Amusing books

Is Cold Comfort Farm too comedy? Picked it up randomly from teh bookcase not expecting a great deal and it was the funniest thing I'd read in ages.

How about Educating Rita or The History Boys? Plays, but worth reading ?

I've not read it - will stick it on the list, thanks.

If you don't fancy fiction, there's always Round Ireland with a Fridge and Pies & Prejudice (both travel books, but funny)

I was thinking plays might be an interesting change too, thanks - those would be more likely to be accepted than the only comedy plays I could think of from my A levels - Volpone and the Aristophanic comedies!

John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces fits the bill to a T - a wonderfully vivid evocation of life in New Orleans that also happens to be eye-wateringly funny. Amazon even offers a sample.

Flann O'Brien's The Third Policeman is even funnier, but so bonkers that I seriously questioned the author's sanity at several points. Amazon also gives you a sneak preview.

Oh I was going to say Flann O'Brien, but it is a bit of a headtrip ?

what about christopher brookmyre? some of his books are quite amusing ?

I quite enjoy Tony Hawks and Danny Wallace for a bit of light hearted reading .

I've just read 'Friends like These' by DW and thought it great especially as he was born at the same time as me and there were quite a few reminders of my own child hood in there.

Nice Work by David Lodge?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nice-Work-David-Lodge/dp/0140119205/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242310648&sr=8-1

Funny in an observational way, and also plenty of other issues to discuss, too.

Anything by Dave Gorman and/or Danny Wallace has me giggling, especially Are You Dave Gorman?

I was going to suggest Danny Wallace too.

Failing that, some of the novels by well known comics have a 'bittersweet' comedy about them - try David Baddiel, Sean Hughes, Rob Newman. Augusten Burroughs' books are hilarious but with a very serious subtext so would conjure up lots of discussion points.

I agree, except I love his Googlewhack Adventure even more than 'Are you Dave Gorman?'. After all, it is about Dave trying to write a novel! You do get the sense he's a bit obsessive compulsive though ?

If you don't mind travel, you could do alot worse than French Revolutions by Tim Moore, it's hilarious.

Clive James' autobiography "unreliable memoirs" was one of the funniest things I have ever read, particularly when he's talking about when he was a kid.

The Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatiss was another one that I was amused by.

I'm reading Julian Clary's Murder most Fab at the moment. Better than I expected but not necessarily amusing.

I love Deric Longden's books - they are very funny. They're autobiographical, and he is a very siily man! Recenly re-read "I'm a stranger here myself" and kept doing that laugh-snort thing when reading. Very attractive!

Books that have made me laugh out loud are

Round Ireland with a fridge and A Piano in the Pyranees by Tony Hawks

Googlewack Adventure by Dave Gorman

Are you experienced? By William Sutcliffe

I also find Bill Bryson very amusing.

Not funny haha, but amusing nonetheless: anything by Alexander McCall Smith (Number 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, but also a couple of other series).

These are quite old but Tom Sharpes books are very funny. He wrote 'Blot on the Landscape' but the one that made me cry tears of laughter was 'The Throwback'.

Warning - They are written in an era where polical correctness was not high on the agenda.

Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome is from 1889 but it's the funniest book I've ever read (and I've read it about ten times!).

Not only is it hysterically funny, but it's barely dated at all - I posted the entire opening chapter on here a few weeks back, and apart from the fact that he uses his local library rather than Google it could have been written yesterday.

But because it's over a century old, it's handily out of copyright, so here's the entire thing.

And as a special treat, here's the far less well known but often equally funny sequel, in which the three men go on a bicycling holiday.

I hated this - I gave it up as a bad job becauase the protagonist was so vile he made my skin crawl.

What about something by Roddy Doyle? Even his less funny stuff has some comical moments.

I just read Iris Murdoch's first novel, Under The Net, which had me snorting with laughter.

My other recommendation is The Mortdecai Trilogy by Kyril Bonifiglioli which is like Jeeves and Wooster except filthier. Wicked.

I started it and thought it was ok, but it was just one of those books that I got half way through then thought, nah i just can't be bothered to finish this.

I hated this book with a passion, didn't find it at all funny - I perservered as long as I could with it, but it is the only book I can remember giving up on before I finished it (I read most of it)- the thought of reading more was painful.

I don't tend to read too many 'funny' books, but I do find Bill Bryson's books quite amusing - not sure that's quite what you are after for a book club though....

I second cold comfort farm and the clive james autobiography

Also some Tom Robbins books are weird and amusing if not laugh out loud funny - 'half asleep in frog pyjamas' is good.

I laughed a lot at all the adrian Mole books by Sue Townsend, secret diaries right through to the cappucino years

I love Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman - every time I read it I find new things to laugh at.

Yes, me too. I must have read it about ten times when I was younger (I don;t have a copy any more) and every time, new funny things clicked. I still can't go on the M25 without thinking of it being the Sigil Odegra of the priesthood of the Ancient Mu (or whatever it was).

Mr JK, I loved Three Men on the Bummel, but I think I (just) preferred them on the boat. I remember weeping with laughter at the opening chapter when J goes to the library and diagnoses himself with everything except housemaid's knee. Why not housemaid's knee? ? We're going to a summer camp in August and they have a sketch/funnies night, so I was thinking, if only I had one of Harris's comic songs, just the other day. I brought the house down last year <modest> so I'm under pressure this year ?

I've been meaning to read Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Heard fabulous things about it from a wet your pants perspective....and its a day read

Our Hero Adrian is 33....just that bit makes me laugh ?

The recent adrian mole books have been very amusing, liked them a lot.

also found George MacDonald Fraser's book "The Reavers" very amusing, in a snorting "i must read you this bit out loud" way.

I've just read Kate Atkinson's "When will there be good news". From the cover it seems like a normal crime novel, but it's also really funny. The beginning is fairly horrific though.

The Reggie Perrin books by David Nobbs are pretty funny too - and slightly topical what with the Martin Clunes TV series remake (watched five mins, looked like a load of tosh - but the book is really good)