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crazydogs

Books that make you laugh

To follow up on the books thread, I have a friend who has just had two lumpectomies and is now going in for a mastectomy. I want to get her some books and other things for her convalescence (really soft pjs with buttondown tops, a silver bell to ring when she wants her husband to bring her something-very useful even when she is back on her feet, I think-ha).

Anyway, I am looking for ideas that are not funny, then poignant, or partly funny, but then not so much by the end. I want her to laugh, giggle, smile from page one to the end. Any ideas are most welcome. I did pick up a couple from the other lists and may toss in a murder mystery or two as well.

Thanks all!

Comments (60)

  • My3dogs ME zone 5A
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Midlife Cabernet: Life, Love & Laughter After Fifty, by Elaine Ambrose

    Here's a sample of why it has only 5 star reviews on Amazon - 'Don't Fart During an MRI' -

    "I share this true but pathetic story to commiserate with other tortured souls who relentlessly endure and survive extreme humiliation. We're a group of accident-prone fools who regularly trigger embarrassing situations that would permanently traumatize a normal person. My experience this week will be difficult to surpass: I farted inside an MRI machine.
    In medical terms, I had torn the meniscus cartilage that acts as a shock absorber between my shinbone and thighbone. In middle-age woman terms, two demons from hell invaded my body and lit fires in my knee and then danced around poking the raw nerves with electric forks. The pain was beyond intense, and the accident severely damaged my body so I couldn't stand, walk, or even crawl to the wine bar.
    Five drug-induced days later, I finally saw an orthopedic surgeon. He manipulated my knee until tears streamed down my cheeks and I threatened to tear off his arms. It should have been obvious that I was injured by the way I was ripping off chunks from the sides of the examination table. I silently vowed to add him as a nasty character in my next short story. Finally, some lovely angel gave me legal narcotics. Soon my ravaged leg was a big, bandaged joke, and I laughed and laughed.
    A few days later I experienced the MRI - a magnetic resonance imaging procedure that uses a magnetic field and pulses of radio waves to make images of damaged ligaments and joints. A handsome young technician helped me into the tube of terror and strapped down my leg. I nervously remarked that a first name usually was required before I allowed anyone to tie me in a bed. He didn't laugh but ordered me to hold still for 45 minutes. So there I was, in pain, suffering from claustrophobia, moving on a conveyor belt into the white torture chamber, and I didn't have a clue how to remain motionless. And, to complete the distress, my only audience wasn't amused by my jokes.
    After about 20 minutes, I started to get anxious. I was tied down in a tunnel and could only hear strange beeping noises and grinding sounds. For all I knew, they were deciding which body parts to extract and sell on the black market. Then a queasy feeling predicted a pending passing of gas. I bit my tongue, pinched my side, and tried to focus on a pastoral scene in a green meadow beside a babbling brook. I could hear my mother's advice: "Squeeze the dime." I fidgeted.
    "Please hold still," came a voice from outside the shaft of shame.
    I watched as the lights and numbers revealed how much time remained. Three minutes. I could do it! No! My body betrayed me at the one-minute mark. I was trapped and helpless so my nervous body did what it does best: it farted. I released gas with the intensity and conviction of a team of sumo wrestlers after a chili-eating contest. And the confined space caused the sound to be amplified as if a dozen foghorns had simultaneously activated. I didn't know whether to cry, giggle, or call my son and brag.
    "Well now, I think we have enough images," the handsome technician said, suppressing a laugh.
    The magic bed moved backwards into freedom, bringing along the putrid stench of decay. I was mortified as my imaginary meadow became a ravaged pasture full of rotting manure. What in the hell had I eaten? I avoided eye contact with the timid technician and hobbled back to the dressing room. Once again, I accepted my fate of being the perpetual, reluctant clown, the oddball, the one who farts during a complicated medical procedure.
    If I ever need another MRI, I'll request a facility in Texas. Everyone farts there."

  • Bumblebeez SC Zone 7
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Most Bill Bryson. My go to books for laughter but in a poignant, serious way.

  • hhireno
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The advantage to a book of essays, over a novel, is not needing the same level of concentration to read it. Pick it up, read an essay or two, put it down and not return to it for a day or a week. I know my husband had trouble focusing on novels during his treatments since there was so much on his mind.

    I love David Sedaris. I also enjoyed Jenny Lawson's Lets Pretend This Never Happened but I can't guarantee there aren't any poignant essays. She's very funny but she's also very open about her anxiety issues and writes some powerful stuff about that.

    I also remember laughing at Sh-t My Dad Says.

  • sweet_tea_
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I second the Erma Bombeck suggestion. I always crack up when I'm reading anything by her. Also, with what hhireno just said about essays, Erma Foverer is collection of most requested stories and fan favorites. Hope she feels better soon.

  • debrak2008
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I 2nd the Janet Evanovich # series. I laugh out loud when reading them and you don't mind reading them again.

  • daisychain01
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I haven't read it in years, but I still remember Richard Russo's "The Straight Man" and laughing so hard I had tears streaming down my face. I read everything else he had ever written and liked them all, but that title was always my favourite. I think I might buy myself another copy for Xmas.

    I also second anything by David Sedaris. I love reading his stories in the New Yorker. This summer it was one on his new fitbit and my husband and I both just about died laughing.

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hhireno, I also thought I should get at least one book of essays. I will check out Sedaris which is probably a go-if localeater fell off the treadmill, that is endorsement enough! Haha. Will also look at the Lawson book.

    Funky and Holly, I think FF will need to be included! Also, thanks for the pj suggestion. Funky.

    Localeater, will also check out Hiassen- not familiar with him. I am getting so many ideas for myself here, too!

    Annie, Russell Baker has always been a favorite and I will look for the compendium. His columns in the Times were my favorite parts of the paper.
    Sweet tea, I always enjoyed Erma Bombeck's columns in the newspaper. That is a terrific idea.

    Bumble and jmc, I will also check out Bryson, although I am not looking for serious at all for this. He could be one for another time or occasion for sure. Then again, I may find that he is perfect!

    My3dogs, now THAT excerpt was funny. I will look for that.

    I also looked at the Tina Fey book on Amazon, jlc. It looks very funny and I suspect my friend will enjoy it.

    Thank you all so much! This really is a wonderful group here.

  • bbstx
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Three Men in a Boat is a free Kindle download. I just downloaded it.

    I second Carl Hiaasen. They are all good, but "Basket Case" stands out as one that made me laugh out loud. I listened to it while on a 6 hour road trip by myself. The time flew by.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Three Men in a Boat for Kindle

  • bpath
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Erma Bombeck books have her columns, so they are short and hysterical. I need a tissue, they are so funny! Nothing better than tears of laughter. Look in the used bookstore for them.

    Billy Crystal's Still Foolin' Em as an audio book! Some of the chapters he reads in front of an audience so more spontaneous, but he'll drop a couple of f-bombs in those. When he talks about Cosell and Ali, he does the voices,
    and it adds so much. He talks about getting old, and body parts aging, if you get my drift, and a couple of political jabs, but all in all a good listen.

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks, bbstx. I haven't heard back from her husband about the Kindle yet, but knowing him, if she doesn't have one now, my question will spur him to get one.

    Bpathome, yes, I think you are right-short and hysterical is good. I will look in our local used book store. I do love Billy Crystal. No worries about political jab since she and I are on the same page there (no pun intended-ha).

  • yayagal
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My3dogs, thanks for the great laugh, I had tears in my eyes from laughing.

  • outsideplaying_gw
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I mentioned Carl Hiaason in the other thread for a great and funny read. I would also recommend Mary Kay Andrews for some hilarious chick-lit fun (Hissy Fit, Little Bitty Lies, etc). And I ditto Janet E, Bryson, Tina Fey, and my very favorite Fannie Flagg. I couldn't recall the title of her latest the other day; thanks Dedtired for the title of 'The All Girls Filling Station Last Reunion'. It was one of her best I think.

    Thanks My3 for the laugh and your recommendation. I will definitely want to read that one.

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Ded and outsideplaying, yes, I think The All Girls...will need to be one of the books. Janet E., too.

  • texanjana
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    A friend gave me Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh last year, and I literally laughed so hard I cried. Her illustrations are a scream. The book is based on her blog, and is divided into short little stories. The writings about her dogs are my favorites.

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Love funny dog stories! It is so much fun hearing about so many new-to-me books! Thanks Texanjana.

  • LucyStar1
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot. I laughed out loud while reading it.

    Here is someone's review from Amazon:

    These stories are true treasures. While the BBC series is amusing, these stories are far more personal. You get to met Dr. Herriot (a pseudonym for James Alfred Wight) who starts as a young veternarian just out of school and joins a country practice. Cows get the better of him, the local Yorkshire farmers one-up him, he gets his car inevitably stuck in the mud and yet prevails as a caring, resourceful vet who loves his quirkly rural clients as much the animals he cares for. He also writes with such laugh-outloud humor and self-deprecation you just wish the book would go on and on.

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Lucy, I remember reading that back in the 70s. It is a wonderful book. Thanks for reminding me of it!

  • rosesstink
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    P. G. Wodehouse. Especially the Jeeves series. Wonderful stuff!

    Best wishes to your friend.

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Now you are all touching on so many old well-loved books. I am not sure how I will choose from such a marvelous list. It will be fun.

  • Annie Deighnaugh
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Probably less well known, but very amusing was Shirley Jackson's Life Among the Savages...about raising her 3 children in VT. Hard to believe this was the same woman who wrote the Haunting of Hill House.

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Oh, gosh, Annie. Didn't Shirley Jackson also write The Lottery? I read that as a child-it still creeps me out! Hard to imagine something funny coming from her, but I have heard the title before-never read it.

    Also thanks to everyone for the good thoughts as well. I just hate any delay when one is dealing with cancer. Too many losses in the past few years and very recently as well. I am keeping my fingers crossed and hoping it all turns out well.

  • Holly- Kay
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Lucy, All Creatures Great and Small, I read that years ago but still remember the part where he got stuck in the mud, thanks for that memory.

    My3, I started reading your excerpt but was laughing so hard I couldn't catch my breath. After all these years together my DH is quite accustomed to sporadic gales of laughter coming out of me but this outburst not only got his attention but our pooches didn't know what to think.

    Cyn, prayers and good wishes for the best possible outcome for your DF.

  • bbstx
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    This is when I wish GW had a "Like" button. There are so many of these posts that I would use it on - especially the Wodehouse Jeeves series.

  • pammyfay
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    If your friend is a dog person, she'd probably get a good laugh from some of Merrill Markoe's books (she was a writer/girlfriend for Dave Letterman).

    I also second the rec for Bill Bryson's travel books (Sunburned Country, Neither Here Nor There, Notes From a Small Island, The Lost Continent, etc.).
    Something else that really made me laugh? Robert Fulghum's short story about a spider. I think it was in his "All I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten." Normally, I would not find a story about a spider to my liking. This was hysterical.

  • runninginplace
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The Chet and Bernie books by Spencer Quinn are hilarious-a series of books using that hoary PI-and-sidekick framework. Except the sidekick is a dog and he's the narrator! Absolutely laugh out loud and even a non dog lover like me can't help but fall in love with Chet the dog.

    Would it Kill you to Stop doing That by Henry Alford is a very quirky etiquette guide written by a New Yorker. His voice is so distinctive and the comments/advice really are hysterical.

    A classic that still makes me laugh every time I re-read it is A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. Although the backstory is sad (author wrote one book, committed suicide before it was published and later won a Pulitzer Prize) the book is incredibly funny.

    Ann

  • pinkpanther5
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    A book that made me laugh, Confessions of a Slacker Mom. I forget who wrote it. But man, I loved that book.

    There's a ton of great suggestions here. I'm going to get some of these books!

  • jackson2348
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I second the Carl hiaasen, Tina fey, and David serdaris suggestions. I also love Jen Lancaster, she has several essay type humor books out. Easy reads and so, so funny.

    Also, for anyone else reading, hiaasen also has a few children's books, aimed at late elementary/middle school. Flush and Hoot are 2 we read with our kids. Also very, very funny and good reads.

  • outsideplaying_gw
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Jackson, wasn't a movie made of 'Hoot' several years ago? No blockbuster but something your kids could certainly watch iirc.

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Okay, now I am making a new list for myself! All of you will be keeping us in books for the rest of the year! Thank you, thank you, thank you. Ann, I am going to look for the Chet and Bernie books and the Henry Alford. A Conderacy of Dunces is one of those that I am sure I should have read, but never did. Lots of the suggestions fall into that category actually!

    Jacson, I will also look for those kids' books. Always looking for good read alouds for my class!

    Pammyfay, those Bryson travel books would be great as her job (well, she just retired) involved lots of travel, so they would be fun and fit her life as well. She would probably enjoy the one with the Letterman connection, too, even though she isn't really a pet person. She loves our two looney tune pups, though.

    Pinkpanther-that is one I should read! :)

    Thanks again.

  • tibbrix
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Not books….but any movie with Maggie Smith in it.

    I read "A Confederacy of Dunces" and couldn't quite get into it, I think because the protagonist was such an anti-social crank, which sometimes can be funny, but I didn't think so in that book. I thought "Three Men in a Boat was much funnier." I chuckled out loud reading "Three Men…"

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Tibb, I am definitely getting Three Men. May get two-one for DH since I think it sounds like something he would enjoy, too!

    Don't you just love Maggie Smith on screen?!

  • carriem25
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    "Let's Pretend this Never Happened" by The Bloggess, Jenny Larson. Read about Beyonce the Rooster at the link. I laughed until I cried.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Beyonce the Rooster

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Oh Carrie, that is great. Now, excuse me, I need to post that on the Towels thread.

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Oh Carrie, that is great. Now, excuse me, I need to post that on the Towels thread.

  • pammyfay
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Bpathome -- I totally agree with you about the Billy Crystal book: Hearing him read it is the best part!

  • bpath
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Carrie, now I need a giant metal chicken. That was hysterical! So OP, add "blogs" to the list. That one, and Victoria Elizabeth Barnes, esp the tales of the Kingdom Mirror. Or, how about Garden Web? Funny how getting involved in strangers' houses makes you feel better. And when she's not reading,she cacn be thinking about whether someone's painting should be centered over the sofa, or or between the windows, or, where to end the backsplash. Keeps the brain occupied.

    Best wishes for your friend!

  • colleenoz
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I bought Confederacy of Dunces in a bookshop in Prague, and even though it was the only book in English I had to read, I could not finish it. Four years later it still sits on the shelf. I loathed the protagonist, he was so self centred and self-absorbed.

  • runninginplace
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Re Confederacy of Dunces...our book club read it and opinion was also divided. Those who couldn't stand the central character's, um, character were definitely of the same opinion as Tibbrix and Colleen, but I just thought the situations were so ridiculous and the foibles were so outlandish that it all made me laugh :).

  • Annie Deighnaugh
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    carriem...I laughed so hard, I sprayed smoothie all over the place. Thank you so much! (I especially relate as I really want to buy new towels and guess who says, No!)

  • outsideplaying_gw
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks for reviving 'Beyonce'. I had read that before but certainly enjoyed the laugh again!

  • tibbrix
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    runninginplace, then you'll LOVE "Three Men in a Boat."

  • kswl2
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hands down, the funniest book I ever read was Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis, it is a razor sharp satire of English university life that had me crying with laughter.

  • tibbrix
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Ooh, gotta get that Lucky Jim from the library. Love that 'razor sharp' British humor.

  • kswl2
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I hope you enjoy it, Tibb! But I have to admit to loving A Confederacy of Dunces also.....it is DS2's favorite book from seventh grade and even now he and I start quoting back and forth from the novel. I find parts of it almost painfully humorous!

  • tibbrix
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I actually admire people who enjoyed A Confederacy of Dunces. I felt like I was supposed to, since it's considered a classic and hilarious, and that maybe I wasn't getting something. I don't think I even finished it.

    But again, if you liked that book, definitely check out Three Men in a Boat. What makes that book even funnier is the fact that it was actually meant to be a serious travel guide, but it became so popular because of how hilarious it is. Talk about conjuring up hilarious images!

  • runninginplace
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I've downloaded Three Men in a Boat, can't wait till my holiday free time begins to start reading and laughing!

  • tibbrix
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I hope you enjoy it. The part about the uncle trying to hang a painting had me laughing out loud.

  • cedar_wa
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Cassandra Danz -Mrs. Greenthumbs very funny and sexy.
    For a classic oldie from my neck of the woods Betty Macdonald - The Egg and I. There are several old Betty Macdonald books that are fun to read and timeless.

  • Bethpen
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Such a great list! I can't wait to have time to read.

    Best wishes to your friend, I don't have much more to offer, though I did love Hyperbole and a Half. The Chet and Bernie books were written by an author here on the Cape, very fun. I loved the early Janet Evanovich, but after so many they are predictable.

    Blogs and shows are great distractions, especially if you are taking painkillers. Post ACL surgery I watched hours of HGTV while hooked to that machine that makes your knee move...For my hysterectomy I watched all the seasons of Arrested Development. SO ridiculous and funny, I watched it all twice.

  • tibbrix
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I think I'll have to read "The Egg and I" also. Reviews on Amazon are really great.

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