Funniest Book Ever

[theBruiser500]

Without a doubt, Confederacy of Dunces.

[Lafortezza]

Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson

[cockandbull]

I find books by will self, boris johnson or steven fry quite amusing.

harry

[Rushmore]

American Psycho (Bret Easton-Ellis), or Money (Martin Amis).

[knifeandfork]

another roadside attraction,still life with wood pecker,off the top o my head. and its even close....
jason

[Zeno]

Too many choices - so I'll toss out one to be in the thick: Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse

-Zeno

[AJay2000]

The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams, haven't read anything that made me laugh out loud as much as this first novel or the rest of the series.

[Blarg]

"Without Feathers" by Woodie Allen. "Getting Even" was very funny too, but I was laughing so much through almost all of "Without Feathers" that it was painful and actually amazing. Plenty of great pieces there, with "If the Impressionists Were Dentists" being a big personal favorite.

For novels, I think "Catcher In the Rye" stands out most in my mind. "Why are old men's legs always so white and unhairy?"

"Journey to the End of the Night" was also extremely funny in many places, though it's a miraculously sustained tone piece of absolutely bottomless black misery, arranged as a picaresque. One of the most amazing books I've ever read. "Tropic of Capricorn" was also very funny in many places. I guess I haven't read much in the way of comic novels, like stuff by Wodehouse, or Lord Jim or anything. I did read Martin Amis's first book, "The Rachel Papers," but thought it was over-rated.

For a play, "The Importance of Being Earnest."

[benfranklin]

Catch-22 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0684833395/qid=1101666610/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/102-7294857-2535358?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)

[Rick Nebiolo]

[ QUOTE ]
Catch-22 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0684833395/qid=1101666610/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/102-7294857-2535358?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)

[/ QUOTE ]

Good choice at least among the books I've read. I was going to say Tom Wolfe's "Bonfire of the Vanities" but Heller's book was warped/funny beginning to end.

~ Rick

[Alobar]

[ QUOTE ]
Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson

[/ QUOTE ]

kickass book.....but funny? uhm....maybe I need to read it again

[Alobar]

[ QUOTE ]
another roadside attraction,still life with wood pecker,off the top o my head. and its even close....
jason

[/ QUOTE ]

Have you read "fierce invalids home from hot climates"? I think it's his best work.

[sam h]

A Fan's Notes

[Peca277]

Before I read the replies, Catch-22 immediately came to mind. Excellent book with a lot of hilarious situations /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Blarg]

I forgot all about Catch-22. That's an excellent choice. I guess that's my first choice for novels that are funny.

[Fluffington]

I second American Psycho. Portnoy's Complaint, White Noise and Bright Lights, Big City are also very funny. As for plays, I think What the Butler Saw is hilarious.

[theBruiser500]

Liar's Poker too, plus Bonfire of Vanities was really good.

[ilya]

[ QUOTE ]
American Psycho (Bret Easton-Ellis)

[/ QUOTE ]

You think using underage hookers for turkey stuffing is funny?

[sfer]

This really should be split into intentional and unintentional categories.

[ilya]

for fiction...I like many of the books people picked, and I think another that deserves a mention is "The Good Soldier Svejk." It's a war satire about WWI, funnier than Catch 22 IMO. The guy who wrote it was quite a character himself, pulled some crazy pranks.

Some of Daniil Kharms' little stories are insanely funny, but I'm not sure if there are any good translations (Russian --> English) out there.

for nonfiction...I remember thinking that some of Sedaris' stories were very funny, but I haven't read him in a while.

if it's just one funny scene....the funniest scene i've ever read is about a brief trip to the US, in Martin Amis' "London Fields."

[Chah Ngo]

[ QUOTE ]
Without a doubt, Confederacy of Dunces.

[/ QUOTE ]

What a tragic story about John Kennedy Toole killing himself before this was published.
I think one of the funniest things I ever read was a character in "Gravity's Rainbow" describing British candy.

[Blarg]

I didn't think Bright Lights, Big City was all that funny, though it had good moments. Portnoy's complaint is excellent, though. That was gut-bustingly funny at some points.

It nearly killed me when reading the guying wondering when he was going to beat off so much and so violently he would come blood.

And when he really thought about the magnitude of his startling insight that all women have C-U-N-T-S. ALL OF THEM.

For F___ING !!!

Some sections of that book were one cripplingly hard laugh after another.

I probably laughed harder at Portnoy's Complaint, but Catch-22 was by far the better book. Excellent choice though.

[Senor Choppy]

Anything by Vonnegut or Catch 22.

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]
"The Good Soldier Svejk." It's a war satire about WWI, funnier than Catch 22 IMO.

[/ QUOTE ]

There's a German book called Good Soldier Schweik or something like that, same sort of theme. I wonder which one came first.

[ilya]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
"The Good Soldier Svejk." It's a war satire about WWI, funnier than Catch 22 IMO.

[/ QUOTE ]

There's a German book called Good Soldier Schweik or something like that, same sort of theme. I wonder which one came first.

[/ QUOTE ]

Huh, are you sure we're not thinking of the same book? The one I'm talking about is by a Czech guy named Jaroslav Hasek. Written right about the time of the 1st World War.

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

The Ginger Man by J.P. Dunleavy.

That is, if you consider the careenings of a sociopathic drunk funny. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[Cyrus]

"Good grief, it's Daddy"!..

[ilya]

[ QUOTE ]
"Good grief, it's Daddy"!..

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh man, how could I have forgotten "Candy"...

[ilya]

Kind of old-skool, but I think Vanity Fair is also up there. Not laugh-out-loud kind of funny, but very witty.

[Rushmore]

[ QUOTE ]
You think using underage hookers for turkey stuffing is funny?

[/ QUOTE ]

A.) You don't think it was intended to be?
B.) You don't think it WAS funny?

[theBruiser500]

Calvin and Hobbes

[nothumb]

Dunces was very funny. And I second the Vonnegut nomination.

I also thought 'The World According to Garp' was very funny.

NT

[Blarg]

I'm pretty sure the one I was thinking of was a German one, not Czech, and from about the same period you're talking about. I could be incorrect, as I never read the book myself, but don't really know which one of us is right. Normally the similarities are such that I'd just concede the point instantly to you, but for some reason outside mere egotistical desire to be right on my part, I just feel strongly that my memory might not be wrong on this.

I saw the book in paperback in a bookstore at least six or seven years ago, I think. I wonder if it's in print now. Maybe I'll check a little later and see if I turn anything up.

[Matt Flynn]

can't agree with you there bruiser. but it's a good book.

the two i enjoyed the most humor-wise were The House of God by Samuel Shem (pseudonym) and The Fool's Progress by Edward Abbey.

i'll leave it to you to choose the lesser of two weavils.

matt

[FatMan]

"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", Hunter S. Thompson

[Blarg]

Jeez I forgot about that one too. That book was howlingly funny.

[scrub]

I agree heartily with Confederacy of Dunces anything by Wodehouse, Portnoy's Complaint , Hitchiker's Guide... , and The Ginger Man .

The Good Soldier S{consonants}ek was Czech. My mother bought it for me but it was incredibly long and I never worked up the enthusiasm to start it.

I'm surprised nobody mentioned Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome, which I think is one of the funniest novels ever written.

scrub

[KJS]

Does non-fiction count? If so, Sedaris's stuff always has me laughing out loud. C of D is a good choice too. I also like stuff from TC Boyle, ie. East is East.

KJS

[scrub]

[ QUOTE ]
Does non-fiction count? If so, Sedaris's stuff always has me laughing out loud. C of D is a good choice too. I also like stuff from TC Boyle, ie. East is East.

KJS

[/ QUOTE ]

Some of the Boyle stuff is fantastic.

In the NPR-contributor-gay-humorist-named-David category, I liked David Rakoff's Fraud more than most of Sedaris's stuff.

scrub

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
Without a doubt, Confederacy of Dunces.

[/ QUOTE ]Holy Crap! I can't believe this!!! I read that book like 20 years ago, and when I saw the topic of this post I was going to list it, thinking surely no one had beaten me to it. Great book!

[Al Mirpuri]

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.

[fnord_too]

"Bored of the Rings" by the Harvard Lampoon has my vote. There are many books that are funny and better, but I can't think of any off the top of my head that made me laugh more.

[johnnycakes]

I agree. I love that book. And I love Will Ferrell (and David Gordon Green), but this casting sucks: confederacy of dunces movie (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0340054/)

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
American Psycho (Bret Easton-Ellis)

[/ QUOTE ]

You think using underage hookers for turkey stuffing is funny?

[/ QUOTE ]
Yes.

[elwoodblues]

[ QUOTE ]
Confederacy of Dunces

[/ QUOTE ]

FYI --- they're making it into a movie.

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
I also thought 'The World According to Garp' was very funny. NT

[/ QUOTE ]Another great nomination! I need to re-read some of these.

[jakethebake]

John Goldfarb, Please Come Home by Blatty should be on this list too.

[sfer]

[ QUOTE ]
Does non-fiction count? If so, Sedaris's stuff always has me laughing out loud.

[/ QUOTE ]

Along a similar but more scatological line, Jonathan Ames is pretty funny.

[sfer]

White Noise

[Paluka]

My vote goes to Catch 22 by a big margin. Vonnegut has many very funny books but none are close to Catch 22.

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]
Bored of the Rings" by the Harvard Lampoon has my vote

[/ QUOTE ]

The Harvard Lampoon was basically National Lampoon in embryo, so I'll chip in two from them that are really great. The best is the National Lampoon Sunday Newspaper, which was a parody of a mid-America Sunday paper from the tiniest details(classifieds, maniacal wife-killing cross-word puzzle designer make the answer to questions things that pertain to chopping your wife into pieces with an axe, hilarious sports page, front page, everything. One hell of a work; unfortunately they did it on newsprint so probably very few copies of it are still around, and as far as I know they never reprinted it. Damn shame because it's easily one of the funniest things I've ever read, and an absolute classic. It really would be a loss if this never gets printed again. The best writing ever done by what was by far the most influential comedy training ground in the last half of the 20th century.

There's also National Lampoon's High School Yearbook. That thing was funny as heck, and you first meet characters like Pinto there. Very funny parody of a high school yearbook. I think this was the one that got a review saying, "The best group writing since the King James Bible."