Humor / Form Books

David Sedaris, author of NAKED, continues his humorous exploration of himself, focusing on his humorous attempts to learn French after moving to Paris; his topics include restaurants, his quirky dislikes, his career dreams, and the habits of his increasingly eccentric family.

Through a series of comic anecdotes, quirky essayist David Sedaris touches on the highlights of his life to date, including his cross-country hitchhiking trip; his discovery of Shakespeare in rural North Carolina; his various odd jobs as a migrant fruit picker, a jade polisher, and a woodwork refinisher; a family Christmas Eve spent with a prostitute fresh out of jail; and his trip to a nudist colony.

Another collection by bestselling satiric essayist David Sedaris, author of NAKED and ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY and frequent contributor to the public radio show THIS AMERICAN LIFE. Some of the essays are in the laugh-out-loud vein to which Sedaris fans are accustomed, including an over-the-top look at Dutch Christmas traditions, and Sedaris's encounter with some lost tourists as he is drowning a mouse. But many of the works provided here, while still touched with dry humor, are more poignant pieces about his eccentric, troubled family, including observations on his mother's alcoholism, his father's inability to talk directly to Sedaris about Sedaris's homosexuality, and his sister Lisa's resentment of his relentless mining of their shared past in his essays. As always, Sedaris manages to seek out the bizarre in daily life, whether he is reminiscing about the past or musing about the present.

Humorous non-fiction stories about McManus's adventures in the outdoors.

George Carlin is the wisecracking, frank, curious, crass, and sometimes philosophical comic and dressed-down social commentator whose popularity has not waned in over 40 years. NAPALM & SILLY PUTTY, a follow-up to his 1998 BRAIN DROPPINGS, is a testament to his staying power as it poses the kinds of questions and comments that get readers laughing and thinking about war, sewage, road rage, and adventure sports.

In this wry and knowing collection of essays and comic observation, Nora Ephron, the famous writer of Hollywood romantic comedies, tackles her own mortality and her innumerable attempts to stave off the inevitable by means of money, investing in hair dye, highlights, facials, spas, etc. Beneath the abundant humor is a tinge of melancholy and fear--but beneath that is more humor.

On the coattails of THE MOTHER TONGUE, this book explores specifically American issues with the English language. It is in effect a history of the United States from a linguist's perspective.

Harvard philosophy graduates Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein provide an unorthodox introduction to philosophy by using jokes, humor, and colorful anecdotes to demonstrate that even profound thinking and deep thoughts can be terribly funny.

This collection of essays by a bona fide Southern belle includes her wryly comical take on topics that range from white trash to her daughter's preschool.

The arch and bemused essayist David Sedaris returns with another collection of humorous pieces that delight in the inanity of contemporary life. Topics for consideration include his family's horror at his depictions of them in his books, a randy tow-trucker driver, and his misadventures and misunderstandings in Paris, London, and Japan as he travels around with his lover Hugh. Though his tone is acidic to the point of cruelty, Sedaris' essays are at their finest when elements of desperate pathos and surprising sentimentality break through the witty veneer.

A 20-something essayist depicts the single life with self-mocking humor.

Tyler Perry's creation "Madea" Mabel Simmons is the star of the wildly popular films "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" and "Madea's Family Reunion", and in DON'T MAKE A BLACK WOMAN TAKE OFF HER EARRINGS, the no-nonsense matriarch offers her own acerbic advice on life and love. Madea freely explains, in her own bawdy way, the rules of flirting, her interpretation of the bible, and the keys to a happy marriage--all the while praising the benefits of a deep-fried diet. Her humorous and warmly delivered wisdom is sure to please her many fans.

Popular blue-collar comedian Jeff Foxworthy breaks down the hilarious absurdities of the Southern dialect in his country version of the dictionary.

Best-selling humorist Dave Barry, author of "Dave Barry Turns Forty", offers a decade-by-decade chronicle of the baby-boomer generation.

This handy and informative how-to is based on consultations with experts in a variety of fields such as stunt-car driving, alligator wrestling, and medicine. It tells you how to survive, escape from, or otherwise deal with extreme, unforeseen situations that are often life-threatening--such as how to fend off a shark attack or what to do when your parachute fails to open. Some are more likely to occur, such as how to deal with a downed power line or how to deliver a baby in a taxicab. Highly entertaining and practical.