Top 10 Funniest Books

TT&TO

I'm so depressed because it's January and have no money - but---
I can borrow lots of books from my local library for FREE to cheer me up...
I need some recommendations

Let's extend the top 10 list into:

Top 10 Funniest books.
They don't have to be classics - they just have to entertain me til' next pay day
I'll begin -

1. All roddy doyle books
2. Catch 22 (I know it's a classic but also black as coal)
3. ?

I need help with the rest?

Capt'n Midnight

In the childrens section - Asterix the Gaul
Terry Prachett

Dont be at yourself

A toss up between Catch-22, a book that made me laugh aloud for what seemed a eternity at one point (groaning in the briefing!), and the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy trilogy, where you'll find something funny in almost every single paragraph.

John

Catch-22 was hilarious. I'm trying to think of any other funny books I've read but I've just realised I'm a depressing bastard!

stagolee

the book "fear and loathing in las vegas" is exellent as is "catch 22"
but (and this is an obscure one) if you can get your hands on a copy of "Cosmic Bandito's" by A.C.Weisbecker you'll laugh so hard you might **** yourself . if you can get a copy of the original print (rare) thats the best but if you can only get the re-release then skip the forward chapters completley and start at chapter one, they are aimed specificaly at someone who has read the original release and are just confusing and offputting for anyone who has not read the book before.

elivsvonchiaing

If you can veg in front of a book as well as TV I'd have to recomment Tom Sharpe - read any of them: Wilt etc. Nothing near catch-22 if that's what your expecting tbh - funny though! (not thinking is the key)

Miles

Two travel books:


McCarthy's Bar: A Journey of Discovery In Ireland. By Pete McCarthy


Notes from a Small Island. Bill Bryson


Both really funny.

OfflerCrocGod

The Discworld series by Pratchett any travel book by Bill Bryson, Douglas Adams and of course Catch-22. All have all already been mentioned but I wanted to give my two thumbs up for them

Evilution

Yeah, Prachett is legend. I thought 'Interesting times' was a riot.
Other funny books - either 'Glue' or 'Porno' by Irvine Welsh. Not a laugh a minute, but some of the set pieces in it are class.

galactus

Yeah, Bryson is a panic. "A Walk in the Woods" is is best and funniest, IMHO. Didn't get a lot of "Notes from a small Island" but still worth reading.

echomadman

Carl Haaisen's books have never failed to make me laugh, popcorn books certainly but great for passing away a long bus/train/plane journey where you cant be bothered to concentrate on heavier themes.
Tom Sharpe as was already mentioned is hilarious aswell.
Terry Pratchett and douglas Adams go without saying.

GeorgeBailey

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole (he killed himself after failing to get it published)

Tusky

GeorgeBailey wrote:

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole (he killed himself after failing to get it published)

I second this and catch 22.

Manach

Well, the author Tom Holt is pretty hit and miss. But my favourite of his "Who's afraid of Beowolf".

growler

any Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchet .

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and T Pratchet

any early Robert Rankin ( raiders of the lost car park etc) if you like off-the- wall

Gullivers Travels by J Swift

The World According to Garp , strange but funny

jetsonx

Miles wrote:

Two travel books:

McCarthy's Bar: A Journey of Discovery In Ireland. By Pete McCarthy

I second that. Publishers often say on the back on their books
"this book is so funny don't read it in public.... blah blah". Well with this book
it's actually true. Absolutely brilliant read.

raphaelS

Miles wrote:

McCarthy's Bar: A Journey of Discovery In Ireland. By Pete McCarthy

I just finished that one... very funny indeed (The dead bird! )

The Douglas Adams' are good as well, not only the Hitch-Hickers but also "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency", after that you can try "Douglas Adams' Starship Titanic: A Novel" by Terry Jones.

And there's "One year in the Merde" by Stephen Clarke, funny if you know France or if you ever been abroad for a while...

Raphael

Earthhorse

growler wrote:

The World According to Garp , strange but funny

Just finished Garp the other night. Can't say I'd put it on a list of funniest books every. The story is laced with humour but much of the atmosphere is ominous and threatening.

My vote goes to, "The Collected Prose of Woody Allen". Even if you don't like his films I would recommend this. I had to put the book down I was laughing so hard at some parts.

theCzar

I've read one tom sharpe book (can't remember which one, it was a a while ago), but i wasn't impressed.

I think the Hitchhikers Guide is definitely the funniest book of all time, the first book is the best. I'd put Catch 22 second, then the Discworld novels, are more a smile and snicker affair than laugh out loud, but they're consistently excellent. I'm not sure which one is my favourite, I really liked Truth, but that's the one freshest in my memory...

theCzar

oh, and Clive Cussler has me in stitches, but it's more laughing at, than with.

There's one book where the hero saves a boat full of disabled children from an out of control speed boat driven by this cliché arab... I have never been able to figure out if Cussler is taking the urine with his ott stories...

I really love his books though.

americanCat

i don't really have a top ten of the top of my head... but i definately recommend The Princess Bride..it's a brilliant book!

simu

Lucky Jim's quite funny.

I can't think of 9 more - I rarely read funney stuff.

eljono

Gridlock - Ben Elton
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha - Roddy Doyle
Any of the Adrian Mole Diary series

gogo

Was in Liverpool this week and picked up the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy five book box set for a mere 8.99 sterling, Never read it before (even after recieving hundreds of recommendations of it). Started it this morning on the train and finding it hard to put down - really is excellent stuff. Douglas Adams will now be my new project for the next few months

Brerrabbit

"Are you dave gorman" by Dave Gorman and Danny Wallace, probably the funniest book I have ever read; highly recommended.

Pratchett, Adams and Rankin as mentioned above. Also Tom Holt, I've only read one of his books (Well half a book technically; I Started "The portable door" last night and couldn't put it down 'till 4:30 am) but so far this has me in stitches, a very astute writer.

Gonzorex

simu wrote:

Lucky Jim's quite funny.

I can't think of 9 more - I rarely read funney stuff.

It is very funny in parts alright and very well written, though I felt that the ending was too misogynistic and therefore coloured my overall perception of the book

RE*AC*TOR

The Third Policeman by Flann O' Brien gets my vote. Laugh out loud funny for the entire book - every page.

Chinafoot

Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha - Roddy Doyle
The Snapper - Roddy Doyle
The Commitments - Roddy Doyle
A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
Down Under - Billy Bryson

and in a twisted sort of way.......The Butcher Boy - Patrick McCabe

Bri

The Barrytown Trilogy by Roddy Doyle.

Gonzorex

peachypants wrote:

and in a twisted sort of way.......The Butcher Boy - Patrick McCabe

Totally agree . . . absolutely hilarious jet black humour, probably the only book that made me laugh out loud apart from London Fields by Martin Amis. I read 'The Dead School' by McCabe a few months ago and didn't enjoy it nearly as much. He's got a great knack for dialogue and portraying the strange subconcious reality . . .

Am reading Catch22 at the moment, a funny book also but took me a while to get into. Its definitely a grower though as I'm about a third of the way through now and transfixed. All the red-tape and unnecessary procedure reminds me of work! It makes some interesting distinctions also between those who blindly follow a regime/system/decision and those who question everything.

littlemiss

I'd recommend Terry Pratchett and Christopher Brookmyre. I have only read two of Christopher Brookmyre's books but both will have you rofl. Boiling a frog... and the other was A big boy did it and ran away.

Another one is Ben Eltons "Dead Famous" funny because it is so true when it comes to reality TV shows.

galactus

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

The Third Policeman by Flann O' Brien gets my vote. Laugh out loud funny for the entire book - every page.

Absolutely - the adventures of de Selby are legendary.

Ullysses me arse!

Shabadu

Any thing by P.G. Wodehouse, my favourite is Something Fresh. Though I still love some of the classic Jeeves lines though, 'Yes, sir' said Jeeves in a low, cold voice, as if he had been bitten in the leg by a close personal friend. Wodehouse also responsible for my favourite insult: ' She looked like something that might have occured to Ibsen in one of his less frivolous moments.'

Stella Gibbons - Cold Comfort Farm

Also anything by Evelyn Waugh, especially the immortal line from

Scoop, 'Feather-footed through the plashy fen passes the questing vole"
Gets me every time I read it.

Robbo

galactus wrote:

Absolutely - the adventures of de Selby are legendary.

Ullysses me arse!

I'm another one for The Third Policeman. In fact, I'm nearly all bicycle these days.

Catch 22 and any Wodehouse (he was so prolific that it's hard to single any one book out) also do it for me.

irishgeo

Bill Bryson book are very funny. These books have had me laughing out loud on many occasions. I also recommend Christopher Brookmyre as a good fun read.

I am going to have to buy this Catch 22 book now and may be tempted to buy the hitchikkers guide to the galaxy as well.

echomadman

Jasper fforde's books are all hilarious, espcially if you're a book nerd.

is_that_so

The Third Policeman
Anything by P.G. Wodehouse
Early Tom Sharpe( laugh out loud on the bus )
Three Men in a Boat - Jerome K Jerome

*adele*

has to be "bitter with baggage seeks same"

eclectichoney

bitter with baggage seeks same. i adore that book, adele - i didnt think anyone else had ever discovered it!

Geranium

Starter for Ten by David Nicholls. It's newish but HILARIOUS.

tHE vAGGABOND

Bill Bryson - Down Under (or any of his travel books)

Tony H

TOM SHARPE Riotous Assembly , Indecent Exposure , and most of his other books apart from maybe PORTERHOUSE BLUE AND GRANTCHESTER GRIND

pwd

As well as lots that have been posted already...

My Uncle Oswald by Roald Dahl (for adults)
Better than life by Grant Naylor
The Diceman and (moreso) The Adventures of Wim by Luke Rhineheart
Whit by Iain Banks
How to be Good by Nick Hornby

Closing time by Joseph Heller has characters from Catch 22 and is excellent, though not as good as Catch-22. Good as Gold is not good imo (also by Joseph Heller).

deedee lepoopoo

'Something Happened' by Joseph Heller (same author as catch 22) - Deadly Buzz

theCzar

deedee lepoopoo wrote:

'Something Happened' by Joseph Heller (same author as catch 22) - Deadly Buzz

Really?

I've read and loved catch 22, i only managed the first 1/3 of Something happened before i turfed it for being unfunny, and uninteresting, it's the first and only book i've ever put down and abandoned.

Some day i'll pick it back up, but i'll have to be really desperate

Redleslie2

I cannot recommend Mark Leyner's Tetherballs Of Bougainville enough.

From amazon:

Mark Leyner's hyperactive, relentlessly vivid The Tetherballs of Bougainville stars a fictionalized 13-year-old version of himself. Young Leyner--who sounds just like the author, the conceit is insincere--must watch the state of New Jersey execute his PCP-addled father; lose his virginity in a drunken, drugged revel with the comely warden; and write a screenplay about these things, all within the space of a day. Don't be alarmed, just turn off your left brain and keep reading. The Tetherballs of Bougainville is a soup of observation, weird juxtaposition, parody, and ribaldry that will leave some people stymied, but others positively delighted. The satire--and sense--is where you find it.

Here's Mark, with an aside: "As I browse through this astonishing array of contraband, I can't help but marvel at the ingenuity of the inmates. In the Body Cavity/Rectal section, for instance--I can imagine someone smuggling in a wrapped shank ... But four 5-piece place settings of Bastille stainless-steel flatware? I can see how, during a visit, a girlfriend could convey, through a kiss, a condom partially filled with heroin. But a 959-piece Alsatian Village Puzzle? How? Piece by piece, one kiss per visit per week? Imagine the incarcerated hobbyist's Zen-like equanimity.

haircut100

I'm gonna go with The Dice Man - Luke Rhinehart
Very funny, very strange.

I was thinking of starting to read the Discworld books but can anyone tell me where to start, do they even have a start/order?

Imposter

Brerrabbit wrote:

"Are you dave gorman" by Dave Gorman and Danny Wallace, probably the funniest book I have ever read; highly recommended.

Haven't read the book but I did see the TV program and it was hilarious. On a similar note try "Round Ireland with a fridge" by Tony Hawks. Absolutely hilarious!

utopian

The Good Soldier Svejk by Jaroslav Hasek is very funny.

At-Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien is also funny.

It's a number of years since I read "Something Happens", but I remember it as a book about loss - not too many belly-laughs.

SmileyOReardon

It's probably an odd choice, but i would include Chuck Palahniuk in the funniest writers category, especially if you like your humor black. I'm also really surprised that no one mentioned Tom Robbins. ok, so the category is funniest BOOKS; these guys have written plenty so take your pick.

Eddie

RedRules5

Imposter wrote:

try "Round Ireland with a fridge" by Tony Hawks. Absolutely hilarious!

Agreed.

E by Matt Beaumont.