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?
June Sobel says
A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES!!
cwsherwoodedits says
Anne Lamott's Operating Instructions.
Matt Heppe says
1) Hitchhikers
2) Lamb
Love 'em both.
A Novel Woman says
Anything by Bill Bryson and David Sedaris. They are both milk out the nose funny.
Actually I'll have to put Bill at number one since for years, my children banished me from reading his books in public. My loud guffaws embarrassed them too much.
Lydia Sharp says
I'm currently reading SOMEDAY THIS PAIN WILL BE USEFUL TO YOU by Peter Cameron, on recommendation from Le R, and let me tell you, this shit is damn funny. Just saying.
wendy says
I was thrilled to read in today's post, Nathan, that you intend to make every Monday page critique day. I really struggle with narrative, but I'm desperate to get my ideas out there in novel format. I find that the inspirations I've had over the years have helped a lot – when I keep them in mind – and I want to share in the hope they might help others. But I'm continually stymied by, apparently, poor narrative. Non-fiction is not an option as I have no platform or credentials; and, besides, showing ideas in story format can make them easier to assimiliate.
So, again, a big thank you, Nathan.
Anonymous says
Just did a search, can't believe no one mentioned Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis; less well known, maybe even funnier, his novel The Joyous Season
also: Excellent Women by Barbara Pym
Curtis says
Funniest book in my humble opinion, HOW I BECAME STUPID by Martin Page.
Honorable mentions to Bill Bryson's A WALK IN THE WOODS and anything from Kurt Vonnegut.
sooper says
Jerome Klapka Jerome's Three Men in a boat (to say nothing of the dog)
Clare WB says
Most recent–but not that new(!) "A Confederacy of Dunces". Oldies but goodies: anything by Vonnegut or Thurber.
karen wester newton says
I cannot possibly limit myself to one book. I will nominate authors instead. Wodehouse is first, with carl Hiaason and Janet Evanovitch tied for second.
Anonymous says
Wow. I found Hitchhiker's amusing… but I had a really hard time thinking of other books that made me laugh. I didn't find Catch-22 LOL–just oddly amusing.
Actually. I got it. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie and then Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt. I only really tend to laugh when I'm almost ready to cry. I adore comic relief. And I went into hysterics with each of these.
Tiana says
Dave Barry's BABIES AND OTHER HAZARDS OF SEX was a riot! I also loved the one he did about computers (may have been called lost in cyberspace??).
Someone mentioned Janet Evanovich in one of the early comments…I think she's been really phoning the latest ones in! I was so disappointed with 14 I haven't even bothered to read 15. There are funny and/or interesting things here and there but IMO the series is starting to have major pacing issues and she adds a lot of unnecessary bits. I guess it starts to happen when you make it that far along in a series!
Creaves says
Jasper Fforde's books. Hilarious and specifically written for a literary audience.
And, of course, The Princess Bride.
Amber Argyle-Smith says
Chickens in the Headlights by Matthew Buckley.
Megan says
"Nickel and Dimed" by Barbara Ehrenreich. I started bending page corners back on all hilarious parts, but by the time I was finished, the book was shaped like a "greater than" math symbol!
Elliot Grace says
…anything written by Christopher Moore
Jena says
I recall laughing more at Happiness by Will Ferguson than perhaps any other book. (The protagonist: an editor in NYC. Premise: He publishes a self-help book that actually does everything claims.)
Amy Kinzer says
I agree with others who chose Helen Fielding, Jen Lancaster, and David Sedaris. All very funny and I'm immediately placing Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on my list.
My choice is Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I love it when he walks in the casino and it's a cop convention. Good stuff.
Mira says
Every Monday a critique!! Yay! That's fantastic. Thanks for doing that, Nathan! It's like a slice of what you give your clients – and I really appreciate it.
Like some other posters, I do have some questions about the selection process. But I guess it's good try things out and see what works best…I did wonder if the selection needs to be random, though….it's fair of you, Nathan, that's for sure, but there could be some benefits to selecting pieces….just a thought.
This post is very cool – I love funny books, and I haven't heard of half of these.
I forgot about Evanovich – she really is a fantastic writer – quick, sharp, funny. I also loved Bridget Jones – there are alot of chick lit books that are funny. Meg Cabot can be pretty funny.
Wodehouse, of course. Although he's more amusing than laugh out loud. Someone mentioned Thurbur.
Oscar Wilde can be funny. The Importance of Being Ernest is still one of my very favorite funny/clever things ever written.
Pratchett is my total favorite, though, and Going Postal is his best so far, imho.
mvs says
"Three Men in a Boat" by Jerome K. Jerome
April Wendy Hollands says
I never really 'got' Hitchhikers Guide, so I'm going with a book called 'e' by Matt Beaumont. Not sure if it ever made it to the shores of America…
G says
"The Cruel Shoes" by Steve Martin.
yamx says
It's either one of the Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett (Hogfather, if I have to choose just one), or The Old Man and Mr. Smith by Sir Peter Ustinov. (The latter is the story of God and Satan taking a trip around Earth to see how things are going. It's utterly hilarious, but also very insightful.)
Sorry, can't narrow it down any further than that… The Hitchhiker is also a strong contender, though I like Adams' Detective Agency books even more…
Elie says
Also the 'Mr Gum' series by Andy Stanton. Not sure about funniest of all time, but very, very funny.
Johnny Noir says
THE MASTER AND MARGARITA, hands down. It makes you think & cracks you up, then makes you think some more. Plus it gives new meaning to the phrase "…All Time" (that's actually quite funny, if you think about it).
Bryan Allain says
Free Range Chickens by Simon Rich (an SNL writer). Unbelievably funny.
Trish says
My Wicked Wicked Ways, by Errol Flynn was one of the funniest book I ever read. Oh, and Ramona the Pest by Beverley Cleary and Matilda by Roald Dahl.
Zoe Winters says
I need to read Hitchhiker's Guide. It's just so freaking Tome-like, it intimidates the hell out of me. Maybe if I got it on my Kindle I could do it. I used to not think I liked Sci Fi stuff, but I like CERTAIN Sci Fi, and I think Hitchhiker's Guide falls into that category. (Saw movie, loved it. Husband loves book. I love him. Seems logical.)
Katie Macalister makes me LOL though.
Elizabeth says
How can I choose? It's Thursday and I never could get the hang of Thursdays!
Ah, come on – that was funny. How could I resist?
I agree: HITCHHIKER'S (including the forward!)
Ishta Mercurio says
Oh, another good one was THE WAR OF DON EMMANUEL'S NETHER PARTS by Louis de Bernier (and I apologise if I got the capitalization wrong in his name).
Aaron e Anderson says
Princess Bride (yes I know it was a movie) was pretty amusing.
Magdalena Munro says
CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES! No contest!
WitLiz Today says
Funniest book I've ever read, "Moby Dick."
"But as for Queequeg—why, Queequeg sat there among them—at the head of the table, too, it so chanced; as cool as an icicle. To be sure I cannot say much for his breeding. His greatest admirer could not have cordially justified his bringing his harpoon into breakfast with him, and using it there without ceremony; reaching over the table with it, to the imminent jeopardy of many heads, and grappling the beefsteaks towards him. But that was certainly very coolly done by him, and every
one knows that in most people's estimation, to do anything coolly is to do it genteelly."
“In the first place, it may be deemed almost superfluous to establish the fact, that among people at large, the business of whaling is not accounted on a level with what are called the liberal professions. If a stranger were introduced into any miscellaneous metropolitan society, it would but slightly advance the general opinion of his merits, were he presented to the company as a harpooneer, say; and if in emulation of the naval officers he should append the initials S. W. F. (Sperm Whale Fishery) to his visiting card, such a procedure would be deemed pre-eminently presuming and ridiculous.”
More funny:
Jean Shepherd
"I had woven a tapestry of obscenity that as far as I know is still hanging in space over Lake Michigan. "
Erma Bombeck
Do you know what you call those who use towels and never wash them, eat meals and never do the dishes, sit in rooms they never clean, and are entertained till they drop? If you have just answered, "A house guest," you're wrong because I have just described my kids.
Garrison Keillor
Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have got it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known.
Malissa says
Janet Evanovich's Eleven on Top.
Not that I'm a jelly donut with the filling squishing out or anything, but…
Jenny says
The Obnoxious Jerks–a teeny-bopper book long out of print, but sarcastic and hilarious.
But I really love Code of the Woosters by Wodehouse as well.
Karen A. Chase says
"The Bear Went Over the Mountain" by William Kotzwinkle. The story of a bear who finds a manuscript in the woods. He takes it to New York and the publishing world falls all over him while turning a blind eye to the fact he's a bear. Written in first person from the bear's perspective. Funniest book – I laughed out loud and so did everyone I know who borrowed it.
Bonnie West says
A Bliss Case by Michael Aaron Rockland
Julie says
Running a bit late to this conversation, but for me nothing can top Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. The blend of wit and poignancy is an unbeatable combination, and it will always be THE book I wish I'd written.
(Love your blog, by the way. Finally mustered the nerve to comment after a year.)
NanC says
One of my favorite funny books is called Handling Sin by Michael Malone. I laughed from beginning to end!!!
Dana Stabenow says
"The divorce thing got started on Christmas Day. Daddy always said that Christmas is a joyous season when suicides and hold-ups and shoplifting and like that reach a new high and that the best place to spend the whole thing is a Moslem country. Mom says he's right about that, if about nothing else."–Patrick Dennis, The Joyous Season
John Darrin says
The Flashman series by George MacDonald Fraser.
Sara Martin says
I laugh constantly when I read Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut. That Kilgore Trout says the darndest things.
Ulysses says
Anything by Pratchett makes me laugh, so it's hard to pick out just one of his books. But: Witches Abroad, at the moment.
Hitchhiker's Guide is good.
The Bandy Papers, especially That's Me In the Middle, by Donald Jack. World War I as seen by a Canadian flying ace who just doesn't get it.
Ruby Jameson says
Without feathers, Woody Allen. 🙂
Anonymous says
Hitchhiker's was hilarious! As for non-fiction, I have to say I never laughed more when reading than with David Niven's The Moon's a Balloon.
Jen P says
Non-Fiction: McCarthy's Bar – McCarthy
Ficton: Lake Wobegon Days – Keillor (who else can make a time warp in a small town to get the cushions and house tidied up before Mom comes home or have a wife left at the gas station seem so utterly believable)
Though the question made me realise, I don't read a lot of humour. A Sedaris is waiting on my TBR stack.
Crystal says
Cooking with Fernat Branca. Easily the most side-splitting funny book ever.
Erin Cabatingan says
I thought Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians was really funny. Fit my sense of humor very well.
John says
Anything by Nicholas Sparks just cracks me up.