Recommend a book to give me a good laugh!

stolenwine

Recommend a book to give me a good laugh! And I don't mean so bad it's funny

my choices are -

Dry - Augusten Burroughs
Dress your family in Corduroy and Denim - David Sedaris
Neither here nor there travels in europe - Bill Bryson

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

terry pratchett's discworld is good, try one called 'Interesting Times'

Miss Fluff

Running with Scissors, Augustin Burrows

The Buddha of Suburbia, Hanif Kureishi

Crucifix

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller is probably my favourite funny book.

eclectichoney

I remember The Diceman by Luke Rhinehart being quite chuckle-inducing at the time
Catch 22 as crucifix suggests.
Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas.

genericgoon

Anything by Jeremy Clarkson. Even if some are basically a book of old articles he did for a newspaper.

hupyago

spike milligan for lol off the wall miliganese
micheal palin for cheerful take on different countries cultures and customs
cartoons such as calvin and hobbes,dilbert and the far side by gary larsoncan be satisfying and a good laugh/alternative view on society

Photi

John Kennedy Toole - A Confederacy of Dunces

hupyago

oh and pat ingoldsby is a real character
If you find him or his books he's gas

Irish Wolf

Catch 22 is a wonderful read.. Never really got into the Discworld series - but I recall having a good chuckle reading Wyrd Sisters, probably because Macbeth was fresh in my mind from the Leaving Cert, I think Pratchett's best work was with Neil Gaiman on Good Omens - now that is one funneh book..

At the risk of being shot down - Stark by Ben Elton.. though not sure it's aged that well from the early 90s..

Meathlass

Philip Nolan - Ryanland

Hermy

Arthur Matthews - Well Remembered Days

egan007

A year in the Merde + Vernon Godlittle

humbert

Tom Sharpe's Indecent Exposure or Porterhouse Blue both made me laugh a lot.

Thomas_S_Hunterson

Catch 22 gets my vote as well

johnny_ultimate

Catch 22 would be my recommendation too. Have never laughed so hard reading a book. Biting, dark humour.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is excellent too. One of my favourite books ever - completely bonkers and hilarious.
Have you read the Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy? Truly one of the most intelligent and funny books ever written.

sioda

Mc Carthys Bar always found it a good laugh or Dave Gormans Googlewhack

stovelid

Quentin Crisp - Manners from Heaven: a divine guide to good behaviour

Hrududu

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

Dades

Catch 22, or Hitch Hikers GTTG get my vote

cailinoBAC

Another vote for Dave Gorman - Googlewhack or 'Are you Dave Gorman'. Also, his friend, Danny Wallace 'Join Me' and 'The Yes Man'.

dublinario

The Grapes of Wrath is an hilarious read.

BenjAii

'Ibid. A novel in footnotes' by Mark Dunn is probably the funniest thing I've read. It's all the footnotes to a "lost manuscript" for the biography of Jonathan Blashette a three-legged circus freak, cum business tycoon. Had me laughing out loud every few pages.

Mrs. MacGyver

Any of the Sue townsend books

the rise and fall of reginald perrin

johnnyskeleton

The World According to Garp - John Irving (or Irvine)

I second the Hitchhikers Guide, but I would suggest getting the radio series rather than the books. If you like this kind of humour:

It is known that there are an infinite number of worlds, simply because there is an infinite amount of space for them to be in. However, not every one of them is inhabited. Therefore, there must be a finite number of inhabited worlds. Any finite number divided by infinity is as near to nothing as makes no odds, so the average population of all the planets in the Universe can be said to be zero. From this it follows that the population of the whole Universe is also zero, and that any people you may meet from time to time are merely the products of a deranged imagination.

There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.

then give it a go.

Tingo

Everyone seems to be recommending Catch 22. I have read a chapter of it on amazon and felt kind of meh about it, but maybe I haven't given it enough of a chance. The next time I'm in a book shop I will grab it.

Like someone else mentioned Good Omens by Terry Prachett and Neil Gaiman is quite funny.

I thought Starter for Ten by David Nicholls was good. I think it was made into a movie, if that appeals/turns you off the book.

Faustus

William S. Burroughs - naked lunch.

kgiller

f you are looking for a funny book Catch 22 is the one. it is the most hilarious book ive ever read, i would recommend it to everyone. would also recommend having a read of Kurt Vonnegut too, he has some very funny stuff like breakfast of champions and slaughter house 5.

Thomas_S_Hunterson

Another one i'd rrecommend is One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey. It's hilarious in places, but will have you crying in others. It's stunning.

goose06

A year in the merde is a very funny book about an english guy who moves to france for a year to work, i think it was by Peter Clarkson

Tony H

Wilt By Tom Sharpe really funny book any everything by Terry Pratchett

tSubh Dearg

Personally I don't think The World According to Garp is a "good laugh" book. Sure it has humourous bits but certainly not laugh out loud funny.

Ditto for Vernon God Little, though that's probably me, I got seriously irritated with the main character in that and wanted to give him a slap around the head.

I think the Hitchhiker's Guide is very funny, so are most of Bill Bryson's travel books (I think Here, There and Everywhere and Notes from a Small Island are the best) the Discworld books are good for a laugh too, imo Reaper Man is by far the funniest. I know there are others I thought were funny but I can't think of them at the moment.

Tom Robbin's Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates has some hilarious bits in it, a fair bit of farce but also a level of seriousness.

AJG

I don't know if you would consider it 'funny' but I think the work of Louis Ferdinand Celine can be extremely funny but in a very black/dark way. If I was to start anywhere I would read 'Death On The Installment Plan'.

Zaph

Matt Beaumont's books are very funny and worth a read. Also another thumbs up for Pratchett, particularly Good Omens, probably the funniest book I've ever read. And naturally, seeing as it's the source of my name, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy is an absolute must.