Humor Books

Judy Brown handed me this book at the annual Booksellers of America Convention when it first came out. I am not one to purchase joke books.

I began taking this book with me to waiting rooms, airports, the car dealership (waiting for service work), etc. I thought I'd check it out. I cannot tell you how many times I just burst out laughing in public. I have laughed and laughed and laughed. When I've tried to read some of these jokes to others I've laughed so hard while reading that tears were streaming down my face and I couldn't get the words out because I couldn't stop laughing.

Great therapy for anyone who is stressed out!!

Compiling all the best quotable comediennes and organizing them into categories can be hard work, but Judy Brown manages it yet again in She's So Funny. (Is that a pun on the Beatles' song "She's So Heavy?")

I laughed especially hard at this joke by Sheila Wenz: "I've always had pets. I know I should have a child someday, but I wonder, could I love something that doesn't crap in a box?"

Totie Fields, Phyllis Diller, Kate Clinton, Roseanne Barr, Margaret Cho, and Janeane Garafelo represent five generations of edgy and mainstream, hilarious and witty women. Even though women comediennes have been featured in other books, I like this one, along with Funny Women by Bill Adler.

If you are a woman who can appreciate some humor, of just someone who likes comedy, read She's So Funny.

I literally loudly laughed while in my doctor's office reading this! The jokes are from women comedians. The humor is some old-school (Phyllis Diller) but loads of contemporary (Ellen Degeneres). Bonus: there is a chapter called "Green Room," where there are mini biographies of all the comedians! Huge, heart two thumbs-up!

The book is hilarious! From the time I picked it I read it straight through cover to cover - non stop crack ups! I highly recommend it.

There's now a show featuring some of the lady's featured in the book at http://www.shessofunny.com. There's a lot of information there. I hope they make it a tour, a sort of Lilith for Comedy!

I love the variety of comediennes and topics in this book. It makes me laugh out loud in public places.

Shlepping the Exile is a most unusual coming of age novels, and here Wex shows the same virtuosity at weaving incongruous elements into one fabric as he did in Born To Kvetch. Shlepping is written with near manic intensity, but the foundation of Wex's ideas are solid, and the even when he goes off the rails, almost writing in an argot of Yiddish and English, the effect is enchanting and unreal. Most of all, Wex documents an obscure corner of the Diaspora, long gone, Western Canada, where the impossible seems almost possible: Yiddish rubbing elbows against a "frontier" western town.

Read this book! It is an absolute page-turner, hysterical, but still poignant. You don't need to be Jewish to "get" it, but it does help.

This is the type of book that once you pick it you can't put it down. And on top of that, you keep finding yourself reading it over and over again.

I read "Born to Kvetch" by the same author right before reading this book, and I think it helped. I'm not Jewish by heritage or upbringing, so a lot of the writing in "Shlepping the Exile" seemed like inside jokes that I didn't "get". However, there were a few passages sprinkled throughout the book that would be funny to most anyone.

Overall, I recommend "Shlepping the Exile" to people who are interested in Jewish culture, grew up around Orthodox/Hassidic Jewish people, or are speakers/students of the Yiddish language.

Michael Wex is a gift to a world that takes itself far too seriously. I first read this book many years ago when it was privately offered by the author under the original title, "Shlepping the golus". I was afraid I might injure myself I laughed so hard.

As I wrote in another review ( Born to kvetch, CD version) the man is one of the creative geniuses of our time. I really don't care what he writes or records; I'll buy and enjoy it.

What most people don't know is that behind all of the self deprecating, Rabelaisian wit and hysterical humor is a true scholar. The man is multi-talented and an absolute one of a kind. He has multiple graduate degrees, is a doctor of everything many times over, an expert in philology, medieval literature, popular culture and music, a rock musician, a stand up comedian and a real sweetheart.

This is an autobiography unlike any that I have ever read. My only regret is that I didn't write it.

This is a remarkable oportunity to rediscover the work of the underestimate John Buscema. Great storylines , in a luxous volume.But I missed more Jack kirby works with the surfer

I haven't read a Surfer story since I was a kid... I loved this book! I read it in one sitting (rainy Sunday afternoon) and was transported back to 1968...still a "carefree kid". The stories have held up well and managed to hold my interest. I you read comics as a kid, or still read them, I would recommend this book...Enjoy!

This book contains the first 18 issues and Bonus material of the Silver Surfer written by Stan Lee. While the modern Silver Surfer is sometimes a bad character in these first issues he is something like a saint and he is suffering human prejudice but never giving up to help. He examines the human race in order to understand human behaviour. The Silver Surfer therefore is not a character you can easily identify with but the moral and message of the stories and the way the Surfer views the humans is absolutely interesting and very thrilling. Issue 1-17 was drawn by John Buscema. I know his work on the Avengers which is great but these Silver Surfer stories are by far his best work. Buying this book means buying the very best of John Buscema. In addition the printing quality is superb and the book is oversized.

I ordered this from amazon several months ago. About one month ago they informed me it would not ship until some time in 2008. I am not sure why they are still selling it if they are having that much trouble shipping it out. Just go get one from your local comic book shop. It's worth it.

This huge book reprints all 18 issues of the original Silver Surfer comic book series from the Silver Age of comics (including the letter pages), plus a Surfer back up story from Fantastic Four Annual #5 and a Surfer parody from Not Brand Echh #13. The Silver Surfer happens to be writer Stan Lee's personal favorite character. To quote Stan from the book's intro: "Perhaps the Silver Surfer comes closest to being the ultimate, quintessential superhero. The virtue of his character, the purity of his soul and the nobility of his actions, coupled with the altruism of his motives, are virtually without parallel--unless one returns to the root of all goodness, for perhaps only in the Holy Bible itself does such morality exist." Stan used the Surfer to articulate his own beliefs and convictions, as the Surfer soared around the Earth soliloquizing about mankind's faults (particularly prejudice and bigotry). Pretty heavy stuff for a superhero comic book. The Surfer was a tragic figure, as he regularly faced fear and hatred wherever he went, despite the purity of his motives. Another tragic aspect of the comic was the forced separation of the Surfer and his ladylove, Shalla Bal, who still lived on their home planet of Zenn-La. But I don't want to give the impression that this comic book is all talk and no action. There is plenty of action, as the Surfer battles villains like the Stranger, the Abomination and his archenemy Mephisto. Through the typical Marvel Comics misunderstanding, he also battles heroes like Thor, Spider-Man and the Human Torch. All this is beautifully illustrated by John Buscema, with the exception of the last issue, which was drawn by Jack Kirby. This review ran longer than I intended, so I will wrap it up by recommending this book to all fans of Marvel Comics.

I laughed `til I cried. Then I laughed some more. This good ole gal doesn't stop. She takes on anything and everything in the South where dog-eared expressions are as natural as eating grits. Nothing is spared: Southern traditions, getting older, the station wagon which lasted longer then the husband. Put a pitcher of martinis in the frig and learn how she cooked breakfast for the husband while she was in bed with a stomach virus, why she cannot bear to look at a red velvet cake and how she had to sneak into the cemetery at night to bury the dog between Grandma and Grandpa.

Rearick is not someone whose eggs were loosely scrambled even though she has relatives who are diagonally parked in a parallel universe. She writes about some of the but-ugliest things in the world...things we love about the South.

If you have ever had a dog (she has a spoiled-rotten Cockapoo), a husband (she calls hers "Babe"), a mother (hers made fruitcake and talked in clichés) or grandchildren from hell, then you will understand the source of her stories.

Meet unforgettable characters like Gloryjean the Butterbean Queen and come to understand that if God wanted us to run around barefooted, we would have been born barefooted.

Not everything Rearick writes will tickle your funny bone. She can also be as serious as a brain transplant. Following an accident which nearly took her life, she wrote, "It's the top of the fifth. The bases are loaded. It's my turn at bat. My turn to hit a homer and to break records."

With Simply Southern, Rearick has hit her homer. I can hardly wait for her next book.

Don't forget to honk if you love peace and quiet.

Whether you live on the east or west coast of America, in between, or across the waters on another continent, this book will make you laugh --and laugh -- and laugh. Cappy Hall Rearick writes about what she understands--people. She likes us, loves us, laughs with us and cries with us, but mostly makes us laugh. As any writer or performer will tell you, comedy is the most difficult of arts and skills. Cappy Hall Rearick's first hand knowledge of Southerners makes her stories ring with authenticity and her love of her characters fills those stories with lots of fun and a subtle compassion.
There is a universality in her humor and a power to connect us through her own experiences with the most common human conditions. When you read about her Mama, you will want to reach out and touch Cappy and you will never again try to clean out your mama's closet or straighten out her "stuff."
As you laugh your way through these tales, you will want to meet Cappy Hall Rearick.
Y'all read this book now, ya heah?

I'm a long-time friend of Cappy Hall Rearick, but I CAN be objective about her writing! Her collection of essays and short stories in Simply Southern have the distinct flavor of the low-country South, and the characters ring very true, from the hilarious to the serious. Among my personal favorites are "A Loaf of Bread and Thou" and "A World of Looking Down." Babe, the grandkids, and the fun-loving friends who populate this joyful book will bring readers many smiles, laugh-out-loud chuckles, and possibly a few misty eyes. It's a book to be savored not once, but many times. ENJOY!

Settle into your most comfortable chair with this delightful read and enjoy "Simply Southern," as Cappy Hall Rearick tickles your toes and tugs on your heart with her anecdotes of the South.

What a wonderful writer this lady is! Immerse yourself in glorious mini-tales such as "Gloryjean the Butterbean Queen" and "By Virtue of a Vidalia." You can see, hear, and nearly touch the characters she brings to life so beautifully.

In our hectic world, "Simply Southern" is an oasis of pure pleasure. I highly recommend it!

Simply Southern
by Cappy Hall Rearick

Reviewed by
Award-winning journalist and author,
Sharon Smith Henderson

Dyed-in-the-cottonpatch Southerner, Cappy Hall Rearick cut her baby teeth in South Carolina and grew up to become a card-carrying flight attendant. Winging her way west to LA-LA Land (Southern California) she began her career as a columnist, penning Alive and Well in Hollywood. A couple of
husbands later she migrated back to rest on the Golden Shores of St. Simons Island.

Along the way she has honed a biting sense of humor which spares no sacred cow. Simply Southern, appearing in Weekend, a local weekly tab noted for its irreverent take on the world, provides Rearick with a platform from which to launch her barbed commentary. Wryly capitalizing on her blondness, Rearick attacks the perils of middle age, marriage, shopping, pet ownership, (where the pets are the owners)and relationships.

Now in book form, Simply Southern is a diverting treasure which will delight the reader today, tomorrow, and still pop up new and fresh when it surfaces during a
shelf-cleaning exercise five years down the road. Among those falling victim to her caustic wit: Easy-going husband, Babe, his dumber-than-a-box-of-hair Cockapoo, Tallulah Blankhead, family, friends and the stranger-than-fiction characters she meets every day.

Shifting from humor to nostalgia, in "Rocky Bottom" she describes her childhood swimming hole. "The cold, black Edisto River snakes through Orangeburg and the South Carolina Low Country where I was born and raised. Swimming pools were a luxury only movie stars could afford, so we swam at Lee's
Pond or in the Edisto River. Rocky Bottom was a shallow area floored with small rocks and stones, and it is there that I learned to swim.

"I went to sleep last night thinking about the Edisto River, the Pavilion and Rocky Bottom . . . how my friends and I would spread blankets on the hill near the water and remain there all day long soaking up sun. I remembered learning how to
dance at the Pavilion, then shagging the night away to the juke box sounds of Elvis, Fats Domino and Little Richard. We used to wash our hair with Prell Shampoo just beyond the safety rope underneath the bridge. The cold, black river water rinsed it
clear and made it squeaky clean."
No taste of Rearick's work would be complete without a visit to the doggy side of the household. "Tallulah Blankhead ran away from home yesterday. She's spoiled rotten and is obsessively attached to Babe. She has never left the back yard
by herself. Why? Because she's joined at the hip with her bed, food bowl, and her favorite toy -- a pale green stuffed rabbit named Mr. Bill.
"I walked outside thinking she might have wandered onto the golf course and got herself bonked in the head by an errant Titleist. When I stopped hollering her name and started listening I heard her incomparable Cockapoo bark.
"Two blocks away, I spied her, snarling at a fire hydrant that some clever Southern patriot had painted gray and white to resemble a corpulent Confederate soldier. By the time I got to her, Tallulah had barked herself into a war whoop. Then she tore into General Lee as if he were drenched in Eau de Alpo." (Maybe we need to poijnt out, this is Babe's pooch--and he's from Pennsylvania. Maybe Tallulah is Yankee spy?)
Speaking of Yankees, living in a beautiful resort area, one is deluged with uninvited northern visitors appearing with seasonal regularity. In "Well, Shut My Mouth!" Rearick narrates her role as the reluctant hostess to a pair described as Lucy and Ethel at their worst.
Joining her for lunch are Doris, Babe's Yankee cousin and her equally Yankee friend, Ginger, here on a mini-snowbird visit. "Well! If this isn't the cutest, most awesome little café!" exclaims Ginger. She bats her mascared eyes. Fighting like cats and dogs, the two of them have been trying to out-do and out-shout each other since they arrived.
Without regard to other people in the restaurant, Doris's voice breaks the sound barrier. "Oh, shut UP!" she yells good-naturedly. "No, YOU shut up!" Ginger replies. They high-five each other and shout, "Awesome," in unison.
Before their Yankeeness becomes a catalyst for Southern diners to remember Fort Sumter and take revenge, I grab Doris by the arm and threaten to pinch her till she's cyanotic. "Simmer down! You sound like a couple of sixty-five year old displaced Valley Girls."
"This is how we always talk. What's wrong with that?"
I must have been crazy to think I could take these two out in public. Ginger is pointing at the day's special: Pork chops, black-eyed peas, collard greens. Yum.
"You people don't actually eat this stuff, do you?"
"Oh, that's nothing,' shouts Doris. 'They even eat hog jowls and something called chitlins."
I push my chair back. "Y'all excuse me. I need to wash my hands." I turn the corner and stride right past the Ladies Room on my way out the back door. "I'll bet you a Cuban Cigar that Lucy and Ethel will never miss me."

But don't you miss the opportunity to laugh until you fall out of your chair, and perhaps shed a tear or two at the antics and reminiscences in what is sure to become a regional favorite. Simply Southern, published by ExLibris, is available at
The Book Mark in St. Simons, and online at Rearick's website,...,Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Borders.com.
Past president of Southeastern Writers Association, Rearick is an award-winning writer of short stories. Her first novel, Seldom Seen, is presently under review for publication while she works on a second novel called Four O'Clock Curtain and a collection of Christmas stories slated for publication in book form.

-30-

This is one of the funniest books that I have ever read in my life. I think that Alison should have a TV show based on the situations described in this book. It would be a huge hit. I wish her all the luck in the world and I'm waiting for her next book.

Really liked this book. Full disclosure: I'm a 26 year old guy who, um, has some experience with back-stabbing friends, awful office experiences (i.e. I have a girlfriend). But reading this book actually made some sense of it all. It was funny, sharp, all in all a great read. It also gave me some more constructive things to say and suggest to my girlfriend instead of "I told you that girl was crazy" and "Just pee on her desk." Great book (but man, I'm glad I haven't been the recipient of these techniques ... uh oh, I already lent it to my lady).

I think it was RFK who uttered those infamous words. But I know this book can teach you how to live them. This book is hilarious! Five Stars! A must read for any girl looking to inject a little perspective into life's ups and downs. So don't get mad, get this book!

I bought this book for my sister thinking she could use it. She totally loved it and recommended that I also read it. This book is hilarious and every woman should own it. So don't mess with my sister, she knows how to get even!

A must read for women of all ages, you'll find yourself nodding in agreement the whole way through. It's one Eureka! moment after the next.
A witty, hilarious and fun approach to the all too real issues facing women, from self-image to self-guilt, this book covers it all. In between the laughter, Alison Grambs skillfully offers up real-life lessons and tips on how to be a better you -- without feeling preached too.

As a big fan of The Onion style humor, this book really delivered for me. Its sports spoofs are right on and completely hilarious. The photos and ads make the parodies look so real, adding to the fun absurdity of the book. I loved it! If you're a big sports humor guy like I am, I would also recommend Robert Gussin's TRASH TALK. It's a pretty new and really funny fiction book that imagines an accidental pairing up professional athletes and environmentalists. Sounds wacky - and it is. In the best way possible! Check it out.

When I saw that this book had come out, I immediately thought, "Ooh, Leyritz!" Unfortunately there were no appearances from the lovable bald catcher, but there are plenty of humorous stories to both make you laugh and provoke fond memories of your favorite sports memories. It's a perfect blend of sports-insider humor and witty comments on society at large (see the guest appearances from Noam Chomsky and Joyce Carol Oates and the frequent "corrections"). Definitely buy this book -- you won't regret it!

This book is very cleverly done. It's very accessible to sports fans and even if you're not, the snippets are hilarious. My wife sometimes scoffs at my obsession with sports but when I read her some of the pieces aloud, she was cracking up. The book reminds me of the various sports "Hall of Shame" series I read as a child and hopefully these guys will follow suit. I enjoyed this one and look forward to more!

From the title itself to all of the content, this book is thoroughly entertaining and very humorous. I enjoyed all the spoofs on sports metaphors, the swimsuit issue, the interviews with fake sports celebrities, and all the little jokes woven throughout the book. There are many clever and witty gags that any sports fan would surely relish. I definitely recommend this title!

Hilarious! Hard to read the articles because the next headline is so funny. But stick it out-- these guys don't overcook the roastbeef. Some morsels:

"Rocky VIII: Rocky vs. Bullwinkle"
"NASCAR Rookie Asked to Stop Using Turn Signals"
"Woeful Season Blamed on Liberal Media"
"Nike Signs Spelling Bee Champ to LIfetie Non-Endorsement Deal:$4.3 Million Agreement Ensures Gawky 8th Grader Will Never Wear Company Apparel"

Really more of an investment in humor than a purchase...

As a point of reference, I have read all of Richler's major works and a few of his early novellas. This was written after Richler's sexual obsession in his British phase and he tells an interesting story about a young film director from Montreal who has moved to Britain The novel follows from his wildly creative novel Cocksure which as story immersed in sexual obsession. This is a far tamer novel and it is longer and more substantial but less creative. Overall, it is among his best efforts.

Following on from the very liberated Cocksure, we see a much more conventional and down to earth Richler who has attempted to integrate British making with biographical elements from his own youth.

Modecai Richler (1931 to 2001) grew up in Montreal and that city is the setting for many of his stories - but not all. Many of his novels are about Jews living in Canada and Britain post WWII.

He is best known for his tales of life in and around St. Urbain Street. That is an area of three story buildings or walk up row houses located just east of the mountain in Montreal, and north of the commercial center of the city. At one time this was the center of Jewish immigrant life. Many Jews coming to Montreal started there but then moved on to Outrement, Hamstead, and other districts. His father was a scrap dealer and he graduated from a heavily Jewish high school, Baron Byng High School, which has other famous alumni including William Shatner of Star Trek fame. Some of the local establishments such as Schwartz's Deli on St. Laurent are still in business. He uses much of those biographical experiences in the book.

His break out novel is the present novel Duddy Kravitz which is still a great read whether you have seen the movie or not. Also, I like his last book, Barney's Vision, which is probably his most balanced and best written piece of work. That novel lacks the edge and drama of Duddy Kravitz. Along the way, he experimented with different themes and the use of sex in the plots, and usually he did that with a lot of humor as in Cocksure.

This book is among his best works and there must be a few parallels with Richter's own life. It is about a young and poorly educated Jewish boy (Richler never finished university himself and moved to Britain) who struggles in the Canadian TV business starting off as a stage hand and then eventually becoming a London based movie director. The protagonist, Jacob Hersh, is from the St. Urbain area of Montreal, and he has an unusual relation with his cousin Joey - who is the "horseman." Joey appears only once in the book when he visits Montreal, and spends most of his time traveling the world doing all sort of glamorous things from being a soldier, to actor, to baseball player. In reality, Joey is a bit of a con man but he is held in awe by Jacob.

This is an interesting story that gets better as we reach the end of the book.

Many of his critics claim that he re-cycles his characters and deals only with one topic, but in general his books are far from the predictable and this book is another example. That being said, Duddy Kravitz and even his father max appear in the novel, and Duddy more than once.

This is a good read which leaves the reader satisfied.

Mordecai Richler's novels are always a wild ride. In St. Urbain's Horseman we have the usual Richler pastiche of paranoid Jewish Montrealers struggling in a gentile world. As with his other novels, I sense that '..Horseman' has many biographical elements to it. Although teetering on being pretentious, '..Horseman' is easily salvaged by its fine characterizations and often hilarious prose.

'..Horseman' is a very rich, complex novel. It chronicles a young man who escapes squalor of Montreal and finds himself as a successful family man in swinging London, circa 1965. Unfortunately he finds himself tormented by the legend of his mysterious cousin (the "horseman") who seems to be larger than life (..a Nazi hunter in Paraguay?), and those with whom the cousin comes in contact with. It's all rather chaotic and often unbelievable. But thankfully the likes of Mordecai Richler pulls it all together somehow.


Bottom line: suspend your disbelief and enjoy this book.

A remarkable book, clever, interesting, and so well written that I often stopped just to marvel at how entertained I was. You'll be glad you got it.

The underappreciated novelist Modicai Richler was every bit the master of Jewish comedic fiction as Phillip Roth. When it came to describing the emerging Canadian middle class in the 1950 and 60s Richler got it just right and left one roaring with laughter to boot.

People of my parent's generation will always remember where they were when JFK was assasinated. Likewise, I'll always remember the day when I learned that Mordecai Richler had died. I was standing in the kitchen, making dinner, when it was announced on the CBC. I fell apart, and it's the only time I have ever cried over someone I didn't even know.
When people tell me that they've never heard of, or read, Mordecai Richler, I want to rail at the universe. He's simply the best there is - a novelist who was intelligent, comical, introspective, cynical, perceptive, heartfelt, brutally honest, and ultimately, unforgettable. Reading St.Urbain's Horseman saved me from a dismal semester in university. I was taking existentialist philosophy and sinking into gloom when I escaped into a story that was impossible to put down. I laughed out loud - so hard that I couldn't read. I could go on all day. Just read this book - I guarantee that you'll read it again. And then you'll have to read everything else Mordecai Richler wrote.
I wish there were more stories to look forward to.

Mr. Cheek returned me in time to 1952 and 1953 parts of which
I spent in Korea. The characters were people exactly like the
ones I knew. A Novel but most of it rings very true to the times. I could not put the book down. Very fast and enjoyable
reading.

I took the book STAY SAFE, BUDDY with me on our 2-week vacation to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and sat up late one night to read it. It was so interesting that I couldn't stop reading until I finished the entire book.

I cried a lot and laughed too. That Mewman was some crazy guy. He also was a hero. I could feel the concern when the soldiers used the phrase, "Stay safe, Buddy." The book is a very good read.

Barbara Byzick
Atoka, Oklahoma

Having spent some time in Korea myself, I was utterly amazed by the author's ability to recall and describe people and situations with so much accuracy and authenticity. The book brought back a rush of memories. Most importantly, it illustrates that major projects, such as wars, consist for the most part of human relationships, sometimes significant and sometimes not, but always interesting. The author was obviously a "doggie" who knew what was going on around him. I purchased several copies for friends.

Dear J. Charles:

Just finished reading our book "Stay Safe, Buddy." Enjoyed it immensely. Having spent 14 months over there with 1st Weapons Company and then Chalie Company, 1st Marine Division, I could visualize the terrain as I read. My wife thought I was nuts beacause I would suddenly break out laughing in the middle of the night. I could see many of my buddies in similar circumstances.

Having been a Corpsman wht the Marines, I can visualize myself as Doc Teele except that I wouldn't know what to do as a full bird colonel.

Again, Thanks for writing the book. It made me remember.

Semper Fi, Buddy.
John "Doc Steele"

On the promise that he won't see combat, John Lefter enlists for a 3 year hitch in the Army Security Agency. I guess, since we are talking about the Army, you know what happens. He ends up in Korea. It doesn't take long until Lefter is in a bunker real close to the front lines. A lot of things happen then and most of them were not good.

Once I started Stay Safe Buddy, I had trouble putting it down. I went everywhere with Lefter. I shared a lot of his pain and hangovers. I even shared his hatred for Major Soss. This is a great tale of the way things were during the Korean conflict, or war or whatever you want to call it. Just read it!

Recommendation: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Tim Hancock is the Director of MWLA, a Reviewer and Author

Nice book. But in this edition, there is no chapter title on each page, so it's a little difficult to track the chapters.

There is at least one author who may remind you of Stephen Leacock, namely Garrison Keillor of Lake Wobegon fame, but Leacock should be recognized as the ultimate master of quaint, bucolic humor. Leacock, who died in 1944, became arguably the most prominent Canadian humorist of his day (and probably of all time). What is ironic about that claim is that Leacock worked for most of his life as a professor of economics. We do not usually equate economics with humor, preferring to think of that profession as one of bow ties and supply and demand charts. Throw that presumption out the window and pick up a copy of "Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town," Leacock's best known work available through the New Canadian Library series.

For me, one of the funniest sections of the book was the introduction written by Leacock, where he gives you some background about himself and his profession. This short piece of writing quickly gives you an idea of the type of humor you will find in the actual sketches: a very sly, very quiet and clever type of humor that often takes a while to sink in. Leacock does not rely on rim shot jokes or manic posturing in his writings. Instead, he creates the fictional Canadian town of Mariposa and populates it with small town archetypes that are wonders to behold.

All of the characters are hilarious in their own way: Mr. Smith, the proprietor of the local hotel and bar, full of schemes to earn money while trying to get his liquor license back. Then there is Jefferson Thorpe, the barber involved in financial schemes that may put him on the level of the Morgans and the Rockefellers. The Reverend Mr. Drone presides over the local Church of England in Mariposa, a man who reads Greek as easy as can be but laments his lack of knowledge about logarithms and balancing the financial books of the church. Peter Pupkin, the teller at the local bank, has a secret he wants no one to know about, but which eventually comes out while he is courting the daughter of the town judge. All of these characters, and several others, interact throughout the sketches.

Leacock has the ability to turn a story, to make it take a crazy, unexpected twist even when you are looking for such a maneuver. That he accomplishes this in stories that rarely run longer than twenty pages is certainly a sign of great talent. By the time you reach the end of the book, you know these people as though you lived in the town yourself, and you know what makes them tick.

Despite all of the crazy antics in Mariposa, Leacock never lets the reader lose sight of the fact that these are basically good people living good lives. There seems to be a lot of feeling for the citizens of Mariposa on the part of Leacock, which comes to a head in the final sketch in the collection, "L'Envoi. The Train to Mariposa," where he recounts traveling back to the town after being away for years, with all of the attendant emotions that brings as recognizable landmarks come into view and the traveler realizes that his little town is the same as when he left it years before.

I suspect there is a historical importance to "Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town." These writings first appeared in 1912, a time when many people living in the bigger Canadian cities still remembered life in a small town. In addition to the humorous aspects of the book, the author includes many descriptive passages concerning the atmosphere and layout of Mariposa, something instantly recognizable to anyone who grew up in such a place. Nostalgia for the simpler life of the small town probably played a significant role in the book's success.

I look forward to reading more Stephen Leacock. While much of the humor in the book is not belly laugh funny, it does provide one with a deep satisfaction of reading clever humor from an author who knows how to tickle the funny bone. You do not need to be Canadian to enjoy this wonderful book.

no hype. i couldn't stop laughing as i was reading this. and i mean laughing out loud. in a cafe. with everyone staring at me. but i didn't care. and i couldn't help it if i did. it's just too hilarious.

Like the heading says, this is the funniest book I've ever read. Leacock was a comic genius and this is his best work. Buy it, read it, love it.

Perhaps the finest comment about Stephen Leacock in the last half century is that "he is a
Will Rogers for the 90's."

Rogers, of course, is one of the most beloved of American humorists -- he was killed in
1935 when his plane crashed near Point Barrow, Alaska. Leacock died on March 28, 1944.
Like Rogers, he had been Canada's favorite humorist for decades.

Sunshine Sketches is about Orillia, Ontario, Canada, where Leacock had his summer home
on Brewery Bay (he once wrote, "I have known that name, the old Brewery Bay, to make
people feel thirsty by correspondence as far away as Nevada.") His home is now maintained
as a historic site by the town of Orillia. I lived there for almost 30 years, and the people of Orillia are still much the same as Leacock portrayed them in 1912.

These stories about various personalities in town were printed in the local newspaper in the
1910 - 1912 era, before being compiled into this book which established Leacock's literary
fame. The people portrayed really lived, though some are composites; the events are of a
kindly humorist looking at the foibles of small town life. Once they came out in book form
and soared to national popularity, everyone in town figured the rest of the country was
laughing at them because of Leacock's book and he was royally hated in Orillia to the end
of his life.

Gradually, and this took decades, Orillians came to recognize that genius had walked
amongst them for several decades. (It's hard to recognize genius when your own ego is so
inflated.) Orillia now awards the annual "Leacock Medal for Humor" -- Canada's top literary
prize for the best book of humour for the preceding year.

Leacock died when I was six, but I did know his son, who still lived in town. I delivered
papers to the editor of the "Newspacket," Leacock's name for the Orillia Packet and Times
(where I worked) and the rival Newsletter. The Packet had the same editor in the 1940's as
when Leacock wrote about him in 1910.

But the book is more than Orillia; it is a wonderfully kind and humorous description of life in
many small towns. The American artist Norman Rockwell painted the same kinds of scenes;
it is the type of idyllic urban life so many of us keep longing to find again in our hectic
urban world.

Leacock realized the book was universal in its description of small towns, and in the preface
he wrote "Mariposa is not a real town. On the contrary, it is about seventy or eighty of
them. You may find them all the way from Lake Superior to the sea, with the same square
streets and the same maple trees and the same churches and hotels, and everywhere the
sunshine of the land of hope."

True enough, which gives this book continuing appeal nearly a century after it was written.
All great writing is about topics you know, and as a longtime resident Leacock knew Orillia
well. As for Leacock himself, he wrote, "I was born at Swanmoor, Hants., England, on Dec.
30, 1869. I am not aware that there was any particular conjunction of the planets at the
time, but should think it extremely likely."

He says of his education, "I survived until I took the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in
1903. The meaning of this degree is that the recipient of instruction is examined for the last
time in his life, and is pronounced completely full. After this, no new ideas can be imparted
to him."

In reviewing Charles Dickens' works in 1934, Leacock wrote what could well be his own
epitaph: "Transitory popularity is not proof of genius. But permanent popularity is." The fact
his writings are still current illustrates the nature of his writing.

In contrast to the sometimes sardonic humor of modern times, Sunshine Sketches reflects
Leacock's idea that "the essence of humor is human kindness." Or, in the same vein, "Humor
may be defined as the kindly contemplation of the incongruities of life, and the artistic
expression thereof."

Granted, this book is not what he recognized to have widespread appeal to modern readers.
In his own words, "There are only two subjects that appeal nowadays to the general public,
murder and sex; and, for people of culture, sex-murder." Yet, anyone reading this will
remember scenes from it for much longer than anything from a murder mystery.

In today's world, where newspapers almost daily track Prime Minister Tony Blair's dash to
the political right, Leacock wrote, "Socialism won't work except in Heaven where they don't
need it and in Hell where they already have it."

He described his own home as follows, "I have a large country house -- a sort of farm
which I carry on as a hobby . . . . Ten years ago the deficit on my farm was about a
hundred dollars; but by well-designed capital expenditure and by greater attention to
details, I have got it into the thousands." Sounds familiar to today's farm policies ?

It's what I mean by this being a timeless work.

Leacock himself noted, when talking about good literature, "Personally, I would sooner have
written 'Alice in Wonderland' than the whole of the 'Encyclopedia Britannica'." This is his
'Alice' and it well deserves to be favorably compared to Lewis Carroll's work.

By all measures, it is still the finest Canadian book ever written.

Hilariously melodramatic monologue, generous, engaging narrative and classic Sendak illustrations make this theatrical romp a favourite of adults and children alike.

If wolves went to ballet, they wouldn't go to Swan Lake, they would go to Swine Lake! We think 4th and 5th graders would like this book because it is more challenging. You should read it a couple times to really understand it and have fun reading it. It's a very good book. It has action in it. We thought it would be rated 4.

I bought this book for my three year old daughter for Christmas. Although she has nearly a hundred books, she has requested this one every night for three months. She knows most of it verbatim. I think the book's okay, but for her it is something truly special and charming. She enjoys the dilema of the wolf, the grumpy landlady and the diverse characters of the pigs. This is a great story for kids with budding imaginations.

Swine lake, was absolutely wonderful, and it brought back memories of my childhood years. I reccomend it to those who are young at heart. I found it a very tasteful, and enjoyable piece of literature. So read it i say...thankyou

Swine Lake is a wonderfully creative story. It takes a twist that my daughter (age 7) nor I expected. The art of Maurice Sendak is as wonderful as ever. Great fun to read.