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shitsu_tonka
offlineMember
Reading this 5 reasons it's impossible to find funny books got me thinking: who brings the mirth when it comes to fiction?
Like a lot of people commenting on the article my vote would go to Terry Pratchett and I also love the glorious one-off that it The Princess Bride by William Goldman.
What say the rest of you?
waylandsmithy
offlineMember
Robert Rankin always makes me laugh.
thisisall1word
offlineMember
Flann O'Brien's excellent 'The Poor Mouth' and 'At Swim Two Birds' both had me laughing out loud on tube journeys years ago.
+1 for Flashman too... although I think I may have only read a small few of them.
Thomas Pynchon's 'Inherent Vice' had me giggling a lot... not his best book by a long shot, but much much shorter and easier (and funnier)
beau-jolly
offlineMember
Last year I read an informative but very funny history book about 1000 years of rule by upper-class idiots. Very satirical and genuinely laugh-out-loud funny. John O-someoneorother. OK it’s not fiction but doesn't stop me being sycophantic.
Immunis
offlineMember
If you like Pratchett then try the Thraxas books http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thraxas well written and amusing fantasy detective with a well rounded supporting cast
Quaz
offlineMember
Terry Pratchet is great, but check out some of his early sci-fi stuff. 'Strata' has a great idea, that various sentient beings have built the planets and layed down the fossils as a joke, right back to...well, I'll let you read it.
Douglas Adams, Tom Sharpe was funny in my teens, as was Ben Elton back in the day.
Currently, Dickens is quite funny if you can get past the paragraphs that go on for half a page, but he was being payed by the word. His observations still stand up today.
Dilbert is great, I heard Scott Adams just get's emailed ideas now from people in 'the cubes' based on their real life.
Dave Gorman and Danny Wallace can be good, but I always have the feeling that they put themselves in slightly contrived situations. Having said that, See Gorman ranting aboout his tatoo in "google whack" and you can see that he really puts his all into it.
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