Books that made you laugh out loud
07-03-04, 05:52 AM
#1
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Books that made you laugh out loud
I like to laugh. And I have to be honest, I'm really in need of some yuks these days.
It occured to me that although TV shows and movies get an easy chuckel out of me, it's less often that a book will make me laugh. Yet when it does, I tend to laugh a lot harder than I would at a picture show.
So I want to know, what books have really made you laugh:
-David Sedaris' writing has made me laugh a lot. Especially stories about his father. I really liked the 'Cyclops' story where his dad was warning the kids about all the injuries his friends had sustained. And the story in Me Talk Pretty One Day about his dad hiding fruit to eat years later.
-Stephen King has written some of the craziest dialouge. I love it when his charcters use weird colloquialisms.
-I read a book last year called The African Safari Papers by a guy named Robert Sedlack, that although it got kinda disturbing halfway through it, was terribly funny and had me laughing a lot.
-I've read a bunch of short story collections by a guy named Thom Jones. A lotof the stories are pretty grim, but they still have a very funny air about them. I remember one story called '40, Still at Home', about this depressed drug addict who lives at home with his elderly mother. The guy mostly stays in his room for weeks on end, but comes out when his mother dies in order to raid her medicine supply. I can't get the look of this freak out of my head, he's described as 'a middle aged Charlie Brown'.
-Malachy McCourt's A Monk Swimming.I think most of his stories are bullshit, but they're great to read. 'Now fetch me a drink, before my tonsils think I've gone off with a woman and left them.'
It occured to me that although TV shows and movies get an easy chuckel out of me, it's less often that a book will make me laugh. Yet when it does, I tend to laugh a lot harder than I would at a picture show.
So I want to know, what books have really made you laugh:
-David Sedaris' writing has made me laugh a lot. Especially stories about his father. I really liked the 'Cyclops' story where his dad was warning the kids about all the injuries his friends had sustained. And the story in Me Talk Pretty One Day about his dad hiding fruit to eat years later.
-Stephen King has written some of the craziest dialouge. I love it when his charcters use weird colloquialisms.
-I read a book last year called The African Safari Papers by a guy named Robert Sedlack, that although it got kinda disturbing halfway through it, was terribly funny and had me laughing a lot.
-I've read a bunch of short story collections by a guy named Thom Jones. A lotof the stories are pretty grim, but they still have a very funny air about them. I remember one story called '40, Still at Home', about this depressed drug addict who lives at home with his elderly mother. The guy mostly stays in his room for weeks on end, but comes out when his mother dies in order to raid her medicine supply. I can't get the look of this freak out of my head, he's described as 'a middle aged Charlie Brown'.
-Malachy McCourt's A Monk Swimming.I think most of his stories are bullshit, but they're great to read. 'Now fetch me a drink, before my tonsils think I've gone off with a woman and left them.'
07-03-04, 06:11 PM
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Harlan Coben's Myron Bolitar series always brought forth alot of laughs. Plum Island by Nelson DeMille also has some very witty banter, as does The Gold Coast by the same author. These books are adventure mysteries, not comedies, but I caught myself laughing out loud several times anyway.
07-03-04, 11:26 PM
#3
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I just read Rodney Dangerfield's book, and i found myself laughing alot...both at the jokes he has and the way he tells stories of things he's done and seen.
07-04-04, 02:23 AM
#5
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Catch-22, many many times.
The River Why (David James Duncan)
Good Omens
The River Why (David James Duncan)
Good Omens
Last edited by jfoobar; 07-04-04 at 02:27 AM.
07-04-04, 09:23 AM
#6
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Paul Reiser's two books, Seinfeld(99% of which made it into the show), Ellen Degeneres.
But as for actual novels, I started Fletch Won recently. Good stuff. Laughed out loud a couple of times in the first 10 pages.
But as for actual novels, I started Fletch Won recently. Good stuff. Laughed out loud a couple of times in the first 10 pages.
07-07-04, 08:25 PM
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I think the only book that made me lol regularly was "Lamb : The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal", besides that I would say maybe some Vonnegut books, and The Hotel New Hampshire - I seem to remember having some good laughs while reading that.
07-07-04, 09:35 PM
#15
DVD Talk Limited Edition
For Fantasy and sci-fi types:
Mary Gent's "Grunts". About Orcs that find a bunch of military equipment from a Dragon. Which is cursed. It slowly turns them into the Marines that it was intended for. Orcs with helicopters, machine guns, grenades, etc - in a fantasy setting.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books
The main character is definitely an anti-hero. Not for everyone, but funny.
David Eddings' Belgariad and Mallorean. Always a sense of humor!
Mary Gent's "Grunts". About Orcs that find a bunch of military equipment from a Dragon. Which is cursed. It slowly turns them into the Marines that it was intended for. Orcs with helicopters, machine guns, grenades, etc - in a fantasy setting.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books
The main character is definitely an anti-hero. Not for everyone, but funny.
David Eddings' Belgariad and Mallorean. Always a sense of humor!
07-07-04, 10:02 PM
#17
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Originally posted by lucasorion
I think the only book that made me lol regularly was "Lamb : The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal", besides that I would say maybe some Vonnegut books, and The Hotel New Hampshire - I seem to remember having some good laughs while reading that.
I think the only book that made me lol regularly was "Lamb : The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal", besides that I would say maybe some Vonnegut books, and The Hotel New Hampshire - I seem to remember having some good laughs while reading that.
07-08-04, 06:02 AM
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Well Remembered Days
Well Remembered Days: Eoin O'Ceallaigh's Memoir of a Twentieth-Century Catholic Life. Amazon have a copy here:
here etc. It's written by one of the guys behind the 'Father Ted' TV series and although it runs out of steam towards the end it's an absolute laugh-riot! (Of course, I'm not sure if you need to be Irish/ Catholic to enjoy it?)
here etc. It's written by one of the guys behind the 'Father Ted' TV series and although it runs out of steam towards the end it's an absolute laugh-riot! (Of course, I'm not sure if you need to be Irish/ Catholic to enjoy it?)
07-08-04, 01:51 PM
#19
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Bill Bryson- Notes from Small Island is my favorite, but it's probably not nearly as funny if you've never been to or lived in Britain. All his books are hilarious, though.
Dorothy Parker
Oscar Wilde
I laughed a lot while reading The World According to Garp, too.
Dorothy Parker
Oscar Wilde
I laughed a lot while reading The World According to Garp, too.
07-08-04, 04:15 PM
#22
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Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. The only book that I really had to put down several times just so I can laugh out loudly. Just the list of characters already had me rolling, especially Crawley's description. By the time I got to Ligur and Hastur, I was gone.
07-08-04, 05:53 PM
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Joe R Lansdale for laughs and all around great reads
Joe Lansdale never fails to get a LOL reaction from me especially with the comebacks between Hap and Leonard. They are not comedy per se but there is some of the funniest dialog I have read recently.
07-08-04, 09:52 PM
#25
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Adams The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Heller Catch-22
Bulgakov The Master and Margarita
Potter The Complete Upsmanship
Thurber My World and Welcome to It
Three Men in a Boat (but I forget the author)
Heller Catch-22
Bulgakov The Master and Margarita
Potter The Complete Upsmanship
Thurber My World and Welcome to It
Three Men in a Boat (but I forget the author)