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Hilarious Reads

Halcyon said:
I loved Douglas Adam’s Hitcher’s Guide to the Galaxy. I thought it was hilarious. It reminded me of Monty Python style humor. Can you bookworms (meant in the best possible way) recommend anything of similar style or just something you found hilarious?
I find the books by Helen Fielding are quite funny.

Helen Fielding is the auther who wrote the Bridget Jones diarys.

I am currently reading a book by her and its called Cause Celeb. Its quite funny in places.
 
Christopher moore is Hysterical, Robert Lynn Aspirin's Myth series and Phule series are great. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchet is excellent... Dave Barry almost always does the trick.

Hmmm... that's all I can think of off the top of my head....

~Witch
 
Tony Hawks has written some really funny books. The two I have read, "Round Ireland With a Fridge" and "Playing the Moldovans at Tennis" both chronicle the author's attempts to win bets made when he was drunk (the titles are self-explanatory).

Another author who always makes me laugh is Sue Townsend. She is best known for the "Adrian Mole" series of books, eg. "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4". These books are (as you might expect from the above title) written in the form of Adrian's diary. One of the best things about these books is that Adrian has been allowed to grow up: they have gone from him aged 13 to the present time, aged 35-ish, in the latest "Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass-Destruction". He is a bookish, uncool person who wrongly fancies himself as an "intellectual", but you can't help liking him as he deals with life's disappointments and responsibilities. They are very, very funny. I don't know how well they would translate to non-UK countries though, as to get the humour you really need a knowlege of English working class people, TV, personalities etc.

I also enjoyed "The Queen and I" by the same author (think that's the title), about a republican government getting in in England and deposing the Royal Family. They are sent to live in a council house with all the "common" people - bloody hilarious! :D Some cope pretty well but others crack up very quickly. I really admire Townsend - she is still writing great books even though I heard she is blind or very nearly blind.
 
Forgot about Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons, that's really funny. Some of Ben Elton's books aren't bad either.
 
Bill Bryson hasn't been mentioned so far. His travelogues are quite funny. The classic is A Walk in the Woods.

Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels can be very funny as well as suspenseful. In particular, his recent Bad Business is an excellent example of his clever dialogue and handling of a plot that tips toward parody when in trailing a cheating husband he comes across other detetives trailing the women the husband is cheating on.

Anne Lamott's Traveling Mercies is a great self-deprecating biographical story. She also has a great book on writing called Bird by Bird. Very funny and spiritually generous writer.
 
I laughed out loud reading Green Grass Grace by Sean McBride (fiction, the narrator is hysterical) and I, Lucifer by Glen Duncan.
Also armed with quite a wit is Geoffrey Dyer.
 
Bill Bryson makes me laugh out loud!He's SO funny and able to make the 'normal' and 'accepted' obtuse and silly.

Christopher Fowler makes me laugh.

I'm reading Catcher in the Rye at the moment and that has elicited the occasional guffaw. Garrison Keillor "Lake Wobegon Days" with Thesis99Thesis. Man, I've read that over and over for about one and a half decades and it still makes me laugh until tears pour out of my eyes!
 
I'll echo Halo's recommendation of Tony Hawks; in addition to Around Irland with a Fridge, there's also One Hit Wonderland and Beating the Moldovans at Tennis.

Then there's Jasper Fforde, who I understand is hailed as 'the next Douglas Adams'. Unfortunately I haven't read any of his material as yet (so much to read, so little time!), but I know many Hitchhikers fans who have loved it.

Finally, a book by a German fellow called Walter Moers - The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear. Originally entitled "Käpt'n Blaubär", it tells the story of a blue bear (funny that) who grows up not knowing who he is, and sets out to find himself. The 13 and a half lives are different stages of his life. He winds up in a city inside a tornado, talking to waves, inside a giant's head and (my personal favorite) dealing with Qwerty the Gelatine Prince of the 2364th Dimension. I think it was originally aimed at kids, but it's got that universal appeal, and a wackiness that out-wackifies Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy at times. It's a fairly lengthy book, but comes with some really funny illustrations. Worth a look, although I'm not sure it's in North America as I couldn't find it on Amazon.com, but it's certainly in Australia and the UK.
 
Kookamoor said:
Then there's Jasper Fforde, who I understand is hailed as 'the next Douglas Adams'. Unfortunately I haven't read any of his material as yet (so much to read, so little time!), but I know many Hitchhikers fans who have loved it.

I'll second that - I read "The Eyre Affair" over Christmas and it's mad as pants. (I wish I could say I'd invented that phrase, but sadly I have to defer to Mr Fforde). But a well written, fun read. I'm looking out for the rest in the series but I'll leave it a while since I don't tend to read authors back-to-back.

I've got Round Ireland With A Fridge here and it's one of those things I've been meaning to get to, but haven't managed yet. I watched the One Hit Wonderland series on TV when it was on here, and he's a funny, funny guy. It'll be interesting to see how his humour comes across when read, rather than watched.

Most recent thing I read that made me laugh out loud was Jerome K Jerome's Three Men In A Boat. Which really surprised me!
 
One Hit Wonderland was a series?? :eek: Wow! I never knew that - damn North American television and the absence of British wonderfulness :( I shall have to drown my sorrows by finding Beating the Moldovans at Tennis.

In a weird coincidence with this topic, I found the following article in the newspaper of my home town (yay Melbourne). A number of humourous novels are highlighted:
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2005/02/18/1108609358587.html

I don't think this link will last forever, unfortunately, but I have saved a copy and should the link not work I can email it to you.
 
Kookamoor said:
One Hit Wonderland was a series?? :eek:

Yeah, it was a six part series here on the Discovery Channel. I'm not quite sure I'll ever forget the sight of Tony dressed up as a pixie wandering accross one of London's bridges (can't remember which) making the video, or dragging poor old Norm across to Albania to plug the song to the masses... The mind truly boggles - but it was funny as hell.

I'm not sure if it ever made it across the pond, you may be able to find some more info on the Discovery website?

You can even order a CD of some of the stuff they came up with - but whether anyone would actually want to is anyone's guess... :D
 
Kookamoor - I couldn't resist. I put down what I was reading and picked Round Ireland With A Fridge down off my shelf yesterday and blasted through it in a day or so, broken up.

The guy is as mad as, well, a fridge, but damn, it's a funny book. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

How does Playing the Moldovans at Tennis compare?
 
I didn't find Playing the Moldovans... quite as funny as Round Ireland..., but it was still funny.
 
I haven't read Playing the Moldovans at Tennis yet, unfortunately. I've heard it's not quite as funny as the other two... but I'm still going to give it a try when I track down a copy. Glad you liked Round Ireland With a Fridge - bless that man's insanity!
 
Kookamoor said:
I haven't read Playing the Moldovans at Tennis yet, unfortunately. I've heard it's not quite as funny as the other two... but I'm still going to give it a try when I track down a copy.

A quick search on ebay shows there's quite a few copies up there at the moment. I'm not sure where you're based but you might want to grab one.

Look here...
 
starchild42 said:
A quick search on ebay shows there's quite a few copies up there at the moment. I'm not sure where you're based but you might want to grab one.

Thanks! I'll check it out!!
 
I found a book, "Spite Hall" by Jack Mauro that's really funny - almost in a P. G. Wodehouse kind of way (though not that extreme). If you like a clever turn of phrase, this author has a way with words and descriptions that will have you howling.
 
If you want funny/poignant, read anything by Sarah Bird. "Yakota Officer's Club" is, in my opinion, her absolute best followed by "The Mommy Club."
 
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