Funny Books: NPR Edition

November 26, 2024 4:24 AM

From 2019: "The news cycle is driving us to the edge of madness, so why not switch off, unplug and pick up a book? We know you could use a laugh right now — and luckily, several thousand of you told us all about the books, stories and poems that make you laugh."

"As with all our reader polls, this is a curated list and not a straight-up popularity contest; you'll see that the books are grouped into categories rather than ranked from one to 100."

posted by cupcakeninja (15 comments total)

This is something I needed, thank you.
posted by Vatnesine at 4:51 AM on November 26 [1 favorite]

I'd quibble with some of the novels, but that's the nature of lists, isn't it? Surprised that E. F. Benson didn't make the cut. A little less surprised that Tom Sharpe did not - very strong beer, is Mr. Sharpe. Kyril Bonfiglioli? The absence of Donald Westlake's Dortmunder books is frankly criminal.
posted by BWA at 6:03 AM on November 26 [2 favorites]

I am surprised and delighted to see one of my favorite books, Assassination Vacation, listed, and also one of the random books I read obsessively as a child - Erma Bombeck's If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing In The Pits?
posted by PussKillian at 7:17 AM on November 26 [1 favorite]

I also had a read repeatedly that Erma Bombeck. Also, “the grass is always greener over the septic tank.”

I also thank you for this. I got a few good ideas for some things to amuse myself with.
posted by Well I never at 7:28 AM on November 26 [1 favorite]

I was all set to dismiss the list until I saw that "Cold Comfort Farm" is indeed there under classics. All's well then.

That said, Georgette Heyer being overlooked is unsurprising but still shameful. Her romance books are funny with a capital F. (Top recs: "The Talisman Ring", "The Cotilion", and "Frederika".)

I also remember enjoying reading "The Lawrenceville Stories" by Owen Johnson tremendously.

@BWA, speaking of Tom Sharpe, my dad brought home a couple of Tom Sharpe books some sailor left behind on a ship he worked on, and to a high schooler me the covers looked alarming. When I finally opened them I discovered that the covers weren't false advertising, the books indeed were very 'strong', pungent even, but still I was entertained.
posted by of strange foe at 7:34 AM on November 26

Oh just thought of two genre fiction novels that were LOL funny:

The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman (fantasy)
Thus Was Adonis Murdered by Sarah Caudwell (mystery)
posted by of strange foe at 7:46 AM on November 26 [4 favorites]

After a strong start by women at the front of the list, the total ends up being 55 male authors and 44 female authors, with a heavy trend of women being more recent. Just an observation.
posted by drossdragon at 8:37 AM on November 26 [1 favorite]

Has anyone read Dear Committee Members? I was thinking of getting for an academic or two that I know, but don't know if it hits too close to home to be funny for them.
posted by Hactar at 8:44 AM on November 26

I want to say for the record that it's not the news cycle per se making us crazy, but all the crazy things coming down the pipleline and being reported on by the news that is making us crazy.
posted by subdee at 8:45 AM on November 26

I mean, we are living in a media-saturated environment that basically did not exist in most of the U.S. prior to the 1991 Persian Gulf War (fresh in my mind, thanks to a post today on the blue). The idea that there would be news on screens, everywhere and all the time, was science fiction. Dystopia. And today... I dunno. I haven't sought out the news, but between my phone, personal computer, and work computer, I've encountered "the news" dozens of times today. It truly did not used to be like this, and today is a light news day thus far. Yes, there's a lot of cockamamie stuff coming down the pipeline, but the existence of this system is not soothing for most people.

And thus, a post about slower, funny things, designed to lighten the world.
posted by cupcakeninja at 9:13 AM on November 26 [1 favorite]

Some very funny books on this list. Connie Willis' "To Say Nothing of the Dog" remains one of my favorites of all time.

One other novel that occurs to me is "Moo" by Jane Smiley, which is an absolutely pitch-perfect skewering of academia and laugh-out-loud funny.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 10:48 AM on November 26 [1 favorite]

I've read a surprising lot of these. The major omission is "A Short History of a Small Place" by T. R. Pearson.
posted by acrasis at 3:33 PM on November 26 [1 favorite]

Read 24, consider like 16 to be actually funny.

Huxley's Chrome Yellow, or Ape and Essence could have displaced at least a few of the "Classics".

But funny books are like jokes: the funnier they are the more likely laughter is to have wiped them from my memory — or what’s a guffaw for?
posted by jamjam at 6:58 PM on November 26

I'm one of those who did a cold-turkey news/social cutoff after the election.
Went down the rabbit-hole of 60s funny/clever detective/agent series. Might need to stay there for the next few years. They're all pretty quick reads, so pacing myself.

So far, really enjoyed:

- The Fools in Town Are on Our Side, by Ross Thomas
- The whole Mac McCorkle series, also by Ross Thomas
- The Evan Tanner series, by Lawrence Block

On deck:

- The Dortmunder series by Donald E Westlake (read some of these years ago. Didn't realize there were so many).
- Everything James Crumley has ever written.
posted by fubar at 7:04 AM on November 27 [2 favorites]

I'm reading Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey right now, about halfway through and I can't count the number of times she's already made me laugh out loud.
posted by slappy_pinchbottom at 7:11 PM on December 1 [1 favorite]