Book That Made You Laugh

miss america by howerd stern--this is the funniest book ever!!

 

Confederacy of the Dunces!!!!!

 

well, there's this one by ernest bramah (pseud. e.b.white) called:
the golden hours of kai lung

& it is old, but not really chinese (but it mos def feels chinese, mmmmkay?)
& some funny stuff, told by a poor but honest teller of tales (kai lung) whilst awaiting execution by a nasty court official who (ming shu) has taken a dislike to him for some reason, & the help offered by the delicate one of the inner court, hwa-mei (peach-blossom, i think that was her name)...
and the stories are quite excellent, as the mandarin shan tien delays the inevitable execution to hear yet another tale...



the e-text is available online at project gutenburg, and the printed book has been through at least a couple of paperback editions since it was published in the early 1900s...

 

For classic comedy and satire read John Barth's "Giles Goat-boy" and "the Sot-weed Factor" both are '60's underground classics. Almost all his other stuff is good, but, warning: these books require a serious commitment and require that you read 50 pages before anything starts to make sense......

 

"Brain Droppings" by George Carlin

 

Plug time! (Read: long ass essay)

Okay, I must must must plug (if you don't already know!) Terry Southern! How cool is he?
a) co-wrote one of the sauciest, satircal-est, sexiest, funniest, disturbing-est, books ever, Candy! Turned into quintessential so-bad-its-good-and-rockin'-the-whole-way-through movie starring such notables as Ringo Starr as a Mexican gardener, Marlon Brando as a trucking guru, and Richard Burton as a drunken poet! (He licks booze off the limo floor!) And, Swedish, short-careered, sexy vixen, Ewa Aulin! (Of course, the movie is nothing like the book and Terry Southern hated it, but I dug 'em both) Anyway, basically, Candy's a really good book. Banned several times, a good dirtay kinda book.
b) He's on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band!
ISN'T THAT ENOUGH FOR YOU PEOPLE!??!?
c) And here's my addition to the board: The funniest book I've ever read? The Magic Christian. An eccentric millionaire prankster has some fun with people who will do anything for money. How can you lose? It's really funny, delivered in Southern's deadpan witty fashion.
d) Terry Southern is the most underappreciated celebrated authour of the sixties, or ever, really. He wrote a buncha great screenplays. co-wrote Dr. Strangelove, Or, How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, with Stanley Kubrick, he wrote Barbarella, Easy Rider, and The Magic Christian. Candy was HUUUUGE when it came out. Controversial, a bestseller! It's lost it's popularity over the years though it's not dated, or any less relevant. It's a retelling of Candide! How can you lose!??!?
e)Seriously, do yourself a favour and buy, find, steal, or conjure a copy of The Magic Christian. Or Candy. I got my The Magic Christian second hand for 5 bucks, much less than the 23 dollar retail price.
Rock the freak on,
Lindiglo

 

He Died With A Felafel In His Hand by John Birmingham. True-life share-house experiences, all set in Australia.

And also U2: At The End of The World by Bill Flanagan but you have to be a U2 fan to appreciate it

 

Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

 

The Old Testament
Quran
The bible


they have all been misinterpreted.

 

Micheal Bukowsky's book "Post Office" so funny

 

America: The book, this book is hillarious.

 

for all who love douglas adams, i remember "dirk gentlys holistic detective agency" cracking me up (he wrote this too, obviously)

then theres "generica" by ... i forget - its about a self help book that makes the world so damn good and happy that the writers publisher sets out to find and kill him...

 

Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

 

has any one said the bible? just curious.

i think some Vonnegut though oh yeah- Timequake or Breakfast of Champs
Hitchhikers...
uhhh... my journalism book in highschool had crazy typos that were fun to point out.
thats the shit

 

If you think the bible is funny read the book of mormon, its a riot, Bible II: jesus goes to america, white indians, a guy reading 'invisible' golden scrolls out of a hat, and that ever hilarious catch phraze 'and so it came to pass'

 

I second this!

 

Probably not the funniest, but a very funny book is
Dealing; Or, the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues
by "Micheal Douglas", aka Micheal and Douglas Crichton. Apparently it was made into a movie at some point, but I've never seen it. The book is funny.

 

the pleasure of my company by steve martin. my face was hurting after the first forty pages.

 

There's this book called The Day My Bum Went Psycho, i laugh mine off