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?
Anonymous says
Milrose Munce and the Den of Professional Help–Douglas Anthony Cooper
I just finished reading it for the first time, and loved it! Brilliant-laugh-out-loud funny :o)
Luke says
I love Hitchhiker's Guide- it has to be one of the funniest six-part trilogies ever written. I would also put forward the Collected Humorous Sketches of Mark Twain for consideration. "A Tramp Abroad" is 130 years old now, I know, but anyone who has read "The Awful German Language," or "The Great French Duel" will know what I'm talking about when I say Sam Clemens was a comedic genius.
Elie says
Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding.
'Soup is bright blue.'
Kate says
I'm sure there are funnier books out there but I always remember laughing my ass off while reading THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN.
Laraine Eddington says
My blog makes me laugh every time I read it. https://larainydays.blogspot.com
Joni Rodgers says
Absurdistan
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Me Talk Pretty One Day
robin says
Since I have a short memory, I'll go with the funniest I've read in the past year — CARTER FINALLY GETS IT, by Brent Crawford.
Of course, the second funniest would be MATCH MADE IN HIGH SCHOOL, by Kristin Walker.
Pip Hunn says
The Unexpurgated Code, J.P. Donleavey.
Smacks Wodehouse in the teeth, and introduced me to the concept of refined, gentlemanly swearing at an early age:
"Upon Being Stung On The End Of Your Prick While Pissing On A Golf Course"…
Good times. Good times.
Pen says
If I need a giggle Terry Pratchett's Diskworld novels can always get me chortling – especially those with the Wee Freemen. Hilarious!
Stephanie McGee says
The funniest novels I've ever read are Jasper Fforde's books. But then I do have a thing for literary humor. It's more subtle than the bathroom humor of comedies and I really like it that way.
Read them and you'll see why I love them so much.
Elaine AM Smith says
Narrowing down to three-ish, I enjoyed:
Clive James Unreliable Memoirs
The Henry Root Letters
and the earlier Bill Bryson books
Other Lisa says
I have a terrible memory for anything involving lists of favorites ("best" "worst" "funniest"). But I second the Jasper Fforde Thursday Next series (especially the Well of Lost Souls), and another one I remember at the moment is Cintra Wilson's COLORS INSULTING TO NATURE. OMG. The Sound of Music sequence in that is one of the funniest things I've ever read.
Kelly Wittmann says
Fiction? Something by Wodehouse or Waugh. Nonfiction? Either BAD MOVIES WE LOVE by Edward Marguiles and Stephen Rebello or IF YOU'RE TALKING TO ME, YOUR CAREER MUST BE IN TROUBLE by Joe Queenan. Queenan's chapter "Mickey Rourke for a Day" made me laugh harder than anything else I have ever read.
Linnea says
Gerald Durrell's MY FAMILY AND OTHER ANIMALS. I especially enjoyed the boy scout fiasco with real dynamite and the floating flags that disintegrated into bad- luck floating crosses.
rjkeller says
Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse.
Sharen Ford says
BRING ON THE EMPTY HORSES by David Niven.
Les Edgerton says
David Sedaris' "Barrel Fever" and no contest. This is laugh-out-loud and fall-off-the-couch on every single page. His books after that are humorous, but he got religion or became more PC and they pale. Second choice would be Chris Moore's "The Island of the Sequined Love Nun."
Bonnie West says
ROCK ON: AN OFFICE POWER BALLAD by DAN KENNEDY.
!!!! LOVE this guy and his books…..
vickachic says
I can't believe the SEX LIVES OF CANNIBALS by J. Maarten Troost is not on this list!!!!! I'll love David Sedaris forever and even inspired me to write, but my vote goes to Troost on this one.
christine zoe palau says
I gotta say "The Ask" by Sam Lipsyte was hilarious from the first sentence to the last. I enjoyed every damned page of that book, albeit with a crooked smile at times. I read it immediately after finishing "Confederacy of Dunces." And while I loved that book, I think "The Ask" was much more entertaining and consistent. But "Notes From Underground" is my all-time funny favorite.
Jil says
I'll have to go with Three Men in a Boat although all I remember is that it make me laugh out loud. That was long ago though and my sense of humor may have changed.
There have been others but the titles evade me at the moment.
I hope the person who voted for Kiterunner was joking although when I hear what people laugh at on tv nothing should surprise me.
Sally Jo says
A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel. I've read it over and over and laugh every time.
Dixon Bennett Rice says
Check out Sarah Vowell's ASSASSINATION VACATION – the lady makes history knee-slapping funny. Or I'd jump in the Way Back Machine and read THE GANG THAT COULDN'T SHOOT STRAIGHT.
As an aside, I get this blog by email and happened to be in my email account with this one popped up. Already 113 comments. Don't think I'm every gonna make #1. Shucks.
Rollie Raleigh says
Catch 22; A Confederacy of Dunces; Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me. Hitch Hikers Guide was quite funny, but since it did not start as a book, I opted for those irreverent choices.
P.A.Brown says
The one book I go back to regularly to is Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.
Tricia says
David Sedaris for nonfiction. "Naked" in particular. I laughed for so long without a breath, I thought I'd die.
Forrest Gump for fiction. Funnier than the movie.
--Deb says
Anything by P.G. Wodehouse that have Bertie Wooster and Jeeves. They're always hilarious.
I always laugh out-loud while reading Connie Willis' "To Say Nothing of the Dog" (Or her "Bellwether.")
Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next books always make me giggle, too.
Oh, and when I was reading Quinn Cumming's "Notes from the Underwire" last summer? I had to keep holding a pillow in front of my face to keep from waking the rest of the family up with all the laughing.
Milo James Fowler says
The Princess Bride, hands down! I laugh out loud every time I try to read it…
Andrea says
I'm going to second:
'My Horizontal Life' –
Chelsea Handler (I have never laughed at her live stuff, but her books are hilarious)
&
'A Clockwork Orange' – Burgess
I'm also going to add 'Snuff' – Chuck Palahniuk
Caroline Starr Rose says
A three-way tie between A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES, THE PRINCESS BRIDE, and FUDGE-A-MANIA.
Anonymous says
Dr Fegg's Encyclopeadia Of All World Knowledge by Terry Jones and Michael Palin , plus you cant beat P.J O'Rourke's The Bachelor Home Companion for a good gaffaw .
Anonymous says
Dr Fegg's Encyclopeadia Of All World Knowledge by Terry Jones and Michael Palin , plus you cant beat P.J O'Rourke's The Bachelor Home Companion for a good gaffaw .
Caroline Starr Rose says
I have to add one more: THE SACRED DIARY OF ADRIAN PLASS, AGED 37 3/4.
gloomy girl says
I vote for Frank Portman's King Dork (plus it's a great band book!)
Tori says
I kept getting strange looks when I read The Stupidest Angel by
Christopher Moore because I was laughing so hard so often. I nominate that.
Anonymous says
Hands down, Hunter Thompson's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas". Also Fielding's "Bridget Jones Diary". Wodehouse of course, Princess Bride certainly and a book I read from the library 20 years and am STILL trying to find again about. . .I don't even remember, but it was flat hilarious! Dang!
Chris Carney
jen-lehmann says
There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom by Louis Sachar. I love all his books, but this one made me laugh most consistently.
I know there have been others recently that have made me laugh out loud frequently, but I'm not remembering the titles at the moment.
A Paperback Writer says
Chalk me up for another vote for Hitchikers' Guide To The Galaxy.
wendy says
About five or six years ago I read a book by a female British author so hilarious I laughed my way through a day of severe back pain. Can't recall the title or author name though. The second funniest book, which I'm currently reading, is Lost Continent by Bill Bryson. There were several lol moments especially at the beginning. Lost Continent is a very sardonic read.
Sommer Leigh says
Great timing because I now have an answer to this question. Last night I finished Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta and it is HYSTERICAL. I kept my husband up with my constant squealing and tittering. I had tears in my eyes. It is one of the best books ever.
Also, I love Melina Marchetta, but I would not have called Jellicoe Road "hysterical." Francesca was. *love*
Sarah says
Hitchhikers Guide, hands down!
I nearly squealed it out loud as soon as I read the blog title 😀
Ann Marie Wraight says
I would have to put these three in the top positions.
#1 – Tom Sharpe and virtually EVERYTHING written by him (Porterhouse Blue, Indecent Exposure, Wilt, Ancestral Vices etc…) whatever he writes gets me sniggering in a very Brit upperclass manner.
#2 – Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy causes me working class/lower middle class joviality.
#3 – John Mortimer and his RUMPOLE series (also televised as a series by the BBC) is simply middle middle class/lower upper middle class fruity and foxy fun.
You said THE funniest but I can't really choose one – it depends on which social class we're talking about….. 🙂
Colonel Travis says
As the aforementioned forum questioner, this is great to see so many suggestions.
Thanks for turning it into a blog post, Nathan.
Anonymous says
Richard Powell's DON QUIXOTE USA is hilarious. I wish it was back in print. I'd buy a dozen copies to give away. Wodehouse was a genius. Also, Kingsley Amis' LUCKY JIM is pretty darn funny.
Nathan Bransford says
Anon-
I'm working on DON QUIXOTE, hopefully we'll be able to get it back out there!
Nancy Coffelt says
David Sedaris is a no brainer for me but I also laughed out loud at parts of Good Omens. Hogfather was another one that made me spit diet Dr. Pepper.
Sarah says
Oh, sorry to double post, BUT!
I still stand by Hitchhikers, but Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer is brilliant (though written young), and anything by Terry Pratchett… still, I don't think either can touch anything by Douglas Adams 🙂
Sam Albion says
Ecce Homo- by Friedrich Nietzsche- gets my vote for the funniest book of all-time… it's laugh-out-loud funny, and completely unintentionally so… includes chapters entitled "why I am so wise", and "why I am so clever"… who could not love ole Freddy?
Cealarenne says
I Hate Myself and Want to Die – the 52 Most Depressing Songs. No, it's not a story, but maybe it should be. You want funny, go no further.
Ann says
I don't think Dave Barry is getting enough credit here. BIG TROUBLE probably made me laugh more than any other book I've ever read. Second for me would be Richard Russo's STRAIGHT MAN. I also agree with anything by David Sedaris, although my favorite is DRESS YOUR FAMILY IN CORDUROY AND DENIM.