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Permalink Reply by Olga Godim on November 12, 2010 at 2:36pm

I would add two items to the list:
31. Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer - hilarious beyond belief
32. Many romance novels by Georgette Heyer, especially The Talisman Ring. Try it - guaranteed to laugh non-stop.

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Permalink Reply by Dee Romesburg on November 12, 2010 at 3:39pm

For science fiction fans, nothing beats The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

For fantasy fans, there is the insanely funny "Good Omens" by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett (who also writes the funny Discworld series of books).

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Permalink Reply by Monique Paturel on November 12, 2010 at 3:46pm

Anything by David Sedaris, naturally.
Foreskin's Lament, by Shalom Auslander.

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Permalink Reply by Barbara Fischkin on November 12, 2010 at 4:37pm

Apprentice to the Flower Poet Z by Debra Weinstein (more wry than "funny;" which is what makes it so good)

Straight Man by Richard Russo (it's gotten me through several university teaching jobs!)

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Permalink Reply by Barbara Fischkin on November 12, 2010 at 4:44pm

I'd also like to add - and perhaps this will be inflammatory - that I think James Thurber is highly overrated. Women don't get away with being "gods of funny," quite as often as men do.
There are some living male funnymen about whom I think the same. But I am going to keep my mouth shut until they are in a "position" to come back and haunt me.
I hope I don't have nightmares featuring Thurber tonight.

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Permalink Reply by Carolyn Barbre on November 12, 2010 at 5:18pm

How I Became a Famous Novelist by Steve Hely. The New York Times calls it a "gag-packed assault on fictitious fiction." It is roll-on-the-floor-funny satire for pretty much anyone who has ever entertained the dream. The movie is supposed to be out in 2012.

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Permalink Reply by Michelle Pond on November 12, 2010 at 5:48pm

I would add Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series.

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Permalink Reply by Heather Weidner on November 13, 2010 at 4:48am

Love the great suggestions! For mysteries, Peggy Webb's the Southern Cousin's series is very funny.

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Permalink Reply by Vivienne Diane Neal on November 13, 2010 at 8:12am

I would like to add, Making Dollar$ And Cent$ Out Of Online Dating by Vivienne Diane Neal. It takes a humorous and honest approach to explain the difficulties of starting and running an online dating Website on half a shoestring budget. It is a personal journey into the trials and tribulations, she has encountered. Whether you plan to start an online dating site or any online enterprise or perhaps you would like to use a dating service to find a soul mate, this book will provide you with valuable information.

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Permalink Reply by Medina Tenour Whiteman on November 14, 2010 at 2:28am

The only time I ever saw my deeply manic depressed grandfather laugh was at the dinnertable, reading aloud a passage from a P.G. Wodehouse book we'd brought him from England. He didn't stop laughing; the book inadvertently sent him into a manic phase!

All Wodehouse books are funny but I particularly recommend the Blandings series, as well as Jeeves and Wooster, which never fail to have me weeping with laughter even when reading them for the nth time.

Also, Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis has the same desired effect.

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Permalink Reply by Beth Conway Shervey on November 15, 2010 at 8:38am

I'd add two books by Marc Acito
How I Paid for College and Attack of the Theatre People
Highly recommended for theatre geeks or anyone who came of age in the 80s.

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Permalink Reply by Cathy C. Hall on November 15, 2010 at 1:51pm

I came across Jean Kerr's "Please Don't Eat the Daisies" and "Penny Candy" a few years back and laughed till I nearly needed new underwear.

I also love Calvin Trillin and Davis Sedaris and Lewis Grizzard and Brit wit. But I'm too lazy to get up find the book titles in my reading journal. Oh, wait! I read "And Here's the Kicker" by Mike Sacks about writing humor. Good stuff there, by lots of humor writers.

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