolling on the floor, making a spectacle of myself.

― pepektheassassin (pepektheassassin), Wednesday, 21 April 2004 13:37 (twenty-one years ago)

I hate to be rude, but Patrick Hamilton for fuck's sake (again).

― Charles Dexter (Holey), Wednesday, 21 April 2004 22:51 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't think Patrick Hamilton has ever made me laugh, brilliant though he is.

― Archel (Archel), Thursday, 22 April 2004 11:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Really?!! Patrick Hamilton has me in convulsions of laughter - esp. Slaves of Solitude.

― Charles Dexter (Holey), Thursday, 22 April 2004 16:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Samuel Beckett: Molloy

― Paul Feldman (Paul Feldman), Thursday, 22 April 2004 17:56 (twenty-one years ago)

Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer had me in stitches. As for books of essays or collections, you cannot go wrong with David Sedaris.

― Claire (Claire Miccio), Friday, 23 April 2004 09:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Hm, maybe I should go back to my Hamilton and seek out this so-called humour. Well, I can see that there IS humour, of a black kind, but it would tend to make me grimace and nod and cringe rather than laugh.

Have we had a Hamilton thread, it being his centenary year and all?

― Archel (Archel), Friday, 23 April 2004 09:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Lolita. A very funny read, don't you think?

― Moti Bahat, Friday, 23 April 2004 12:48 (twenty-one years ago)

I thought I posted this a while ago, but let's not forget Hunter Thompson's FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS. Also, not very literary, but Dan Jenkins used to be a must-read for me. BAJA OKLAHOMA in particular. Maybe you have to be an Okie or an Arkie (which I am).

― Becky Willis, Friday, 23 April 2004 22:01 (twenty-one years ago)

"The Bear Went Over the Mountain" - William Kotzwinkle

"How to Be a Villain: Evil Laughs, Secret Lairs, Master Plans, and More!!!" - Neil Zawacki

"Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming," "A Farce to Be Reckoned With,"
"If at Faust You Don't Succeed" - Roger Zelazny

― yesabibliophile (yesabibliophile), Sunday, 25 April 2004 13:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh, and "The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove" - Christopher Moore

― yesabibliophile (yesabibliophile), Sunday, 25 April 2004 13:16 (twenty-one years ago)

"My familyand Other Animals" Gerald Durrell. I found it hilarious.
"La Tesis de Nancy" Ramon J. Sender, about an american in the southern part of Spain and a chain of misunderstanding due to her limited grasp of the language that she took literally. Funny.

― Nelly Mc Causland (Geborwyn), Saturday, 1 May 2004 14:51 (twenty-one years ago)

As was mentioned on the other thread, 'Diary of a Nobody' by George and Weedon Grossmith. Wonderful!

'Billy Liar' by Keith Waterhouse
'Decline and Fall' by Evelyn Waugh
'The History Man' by Malcolm Bradbury

― Charles Dexter (Holey), Saturday, 1 May 2004 18:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Wow! I'm going to need a lot of money now. My shopping list is ready. I love this place.

― Fred, Sunday, 2 May 2004 08:06 (twenty-one years ago)

"If Loving You Is Wrong I Don't Want To Be Wrong" by Derrick Brown (poems by one of the guys from John Wilkes Kissing Booth)

― Donald, Monday, 3 May 2004 14:25 (twenty-one years ago)

I doubt you'll be able to find the english version of this book, but it's called "Sve što žena triba znat o onin stvarima" by Arijana Èulina, a Croatian writer... It's very cool and easy to read.

peace... the pands :)

― child_of_a_pisces (child_of_a_pisces), Thursday, 6 May 2004 21:00 (twenty-one years ago)

"Barney's version" by Mordecai Richler

― demiurgo, Friday, 7 May 2004 13:38 (twenty-one years ago)

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