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What is the Funniest Book of All Time?

May 12, 2010 by Nathan Bransford225 Comments

Thank you so much to everyone for participating in the Inaugural First Page Critique, and especially to Michelle, our Inaugural First Pagee. There have been requests afoot for this to be a regular feature, and: consider it done!

Every Monday henceforth we’ll have a page (and occasionally query) critique, and I’ll continue to reward those with fast fingers and critique the first one posted in the comments. I liked the idea of choosing randomly from the comments section to account for time zones, but First Comment ensures randomness, there won’t be delays as I wait for someone to reply, and creates an intriguing element of competition.

This also means we have a nicely symmetrical weekly schedule: Monday page critiques, Tuesday new, Wednesday You Tell Me, Thursday new, and Friday This Week in Publishing.

So be on the lookout Monday for the next Page Critique session! Also, I swear this only partly a shameless plug, but just so that everyone is on level footing: if you Follow the blog it updates almost instantaneously after I’ve posted in feed readers and the like, and I’ll also update my Twitter feed when it’s up as well. Hopefully that will save some people from the refresh button.

Now then! I am lifting this question directly from the Forums, and it was originally posed by Colonel Travis (yes, the real one from the Alamo, check the avatar!!):

What is the funniest book of all time?

Some of my favorites include Roald Dahl’s books, but I’d ultimately have to go with Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

What do you think?

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Filed Under: BooksTagged With: book recommendations, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Roald Dahl, You Tell Me

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. rebekahlpurdysays

    May 13, 2010 at 6:19 pm

    I would have to say "Going Bovine" by Libba Bray.

    There were some serious parts in it, but the humor was outstanding. I listened to the audio book on my long commute and nearly drove off the road laughing. Good stuff!

    Reply
  2. Chrissays

    May 13, 2010 at 6:29 pm

    Though HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE is up there for me, my hands-down number one is CODE OF THE WOOSTERS by P.G. Wodehouse. I've never laughed so often or so hard as when I read that book.

    Reply
  3. Margaretsays

    May 13, 2010 at 6:30 pm

    WHY GIRLS ARE WIERD by Pamela Ribon should come with a case of adult diapers.

    Reply
  4. jonathan pinnocksays

    May 13, 2010 at 6:33 pm

    No-one mentioned Flann O'Brien's THE THIRD POLICEMAN yet? OK, I will then. Absolute genius. Weird, wonderful and surprisingly dark.

    Reply
  5. Kristisays

    May 13, 2010 at 7:08 pm

    The Georgia Nicolson series (Angus, Thongs & Full Frontal Snogging, etc.) had me laughing until tears were streaming down my face. I pestered anyone within earshot by reading passages out loud – usually pausing to regain my composure mid-sentence. I'm a sucker for cat antics, and I love Georgia's style.

    Reply
  6. Anonymoussays

    May 13, 2010 at 7:27 pm

    For those who liked Three Men in a Boat, DO NOT miss Connie Willis' To Say Nothing of the Dog. I have to re-read this every year, it's that good.

    Reply
  7. Dale Esteysays

    May 13, 2010 at 7:32 pm

    Three Men In A Boat (To Say Nothing Of The Dog)- Jerome K. Jerome

    Reply
  8. Kathy Msays

    May 13, 2010 at 8:10 pm

    Patricia Marx's HIM, HER, HIM AGAIN, THE END OF HIM. I don't know if it's the funniest book ever, but I found it hilarious.

    Reply
  9. Anahitasays

    May 13, 2010 at 8:10 pm

    Tin Tin

    Reply
  10. CindyLou Fostersays

    May 13, 2010 at 8:42 pm

    I'm late to this party, but Josin, I agree with Clue. It's in my all time top five favorite movies, and if you have to ask why, you just don't get it.

    As for books, no question, THE WEDNESDAY WARS, by Joseph Schmidt. (Across my foot!)

    Reply
  11. Disgruntled Bearsays

    May 13, 2010 at 11:04 pm

    HITCHHIKER'S. 'Nuff said.

    Reply
  12. Anonymoussays

    May 13, 2010 at 11:29 pm

    No way! You're getting Don Quixote USA back in print? Oh man, oh man. You just made my year. I'm honestly going to buy a dozen, if not more. Powell is a raving genius! Awesome!

    Reply
  13. Simon Haynessays

    May 14, 2010 at 12:16 am

    Three Men in a Boat, Jerome K Jerome, circa 1890. (It's a free download on Gutenberg so you have no excuse not to read it.)

    It's like the original buddy road trip except they're stuck in a boat. Cheese, Paraffin and How Not to Put up a Tent – classic.

    Reply
  14. NickBsays

    May 14, 2010 at 1:54 am

    CANDIDE has stood up to more rereads than I can recall. Seems most I know didn't get it–maybe because they HAD to read it in college–but it's hilarious. As encouragement (Confessions of a Voltaire-Pusher here…)I told my young cousin, "Just read it like it's Seinfeld." Doubt it worked, though. And I just read SLAPSTICK for the first time and would place it alongside. Thanks everyone for the recommendations.

    Reply
  15. Wild About Wordssays

    May 14, 2010 at 2:25 am

    CARTER FINALLY GETS IT by Brent Crawford. Laughed so hard while reading it, the person next to me on the plane said, "I'll have to get that book."

    Reply
  16. Jan Markleysays

    May 14, 2010 at 3:05 am

    Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress: Tales of Growing Up Groovy and Clueless by Susan Gilman and just finished Me Talk Pretty one Day by David Sedaris.

    Reply
  17. Pimlicokidsays

    May 14, 2010 at 7:30 am

    Dubliner Hugh Leonard's 'Home Before Night'

    Reply
  18. Alison Barbersays

    May 14, 2010 at 11:29 am

    Definitely Roald Dahl's The Twits. I have modelled my marriage after that book!

    Reply
  19. Altasays

    May 14, 2010 at 3:12 pm

    Spud, by John van de Ruit. (South African title)

    Reply
  20. Kate Fallsays

    May 14, 2010 at 6:19 pm

    Only one mention of Donald Westlake? The Dortmunder series are the funniest books ever written, although I'd start later than Hot Rock. Maybe Nobody's Perfect. And every writer should read Westlake's The Hook, the best fiction book about being a writer ever written.

    Reply
  21. Anonymoussays

    May 15, 2010 at 4:11 am

    The Lazlo Toth books by Don Novello. Hilarious.

    Reply
  22. Stephsays

    May 15, 2010 at 4:13 pm

    "My Search for Warren Harding" by Robert Plunket

    in YA, Gordon Korman's "Don't Care High."

    Reply
  23. C.L.says

    May 20, 2010 at 5:57 pm

    Craig Shaw Gardner had a four series that were hysterical. Most, if not all, are out of print, but you can find them at the used book shop. There was the Ebenezeum Trilogy, the Wuntvor Trilogy, the Cineverse Trilogy and the Sinbad Trilogy. Each one is funny in its own way.

    For example, in the Cineverse Trilogy, there is a mad scientist with a gigantic computer who comments that one day computers will take up entire city blocks and all the power that would mean. With titles like REVENGE OF THE FLUFFY BUNNIES and BRIDE OF THE SLIME MONSTER, you know you're in for something fun.

    Reply
  24. John Durvinsays

    August 12, 2011 at 4:45 am

    My personal favorite, and one that's not widely known, is "English As She Is Spoke", a language book from the 1880's that was the world's first ironic best-seller: it was a Portuguese-English dictionary written by two Portuguese guys that didn't speak English…but they did speak French, and they had a French-English dictionary. For example, they think on a hunting expedition, one might need to cry out, "let aim it! Make fire him!" and the expression "a rolling stone gathers no moss" is rendered as "a roll stone heap up not foam".

    Reply
  25. Agen pemadam apisays

    February 24, 2015 at 5:02 pm

    Anything by Nicholas Sparks just cracks me up. Even Cowgirls Get the Blues!

    Reply
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Hi, I’m Nathan. I’m the author of How to Write a Novel and the Jacob Wonderbar series, which was published by Penguin. I used to be a literary agent at Curtis Brown Ltd. and I’m dedicated to helping authors chase their dreams. Let me help you with your book!

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