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Funniest book you've ever read...

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by n8wilk, Apr 4, 2009.

  1. Ben_Hecht

    Ben_Hecht Active Member



    Catch reads MUCH better than it plays.

    So does Gatsby, of course.

    No coincidence, there.
     
  2. HC

    HC Well-Known Member

    Books that made me laugh out loud on a city bus:

    Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by David Adams and almost anything by David Sedaris. My favourite is "Me Talk Pretty One Day", especially the story about his 'French as a Second Language' class discussing Easter.
     
  3. Jay Stone

    Jay Stone New Member

    "A Walk In The Woods," by Bill Bryson will keep you in stitches. And I don't know about the person who is the target of this thread, but for the members of the board, I'd highly recommend "Anguished English," by Richard Lederer. You will laugh until you cry.
     
  4. writing irish

    writing irish Active Member

    Post Office by Charles Bukowski
     
  5. Ben_Hecht

    Ben_Hecht Active Member


    Respect Sedaris' capabilities, but to get to the 30% that's drop-dead hilarious, you have to slog through the remainder.

    Individual readers will be left to judge whether that's worth the price paid.
     
  6. mike311gd

    mike311gd Active Member

    One of my favorite books.
     
  7. AD

    AD Active Member

    the only books where i laughed out loud constantly:
    "catch-22"
    and, seriously, dostoyevsky's "the idiot" and "brothers karamasov". everyone is so over-the-top crazy, dark, russian and random that i found myself giggling every 20 pages.
     
  8. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    If your friend is a baseball fan and if you can find the book anyweres, I recommend Bill (Spaceman) Lee's biography "The Wrong Stuff."
     
  9. old_tony

    old_tony Well-Known Member

    Hear, hear. That more people didn't suggest this book makes me want to say "Aww, shitfuck."
     
  10. mustangj17

    mustangj17 Active Member

    George Carlin's Napalm and Silly Putty.
     
  11. Double Down

    Double Down Well-Known Member

    Personal Hall of Fame:

    Catch-22, Joseph Heller. Still the funniest good book ever written, and certainly the greatest funny book ever written. Might just be the best book ever written, when you think about it.

    Straight Man, Richard Russo. People swoon over Empire Falls (which is overrated) and Nobody's Fool (which is great) but Straight Man made me laugh so many times, out loud, it will always be my favorite Russo book. I grew up in academia, so perhaps it rings truer for me than it might for you, but I still think it's outstanding.

    Naked, David Sedaris. I read this in college, and thought it was just about the funniest damn thing ever, gave it to a girlfriend who said she didn't get it, and as hot as she was, that was pretty much it for us. I knew I couldn't marry her after that. I actually think Sedaris is funnier when he reads his own stuff.


    Hoping to get after their eligibility is up:

    CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, by George Saunders. It's a shame more people haven't read Saunders, because he's absolutely brilliant and a little bit crazy.

    High Fidelity, by Nick Hornby. Nothing really to say that hasn't been said already.

    And Then We Came To the End, Joshua Ferris Funny because it's so sad, really. If you still work at a newspaper, read this book. I think it perfectly captures the tragicomedy that is a dying industry in the middle of a recession.

    Fargo Rock City, Chuck Klosterman: Looking back, I think I like this better that Sex, Drugs, CCpuffs.

    The Princess Bride, William Goldman. Some good stuff that's not in the movie, but loses out a little because the movie was better.


    All-star performance, but not quite HOF material:

    Absurdistan, Gary Shteyngart. The scene of the rooftop of one of the hotels with dancing Haliburton employees made the whole thing worth it. Actually sort of like Catch-22 crossed with Confederacy of Dunces, in a way.

    Me Talk Pretty One Day, Sedaris.

    The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature, Neal Pollack. Pretty funny parody of literature and literary journalism.

    Election, Tom Perrotta. See: The Princess Bride.


    Some good laughs at the time, but when the five-year waiting period expired, it didn't age all that well:


    Missing Links, Rick Reilly. Still think the protaganist's choice at the end is out of left field.

    Dead Solid Perfect, Jenkins. Funnier, I suppose, if you're ok with the n-word every 20 pages. As Fenian often points out, after awhile, it seems clear that Dan likes using it a little too much.


    Never understood what the fuss was about:

    Portnoy's Complaint, Roth. I'm Jewish and my mother smothers me. I love to masturbate with milk bottles and liver! Oh the shame! It helps met get off! I sure would like to fuck my mom, but I can't. Hey you look like my mother, so I'm going to rape you! Crap, that failed. Oh, how difficult it is to be a Jew, Dr. Spielvogel!

    Confederacy of Dunces, O'Toole. Other than the scene where he dresses like a pirate, which was funny, I thought it was just 350 pages about a crazy guy masturbating.
     
  12. imjustagirl

    imjustagirl Active Member

    Fantastic call. Love that book.

    Another vote for Beth Cooper, as well.
     
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