what book was the funniest work of literature in your opinion?

[Gato Moteado]

i mean the book that kept you laughing from the first page until the last sentence.

for me it would be a tie between philip roth's "portnoy's complaint" or his "the great american novel". "portnoy's complaint" made me laugh til i was in physical pain.

[SujiwanKenobee]

1. Roughing It--Mark Twain n/t

[0007]

6. That was good. When your 72 and you've read your whole

life its hard to come up with, "what's the funniest book" - "Catch 22" was funny to me, because I could relate to the situations in the book.

[Vickers]

2. "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole

Awesomely funny book.

[Nutmegger]

5. I second that! n-t

[choicevoice]

9. I agree, If you know New Orleans this is the best

The movie that was going on in my head while reading this book was better than anything I have ever seen on the screen.

[XemaSab]

24. Word

n/t

[Burma Jones]

53. Absolutely

A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head. The green earflaps, full of large ears and uncut hair and the fine bristles that grew in the ears themselves, stuck out on either side like turn signals indicating two directions at once. Full, pursed lips protruded beneath the bushy black moustache and, at their corners, sank into little folds filled with disapproval and potato chip crumbs.

[jonnyblitz]

66. I loved that book. I first heard about it here ad DU , too..

:thumbsup:

[jonnyblitz]

67. self-delete, dupe

[livvy]

3. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. n/t

[Gato Moteado]

4. yeah, that one ranks up there for sure with me

i miss ol' hunter.

[bammertheblue]

16. You're gonna make me cry

I also like "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved". It's not a novel- it's an essay, but SO hilarious.

[JaneGat]

7. "My Life and Hard Times," by James Thurber.

"The Night the Bed Fell" chapter, especially.

[1932]

8. Me Talk Pretty One Day -- David Sedaris.

Too low brow?

[oldlady]

18. oh, hurrah

I feel validated. (I hadn't seen your post before I replied). When my family was reading all of his books simultaneously, everyone was being pushy to read passages out loud-- that so rarely happens & we read a LOT.

[1932]

55. I have honestly never laughed harder at a book than I have laughed at

SEVERAL of Sedaris's books.

I laugh until I cry when I read his books. When anyone else in the house reads his books, they laugh until they cry.

The only reason you and I are the only two who have listed him must because we're the only two who have read him.

[hippywife]

78. Anything by Sedaris! n/t

[vlas]

10. Of the books I've read: The Short Reign of Pipin IV by John Steinbeck and

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain

[baby_bear]

11. I have a couple to suggest

Candide by Voltaire
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

b_b

[bertha katzenengel]

49. _Catch 22_ is my dad's favorite book

I'm gonna have to read it one day. :hi:

[chaumont58]

77. Catch 22 is just plain funny

I'm a senior and an AirForce enlisted man veteran. That may have helped me but I still think it would be side-splitting funny to just about anyone.

[kevsand]

12. Hitchhiker's Guide

I also have a soft spot in my head for the Harvard Lampoon parody "Bored of the Rings."

[Crunchy Frog]

25. Amen on both your choices.

"Bored of the Rings" is a masterpiece.

[sweetheart]

36. yes both those books

... are outstanding.
:-)

The last hitchhikers book has passages about the "middle third"
of hairdressers and phone cleaners when they're seeking out a
"soap mine". the whole series is brilliant... too bad about
the film.

[Crunchy Frog]

76. I never got around to seeing the film. Was it really that bad? n/t

[applegrove]

81. A pale reflection of the book.

[oldlady]

13. I'm not a laugh out loud reader--

so, I surprise myself with my answer-- David Sedaris is the only author that made me laugh out loud, set the book aside & wipe my eyes. Especially "Me Talk Pretty One Day"-- may seem a lightweight on this list...but, his timing in print is impeccable.

[bowens43]

14. 'The Pickwick Papers' by Charles Dickens.

[mwb970]

39. Yes! My vote is for Pickwick.

Although the first half seems funnier than the second half.

[okasha]

15. Coyote Blue, Christopher Moore

[porphyrian]

33. I just read Lamb, and it was pretty damn funny. - n/t

[peacefreak]

42. Hooray , another Moore Fan.

My vote goes to "The Island of the Sequined Love Nun" though.

[babydollhead]

17. impssible vacation...spaulding grey

[MnFats]

19. "Breakfast of Champions" by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

an ironic riot from start to finish.

[cdsilv]

20. Sut Lovingood - George Washington Harris....

....anything by Douglas Adams (oh, how I miss him...) , Terry Pratchett (possibly the funniest writer around today), and most anything by Carl Hiassen (I live in FL and love his style of humour).

[givemebackmycountry]

21. The gang that couldn't shoot straight...

Jimmy Breslin.

Willard and the Bowling trophys by Richard Brautigan.

[barb162]

22. Nora Ephron's "Crazy Salad " or Saul Bellow's "Humbolt's Gift"

[rucky]

23. Tom Jones

not the singer with the russet potato stuffed in his trousers, the book by Henry Fielding


It was more of a constant chuckle as opposed to rip-roaring laughter, but pound-for-pound is funniest.

[Sgent]

26. Hmm...

Do I have to pick just one?

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- Douglas Adams
Gulliver's Travels -- Jonathan Swift
A Confederate Yankee in King Author's Court -- Mark Twain

[BrotherBuzz]

27. Carl Hiaasen's Stormy Weather

I laughed so hard I had trouble catching my breath. I mean, I laughed so hard it really hurt.

[RebelOne]

40. Anything Carl Hiaasen writes is hilarious.

Dave Barry is also very funny. I used to read their columns in the Miami Herald when I lived in South Florida.

[BrotherBuzz]

84. Hiaasen's columns can be zingers....

I only wish he'd focus on national and world topics and got more recognition. On rare the occasions he's done that, I've caught his work in west coast publications.

[Hello_Kitty]

28. Forrest Gump (not like the movie at all)

I read it over 15 years ago and consider it the funniest thing I've ever read. People stared at me on the train because I couldn't control it. I was so disappointed at how treacly and sappy the movie turned out to be.

[TheBaldyMan]

29. Naked Lunch by William Burroughs n/t

[BigMcLargehuge]

30. The Gang that Couldn't Shoot Straight - Jimmy Brezlin

I had to read it in spurts over about 7 hours because it was so funny I'd laugh my self sick.

[sandnsea]

31. Garrison Keillor

His humor is always so unexpected.

[MrBenchley]

48. I was once riding on a NJ Transit bus reading Keillor

and I laughed so hard when I got to a character of his named Bobo Doodad that the bus driver pulled over to see if I was all right.

The account of the Gospel tour in WLT is hilarious.

[bliss_eternal]

32. Candide by Voltaire.

That book cracked me up! :rofl:

[AtomicKitten]

34. "Good-Bye To All Cats" by p.g. wodehouse n/t

[Hekate]

35. Anything by Carl Hiassen or Terry Pratchett

Both are sly and very dead-on observers of humanity's follies.

Hekate

[BlueIris]

37. "Gun, With Occasional Music." (Jonathan Lethem)

Screamingly funny.

I also like Stearn's "Tristram Shandy." Even though it wasn't supposed to be humorous.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

38. "Lies and the Lying Liars..." by Al Franken.

That's the most recent one, anyway. I read it in two sittings, one of them at a crowded Starbucks. People must have looked at me funny when I was laughing.

[MiniMandaRuth]

65. That one made me bust a gut in the middle of school.

And, of course, my teacher wanted to ask me to read what was so funny to the entire class and I just froze on the spot. Then I started laughing hysterically again and she left me alone, just as long as I was quiet.

[NuttyFluffers]

41. stack terry pratchett's works all together, then pick one.

after this is done it's not a very hard decision, in my opinion.

[timtom]

43. "Candy" by Terry Southern

n/t

[MrBenchley]

44. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman

by Laurence Sterne

Shandy is the grandfather of wacky British humor, and his antics would have been right at home in Monty Python....

[USA_1]

45. "Practical Jokes With Artemus Ward"

by Mark Twain. Absolutely hilarious.

[khashka]

46. Tristram Shandy - Laurence Sterne

It's supposed to be an autobiography although it takes 200 pages before Tristram even gets born.

The war obsessed sentimental uncle, Tristram's accidental circumcision by a falling window, his mother not being able to have a single idea in her head, his father's pettiness, the good servant's tale of his brother being tortured by the Inquisition apparently because he married a Jewish girl and his sobbing while he tells it, Tristram's constant insistence that his life is a tragedy and nothing good has ever happened to him. Priceless.

It's fucking hysterical. It's the one book I always go back to.

Khash.

[MrBenchley]

47. I love the omitted chapter....

Sterne skips nine page numbers (the entire book is numbered backwards after that) because he tells us he had to remove a chapter, since it wasn't fitting for his readers...and then goes on for eleven pages to tell us what was in the nine pages he took out.

The page that is entirely black because Yorick is dead.....

[khashka]

52. He's brilliant!

I love the part where he tells us he's not Catholic and berates an imaginary female reader for not figuring it out. And we all have to wait while she goes back and rereads what he said.


And Yorick's horse! He's such a good man and can deny no one anthying. So he has to ride an old broken down swaybacked horse so no one will ask to borrow it - because if they asked he'd say yes.

And the endless disgressions - he starts to tell you something but gets distracted and so starts talking about something else only that reminds him of something - and 60 pages later it occurs to you that Tristram still isn't born.

It really is one of the funniest novels ever written.

Khash.

[MrBenchley]

70. A lot of British humor goes right back to that

Every time Monty Python breaks context, you can't help but think of the way Sterne did it....

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

50. "Skepticism, Inc" by Bo Fowler

"Edgar Malroy is the founder of a metaphysical betting shop. A weary atheist, Edgar challenges people to put their money where their mouths are about their faith. If someone really believes that the 16th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama is the one true incarnation, or that God is love, or that his grandfather's spirit lives in a tree, Edgar reasons he should be willing to bet money on it.

Edgar is right. The metaphysical betting shops become incredibly popular as people of all faiths rush to outdo each other. After placing a bet, the bettor is given a receipt verifying the bet and amount, and a button with a question mark, stamped "Who knows?" It's no wonder that Edgar goes on to become the richest man in the world.

As the competitive rage spreads, the betting shops indirectly cause a dangerous faith war, resulting in multiple popes, a beautiful messianic woman who claims to be God's messenger, and a technological meltdown with artificially intelligent home appliances. Meanwhile, there's an optimistic supermarket trolley climbing Mt. Everest, looking for God..."

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1582340722

[bertha katzenengel]

51. Do memoirs count? One I've just finished, and one I've read each

year since 1986, are pretty damned funny.

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (just finished)

One More Time by Carol Burnett

Both are sometimes bittersweet (and the former, sometimes just bitter - but never maudlin) but hilarious.

[swag]

54. "Diary of a Nobody" by George and Weedon Grossmith is pretty good.

I recommend the book, but it's all on-line

http://www.pseudopodium.org/repress/DiaryOfANobody/

Excerpt:


I took a walk round the garden three or four times, feeling the need of fresh air. On returning Gowing noticed I was not smoking: offered me another cigar, which I politely declined. Gowing began his usual sniffing, so, anticipating him, I said: 'You're not going to complain of the smell of paint again?' He said: 'No, not this time; but I'll tell you what, I distinctly smell dry rot.' I don't often make jokes, but I replied: 'you're talking a lot of dry rot yourself.' I could not help roaring at this, and Carrie said her sides quite ached with laughter. I never was so immensely tickled by anything I have ever said before. I actually woke up twice during the night, and laughed till the bed shook.
. . .


For collections, I laugh all the way through Barrel Fever by David Sedaris and Love Trouble is My Business by Veronica Geng.

[RetroLounge]

56. Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins

RL

[lizziegrace]

61. One of my favorite books and authors

but I don't remember a lot of humor. Maybe I need to dig it out and read it again.

[Gato Moteado]

75. yes, great book but i don't remember it being side splittingly funny....

though there were some funny moments in it.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

57. Anything by James Herriot

[Maestro]

58. Don Quixote

It had scatalogical and slap-stick humor all through the novel. It was way ahead of its time! Poor Don Quixote and Sancho Panza!

[Midlodemocrat]

59. Shirley Jackson 'Life among the Savages'.

and perhaps, The World According to Garp.

[swag]

63. Oh, you nailed it.

Those Shirley Jackson books about raising her kids were just so hilarious.

[yellowdogintexas]

69. Agreed, Loved "Life Among the SAvages" and "Raising Demons"

The first adult literature I remember reading was "Life Among the Savages", in fact.

[Midlodemocrat]

74. Honest to God, there are still passages that make me

laugh out loud. I thought those books were hysterical.

[hippywife]

79. Loved Life Among The Savages!

Also "A Prayer For Owen Meany" made me laugh out loud a few times.

[Guava Jelly]

60. Without Feathers by woody allen

I thought it was funny as hell

[pokerfan]

62. My favorites

Douglas Adams: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

William Goldman: The Princess Bride

Joseph Heller: Catch 22

John Irving: A Prayer for Owen Meany

Tom Robbins: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues

Hunter S. Thompson: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Mark Twain: Cannibalism in the Cars

Voltaire: Candide

Kurt Vonnegut: Breakfast Of Champions

[Kat45]

64. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

Man, that had me laughing my butt off.

[yellowdogintexas]

68. "The Joyous Season" by Patrick Dennis, author of "Auntie Mame"

and many other very funny books.


"Joyous Season" is just hysterical.

Also David Sedaris ...anything
Carl Hiaasen ...anything
Dave Barry...."Big Trouble"

"A Short History of a Small Place" is another.

[rug]

71. The Sot-Weed Factor

[Magrittes Pipe]

72. "Anna Karenina"

or "Love Story."

[CanuckAmok]

73. Pure Drivel, by Steve Martin.

What a wierd mind that man has.

[Redneck Socialist]

80. A Short History of a Small Place

What, no love for T. R. Pearson? I can't believe no one else here has read him.

[yellowdogintexas]

87. see my post above. I love T R Pearson. nt

[graywarrior]

82. Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal

[leftofthedial]

83. The Milagro Beanfield War

[usedtobesick]

85. Several in the tied for first...

Without Feathers Woody Allen
Lamb Christopher More
Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove Christopher Moore

All of these still make me cry when I read them. Lamb might just be my favorite but not by much...

[Ellen Forradalom]

86. The Good Soldier Sweik

by far.