Recommend me some witty books?

Question

Not joke books.

Answer 1

Bonfire of the Vanities--Tom Wolfe

Must read with great, halarious characters who represent stereotypes. If you've ever lived in NYC especially.

Answer 2

One of my favorite books is "A Long Way Down" by Nick Hornby. It's got an offbeat sense of humor and the subject matter is a little dark, but the story flows and the characters are well written and there are genuine laugh-out-loud moments.

The general premise is 4 strangers happen to run into each other on the top of a tower on New Year's Eve, all with 1 goal in mind: Suicide. They all have their own reasons for being up there, and they've never met before that night.

They then decide to make a pact to try to stay alive for the next 90 days, turning to each other if their lives got too much to handle.

Excerpt from the book:

When we first split up, he called me a stalker, but that's like an emotive word, "stalker," isn't it? I don't think you can call it stalking when it's just phone calls and letters and emails and knocking on the door. And I only turned up at his work twice. Three times, if you count the Christmas party, which I don't, because he said he was going to take me to that, anyway.

Stalking is when you follow them to the shops and on holiday and all that, isn't it? Well, I never went near any shops. And anyway, I didn't think it's stalking when someone owed you an explanation. Being owed an explanation is like being owed money, and not just a fiver, either. Five or six hundred quid, minimum, more like. If you're owed five or six hundred quid, minimum, and the person who owes it to you is avoiding you, then you're bound to knock on his door late at night, when you know he's going to be in. People get serious about that sort of money. They call in debt collectors, and break peoples legs. But I never went that far. I showed some restraint.

Answer 3

The Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket is full of sarcasm and wit. It's hilarious. (Don't go off the movie-it's awful).

Also, books by Jasper Fforde are very witty. He has two series
1. The Thursday Next books (the eyre affair, lost in a good book, the well of lost plots, something rotten)
2. The Nursery Crime books (The Big over easy, the fourth bear..there might be more as well)

Answer 4

Terry Prachett writes books that are satires on a number of aspects of society that are set on Diskworld which is a flat world that rides through space resting on 4 elephants standing on the back of a turtle (that sometimes does slow rolls). There are 3 or 4 sequences of stories with characters that sometimes cross over. One long sequence set in the capital involves the Night Watch, the officers dealing with crime. Start with Guards, Guards.
One set involves more obvious political satire (like Holywood (sic) as a theme park) and beliefs about other people, religions and countries. Small Gods is my favorite here. Another set involves the ordinary people of the countryside, except this place needs magic to survive, so the ordinary people are crotchity old witches and young "with it" witches, and a young witch who marries a shy king. Lords and Ladies about nasty Elves and Equal Rites about a girl who is supposed to be a wizard (not a witch)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Pratchett
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discworld

Answer 5

PG Wodehouse. Just read the preface of Summer lightning, and you'll start laughing.

".....A certain critic—for such men, I regret to say, do exist—made the nasty remark about my last novel that it contained ‘all the old Wodehouse characters under different names’. He has probably now been eaten by bears, like the children who made mock of the prophet Elisha: but if he still survives he will not be able to make a similar charge against Summer Lightning. With my superior intelligence, I have outgeneralled this man by putting in all the old Wodehouse characters under the same names. Pretty silly it will make him feel, I rather fancy....."

Answer 6

I agree with the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and the Terry Pratcett books. The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher are also good, and have a good sense of humour about them.

Answer 7

I've read some of Fannie Flaggs book and they were really good. You have to like a quirky sense of southern humor though. Janet Evanovich was good. Let see Diana Mott Davidson has some mystery book based on Food that wasn't bad. I can't think of anymore. Sorry!!!

Answer 8

Destovsky - Brothers Karsamov
Stephen King - Dream Catcher
Charles Bukowski - The most beautiful women in the world
Tom Robbins - Jitterbug perfume
by Douglas Adams - THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY

Try one of those they were all great

Answer 9

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was pretty funny. By Douglas Adams

Answer 10

Tyr some of the Jeeves books by PG Woodhouse.