Funny Books on The Point Today
Peter Abrahams’ (aka Spencer Quinn) new book is called Dog on it : a Chet and Bernie mystery. And you can read Chet the dog’s blog at www.chetthedog.com. (Have you read any other books which are narrated by animals? Didn’t Virginia Woolf have a dog narrator once? No come to think of it that was a biography of a dog: Flush: a biography.)
So lots of listener suggestions today on The Point. Here they are (in no particular order):
Moo by Jane Smiley
Book : a novel by Robert Grudin
The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern’s classic tale of true love and high adventure. The ‘’good parts’’ version, abridged by William Goldman
Eats, Shoots & Leaves : the zero tolerance approach to punctuation by Lynne Truss.
My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About : a novel by Mil Millington
I Feel Bad About My Neck : and other thoughts on being a woman by Nora Ephron
All the Way Home : building a family in a falling-down house by David Giffels
The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be by Farley Mowat
Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne
Poems by Ogden Nash
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
One caller suggested the book Risky Business by Dave Barry, but I haven’t found a Barry book by that title. Anyone have any idea?
Also recommended, anything by Carl Hiaasen or Kinky Friedman.
Mindy’s Picks
Craig Kingsbury talkin’ : the salty model for Quint speaks out by Kristen Kingsbury
Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar– : understanding philosophy through jokes by Thomas Cathcart & Daniel Klein.
Aristotle and an Aardvark go to Washington : understanding political doublespeak through philosophy and jokes /by Thomas Cathcart & Daniel Klein.
Jill’s Picks
Laughing Gas by P.G. Wodehouse
Consider the Lobster and other essays by David Foster Wallace
A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace
The Leisure Seeker by Michael Zadoorian
The Impartial Recorder by Ian Sansom
Three Men in a Boat (to say nothing of the dog) by Jerome K. Jerome
Ant Farm and other desperate situations by Simon Rich
Melanie’s Picks
Individual books:
The New 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth by The Earthworks Group
Sara Snow’s Fresh Living by Sara Snow
Funny books:
Momnesia by Shannon Payette Seip & Adrienne Hedger
When You Lie About Your Age, the Terrorists Win by Carol Leifer
And the lists of top ten funny books:
Top 10 Funniest Books According to AbeBooks.co.uk Customers
Top 10 Funniest Books according to Better World Books.
We’ll be back on the air talking about books on Monday May 11th. Stay tuned!
Here’s a comment I got in my mail today. The book mentioned is Free for all : oddballs, geeks, and gangstas in the public library by Don Borchert:
Has anyone mentioned “Free For All” as a funny book? Those of us in the trenches find it hilarious (and shockingly true). Great topic for a show.
Keep up the good work–
Another book narrated by a dog, “The Art of Racing in the Rain” by Garth Stein, is a favorite at North Falmouth.
Another library-centric funny book is “Quiet, Please: dispatches from a public librarian” by Scott Douglas. It’s based on his hilarious column on McSweeney’s (http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/librarian/) and the book is owned by two of our CLAMS libraries!
I love the reading shows on The Point and the show on humorous reading was much appreciated.
I looked for a book mentioned on The Point titled STRAIGHT MAN, but there are 3 novels by that title. Do you have the author’s name?
Thanks!
Joyce
Joyce, That would be “The Straight Man” by Richard Russo. Glad you enjoy the book shows! Jill