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Post by Pulpmariachi on Jan 11, 2005 23:40:19 GMT -5
One of the funniest people I've ever read from is Dave Barry. Go read: Dave Barry Slept Here or Dave Barry Does Japan. His prose is funny as he's often confused and just wondering what the hell is going on. His novels are great, too. Big Toruble (way better than the movie that was made from the book) and Tricky Business are some of the funniest books out there.
I got into Sarah Vowell because she played Violet in The Incredibles. I was reading a bio of her and was like, "Oh, she writes books?" So I checked one out. She's funny too, especially in one essay where she claimed that Abraham Lincoln was probably just a nerd like her, how else would he have been able to write the Gettysburg Address? Plus, hearing Conan O'Brien as Lincoln in the audio version is timeless. Or another one where she says Tom Cruise was always just plain looking to her and didn't really have any respect for him until she saw mag-no'li-a (which her mom hated).
One more is David Sedaris. I've only read one of his books, but it was so funny and I annoyed my parents reading it. He talked about his Greek dad and how his grandmother hated his mother because she wasn't Greek. Or how his mother and sisters (one of whom starred in Strangers with Candy, that Amy Sedaris) would think they were the best crime solvers because they watched crime shows all the time. I liked the story when, where mad at his boyfriend, he went to a nudist colony.
Those are all great authors. Any others that are really funny?
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Post by Phoenix on Jan 12, 2005 11:17:55 GMT -5
I'm reading Rodney Dangerfield's autobiography and it is FREAKIN' HILARIOUS!!!! One of the funniest things I've read in a long time.
I do like David Sedaris, his stuff doesn't come out often enough for me! But when it does, it's great.
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Post by Bartwald on Jan 12, 2005 11:33:45 GMT -5
The last laugh-out-loud funny book I've read is If Chins Could Kill - Bruce Campbell's autobiography. But I guess I praised this book enough here already.  One of the funniest writers I know is David Lodge - especially his British Museum Is Falling Down, Therapy and Thinks...; in each case, while reading the book I couldn't control my laugh even in public places - and that always says something. Great sense of humour and it gets to me like no other. Then there are the books connected with Monty Python - their biographies, transcripts of their sketches, the fiction works by Eric Idle and Terry Jones, the more down-to-earth stuff by John Cleese and Michael Palin. But anyway - I have to try the ones you guys mentioned, too! Good thread - keep'em coming! |
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Post by LivingDeadGirl on Jan 12, 2005 19:50:21 GMT -5
I loved Dave Barry's newspaper column but I've never read any of his books. My mom has one of them but I can't remember which one... Like Bart, the last funny one I've read was Bruce's. And speaking of Bruce...he's writing another one!! Great news indeed!! From Moviehole: If you haven’t yet read “If Chins Could Kill: Confessions Of A B Movie Actor” by Bruce Campbell, I want you to shut down your browser, and either a). Log on to Amazon.com, order a copy now for next day delivery, or b). Turn of your PC/Mac, walk down to your local bookstore, pick up a copy, come home reading it on the way, sit down on your couch, and finish off one of the funniest books you will read in a long, long time.
If you have already read it, there’s good news, because as Bruce was speaking to the good folks over at Sci Fi.com he spilled the beans on his next book, “Make Love The Bruce Campbell Way”:
"This is a relationship book without the facts," Campbell said. "I'm not drawing on any personal experiences. This is total fiction."
Campbell described the book as "a gag relationship book." "It's a series of fictional stories tied together by the theme of my trying to give a friend some relationship advice," he said. "The problem is I don't know anything about relationships, and so I end up going on this crazy journey to help him. Of course the whole thing blows up in my face and ends up being this crazy disaster." Campbell has flown below the celebrity radar for his more than 20 years in show business and has observed that celebrities don't always have the fun the tabloids say they do.
It’s due on the shelf June 1st, so get pre-ordering right now, primates! |
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Post by Phoenix on Jan 13, 2005 13:02:04 GMT -5
I def want to read Bruce Campbell's book now! And his next one sounds great too.
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Post by LivingDeadGirl on Jan 13, 2005 20:28:48 GMT -5
Yep, you should def. read it, it's fantastic! I'm anxiously awaiting the new one!!
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Post by spacer on Mar 10, 2005 8:30:23 GMT -5
I loved to tears when I read a book by Lem
The Star Diaries.
The things he imagined were unimaginable and ludicrously hillarious. Take for example living predatory furniture or spaceships made of cakes.
Just Superb.
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Post by spacer on Mar 18, 2005 3:59:06 GMT -5
There's one novelist I must recommend as being very funny to the extent that I burst with laughter and I had to take some deep breaths to be able to continue reading....
I wrote about him in detail in the new thread called "Controversial writer"
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Post by edlefsen on Mar 18, 2005 15:18:25 GMT -5
The funniest book I ever read was Bored of the Rings by James Beard and Doug Kenny, then of the Harvard Lampoon. A dead-on sendup of the Tolkien Trilogy and U.S. culture circa 1969. I consider this to be the greatest work of satire in the 20th century. James Beard, Doug Kenny, et al also teamed up on another brilliant satire, "The National Lampoon's High School Year Book Parody".
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Post by Pulpmariachi on Mar 18, 2005 20:31:03 GMT -5
Oh, of course, Christopher Moore who wrote these books:
Practical Demonkeeping
Coyote Blue
Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story
Island of the Sequiened Love Nun
The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings
The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Terror of Christmas Terror.
Yeah, I've talked about this guy all over the boards, but still, he's so funny, smarter than he seems, and his books are ripe in satire. Brilliant stuff.
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Post by spacer on Mar 22, 2005 3:08:30 GMT -5
I've read Dave Barry and to me it was just mildly hillarious  Christopher Moore  I haven't read any of his books, but his films reminded me a communist propaganda under influence of which I had to live.  I tell you it was sad & shitty experience. (communism) |
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Post by Pulpmariachi on Mar 22, 2005 10:19:08 GMT -5
Uhh...I think you're thinking of a different Christopher Moore because the author of those books hasn't had his films adapted into movies yet. It's not surprising. Christopher Moore probably is a pretty popular name.
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Post by spacer on Mar 22, 2005 15:05:38 GMT -5
Uhhh...  You are right Pulpmariachi. I definitely meant other Moore. Hereby I nullify my previous comment ;D |
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