Random
Droll Joc Tom Rail
The sky is cold/clod in Indiana. I feel low 3-cornered like the sky. I want a funny book. My kidney stones to rattle. I want to blow Pepto Bismol out my nose.
Tell me a funny book. Blue, black, red, anecdotal, satire, wet, dry, corn cob, slapstick, repartee, funny-but-not-ha-ha funny, hyperbolic, galactic, etc.–just give me humor.
Here is one for you: Iceland by Jim Krusoe. It is smart funny, scaffold funny, full of absurd twists. Characters will appear as Main, then dropped into volcanoes and we yawn on. It has funny SCUBA sex (one of the best varieties). It has pacing like 50 pages for an afternoon, whoops 10 years just gassed in a paragraph. One day you repair typewriters. The next you rob gas stations for your drug-addicted lady. Or maybe a parrot. Like that.
You people read loops around my House of Know-How, so please list here funny books:
Tags: Comedic Literature, humor, Jim Krusoe, Pepto Bismol
Moira Orfei in Aigues-Mortes by Wayne Koestenbaum. One of my fav books of all time.
Moira Orfei in Aigues-Mortes by Wayne Koestenbaum. One of my fav books of all time.
The funniest thing I have ever read, and I’ve read a lot of funny things, is David Sedaris’ story “Big Boy”.
Very low brow.
I am not proud.
The funniest thing I have ever read, and I’ve read a lot of funny things, is David Sedaris’ story “Big Boy”.
Very low brow.
I am not proud.
I read “Iceland,” and it was good fun.
But then “Kangaroo” by Yuz Aleshkovsky, which was more so. At least to me.
Jean-Philippe Toussaint’s books are, as far as I’ve gotten, “Camera,” “Monsieur” and “The Bathroom.” Mostly in that order.
Thomas Landolfi’s “Gogol’s Wife.”
I read “Iceland,” and it was good fun.
But then “Kangaroo” by Yuz Aleshkovsky, which was more so. At least to me.
Jean-Philippe Toussaint’s books are, as far as I’ve gotten, “Camera,” “Monsieur” and “The Bathroom.” Mostly in that order.
Thomas Landolfi’s “Gogol’s Wife.”
Sean, just read Krusoe’s three novels over the last couple of months. Iceland was a lot of fun. Girl Factory was even more fun.
Read all the Flann O’Brien books for funny. Those are my favorite funny pages.
Sean, just read Krusoe’s three novels over the last couple of months. Iceland was a lot of fun. Girl Factory was even more fun.
Read all the Flann O’Brien books for funny. Those are my favorite funny pages.
Somewhat apropos: I remember reading an interview of Joyce Cary, Paris Review’s Art of Fiction No. 7. He’s talking about what’s “publishable” and what’s read; the interview asks if The Horse’s Mouth was better known then because it is less philosophical than his other work.
No, Cary deadpans, people like it because it’s funny.
– – – –
CARY
….My short stories are written with the same kind of economy—and no one would publish them. Some of them, now being published, are twenty years old. Because each note has to count and it must not be superfluous. A son of mine, a composer, wrote some music for the BBC lately. The orchestra was small, and the musicians’ union wouldn’t let him conduct. He heard one of the players ask the conductor what the stuff was like. The conductor, no doubt intending to warn the player, answered, “It’s good, but the trouble is that every note counts.” I suppose the editors who rejected me felt like that. They wanted a little more fluff.
INTERVIEWER
You can depend around here on practically everyone’s having read The Horse’s Mouth. Do you think that’s because it’s less philosophical? Or just because it’s a Penguin?
CARY
The Horse’s Mouth is a very heavy piece of metaphysical writing. No, they like it because it’s funny. The French have detected the metaphysics and are fussing about the title. I want Le Tuyau incrévable—the unbustable tip. They say this is unworthy of a philosophical work and too like a roman policier. I say tant mieux. But they are unconvinced.
http://www.theparisreview.org/viewinterview.php/prmMID/5071
Somewhat apropos: I remember reading an interview of Joyce Cary, Paris Review’s Art of Fiction No. 7. He’s talking about what’s “publishable” and what’s read; the interview asks if The Horse’s Mouth was better known then because it is less philosophical than his other work.
No, Cary deadpans, people like it because it’s funny.
– – – –
CARY
….My short stories are written with the same kind of economy—and no one would publish them. Some of them, now being published, are twenty years old. Because each note has to count and it must not be superfluous. A son of mine, a composer, wrote some music for the BBC lately. The orchestra was small, and the musicians’ union wouldn’t let him conduct. He heard one of the players ask the conductor what the stuff was like. The conductor, no doubt intending to warn the player, answered, “It’s good, but the trouble is that every note counts.” I suppose the editors who rejected me felt like that. They wanted a little more fluff.
INTERVIEWER
You can depend around here on practically everyone’s having read The Horse’s Mouth. Do you think that’s because it’s less philosophical? Or just because it’s a Penguin?
CARY
The Horse’s Mouth is a very heavy piece of metaphysical writing. No, they like it because it’s funny. The French have detected the metaphysics and are fussing about the title. I want Le Tuyau incrévable—the unbustable tip. They say this is unworthy of a philosophical work and too like a roman policier. I say tant mieux. But they are unconvinced.
http://www.theparisreview.org/viewinterview.php/prmMID/5071
When I think of funny books the one that comes to mind is Confederacy of Dunces.
When I think of funny books the one that comes to mind is Confederacy of Dunces.
Yes–O’Brien’s AT SWIM-TWO-BIRDS may be the funniest thing I’ve ever read. Gaddis’s J R is also a riot.
not to be redundant, but no book has made me laugh out loud more than infinite jest
Yes–O’Brien’s AT SWIM-TWO-BIRDS may be the funniest thing I’ve ever read. Gaddis’s J R is also a riot.
not to be redundant, but no book has made me laugh out loud more than infinite jest
nice. i just read Koestenbaum’s Andy Warhol. it was my intro to him. where would you recommend from there, other than Moira?
nice. i just read Koestenbaum’s Andy Warhol. it was my intro to him. where would you recommend from there, other than Moira?
Sam Lipsyte and Chris Bachelder
Sam Lipsyte and Chris Bachelder
Also not to be redundant, since I just mentioned this in another thread, but the funniest book I’ve read in a long while is David Ohle’s The Camp, which is a very short novella that comes packaged in the same volume with another novella, Boons. The description from Calamari: “THE CAMP takes place around a provincial mill that spins sheep’s wool into theatrical and Santa beards. In the mill camp, workers live in brutal poverty under Mr. Ganzfeld, a cruelly whimsical boss who lost his nose in a lightning strike and will commit any depredation to find a “real” replacement, including murder.”
It also might be true that I have a very weird sense of humor.
Ken Sparling’s Dad Says He Saw You at the Mall, but I know you’ve already read that, so…
Also not to be redundant, since I just mentioned this in another thread, but the funniest book I’ve read in a long while is David Ohle’s The Camp, which is a very short novella that comes packaged in the same volume with another novella, Boons. The description from Calamari: “THE CAMP takes place around a provincial mill that spins sheep’s wool into theatrical and Santa beards. In the mill camp, workers live in brutal poverty under Mr. Ganzfeld, a cruelly whimsical boss who lost his nose in a lightning strike and will commit any depredation to find a “real” replacement, including murder.”
It also might be true that I have a very weird sense of humor.
Ken Sparling’s Dad Says He Saw You at the Mall, but I know you’ve already read that, so…
I thought The Bathroom was funny in a sort of subtle, muted, chuckling way.
I thought The Bathroom was funny in a sort of subtle, muted, chuckling way.
(all the books)
by jack pendarvis
under my roof
by nick mamatas
the floating opera
by john barth
bowl of cherries
by millard kaufman
(who was 90 at the time of publication)
please let me help & where cyberspace meets space for cream
by zack sternwalker
(available ((for cheap)) here: http://www.tranbok.org/catalog.html)
the supermale
by alfred jarry
(still funny after all these years!)
gargantua & pantagruel
by francois rabelais
(still funny after all these centuries!)
(all the books i’ve read)
by richard brautigan
(all the books)
by jack pendarvis
under my roof
by nick mamatas
the floating opera
by john barth
bowl of cherries
by millard kaufman
(who was 90 at the time of publication)
please let me help & where cyberspace meets space for cream
by zack sternwalker
(available ((for cheap)) here: http://www.tranbok.org/catalog.html)
the supermale
by alfred jarry
(still funny after all these years!)
gargantua & pantagruel
by francois rabelais
(still funny after all these centuries!)
(all the books i’ve read)
by richard brautigan
i think ohle is hilarious too
i think ohle is hilarious too
Nothing has ever made me laugh as hard out loud as reading Christopher Durang’s plays. I mean, they’re obviously even funnier performed, but still hilarious on paper. If I had to pick a favorite, maybe Betty’s Summer Vacation. Or Baby with the Bathwater.
Nothing has ever made me laugh as hard out loud as reading Christopher Durang’s plays. I mean, they’re obviously even funnier performed, but still hilarious on paper. If I had to pick a favorite, maybe Betty’s Summer Vacation. Or Baby with the Bathwater.
It was definitely subtle. “Camera” was really great through and dug a little deeper. The chorus of “Monsieur” made it for me: “(People, really.)”
It was definitely subtle. “Camera” was really great through and dug a little deeper. The chorus of “Monsieur” made it for me: “(People, really.)”
More recently, Tatyana Tolstaya’s the Slynx. So funny, in that absurdly tragic, fucked up Russian post-apocalyptic way.
More recently, Tatyana Tolstaya’s the Slynx. So funny, in that absurdly tragic, fucked up Russian post-apocalyptic way.
The Fan Man by William Kotzwinkle comes to mind. Molloy by Beckett was also hilarious at parts.
The Fan Man by William Kotzwinkle comes to mind. Molloy by Beckett was also hilarious at parts.
yeah, i just finished camera, and thought it was a lot more melancholy or soemthing than the bathroom. the bathroom i laughed out loud, especially when he throws that dart and it sticks in edmondsonns face. camera shifted towards the end and got really sad to me.
yeah, i just finished camera, and thought it was a lot more melancholy or soemthing than the bathroom. the bathroom i laughed out loud, especially when he throws that dart and it sticks in edmondsonns face. camera shifted towards the end and got really sad to me.
the edition i had and you did too most likely has an interesting interview regarding that sadness, which, to be honest, i underestimated at first.
and, yeah, the dart was really worth the wait.
the edition i had and you did too most likely has an interesting interview regarding that sadness, which, to be honest, i underestimated at first.
and, yeah, the dart was really worth the wait.
yes
yes!
yes
yes!
Gascoyne
by Stanley Crawford.
Pain in the belly.
Gascoyne
by Stanley Crawford.
Pain in the belly.
Honestly, I haven’t read anything else of his yet. Though I do have Hotel Theory, which I’m excited to check out. I guess each page is divided in half between a fictional piece and a non-fiction one. Somehow they correspond.
Honestly, I haven’t read anything else of his yet. Though I do have Hotel Theory, which I’m excited to check out. I guess each page is divided in half between a fictional piece and a non-fiction one. Somehow they correspond.
Jujitsu for Christ by Jack Butcher.
Jujitsu for Christ by Jack Butcher.
Rosalyn Drexler’s pretty great/hilarious.
Her novels Starburn: The Story of Jenni Love and The Cosmpolitan Girl (from the jacket copy: “An outrageously funny novel daring to answer the question: Can the love affair between a young woman living the new lifestyle and a talking dog, survive in the world of an incomplete sexual revolution?”). She also wrote a book called To Smithereens, which I haven’t read, but is supposedly about her life as a woman wrestler.
are you asking for books illustrating form or actual humorous books?
humor is really hard to achieve when contrived i think. usually i get annoyed with it.
i put the book down.
europeana is the only recent book i found humorous and fun and laughed and smiled a shit-boat while consuming.
woody allen’s early published writing is pretty funny.
jimmy chen is pretty funny.
carlin interviews are really, really good.
Rosalyn Drexler’s pretty great/hilarious.
Her novels Starburn: The Story of Jenni Love and The Cosmpolitan Girl (from the jacket copy: “An outrageously funny novel daring to answer the question: Can the love affair between a young woman living the new lifestyle and a talking dog, survive in the world of an incomplete sexual revolution?”). She also wrote a book called To Smithereens, which I haven’t read, but is supposedly about her life as a woman wrestler.
are you asking for books illustrating form or actual humorous books?
humor is really hard to achieve when contrived i think. usually i get annoyed with it.
i put the book down.
europeana is the only recent book i found humorous and fun and laughed and smiled a shit-boat while consuming.
woody allen’s early published writing is pretty funny.
jimmy chen is pretty funny.
carlin interviews are really, really good.
Yeah, Landolfi is very nice reading! I love his “Dialogo dei massimi sistemi”
Yeah, Landolfi is very nice reading! I love his “Dialogo dei massimi sistemi”
I’d recommend Daniil Kharms. It has everything you need:
it’s blue, it’s black, it’s red, it’s anecdotal, it’s satire, it’s wet, it’s dry, it’s corn cob, it’s slapstick, it’s repartee, it’s funny-but-not-ha-ha funny, it’s hyperbolic, it’s galactic.
it’s just humor.
I’d recommend Daniil Kharms. It has everything you need:
it’s blue, it’s black, it’s red, it’s anecdotal, it’s satire, it’s wet, it’s dry, it’s corn cob, it’s slapstick, it’s repartee, it’s funny-but-not-ha-ha funny, it’s hyperbolic, it’s galactic.
it’s just humor.
Ditto on Bachelder and Lipsyte. Also Brock Clarke’s stories, Michael Griffith’s Bibliophilia–and Joe Keenan, too.
Wow. My debit card just took a thump. Read a lot of these, but never heard of many. Big ol’ pile of paper coming.
Ditto on Bachelder and Lipsyte. Also Brock Clarke’s stories, Michael Griffith’s Bibliophilia–and Joe Keenan, too.
Wow. My debit card just took a thump. Read a lot of these, but never heard of many. Big ol’ pile of paper coming.
i second ourednik’s europeana.
i second ourednik’s europeana.
anything by david sedaris, all of his books are worth it
anything by david sedaris, all of his books are worth it
Matt Cook, The Small of My Backyard. Ridiculous midwest deadpan. Although this poem is from Eavesdrop Soup:
Visualize the Governor
It’s absurd the way your mind’s eye can visualize the governor.
You go through your days,
You’re barely even conscious of the governor at all,
But then suddenly the subject turns to the governor,
And then there’s a need to visualize the governor,
And then there he is, there’s the governor, in your mind’s eye—
He’s like a composite of old newspaper photographs,
Photographs of the governor you carry around in your imagination—
His upper body mostly, the upper body of the governor,
His face and his dark suit and his dark tie.
It’s just weird to me that you can visualize
The governor on command like that.
Even when he’s no longer the governor,
When he’s only the former governor,
When he’s nothing more than a prominent retired man,
You still have the ability to visualize the governor.
Matt Cook, The Small of My Backyard. Ridiculous midwest deadpan. Although this poem is from Eavesdrop Soup:
Visualize the Governor
It’s absurd the way your mind’s eye can visualize the governor.
You go through your days,
You’re barely even conscious of the governor at all,
But then suddenly the subject turns to the governor,
And then there’s a need to visualize the governor,
And then there he is, there’s the governor, in your mind’s eye—
He’s like a composite of old newspaper photographs,
Photographs of the governor you carry around in your imagination—
His upper body mostly, the upper body of the governor,
His face and his dark suit and his dark tie.
It’s just weird to me that you can visualize
The governor on command like that.
Even when he’s no longer the governor,
When he’s only the former governor,
When he’s nothing more than a prominent retired man,
You still have the ability to visualize the governor.
I would tell you how funny my books are, but you shouldn’t trust strangers on the Internet.
But you will indeed find a lot of people calling a book funny if you read the Amazon reviews of RAMPAGING FUCKERS OF EVERYTHING ON THE CRAZY SHITTING PLANET OF THE VOMIT ATMOSPHERE.
I would tell you how funny my books are, but you shouldn’t trust strangers on the Internet.
But you will indeed find a lot of people calling a book funny if you read the Amazon reviews of RAMPAGING FUCKERS OF EVERYTHING ON THE CRAZY SHITTING PLANET OF THE VOMIT ATMOSPHERE.