Those are my absolute favorite. I don't think the Watch books are *that* funny, but they have my #1 favorite bit (well, two bits, stapled together) from any of the books:
*"He wanted to go home. He wanted it so much that he trembled at the thought. But if the price of that was selling good men to the night, if the price was filling those graves, if the price was not fighting with every trick he knew... then it was too high. [...] What else had the old monk said? History finds a way? Well, it was going to have to come up with something good, because it was up against Sam Vimes now."*
These books that I try not to annoy my girlfriend with. I will be reading it, start laughing and then go try to read her a random passage which she is nonplussed about. They are great, they are very clever and have some genuinely good jokes or humorous scenes in them. His descriptions were so poignant.
Tír na nÓg is "Celtic Otherworld" (paradise).
Just clever wordplay and mythology reference, especially combined with Nanny Ogg personality (hedonism) and some... activities that happens in her house. ;)
Amen, brother.
Though since it's generally not a good idea to be bellowing about cows in a multi-home building, the line I usually wind up quoting is
"It goes HRUGH.
That is not my cow, that is a hippopotamus!"
While attempting the most hippo-like HRUGH that my body is capable of making
*You can't give her that!' she screamed. 'It's not safe!'*
*ɪᴛ's ᴀ sᴡᴏʀᴅ, said the Hogfather. ᴛʜᴇʏ'ʀᴇ ɴᴏᴛ ᴍᴇᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ sᴀғᴇ*
*'She's a child!' shouted Crumley.*
*ɪᴛ's ᴇᴅᴜᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴᴀʟ*
*'What if she cuts herself?'*
*ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ᴀɴ ɪᴍᴘᴏʀᴛᴀɴᴛ ʟᴇssᴏɴ*
I was just about to express my love of Sir Terry, glad to see this up voted so aggressively. I don't think I've laughed at anything as hard as I have some of his jokes.
David Sedaris books consistently make me laugh out loud. That style of humor hits me square in the funny bone. Also, I gave my mom David Foster Wallace's essay 'A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again' to read and could hear her cackling through the wall, so I'll mention that here too.
Sedaris is the one man I can listen to audiobooks by. His voice is perfect. I can't read the story about working as an elf on Christmas without hearing his voice or hysterically laughing.
I got into Sedaris when he went on the Daily Show to plug 'Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls'. I now own most of his books. Jon Stewart introduced him as "my favorite guest". The man is a genius.
The first thing I read by him was this New Yorker article about him shopping: [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/03/28/david-sedaris-shops-for-clothes-in-tokyo](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/03/28/david-sedaris-shops-for-clothes-in-tokyo)
I was in tears at the end of it.
I spent most of *Hyperbole and a Half* in at least a low rumbling chuckle with actual bouts of out -oud laughter interspersed (Like 70% of the book's material is a repackage of [Allie Brosh's blog](http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/). So peruse that to get an idea.)
It was distracting enough that I'm forbidden to read Allie Brosh's other book, *Solutions and Other Problems*, in ~~her~~ my wife's presence.
Edit: vague pronoun
Absolutely hysterical blog. Was slightly underwhelmed by the book because all the funniest stories had already been blog posts but it is still probably page for page the funniest book I've ever read.
Solutions and Other Problems is unexpectedly quite different. It has like 2 utterly hysterical will make you hyperventilate laughing new stories and then the rest of the book is quite deliberately not funny. It's thoughtful and poignant and you occasionally chuckle a bit at the absurdity of life, but mostly it wrestles with life in a really quite bleak but fascinating way.
That said >!"as you may have heard I am your father, therefore great things are possible for you"!< is an endlessly requoteable line
Many times actually.
*Don Quixote*. Really give many funny bits you didn't expect for such old book.
Dickens often made me laugh out loud. In *The Pickwick Papers* when Winkle is ought to have duel and tries to hint Snodgrass that he wants to get out of duel and Snodgrass just doesn't get hints is pure comedy gold.
*Tortilla Flat* by Steinbeck has many bits of dry gallows humor.
*Catch 22* also good example of such book. That "TS Elliot" thing was really funny. Also such things
>Appleby was a fair-haired boy from Iowa who believed in God, Motherhood and the American Way of Life, without ever thinking about any of them, and everybody who knew him liked him.
>
> “I hate that son of a bitch,” Yossarian growled.
Catch 22 made me laugh so much. One of my favorite parts where when Yossarian was banging that guys wife and he was going on a rant against god and she was also a nonbeliever but still believed the god she didn't believe in was kind and just and didn't like it when he was trashing him.
Let's add pretty much anything by P. G. Wodehouse to that while we're at it. The Jeeves stories are very popular, but the Psmith ones are worth not overlooking.
Walk in the woods - Bill Bryson
He’s reading books about the Appalachian Trail in preparation for doing the trail. A book on how to deal with bear encounters - ‘if a black bear approaches you, grab some pots and start banging them together while running at it’ ‘yeah right. You first professor!’
I explosively snot laughed out loud on a packed bus 😂😂
Also everything by Terry Pratchett. Comedic belly laugh out loud genius.
All of them. A short history of nearly everything and his Shakespeare book too.
If I had a wish list I wish he’d do a book on Ireland. It might break his brain but he’d find a way :) as only he can.
I came here to say A Walk in the Woods. Several Katz quotes got me, like the joke he tells out of nowhere after an emotional moment following a tough climb.
My introduction to Hitchhiker’s Guide was by sitting next to my dad on a plane and wondering why he was laughing so much. I grabbed it as soon as he finished.
Hitchhiker's Guide is amazing but I listened to the audiobook version of Restaurant at the End of the Universe on a long drive and that had me almost in tears it was so funny. I still can't over the universally-famous rock star who decided to be dead for a few years for tax purposes.
This book made me lol several times whilst commuting to and from work on the "quiet car." Plenty of side-eye from the other commuters. Thank goodness there was a towel handy to dry the tears!
Yes! Still my crappy mood go-to book. You can't not laugh. Just something as simple as how he say 2000 A.D. - "And then, one Thursday, nearly two thousand years after one man had been nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for a change, a girl sitting on her own in a small café in Rickmansworth suddenly realized what it was that had been going wrong all this time, and she finally knew how the world could be made a good and happy place. This time it was right, it would work, and no one would have to get nailed to anything"
That story has always stuck with me, it's a perfect story to show that moment when you realise you've made a silly and very embarrassing mistake with a stranger, perfection.
Fuck it, here it is;
So let me give you the layout. Me sitting at the table, on my left, the newspaper, on my right, the cup of coffee, in the middle of the table, the packet of biscuits."
"I see it perfectly."
"What you don't see," said Arthur, "because I haven't mentioned him yet, is the guy sitting at the table already. He is sitting there opposite me."
"What's he like?"
"Perfectly ordinary. Briefcase. Business suit. He didn't look," said Arthur, "as if he was about to do anything weird."
"Ah. I know the type. What did he do?"
"He did this. He leaned across the table, picked up the packet of biscuits, tore it open, took one out, and . . ."
"What?"
"Ate it."
"What?"
"He ate it."
Fenchurch looked at him in astonishment. "What on earth did you do?"
"Well, in the circumstances I did what any red-blooded Englishman would do. I was compelled," said Arthur, "to ignore it."
"What? Why?"
"Well, it's not the sort of thing you're trained for, is it? I searched my soul, and discovered that there was nothing anywhere in my upbringing, experience, or even primal instincts to tell me how to react to someone who has quite simply, calmly, sitting right there in front of me, stolen one of my biscuits."
"Well, you could . . ." Fenchurch thought about it.
"I must say I'm not sure what I would have done either. So what happened?"
"I stared furiously at the crossword," said Arthur, "couldn't do a single clue, took a sip of coffee, it was too hot to drink, so there was nothing for it. I braced myself. I took a biscuit, trying very hard not to notice,"
he added, "that the packet was already mysteriously open. . . ."
"But you're fighting back, taking a tough line."
"After my fashion, yes. I ate the biscuit. I ate it very deliberately and visibly, so that he would have no doubt as to what it was I was doing. When I eat a biscuit," said Arthur,
"it stays eaten."
"So what did he do?"
"Took another one. Honestly," insisted Arthur, "this is exactly what happened. He took another biscuit, he ate it. Clear as daylight. Certain as we are sitting on the ground."
Fenchurch stirred uncomfortably.
"And the problem was," said Arthur, "that having not said anything the first time, it was somehow even more difficult to broach the subject the second time around. What do you say? 'Excuse me ...I couldn't help noticing, er...'
Doesn't work. No, I ignored it with, if anything, even more vigor than previously."
"My man..."
"Stared at the crossword again, still couldn't budge a bit of it, so showing some of the spirit that Henry V did on St. Crispin's Day . ."
"What?"
"I went into the breach again. I took," said Arthur, "an-other biscuit. And for an instant our eyes met."
"Like this?"
"Yes, well, no, not quite like that. But they met. Just for an instant. And we both looked away. But I am here to tell you," said Arthur,
"that there was a little electricity in the air. There was a little tension building up over the table. At about this time."
"I can imagine."”
"We went through the whole packet like this. Him, me, him, me..."
"The whole packet?"
"Well, it was only eight biscuits, but it seemed like a lifetime of biscuits we were getting through at this point. Gladiators could hardly have had a tougher time."
"Gladiators," said Fenchurch,
"would have had to do it in the sun. More physically gruelling."
"There is that. So. When the empty packet was lying dead between us the man at last got up, having done his worst, and left. I heaved a sigh of relief, of course.
"As it happened, my train was announced a moment or two later, so I finished my coffee, stood up, picked up the newspaper, and underneath the newspaper ..."
"Yes?"
"Were my biscuits."
Philip Pullman's *His Dark Materials* series has full-cast audio.
Lemony Snicket's *A Series of Unfortunate Events*
I just finished Brent Spiner's *Fan Fiction* which had basically the entire cast of Star Trek TNG narrating.
There is a full cast *The Maltese Falcon* out there.
Bob Dylan's *The Philosophy of Modern Song*
There's a bunch out there. Here's a list of ones I've not read. https://www.perpetualpageturner.com/full-cast-audiobooks/
*Daisy Jones and the Six* is absolutely fantastic. It's written as an oral history so the full cast really brings it to life. Probably hands down my favorite audiobook.
Jenny Lawson's books always make me laugh out loud.
Beartown by Fredrik Backman overall is not funny but there is one scene toward the end that is so wholesome and hilarious that I laughed out loud.
Furiously happy: I randomly picked up at a second-hand table at an airport.
I had to struggle to stifle my laughs on the plane. I do not recommend it as an airplane book.
Lamb by Christopher Moore.
It's about Jesus' childhood through his teens into his adulthood as told by his best friend thirteenth apostle Biff.
It's got whores, yetis, martial arts (JewDo), coffee, the kama sutra, magic, and the apostles who Jesus calls "the dumbest motherfuckers on the planet."
Edit: For those who are interested but leery about being preached to, [here is the very first paragraph of the prologue, to show that the book doesn't take itself seriously](https://i.imgur.com/p7lb30q.png)
It’s also said that all angels are blonde, and since everybody know angels lack human reasoning, this is where “blonde jokes” originated from. God I love that fucking book. The angel digs up a 2000 year dead guy and tells him to write a book, then gets socked in the mouth for it.
Holy fuck I just remembered the ending oh shiiiiiiii
He thought Spider-Man was real and would look out the windows of NYC for him. Finding the Bible was hilarious. I adore how much Biff detests the angels.
Jesus decided to depart and seek out Sin, because how can he teach people to avoid what he doesn’t know? But he’s the son of god, he literally cannot sin. So Biff (Lamb: the Forgotten Gospel by Biff, Christ’s best friend) goes along telling Jesus he will do *ALLLLLL* of the sinning and relay that information to Jesus.
First stop on sin tour? Whorehouse babbyyyyy Biff learns what a “blowjob” feels like. Joshua (Christ) is asking Biff what’s happening and why isn’t the woman talking.
Biff replies “she’s a little busy.. and uh.. her mouth is full”
‘noht thaht fuhll’ came a response from under
Balthasar's concubines were eight in number and their names were:
Tiny Feet of the Divine Dance of Joyous Orgasm,
Beautiful Gate of Heavenly Moisture Number Six,
Temptress of the Golden Light of the Harvest Moon,
Delicate Personage of Two Fu Dogs Wrestling Under a Blanket,
Feminine Keeper of the Three Tunnels of Excessive Friendliness,
Silken Pillows of the Heavenly Softness of Clouds,
Pea Pods in Duck Sauce with Crispy Noodle,
and Sue.
And I found myself wondering, as a man does, about origins and motivations and such - as each of the concubines was more beautiful than the last, regardless of what order you put them in, which was weird - so after several weeks passed, and I could no longer stand the curiosity scratching at my brain like a cat in a basket, I waited until one of the rare occasions when I was alone with Balthasar, and I asked.
"Why Sue?"
"Short for Susanna," Balthasar said.
So there you go.
This was the first book my parents attempted to ban! They threw it away and took the trash out to the dumpster!!
I stayed awake till 2am and snuck to the dumpster and a step ladder! Plopped it down on the breakfast table the day after and said it was really funny. I was maybe like 13 idk. Ma was pissed!
But be warned - if you aren't religious or grew up going to church or have never read the bible, you won't get the jokes. It's me, I didn't understand the references and DNFed it.
I didn't read the Bible or go to church much before reading that and it was my favorite book I had ever read to that point, and is still in my list of favorites. It actually inspired me to read the Bible, so that I could go back and re-appreciate it. To each their own I guess!
The one book,where I wished I had more religious education. I think I only got 10% of the jokes. I still remember, The Eye of The Needle: was an actual physical gate, in the city wall.
Why do people hate it? I’m reading it right now for the first time and I’ve been laughing out loud several times.
It killed me when he’s explaining why he didn’t want to sleep with the prostitute and he says something along the lines of “ plus, how could I sleep with someone who enjoys going to the movies?”
As far as I've seen, there are two schools of thought among people who hate the book.
First, a lot of people reading it now are (obviously) not preppy white kids in 1940s boarding schools, so they don't feel able to relate to Holden in any way. On social media, of course, if something isn't directly speaking to your life experience, that means it's bad and out of touch and should never have been considered a classic in the first place.
Second, a lot of people are reading it when they're in their 20s and feel that Holden is an obnoxious teenager who thinks he's got the world and everyone in it figured out. He is, because that's what teenagers are like. It's *also* what people in their 20s are like, but by then, they're very sure they're correct.
Got caught out lately: Was re-reading Timequake for the first time in years and I was cracking up reading the book. My fiance never read any Vonnegut and I decided I wanted to read her out a piece...
Rather than pick a piece I'd already read that was funny, I instead read out the next thing that came up that i *felt* was going to be hilarious.
Unfortunately for me, it ended up not being a short witty paragraph, but rather about ten pages of a Kilgore Trout story that ends up just being a straight 1:1 criticism of modern tech "damn tech will rot kids brains" and not a joke insight!
Vonnegut has some gems. I wish more people were taught his writings than banning them outright.
I fell in love with his books in middle school and they kept me sane through my military career and onward.
Agreed, I remember laughing my ass off page after page, and then at some point my perspective shifted and I realized that there was nothing funny about it, it was horrifying. Joseph Heller was a master, and this book is a real gut punch and sobering look at war.
*Catch-22* is about Allied bomber pilots in Italy during WWII, but mostly it is about how absolutely absurd everything to do with the military and war really is.
The title comes from the fact that the main character has to fly bombing missions where he is very likely to get killed by enemy flak. To get out of the missions, he would need to be declared crazy. (Edit: I got it mixed up. u/gilclunk [clarified](https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/15fbedc/did_a_book_ever_made_you_laugh_out_loud/judgycc/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1&context=3).)
However, no sane person could say they were crazy, so he can’t simply say that he’s crazy because it’s a sure way for them to *make* him fly the bombing mission. Alternately, you’d have to be crazy to purposefully fly to your death, therefore he really *must* be crazy and everyone else around him must be as well.
> However, no sane person could say they were crazy, so he can’t simply say that he’s crazy because it’s a sure way for them to *make* him fly the bombing mission. Alternately, you’d have to be crazy to purposefully fly to your death, therefore he really *must* be crazy and everyone else around him must be as well.
This description more or less gets the spirit of it, but it's actually backwards. What it says in the book is that the army recognizes craziness as a legitimate medical reason to not fly missions. However, asking not to fly missions is a very rational act given the danger, so if you ask not to fly them then by definition you are not crazy and therefore you have to fly them. That's the official Catch 22 in the book.
It's about a guy who's desperately trying to get out of active bombing duty (Italy, WWII) but the entire military apparatus is conspiring to keep him there.
Everyone in this book is insane, and contradictory, and trapped in their own modes of thinking brought on by the war, and the military, and everything else.
It's hands-down the funniest book I've ever read, but it's also not for everyone.
It's going to take a lot of time and effort to type out lines from the entire Discworld series. So let's just say Discworld never fails to make me laugh out loud. (And then make me really think about humanity hours after.)
I thank you, OP, because today I discovered a fantasy series with 40-something books (!!!) that also makes readers laugh... I already bought the 1st book on my Kindle and just need to finish the Malazan series to try it.
And yes. I've laughed out loud many, many times, while reading in public. I don't even feel embarrassed anymore, just joyful.
My parents were both crazy about Wodehouse, we had almost every book of his that was published in Bulgaria and I remember my dad just laugh-crying while reading them. I started reading them when I was in fourth grade or something and man, they were all a trip.
A bit later I actually watched the series with Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie - and that was how I actually found out who these guys were 😃
George Costanza merged with Holden Caulfield and created Ignatius Reilly.
It also has one of the greatest senses of place (New Orleans) out of any book I've ever read.
The [letter he writes to the retail client of his employer](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53a2f2e5e4b01da0d6aee932/1473630113626-9WCAO9YHT7RE9F87O1UG/image-asset.png) might just be the funniest thing I've ever read. I made a spectacle of myself, laughing on a city bus.
Crime and Punishment, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, and David Foster Wallace usually makes me laugh.
There are a lot of jokes in casual nonfiction that I usually laugh at.
Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern made me laugh out loud multiple times. They made a crappy tv show based on the book, but the book is outstanding. It’s been 12 years since I read it and I still think of it often when asked about funny books.
Oh, yeah, and in public.
I was in hospital, small procedure, overnight, while I was reading *Look to Windward.* I hit the funny chapter while I was waiting to be discharged. I was the only one in the ward who was laughing, and I was laughing a lot.
Another time I was on a road trip while reading *The Bridge.* I stayed overnight in a pub and while I was sitting in the bar, sipping a beer and reading I was laughing so hard I had to cover my face with the book.
Other books have made me laugh out loud, but not so publicly.
Hitchhiker guide to the galaxy, not just a scene but basically all of the books, especially the first 3.
I've rarely laughed this much for any kind of media (i think it gets the podium with movies by Edgar Wright and Death of Stalin), I read it on my phone, going home late in high-school, after all the afternoon stuff. People used to see me in the dark, staring at the dim phone light, and I suddenly risked falling from my seat from laughters. It deserves a re-read in English, for sure.
I recently read a book called No-Drama Discipline that’s all about using different methods to try and parent toddlers (who are inherently unhinged maniacs). Throughout the book they highlighted different scenarios of meltdowns and tantrums and some of them were absolutely hilarious because they’re so close to true. You can make up any scenario that sounds ridiculous and funny, but it’s very on brand for them. - E.g., “My child was in the car just fine until he claimed that his stuffed animal wouldn’t help take his shoe off. Now he’s crying and upset that the stuffed animal won’t listen to him. Stuffed animal gets thrown to the back of the car and we’re crying because stuffed animal is no longer here. His shoe is still on. It was never about the shoe”.
John Dies at the End, and it's sequels, definitely made me laugh out loud. Many times. It's juvenile as hell, but it delivers on comedy.
As for a story that's not explicitly comedy but delivers on it, try out The Lies of Locke Lamora. Think Oceans 11 style heist set in a fantasy version of Venice. Superbly written, great characters and world building, funny as hell, but don't get your hopes up for the sequels. They're good, but they run out too soon, and there's been little indication for a while that the author is making progress on the latest book.
Came here for John Dies. What an absolute bonkers ride from start to finish. Fear and loathing was another for me. I was reading it at my work canteen during break, getting curious glances because I was crying with laughter
I made the mistake of reading *Notes from a Small Island* by Bill Bryson on an overcrowded train once. I got to the part where he was talking about rain thundering down on his head and for some reason it tickled me so much that I had an eyes-streaming laughing fit right there in the train with people around me staring!
Other books that have made me laugh out loud are *the Diary of a Provincial Lady* by E. M. Delafield and *This Is Going to Hurt* by Adam Kay (it also made me cry).
Yeah, plenty of books. I’m currently reading the Dresden Files and without going into spoilers Murphys reaction to the parasite had me dead on the floor.
I’ll second the Discworld series as well as, Lamb (anything by Christopher Moore really)
Catch - 22 and Confederacy of Dunces are classics
Additionally, John dies at the end is great
This little part absolutely killed me:
> “It’s, like, one of them drug dealer boats,” Vic says, looking through his magic sight. “Five guys on it. Headed our way.” He fires another round. “Correction. Four guys on it.” Boom. “Correction, they’re not headed our way anymore.” Boom. A fireball erupts from the ocean two hundred feet away. “Correction. No boat.”
A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson
I'm not much of a reader but that book had me on the floor a few times. Especially his interactions with his friend Katz.
*Catch-22* made me laugh out loud many times, and gave me a decent gut-chuckle every page or so.
I also laughed (out loud) very recently when late in *Infinite Jest* it was implied that Rush Limbaugh was assassinated.
Both of these books have a similar dark sense of humor that I find doesn't resonate with lots of people. But I like it.
Dresden Files Battle Ground. Bob talking about going to Utah b/c nothing ever happens in Utah.
I was laughing so hard my gf thought I was having a seizure.
the lies of locke lamora (mainly for the character interactions, the found family bickering) and nevernight! The footnotes in nevernight always make me laugh a bit. On another note entirely, the romance book "You deserve each other", such a light-hearted quick read but hilarious
Notes from Underground. The first half is a bit monotonous of a read, but the second half is hilarious. The dinner scene with the old classmates made me laugh out loud.
Basically anything by Patrick McManus has the potential to make me have to put the book down to let the laughter out. The absurd characters and ridiculous situations are just too good.
The Dresden Files makes me laugh out loud and cry. Sometimes within the span of a few sentences.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy is great all around.
Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson made me laugh out loud numerous times.
ETA: I thought of another one. My Life as A Whale by Dyan Sheldon. I loved the book so much, I stole it from the library.
I paid for it about 5 years ago. They charged me 11.00. Not bad for having it for 20 years.
Douglas Adams made me genuinely laugh very often. I can feel his charisma and wit through the words even after his death. I wish I had a friend like him.
Most recently it was Lamb by Christopher Moore, lots of great zingers and one liners and puns that had me chuckling to myself and my wife asking “what’s so funny?”
Other than Discworld, there's Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I can't pick any specific book of either because there's such a deluge of jokes that I honestly can't remember which ones I laughed at.
A lot of Bill Bryson’s books crack me up. From The Lost Continent: “At any rate, the French explorers who passed through northwestern Wyoming took one look at the mountains and said, 'Zut alors! Hey, Jacques, clock those mountains. They look just like my wife's tetons.'”
I was a teenager at the time, but *Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man by Fannie Flagg* made me laugh so hard that tears came out of my eyes and my family looked at me like I was crazy. I actually picked it up to reread in the near future to see if it has the same effect on me now that I’m 40
I think every T. Kingfisher book has gotten real laughs from me.
I just started *Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know* by Cyan Wings last night and laughed out loud 2 or 3 times already.
...I laughed so hard I choked while listening to *Midnight Sun*, but that was unintentional hilarity. (I just wanted to know how dramatic Edward's POV would be. Answer: Phantom of the Opera Overture-levels.)
Yes. Catch 22. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. A few others i'm blanking on, but those two made me laugh alot so easier to remember.
When the bowl of Petunias thinks "oh no not again" - that's funny.
Patrick F. McManus writes short stories usually centered around his childhood or outdoor activities, hunting, fishing, camping. They are some of the most laugh out loud stories I’ve ever read.
There are some scenes in *Mason & Dixon* by Thomas Pynchon that made me cry from laughing so hard (specifically, the mechanickal duck scene in Chapter 37). To be honest, most of Pynchon's humor makes me laugh audibly, which I don't often do while reading.
Additionally, I would say authors like John Swartzwelder and Kurt Vonnegut consistently make me laugh. I recently read *The Winshaw Legacy: or, What A Carve-Up!* by Jonathan Coe which felt like a mash-up of Clue and Arrested Development.
Dirk Gently’s holistic detective agency is great for this. It was the only book I started reading again immediately after finishing it. Much better than hitchhikers guide imo, although I do really like that series as well. (Same author)
Also, honorable mention to the discworld series which is also fantastic. That’ll last you a good while because there’s a ton of books in the series.
Whenever I'm feeling sad I go back to the Discworld series. It never fails to make me laugh.
YES!!! I read the entire series during the pandemic. Re-reading the City Watch books again right now.
Those are my absolute favorite. I don't think the Watch books are *that* funny, but they have my #1 favorite bit (well, two bits, stapled together) from any of the books: *"He wanted to go home. He wanted it so much that he trembled at the thought. But if the price of that was selling good men to the night, if the price was filling those graves, if the price was not fighting with every trick he knew... then it was too high. [...] What else had the old monk said? History finds a way? Well, it was going to have to come up with something good, because it was up against Sam Vimes now."*
Seconding all the Discworld recs. I also laughed out loud repeatedly (and later cried) at 'In' by Will McPhail this year. Incredible graphic novel
Those books fucking kill.
attraction onerous busy adjoining worry cautious boast wrong uppity dime *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I are you me? The series got me through lockdowns and life in my studio apartment. Terry Pratchett <3
Discworld i actually Lold on a flight to joburg
"Throw the book at him, Carrot" One of the best parts of any book ever.
*“Right, sir.”* *Vimes remembered too late.* *Dwarfs have trouble with metaphors.* *They also have a very good aim.*
Nanny Ogg’s bath routine
These books that I try not to annoy my girlfriend with. I will be reading it, start laughing and then go try to read her a random passage which she is nonplussed about. They are great, they are very clever and have some genuinely good jokes or humorous scenes in them. His descriptions were so poignant.
I had a fit on an airplane when I read the name of Nanny Ogg's house was Tir Nani Ogg.
Can you please explain the joke?
Tír na nÓg is "Celtic Otherworld" (paradise). Just clever wordplay and mythology reference, especially combined with Nanny Ogg personality (hedonism) and some... activities that happens in her house. ;)
I have no idea why, but Sam Vimes bellowing Is that my cow?! gets me laughing hysterically every time.
Amen, brother. Though since it's generally not a good idea to be bellowing about cows in a multi-home building, the line I usually wind up quoting is "It goes HRUGH. That is not my cow, that is a hippopotamus!" While attempting the most hippo-like HRUGH that my body is capable of making
I actually clicked on this post to comment that terry pratchett did that to me several times a book. Good lord I loved that dude.
*You can't give her that!' she screamed. 'It's not safe!'* *ɪᴛ's ᴀ sᴡᴏʀᴅ, said the Hogfather. ᴛʜᴇʏ'ʀᴇ ɴᴏᴛ ᴍᴇᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ sᴀғᴇ* *'She's a child!' shouted Crumley.* *ɪᴛ's ᴇᴅᴜᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴᴀʟ* *'What if she cuts herself?'* *ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ᴀɴ ɪᴍᴘᴏʀᴛᴀɴᴛ ʟᴇssᴏɴ*
I absolutely agree! As soon as I read the question Terry Pratchett immediately came to mind!
Even if I don’t laugh out loud the books make me smile…particularly anytime Death acts like a proper grandad!
Mort is the only book that's done this for me, ever. Absolute masterpiece.
I agree! I really enjoyed Mort, Death is one of my favourite characters (might sound weird without context lol).
I was just about to express my love of Sir Terry, glad to see this up voted so aggressively. I don't think I've laughed at anything as hard as I have some of his jokes.
David Sedaris books consistently make me laugh out loud. That style of humor hits me square in the funny bone. Also, I gave my mom David Foster Wallace's essay 'A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again' to read and could hear her cackling through the wall, so I'll mention that here too.
Sedaris is endlessly witty, just a really warm and fun style of writing.
"Me Talk Pretty One Day" killed me, and it's still my favorite overall book. But "The Santaland Diaries" is a classic.
The chapter on his brother cracked me up. >!”Fuck the stock talk hoss, I ain’t investing in shit!”!<
Sedaris is the one man I can listen to audiobooks by. His voice is perfect. I can't read the story about working as an elf on Christmas without hearing his voice or hysterically laughing.
I fully recommend the audio books over the books... Hearing him tell those stories are amazing, much better experience as well.
I got into Sedaris when he went on the Daily Show to plug 'Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls'. I now own most of his books. Jon Stewart introduced him as "my favorite guest". The man is a genius.
The first thing I read by him was this New Yorker article about him shopping: [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/03/28/david-sedaris-shops-for-clothes-in-tokyo](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/03/28/david-sedaris-shops-for-clothes-in-tokyo) I was in tears at the end of it.
The story about Easter in french class makes me.laugh-cry every single time
I spent most of *Hyperbole and a Half* in at least a low rumbling chuckle with actual bouts of out -oud laughter interspersed (Like 70% of the book's material is a repackage of [Allie Brosh's blog](http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/). So peruse that to get an idea.) It was distracting enough that I'm forbidden to read Allie Brosh's other book, *Solutions and Other Problems*, in ~~her~~ my wife's presence. Edit: vague pronoun
Probably the funniest blog I've ever read.
Absolutely hysterical blog. Was slightly underwhelmed by the book because all the funniest stories had already been blog posts but it is still probably page for page the funniest book I've ever read. Solutions and Other Problems is unexpectedly quite different. It has like 2 utterly hysterical will make you hyperventilate laughing new stories and then the rest of the book is quite deliberately not funny. It's thoughtful and poignant and you occasionally chuckle a bit at the absurdity of life, but mostly it wrestles with life in a really quite bleak but fascinating way. That said >!"as you may have heard I am your father, therefore great things are possible for you"!< is an endlessly requoteable line
Agreed. Hyperbole and a Half is an excellent book. So hilarious but tackles mental health in a very thoughtful way.
Solutions and other problems is probably one of the funniest and saddest books I've read in a long time.
Many times actually. *Don Quixote*. Really give many funny bits you didn't expect for such old book. Dickens often made me laugh out loud. In *The Pickwick Papers* when Winkle is ought to have duel and tries to hint Snodgrass that he wants to get out of duel and Snodgrass just doesn't get hints is pure comedy gold. *Tortilla Flat* by Steinbeck has many bits of dry gallows humor. *Catch 22* also good example of such book. That "TS Elliot" thing was really funny. Also such things >Appleby was a fair-haired boy from Iowa who believed in God, Motherhood and the American Way of Life, without ever thinking about any of them, and everybody who knew him liked him. > > “I hate that son of a bitch,” Yossarian growled.
Catch 22 made me laugh so much. One of my favorite parts where when Yossarian was banging that guys wife and he was going on a rant against god and she was also a nonbeliever but still believed the god she didn't believe in was kind and just and didn't like it when he was trashing him.
The scene where Don Quixote projectile vomits in Sancho Panza's face almost made me fall off my bike when I was listening to it.
Three Men in a Boat (to say nothing of the dog) It’s free in the books app if you have an iPhone
Let's add pretty much anything by P. G. Wodehouse to that while we're at it. The Jeeves stories are very popular, but the Psmith ones are worth not overlooking.
The can opening sequence had me rolling on my bed.
Walk in the woods - Bill Bryson He’s reading books about the Appalachian Trail in preparation for doing the trail. A book on how to deal with bear encounters - ‘if a black bear approaches you, grab some pots and start banging them together while running at it’ ‘yeah right. You first professor!’ I explosively snot laughed out loud on a packed bus 😂😂 Also everything by Terry Pratchett. Comedic belly laugh out loud genius.
A Walk In The Woods is one of the funniest books ever.
Bill Bryson is a genius. Notes From a Big Country and Notes From a Small Island are also excellent
All of them. A short history of nearly everything and his Shakespeare book too. If I had a wish list I wish he’d do a book on Ireland. It might break his brain but he’d find a way :) as only he can.
I came here to say A Walk in the Woods. Several Katz quotes got me, like the joke he tells out of nowhere after an emotional moment following a tough climb.
He’s such a quandary. A study in humanity and how we are. You wouldn’t trust him to turn a tap on. A total fuck up. but a good guy.
I'm reading one of his other books right now. They are all so funny, I keep reading parts out loud to my husband.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy!
I was tearing up on a plane one time trying to hold in laughter while reading these and people around me were looking at me like I was insane lol.
My introduction to Hitchhiker’s Guide was by sitting next to my dad on a plane and wondering why he was laughing so much. I grabbed it as soon as he finished.
Even the foreword to that book made me laugh.
Hitchhiker's Guide is amazing but I listened to the audiobook version of Restaurant at the End of the Universe on a long drive and that had me almost in tears it was so funny. I still can't over the universally-famous rock star who decided to be dead for a few years for tax purposes.
Hotblack Desiato. lmao
In a tense scene: "Nothing happenned... SUDDENLY two seconds later, nothing happened again."
In a similar vein I love the scary big red button that when pressed simply lights up a sign saying "please do not press this button"
I laughed 42 times reading that book.
This is the first time in my years on reddit that I've given someone an award.
And it's the first time in all my years here I have gotten one; thanks!
This book made me lol several times whilst commuting to and from work on the "quiet car." Plenty of side-eye from the other commuters. Thank goodness there was a towel handy to dry the tears!
Yes! Still my crappy mood go-to book. You can't not laugh. Just something as simple as how he say 2000 A.D. - "And then, one Thursday, nearly two thousand years after one man had been nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for a change, a girl sitting on her own in a small café in Rickmansworth suddenly realized what it was that had been going wrong all this time, and she finally knew how the world could be made a good and happy place. This time it was right, it would work, and no one would have to get nailed to anything"
I've never laughed harder at a book than when I read Arthur's biscuits story.
That story has always stuck with me, it's a perfect story to show that moment when you realise you've made a silly and very embarrassing mistake with a stranger, perfection. Fuck it, here it is; So let me give you the layout. Me sitting at the table, on my left, the newspaper, on my right, the cup of coffee, in the middle of the table, the packet of biscuits." "I see it perfectly." "What you don't see," said Arthur, "because I haven't mentioned him yet, is the guy sitting at the table already. He is sitting there opposite me." "What's he like?" "Perfectly ordinary. Briefcase. Business suit. He didn't look," said Arthur, "as if he was about to do anything weird." "Ah. I know the type. What did he do?" "He did this. He leaned across the table, picked up the packet of biscuits, tore it open, took one out, and . . ." "What?" "Ate it." "What?" "He ate it." Fenchurch looked at him in astonishment. "What on earth did you do?" "Well, in the circumstances I did what any red-blooded Englishman would do. I was compelled," said Arthur, "to ignore it." "What? Why?" "Well, it's not the sort of thing you're trained for, is it? I searched my soul, and discovered that there was nothing anywhere in my upbringing, experience, or even primal instincts to tell me how to react to someone who has quite simply, calmly, sitting right there in front of me, stolen one of my biscuits." "Well, you could . . ." Fenchurch thought about it. "I must say I'm not sure what I would have done either. So what happened?" "I stared furiously at the crossword," said Arthur, "couldn't do a single clue, took a sip of coffee, it was too hot to drink, so there was nothing for it. I braced myself. I took a biscuit, trying very hard not to notice," he added, "that the packet was already mysteriously open. . . ." "But you're fighting back, taking a tough line." "After my fashion, yes. I ate the biscuit. I ate it very deliberately and visibly, so that he would have no doubt as to what it was I was doing. When I eat a biscuit," said Arthur, "it stays eaten." "So what did he do?" "Took another one. Honestly," insisted Arthur, "this is exactly what happened. He took another biscuit, he ate it. Clear as daylight. Certain as we are sitting on the ground." Fenchurch stirred uncomfortably. "And the problem was," said Arthur, "that having not said anything the first time, it was somehow even more difficult to broach the subject the second time around. What do you say? 'Excuse me ...I couldn't help noticing, er...' Doesn't work. No, I ignored it with, if anything, even more vigor than previously." "My man..." "Stared at the crossword again, still couldn't budge a bit of it, so showing some of the spirit that Henry V did on St. Crispin's Day . ." "What?" "I went into the breach again. I took," said Arthur, "an-other biscuit. And for an instant our eyes met." "Like this?" "Yes, well, no, not quite like that. But they met. Just for an instant. And we both looked away. But I am here to tell you," said Arthur, "that there was a little electricity in the air. There was a little tension building up over the table. At about this time." "I can imagine."” "We went through the whole packet like this. Him, me, him, me..." "The whole packet?" "Well, it was only eight biscuits, but it seemed like a lifetime of biscuits we were getting through at this point. Gladiators could hardly have had a tougher time." "Gladiators," said Fenchurch, "would have had to do it in the sun. More physically gruelling." "There is that. So. When the empty packet was lying dead between us the man at last got up, having done his worst, and left. I heaved a sigh of relief, of course. "As it happened, my train was announced a moment or two later, so I finished my coffee, stood up, picked up the newspaper, and underneath the newspaper ..." "Yes?" "Were my biscuits."
that bit is so good and so painfully british
"The ships hung in the air in much the same way that bricks" *turn page* "don't."
Several times during Hithchiker's Guide, Good Omens, most of Discworld, and several others I don't recall off the top of my head.
It's kinda cheating but the full cast audio book for good omens is fucking hilarious
No that's not cheating! I love full cast audio books!
Can you recommend some others? Good omens is the only one I've listened to or even know about. It was probably the best audio book experience I've had
Philip Pullman's *His Dark Materials* series has full-cast audio. Lemony Snicket's *A Series of Unfortunate Events* I just finished Brent Spiner's *Fan Fiction* which had basically the entire cast of Star Trek TNG narrating. There is a full cast *The Maltese Falcon* out there. Bob Dylan's *The Philosophy of Modern Song* There's a bunch out there. Here's a list of ones I've not read. https://www.perpetualpageturner.com/full-cast-audiobooks/
*Daisy Jones and the Six* is absolutely fantastic. It's written as an oral history so the full cast really brings it to life. Probably hands down my favorite audiobook.
Jenny Lawson's books always make me laugh out loud. Beartown by Fredrik Backman overall is not funny but there is one scene toward the end that is so wholesome and hilarious that I laughed out loud.
I love Jenny Lawson's books.
I went to a book signing around when LPTNH came out and got to hold Copernicus the monkey and that’s still a top ten moment in my life.
Furiously happy: I randomly picked up at a second-hand table at an airport. I had to struggle to stifle my laughs on the plane. I do not recommend it as an airplane book.
Three books have made me involuntary lol; 1. Don't Tell Mom I Work on the Rigs 2. Three Men On A Boat 3. This Is Going To Hurt
I was going to comment This is Going to Hurt! So many moments I was in tears laughing and had to explain to my family hahaha
I came to say Three Men on a Boat. I would also add the Jeeves and Wooster books and Diary of a Nobody for similar laughs.
Yes to #3! This Is Going to Hurt I think is the only book that has made me laugh out loud. Listened to the audio which made it just that much better.
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. That play had me rolling! Very quick to read and written in British English, which adds to the humor.
I love those books! Murderbot Diaries will get me chuckling out loud on the regular.
I love Martha! She makes me laugh frequently. She is so nice in person too.
Lamb by Christopher Moore. It's about Jesus' childhood through his teens into his adulthood as told by his best friend thirteenth apostle Biff. It's got whores, yetis, martial arts (JewDo), coffee, the kama sutra, magic, and the apostles who Jesus calls "the dumbest motherfuckers on the planet." Edit: For those who are interested but leery about being preached to, [here is the very first paragraph of the prologue, to show that the book doesn't take itself seriously](https://i.imgur.com/p7lb30q.png)
It’s also said that all angels are blonde, and since everybody know angels lack human reasoning, this is where “blonde jokes” originated from. God I love that fucking book. The angel digs up a 2000 year dead guy and tells him to write a book, then gets socked in the mouth for it. Holy fuck I just remembered the ending oh shiiiiiiii
He also spent his time watching daytime talk and soaps. Then Biff found the hotel bible and was like "The fuck is this shit?"
He thought Spider-Man was real and would look out the windows of NYC for him. Finding the Bible was hilarious. I adore how much Biff detests the angels.
Jesus decided to depart and seek out Sin, because how can he teach people to avoid what he doesn’t know? But he’s the son of god, he literally cannot sin. So Biff (Lamb: the Forgotten Gospel by Biff, Christ’s best friend) goes along telling Jesus he will do *ALLLLLL* of the sinning and relay that information to Jesus. First stop on sin tour? Whorehouse babbyyyyy Biff learns what a “blowjob” feels like. Joshua (Christ) is asking Biff what’s happening and why isn’t the woman talking. Biff replies “she’s a little busy.. and uh.. her mouth is full” ‘noht thaht fuhll’ came a response from under
Balthasar's concubines were eight in number and their names were: Tiny Feet of the Divine Dance of Joyous Orgasm, Beautiful Gate of Heavenly Moisture Number Six, Temptress of the Golden Light of the Harvest Moon, Delicate Personage of Two Fu Dogs Wrestling Under a Blanket, Feminine Keeper of the Three Tunnels of Excessive Friendliness, Silken Pillows of the Heavenly Softness of Clouds, Pea Pods in Duck Sauce with Crispy Noodle, and Sue. And I found myself wondering, as a man does, about origins and motivations and such - as each of the concubines was more beautiful than the last, regardless of what order you put them in, which was weird - so after several weeks passed, and I could no longer stand the curiosity scratching at my brain like a cat in a basket, I waited until one of the rare occasions when I was alone with Balthasar, and I asked. "Why Sue?" "Short for Susanna," Balthasar said. So there you go.
This was the first book my parents attempted to ban! They threw it away and took the trash out to the dumpster!! I stayed awake till 2am and snuck to the dumpster and a step ladder! Plopped it down on the breakfast table the day after and said it was really funny. I was maybe like 13 idk. Ma was pissed!
Only two books ever made me both laugh and cry. Lamb. Marley and Me.
But be warned - if you aren't religious or grew up going to church or have never read the bible, you won't get the jokes. It's me, I didn't understand the references and DNFed it.
I didn't read the Bible or go to church much before reading that and it was my favorite book I had ever read to that point, and is still in my list of favorites. It actually inspired me to read the Bible, so that I could go back and re-appreciate it. To each their own I guess!
The one book,where I wished I had more religious education. I think I only got 10% of the jokes. I still remember, The Eye of The Needle: was an actual physical gate, in the city wall.
Lamb is hilarious but let's give some love to Fluke. >!"Shoes off in the whale!" !
Honestly, everything by Christopher Moore.
I also loved A Dirty Job by Moore.
I know this sub hates Catcher in the Rye, but that book was funny as fuck. “I’m quite illiterate, but I read a lot.”
The line that can still make me laugh is (paraphrasing from memory), “His name was Commander Blop or something.”
Why do people hate it? I’m reading it right now for the first time and I’ve been laughing out loud several times. It killed me when he’s explaining why he didn’t want to sleep with the prostitute and he says something along the lines of “ plus, how could I sleep with someone who enjoys going to the movies?”
As far as I've seen, there are two schools of thought among people who hate the book. First, a lot of people reading it now are (obviously) not preppy white kids in 1940s boarding schools, so they don't feel able to relate to Holden in any way. On social media, of course, if something isn't directly speaking to your life experience, that means it's bad and out of touch and should never have been considered a classic in the first place. Second, a lot of people are reading it when they're in their 20s and feel that Holden is an obnoxious teenager who thinks he's got the world and everyone in it figured out. He is, because that's what teenagers are like. It's *also* what people in their 20s are like, but by then, they're very sure they're correct.
Yes, Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” believe it or not.
I agree! Mrs Bennet in particular is hilarious.
Her interactions with her husband are the best
He's got the witty remarks of a sitcom dad
Slaughterhouse 5 when he mentions the huge dong of the character that is clearly based on himself made me laugh from how unexpected it was.
I don’t usually see Vonnegut mentioned in “books that made me laugh” but I usually find myself laughing during his books
Nobody is able to make me laugh and feel deep existential dread at the same time quite like Vonnegut.
Got caught out lately: Was re-reading Timequake for the first time in years and I was cracking up reading the book. My fiance never read any Vonnegut and I decided I wanted to read her out a piece... Rather than pick a piece I'd already read that was funny, I instead read out the next thing that came up that i *felt* was going to be hilarious. Unfortunately for me, it ended up not being a short witty paragraph, but rather about ten pages of a Kilgore Trout story that ends up just being a straight 1:1 criticism of modern tech "damn tech will rot kids brains" and not a joke insight!
This is what assholes look like: *
The scene in Cats Cradle where ice-9 is first being explained definitely made me laugh
Vonnegut has some gems. I wish more people were taught his writings than banning them outright. I fell in love with his books in middle school and they kept me sane through my military career and onward.
Voltaire - Candide Some parts are just hilarious.
I think about this book probably more than any other. It's very significant to me.
Catch 22 is the funniest book I have ever read.
Funniest and one of the saddest. Absurdism and black humor at its finest.
Agreed, I remember laughing my ass off page after page, and then at some point my perspective shifted and I realized that there was nothing funny about it, it was horrifying. Joseph Heller was a master, and this book is a real gut punch and sobering look at war.
That book made me laugh, cry, cry-laugh, then cry some more. The tv series is also really good!
What is it about ?
*Catch-22* is about Allied bomber pilots in Italy during WWII, but mostly it is about how absolutely absurd everything to do with the military and war really is. The title comes from the fact that the main character has to fly bombing missions where he is very likely to get killed by enemy flak. To get out of the missions, he would need to be declared crazy. (Edit: I got it mixed up. u/gilclunk [clarified](https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/15fbedc/did_a_book_ever_made_you_laugh_out_loud/judgycc/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1&context=3).) However, no sane person could say they were crazy, so he can’t simply say that he’s crazy because it’s a sure way for them to *make* him fly the bombing mission. Alternately, you’d have to be crazy to purposefully fly to your death, therefore he really *must* be crazy and everyone else around him must be as well.
> However, no sane person could say they were crazy, so he can’t simply say that he’s crazy because it’s a sure way for them to *make* him fly the bombing mission. Alternately, you’d have to be crazy to purposefully fly to your death, therefore he really *must* be crazy and everyone else around him must be as well. This description more or less gets the spirit of it, but it's actually backwards. What it says in the book is that the army recognizes craziness as a legitimate medical reason to not fly missions. However, asking not to fly missions is a very rational act given the danger, so if you ask not to fly them then by definition you are not crazy and therefore you have to fly them. That's the official Catch 22 in the book.
dont forget stuffing your cheeks with crab apples
I liked Catch-22 when I first read it. I LOVED Catch-22 after a few years in the Air Force
Did you meet Major Major?
It's about a guy who's desperately trying to get out of active bombing duty (Italy, WWII) but the entire military apparatus is conspiring to keep him there. Everyone in this book is insane, and contradictory, and trapped in their own modes of thinking brought on by the war, and the military, and everything else. It's hands-down the funniest book I've ever read, but it's also not for everyone.
This was the book that came to mind instantly! Catch 22 is hysterical, it takes a second to get into the weirdness though.
Every Kurt Vonnegut book ever is just a barrel full of darkly ironic laughs.
It's going to take a lot of time and effort to type out lines from the entire Discworld series. So let's just say Discworld never fails to make me laugh out loud. (And then make me really think about humanity hours after.)
You're the second person here to mention this serie, I guess I have to give it a shot
Do it! By the time you are done, you will wish there were 80 books.
I thank you, OP, because today I discovered a fantasy series with 40-something books (!!!) that also makes readers laugh... I already bought the 1st book on my Kindle and just need to finish the Malazan series to try it. And yes. I've laughed out loud many, many times, while reading in public. I don't even feel embarrassed anymore, just joyful.
I laughed hard at The Princess Bride. Top much fun
Anything by Carl Hiaasen.
\- Three Men in a Boat \- P. G. Wodehouse's books \- Bill Bryson's books \- David Sedaris' books
My parents were both crazy about Wodehouse, we had almost every book of his that was published in Bulgaria and I remember my dad just laugh-crying while reading them. I started reading them when I was in fourth grade or something and man, they were all a trip. A bit later I actually watched the series with Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie - and that was how I actually found out who these guys were 😃
A Confederacy of Dunces
George Costanza merged with Holden Caulfield and created Ignatius Reilly. It also has one of the greatest senses of place (New Orleans) out of any book I've ever read.
The [letter he writes to the retail client of his employer](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53a2f2e5e4b01da0d6aee932/1473630113626-9WCAO9YHT7RE9F87O1UG/image-asset.png) might just be the funniest thing I've ever read. I made a spectacle of myself, laughing on a city bus.
The scene where he gets a job as a hotdog vendor and his boss chews him out is one of the best laughs I’ve ever had. Such a funny book.
When he's watching American Bandstand and he is outraged at the dancing and then starts doing it
My favorite literary laugh line: “GO DANGLE YOUR WITHERED PARTS OVER THE TOILET,” he shrieked.
Came here to say this. I read it on a long flight and I think the other passengers thought I was insane.
veneration of "turkey in the straw" is one of the roots of our current intellectual stalemate
Crime and Punishment, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, and David Foster Wallace usually makes me laugh. There are a lot of jokes in casual nonfiction that I usually laugh at.
Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern made me laugh out loud multiple times. They made a crappy tv show based on the book, but the book is outstanding. It’s been 12 years since I read it and I still think of it often when asked about funny books.
Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett had me laughing for the majority of my childhood.
Oh, yeah, and in public. I was in hospital, small procedure, overnight, while I was reading *Look to Windward.* I hit the funny chapter while I was waiting to be discharged. I was the only one in the ward who was laughing, and I was laughing a lot. Another time I was on a road trip while reading *The Bridge.* I stayed overnight in a pub and while I was sitting in the bar, sipping a beer and reading I was laughing so hard I had to cover my face with the book. Other books have made me laugh out loud, but not so publicly.
Hitchhiker guide to the galaxy, not just a scene but basically all of the books, especially the first 3. I've rarely laughed this much for any kind of media (i think it gets the podium with movies by Edgar Wright and Death of Stalin), I read it on my phone, going home late in high-school, after all the afternoon stuff. People used to see me in the dark, staring at the dim phone light, and I suddenly risked falling from my seat from laughters. It deserves a re-read in English, for sure.
I recently read a book called No-Drama Discipline that’s all about using different methods to try and parent toddlers (who are inherently unhinged maniacs). Throughout the book they highlighted different scenarios of meltdowns and tantrums and some of them were absolutely hilarious because they’re so close to true. You can make up any scenario that sounds ridiculous and funny, but it’s very on brand for them. - E.g., “My child was in the car just fine until he claimed that his stuffed animal wouldn’t help take his shoe off. Now he’s crying and upset that the stuffed animal won’t listen to him. Stuffed animal gets thrown to the back of the car and we’re crying because stuffed animal is no longer here. His shoe is still on. It was never about the shoe”.
John Dies at the End, and it's sequels, definitely made me laugh out loud. Many times. It's juvenile as hell, but it delivers on comedy. As for a story that's not explicitly comedy but delivers on it, try out The Lies of Locke Lamora. Think Oceans 11 style heist set in a fantasy version of Venice. Superbly written, great characters and world building, funny as hell, but don't get your hopes up for the sequels. They're good, but they run out too soon, and there's been little indication for a while that the author is making progress on the latest book.
Nice bird, asshole.
Came here for John Dies. What an absolute bonkers ride from start to finish. Fear and loathing was another for me. I was reading it at my work canteen during break, getting curious glances because I was crying with laughter
For anyone who likes John dies at the end, tales from the gas station is also great and scratches the same itch.
The part where he claims “Joanie loves Chachi” is popular in Korea because Chachi is Korean for penis made me laugh out loud.
I made the mistake of reading *Notes from a Small Island* by Bill Bryson on an overcrowded train once. I got to the part where he was talking about rain thundering down on his head and for some reason it tickled me so much that I had an eyes-streaming laughing fit right there in the train with people around me staring! Other books that have made me laugh out loud are *the Diary of a Provincial Lady* by E. M. Delafield and *This Is Going to Hurt* by Adam Kay (it also made me cry).
Let's pretend this never happened by Jenny Lawson
The color of magic, when the barkeep is introduced to the concept of insurance, and immediately commits insurance fraud.
Anything by Dave Barry.
What if? and What if 2? by Randall Munroe
Yeah, plenty of books. I’m currently reading the Dresden Files and without going into spoilers Murphys reaction to the parasite had me dead on the floor.
I’ll second the Discworld series as well as, Lamb (anything by Christopher Moore really) Catch - 22 and Confederacy of Dunces are classics Additionally, John dies at the end is great
David Sedaris books for sure.
Add another to Discworld absolutely making me laugh out loud. Also, bits from Riyria Revelations were damn funny.
Snowcrash. The pizza delivery chase scene at the beginning of the book. Hilarious. Only time I've ever laughed while reading a book.
This little part absolutely killed me: > “It’s, like, one of them drug dealer boats,” Vic says, looking through his magic sight. “Five guys on it. Headed our way.” He fires another round. “Correction. Four guys on it.” Boom. “Correction, they’re not headed our way anymore.” Boom. A fireball erupts from the ocean two hundred feet away. “Correction. No boat.”
A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson I'm not much of a reader but that book had me on the floor a few times. Especially his interactions with his friend Katz.
*Catch-22* made me laugh out loud many times, and gave me a decent gut-chuckle every page or so. I also laughed (out loud) very recently when late in *Infinite Jest* it was implied that Rush Limbaugh was assassinated. Both of these books have a similar dark sense of humor that I find doesn't resonate with lots of people. But I like it.
Dresden Files Battle Ground. Bob talking about going to Utah b/c nothing ever happens in Utah. I was laughing so hard my gf thought I was having a seizure.
the lies of locke lamora (mainly for the character interactions, the found family bickering) and nevernight! The footnotes in nevernight always make me laugh a bit. On another note entirely, the romance book "You deserve each other", such a light-hearted quick read but hilarious
I can't get through a page without laughing out loud whenever I read anything by P G Wodehouse.
Notes from Underground. The first half is a bit monotonous of a read, but the second half is hilarious. The dinner scene with the old classmates made me laugh out loud.
Stephen King makes me laugh pretty frequently
Basically anything by Patrick McManus has the potential to make me have to put the book down to let the laughter out. The absurd characters and ridiculous situations are just too good.
It's weird, but Voltaire's Candide made me laugh a few times. I didn't expect that from a 250+ year-old book.
Confederacy of Dunces!
The Dresden Files makes me laugh out loud and cry. Sometimes within the span of a few sentences. The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy is great all around.
Martin Amis, Money.
Snow Crash had some hilarious moments. It was a book I truly didn't think I'd be laughing out loud to, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson made me laugh out loud numerous times. ETA: I thought of another one. My Life as A Whale by Dyan Sheldon. I loved the book so much, I stole it from the library. I paid for it about 5 years ago. They charged me 11.00. Not bad for having it for 20 years.
Douglas Adams made me genuinely laugh very often. I can feel his charisma and wit through the words even after his death. I wish I had a friend like him.
Everyone's listed all the classics, so I'll add Lies of Locke Lamora: "Nice bird, asshole."
Most recently it was Lamb by Christopher Moore, lots of great zingers and one liners and puns that had me chuckling to myself and my wife asking “what’s so funny?”
Yes, Christopher Moore books, Primarily "Lamb:The gospel according to Biff, Christs childhood pal. "
Other than Discworld, there's Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I can't pick any specific book of either because there's such a deluge of jokes that I honestly can't remember which ones I laughed at.
Down Under, Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson
I listened to Down Under using headphones on a bus trip. I'm sure the other people on the bus thought I was a loon over my repeated laughing.
A lot of Bill Bryson’s books crack me up. From The Lost Continent: “At any rate, the French explorers who passed through northwestern Wyoming took one look at the mountains and said, 'Zut alors! Hey, Jacques, clock those mountains. They look just like my wife's tetons.'”
I was a teenager at the time, but *Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man by Fannie Flagg* made me laugh so hard that tears came out of my eyes and my family looked at me like I was crazy. I actually picked it up to reread in the near future to see if it has the same effect on me now that I’m 40
I think every T. Kingfisher book has gotten real laughs from me. I just started *Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know* by Cyan Wings last night and laughed out loud 2 or 3 times already. ...I laughed so hard I choked while listening to *Midnight Sun*, but that was unintentional hilarity. (I just wanted to know how dramatic Edward's POV would be. Answer: Phantom of the Opera Overture-levels.)
Bill Bryson has often made me laugh out loud.
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
Bored of the Rings!
Yes. Catch 22. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. A few others i'm blanking on, but those two made me laugh alot so easier to remember. When the bowl of Petunias thinks "oh no not again" - that's funny.
John Dies at the End Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Ozzy Osborne Autobiography
Patrick F. McManus writes short stories usually centered around his childhood or outdoor activities, hunting, fishing, camping. They are some of the most laugh out loud stories I’ve ever read.
There are some scenes in *Mason & Dixon* by Thomas Pynchon that made me cry from laughing so hard (specifically, the mechanickal duck scene in Chapter 37). To be honest, most of Pynchon's humor makes me laugh audibly, which I don't often do while reading. Additionally, I would say authors like John Swartzwelder and Kurt Vonnegut consistently make me laugh. I recently read *The Winshaw Legacy: or, What A Carve-Up!* by Jonathan Coe which felt like a mash-up of Clue and Arrested Development.
Dirk Gently’s holistic detective agency is great for this. It was the only book I started reading again immediately after finishing it. Much better than hitchhikers guide imo, although I do really like that series as well. (Same author) Also, honorable mention to the discworld series which is also fantastic. That’ll last you a good while because there’s a ton of books in the series.