Genuine laugh out loud books?

Cyrus

Has anyone recently read a genuinely laugh out loud book? apart from the ross o carroll kelly series, which obviously arent to everyones taste, i havent read anything properly funny in a while, any recommendations?

Aln_S

I read "Don't Tell Mom I Work on the Rigs: She Thinks I'm a Piano Player in a Whorehouse" By Paul Carter recently.
Truly funny book about his life working on the Oil Rigs. Probably mainly Male humor but brilliantly entertaining.

emeraldstar

Any of the Jeeves & Wooster books, by P.G. Wodehouse.

hidinginthebush

Aln_S wrote: »

I read "Don't Tell Mom I Work on the Rigs: She Thinks I'm a Piano Player in a Whorehouse" By Paul Carter recently.
Truly funny book about his life working on the Oil Rigs. Probably mainly Male humor but brilliantly entertaining.

That's an excellent book, but I wouldn't say I laughed out loud reading it, but I would definitely recommend it.

The only books I think I've real life laughed at while reading are the Ross O'Caroll-Kelly books OP.

Morzadec

A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
A Fraction of the Whole - Steve Toltz

Paxmanwithinfo

Frankie Boyle's My Sh*t Life so Far -(Autobiography) is laugh out loud funny.

Cyrus

cheers folks i will look into these

it goes to show tho, paul howard has a special gift

Sergeant

The Flashman series by George MacDonald Fraser.

The Wilt novels by Tom Sharpe.

--Kaiser--

I've read a lot of books by Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams and the like; they're funny, but they rarely make me laugh out loud, more smile quietly to myself.

The only book I can remember laughing out loud to was (and I imagine I'll get a lot of stick for this) is The Alphabet of Manliness by Maddox (he of thebestpageintheuniverse.com). I was roaring laughing, in tears, rolling around on the floor, the whole shebang. A juvenile sense of humour is a prerequisate

Honey-ec

McCarthy's Bar & The Road to McCarthy, Pete McCarthy

Mutiny on the Bounty, John Boyne (more sniggers than outright belly laughs, but still very, very funny)

Gridlock, Ben Elton. Admittedly, I read this when I was about 15, but I cacked myself laughing pretty much the whole way through.

old gregg

as a teenager (many, many years ago) I laughed all the way through Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas but I suppose the jazz cigarettes helped create the ambiance

MungBean

Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy had me in stitches. Funniest book I've ever read I'd say.

wilkie2006

Morzadec wrote: »

A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

I'll second this and throw "Lucky Jim" by Kingsley Amis into the mix

Dj Stiggie

Paxmanwithinfo wrote: »

Frankie Boyle's My Sh*t Life so Far -(Autobiography) is laugh out loud funny.

I just finished his latest book 'Work! Consume! Die' which is also hilarious

Hart

Any of the collections by Woody Allen are hilarious. Also check out Tim Allen's "Don't Stand Too Close to a Naked Man."

behan29

Carl Hiaasen's stuff can be very funny, comedy crime with warped anti-hero's, Lucky You is one of his best. Chuck Palanicuk's stuff is also very funny and extremely perverse, Choke is excellent and has quiet a few laugh out loud moments,

Eliot Rosewater

I cried while reading Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat it was so funny! And that's not an exaggeration - on one long passage there's loads of smudges on my book from my tears! Hilarious book if you're in the right mood

Cherry Blossom Girl

WHen You are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris.
Really funny book, I laughed out loud numerous times during it. He has a few more too but I haven't read them.

sonofsteptoe

Colin Bateman a Northern Irish writer, has a number of very funny books set in Belfast. Wicked sense of humour. Try 'Mystery Man' or 'The Day of the Jack Russell' or Belfast Confidential'. Honestly couldn't finish one quick enough to buy the next one.

Chuck Stone

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.

Douglas Adams.

Excerpt

"Sir Isaac Newton, renowned inventor of the milled-edge coin and the catflap!"

"The what?" said Richard.

"The catflap! A device of the utmost cunning, perspicuity and invention. It is a door within a door, you see, a ..."

"Yes," said Richard, "there was also the small matter of gravity."

"Gravity," said Dirk with a slightly dismissed shrug, "yes, there was that as well, I suppose. Though that, of course, was merely a discovery. It was there to be discovered." ...

"You see?" he said dropping his cigarette butt, "They even keep it on at weekends. Someone was bound to notice sooner or later. But the catflap ... ah, there is a very different matter. Invention, pure creative invention. It is a door within a door, you see."

livinsane

The Average American Male: A Novel by Chad Kultgen is laugh out loud funny as well as being obscenely filthy and hilariously misogynistic. D!ck lit you might call it!

Joe R Lansdale's series on best friend duo Hap Collins and Leonard Pine (one white, one black, one straight, one gay) are good laughs. Rough and ready adventures.

Depending on your type of humour but I found The Third Policeman by Flann O Brien to be hilarious. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller is also very funny. However, the humour is just so clever that its more an internal laugh.

Sergeant

Jude: Level 1 by Julian Gough.

dreamers75

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

I've read a lot of books by Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams and the like; they're funny, but they rarely make me laugh out loud, more smile quietly to myself.

Dunno about that "Ballistic Sausage" got me some strange looks on a Danish train before.

CaoimH_in

Anything by Julian Gough. The comic set-ups are amazingly constructed and they're pure candy as a read. SO, so, so good!

Toby Take a Bow

David Sedaris' Me Talk Pretty One Day
Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You Mr Rosewater
And I'd second A Confederacy of Dunces.

Morzadec wrote: »

A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
A Fraction of the Whole - Steve Toltz

Must check out Fraction of the Whole if you're a John Kennedy Toole fan. I used to see it nearly every day in work, but never got around to picking it up.

Shryke

I always laugh out loud at some stage reading Pratchett. They're very smart stupid books, if ya follow me!

dr gonzo

I third (or fourth at this stage?) Confederacy of Dunces, hilarious character!

I also second Flashman. Probably my farourite series of books. Must re-read them actually...


As for laugh out loud funny, the last book I read that was that hilarious was undoubtedly Puckoon. I read it one sitting on a train to Mayo and i was audibly giggling the whole way. Utterly ridiculous and hilarious, highly recommended.

cynder

Read 3 of Karl Pilkingtons books I lol a Few times. Not on every page though.

de Faoite_girl

OP, you might want to check goodreads.com

There is a list for Best Humorous Books in the Listopia section.

I have always found myself laughing out loud while reading Bill Bryson's books. They are highly entertaining.

ConstantJoe

Dan O'Brien from the comedy website Cracked.com had an article about this the other day: http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-reasons-itE28099s-impossible-to-find-funny-books/. The article itself is about how hard they are to find, but at the end he's put down a list of recommendations, and has asked the comments section for more suggestions.

Einhard

Skippy Dies had lots of guffaw inducing moments. I think my fellow commuters on the bus must think I'm a tad loony given the amount of times over the past two weeks that I've burst out laughing while reading it. It's also genuinely touching too. All in all, a great book.