Can you recommend some humorous books?

Question

I love comedy, and have loads of comedy videos/dvds. I would, however, like to combine my two loves of Reading and Comedy.

I just have a problem finding good humorous books. To guide you as to what I enjoy, my most recent "humor" books I've bought have been:


Mary Roach's "Stiff" and "Spook", in which she takes nonfiction and presents it in a humorous vein,

Bill Maher's "New Rules",

and,
one of Chuck Klosterman's, the exact title of which I cannot recall at the moment.

Any recommendations are appreciated. Thanks to all!

SciFi is fine, it's not a genre I read alot, but I do read some. Thanks, Monkey.

Answer 1

In all of my reading, only three books have ever made my laugh out loud and uncontrollably. They are:

"Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
Yossarian is crazy. He thinks everyone wants to kill him. The problem is, it's World War II, he's on a small island off the coast of Italy, and he's an American soldier. So he's probably right.
Not that being crazy is an unusual condition for a character in this book. In fact, there probably isn't a single character that anyone would describe as sane. The most well-remembered are probably Yossarian, who is as close to a protagonist as we get; and Milo Minderbinder, the raging capitalist mess officer who is so driven by the dollar that he'll bomb his own men, try to feed his men chocolate-covered cotton, and has mayoral or other high government appointments in numerous European cities.
Catch-22 uses all its crazy characters in the service of satire. Everyone represents some aspect of war, bureaucracy, military protocol, capitalism, or human nature that Heller thinks is somehow strange, or just plain wrong. He doesn't really go overboard trying to show us exactly what all this craziness might mean in terms of real life, which seems a little problematic.
Many books with serious agendas will sometimes go on for a chapter or two in the middle of the plot on some major theme, frequently in the form of one character lecturing another, reading a book, or some other expository device. I usually find such things borderline annoying, but Catch-22 goes in the opposite direction, never really guiding the reader into any of his ideas other than "war is hell," which would be as hard to miss as an elephant hiding behind a telephone pole.

"A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole

The trouble with doomed artists is the impossibility of separating the quality of the art with the dubious glamour of their demise. Is this book a true classic or a novelty? You needn't read more than thirty pages to find out the answer. If we're honest, even the most successful intelligent comedy novels often only make you smile, no matter how ingenious and thought provoking. This book had me laughing out loud, openly, in frankly embarrassingly situations. And I didn't care.

"Handling Sin" by Michael Malone

Reviewers can't seem to help themselves from comparing Handling Sin to John Kennedy Toole's Pulitzer Prize-winning A Confederacy of Dunces. An intelligent, phenomenally funny book, Handling Sin takes its readers on a rollicking modern Southern odyssey, following the reluctant adventures of insurance salesman Raleigh Whittier Hayes. Author Michael Malone, head writer for the ABC soap opera One Life to Live, exhibits incredible mastery of the novel form, navigating the story's maze of surprise twists with such boisterous alacrity that readers have very little chance of losing their way at any time from start to finish.

Answer 2

Any of the Carl Hiassen mysteries. I just reread Skinny Dip and loved it as much the second time around.
http://www.amazon.com/Skinny-Dip-Carl-Hiaasen/dp/0375411089
The funniest book I read in the past year (out of a total of 236)was The Know it All by A.J. Jacobs, a true story of a man whole read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica. He gets into Mensa (how this happens in hilarious), but he keeps saying things that aren't correct. When questioned, he replies "how many idiots so you know in MENSA?" Finally, exasperated, his wife replies "Just one, dear." If you like that kind of humor and a heavy dose of satire, this is the book for you.
http://www.amazon.com/Know-All-Humble-Become-Smartest/dp/0743250605
Hope this helps,
Channa
P.S. The books Henry D is talking about are by Redmond O'Hanlon (In Trouble Again) and Mark Wallington (Boogie Up the River). I believe those 2 should still be available at amazon.com as well.

Answer 3

Here comes the Bride by Bernard Glemser, It's an amazing book and absolutely hilarious I just loved it so much it's so so so real I just wanted to finish that book in a day didn't feel like putting it down for a second either.

Answer 4

As a delicate examine I take excitement in the Shopaholic series by making use of Sophie Kinsella or The Undead series by making use of Mary Janice Davidson. I additionally theory Be waiting whilst the Sh*t is going Down: A Survival handbook to the Apocalypse by making use of Forrest Griffin became hilarious.

Answer 5

There are three books by the author of "In Trouble Again". I forget his name, but he is a professor who takes these trips into tropical lands and bumbles about and lets the natives take advantage of him. The way he describes his woes is excruciatingly funny.
"Boogie up the River" is about a man and his gross dog rowing up the Thames. I think the autor is Mark Walford or something similar.

You would like James Herriot's books, I'm sure., about his life as a vet. The son of his boss, Tristan, is a real character, and is always into pranks.

Answer 6

Try this one by Julian Barnes
"A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters"

I found it hilarious, but if you are a religious fundamentalist--you could be offended.

Answer 7

I know its a bit sci-fi, but '
A Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy'
by Douglas Adams is humourous!