Library Research Guides: What Should I Read? (Reader's Advisory): Humor

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Overview

Humorous fiction "includes comedy (the literary form characterized by a happy ending like marriage), wit, satire, irony, farce, nonsense, black humor, burlesque, parody, farce: in essence, anything likely to provoke laughter or quiet amusement."

Text: White, R. S. "humor." Continuum Encyclopedia of British Literature, edited by Steven Serafin, and Valerie Grosvenor Myer, Continuum, 1st edition, 2006. Credo Reference, http://sc4.idm.oclc.org/login?qurl=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/britlit/humor/0?institutionId=5065. Accessed 02 Apr. 2018.

Humorous E-Books

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All Creatures Great and Small, All Things Bright and Beautiful, and All Things Wise and Wonderful by James Herriot James Herriot's timeless bestselling series is a delightfully fun look at a country veterinarian and the creatures that populate a charming English town Perhaps better than any other writer, James Herriot reveals the ties that bind us to the natural world. Collected here are three of his masterpieces--All Creatures Great and Small, All Things Bright and Beautiful, and All Things Wise and Wonderful--which have been winning over animal lovers everywhere for almost fifty years. From his night visits to drafty barns during freezing northern England winters, to the beautiful vitality of rural life in the summertime, to the colorful menagerie of animals--and their owners--that pass through his office, Herriot vividly evokes the daily challenges and joys that come with being a veterinarian. Witty and heartwarming, this collection of whimsical, dramatic, and touching anecdotes reveals the ties that bind us to the animals in our lives. This edition features a new introduction from the author's son and bonus archival photos.
ISBN: 9781453239407
Publication Date: 2011
The Best American Humorous Short Stories by Alexander Jessup (Editor) The Best American Humorous Short Stories features tales from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Twain and many other well known writers. From the editor: This volume does not aim to contain all the best American humorous short stories; there are many other stories equally as good, I suppose, in much the same vein, scattered through the range of American literature. I have tried to keep a certain unity of aim and impression in selecting these stories...
ISBN: 9781877527647
Publication Date: 2009
The Black Poodle and Other Tales by F. Anstey Although he began his career as a serious literary novelist, writer Thomas Anstey Guthrie first gained a wide readership when he began publishing humorous tales and essays, many of which also happened to have a supernatural element. The collection The Black Poodle and Other Tales brings together some of Anstey's most side-splitting forays into the humor genre.
ISBN: 9781775454731
Publication Date: 2011
Camels Are Easy, Comedy's Hard by Roy Blount An eclectic collection from Roy Blount Jr., master of American humor writing. In this laugh-a-minute assortment of essays, travel writing, poems, and even the occasional crossword puzzle, Roy Blount Jr. covers sixty-four different subjects, all unified by his trademark humor. "Tan" is a personal essay about Blount's lifelong battle with--sometimes for and sometimes against--that elusive summer glow. "Wild Fish Ripped My Flesh" chronicles his misadventures navigating the Amazon River. And "Lit Demystified Quickly" is a tongue-in-cheek poem about larger-than-life literary figures such as James Joyce, William Faulkner, and Walt Whitman. Camels Are Easy, Comedy's Hard is a classic compendium of the wisecracks and wisdom for which Blount is renowned.
ISBN: 9781480457751
Publication Date: 2013
Emma by Jane Austen An enchanting comedy of errors, Emma remains a classic two centuries after it was first published. Emma Woodhouse is a privileged young woman whose greatest pleasure in life lies in matchmaking for anyone but herself. Written, by Austen's own admission, as "a heroine whom no one but myself will much like," Emma's charm and wit exist in constant tension with her capacity for selfishness and vanity. Despite her intelligence, Emma stumbles from one catastrophe to the next--from a misguided attempt at securing a husband for her friend Harriet Smith to her disastrous meddling in the affairs of new arrivals Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax--before ultimately falling into her own unexpected happy ending. Both a discerning look at the strictures of Regency England and an enchanting comedy of errors, Emma remains a classic two centuries since it was first published. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.
ISBN: 9781480477001
Publication Date: 2014
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde The Importance of Being Earnest is the last play Oscar Wilde ever wrote, and remains his most enduringly popular. It makes fun of social graces in the late Victorian era. Two seemingly unrelated parties are thrown into ridiculous entanglement when their fake identities, maintained in order to escape social responsibilities, grow ever more complicated to uphold.
ISBN: 9781877527449
Publication Date: 2009
Love Insurance by Earl Derr Biggers A zany, laugh-out-loud romantic comedy of improbable proportions, from the creator of Charlie Chan Working for an American branch of Lloyds' insurers, Owen Jephson is used to underwriting unusual things--weight loss in actors, inconvenient rain at garden parties, twins in the family--nonetheless he is taken aback when Lord Harrowby asks him to insure against his fiancée jilting him at the altar. Never one to turn down an interesting offer, Jephson agrees, but swiftly dispatches Dick Minot to Florida to make sure that Lloyds' assets are protected and that Cynthia Meyrick makes it down the aisle. Unfortunately Minot promptly falls in love with Cynthia after accidentally meeting her on a train, and has to decide where his loyalties lie--should he sabotage or support the wedding, especially as it comes to light Lord Harrowby may not be all that he seems? This light, sophisticated romcom is guaranteed to charm readers.
ISBN: 9781843915256
Publication Date: 2014
You Can Lead a Horse to Water (but You Can't Make It Scuba Dive) by Robert Bruce Cormack A struggling family-man's tale with satirical wit "straight out of Catch-22 and an unsung genius who might have wandered in from A Confederacy of Dunces" (Ben East, author of Sea Never Dry). On the day of his firing, Sam Bennett packs his things, smokes a joint, then leaves a pressed ham on the glass of O'Conner Advertising. Thus begins what seems like a downward spiral, until Sam finds himself among a cast of characters who open his eyes to a world of live streaming, skinny dipping, and grass brownies. While he still fights the occasional panic attack and drags his son-in-law out of Lake Michigan, Sam's learning that a margarita, sombrero, and a conga line can turn even a quiet Chicago suburb into a hedonistic free-for-all. "What have you learned from this, Sam?" Dr. Krupsky asks, sitting naked in the pool with a cigar. "I should dance," Sam replies.
ISBN: 9781631580055
Publication Date: 2014