Humor Books

Gary Larson knows how to add humor to any creature on any planet

My Grandpa has this book and every time I visit his house, I read it. If I get finished with it and his other Far Side book, I read them all over again! This book is awesome!

This 1993 compilation collects about 361 Far Side illustrations. I found this collection to be a bit less riotous than some others of Larson's collections, and in many cases I had to think more to understand the joke.

For example, there is an illustration showing workers in a chicken processing factory. It took me a moment to realize that there was a basket on the wall with a "GIZZARDS" bucket below the basket. There is another illustration of the famous "Larry of the Lemurs," who was significantly less famous than his African counterpart, Tarzan.

I also thought there were a number of illustrations that were very funny. Adam calls Eve to ask her out on a date and the first thing she thinks is that she doesn't have a thing to wear. Another good one is the lady walking through the sinister woods with a vacuum cleaner and the caution that nature abhors a vacuum.

A few illustrations failed to tickle my funny bone. The image showing a dog hallucinating about cat mirages went no where with me. Another one about shortening Dodge Ball City to Dodge City after the arrival of the Earp brothers fell flat for me as well.

Gary Larson always offers an "outside the box" view of the world. Often his images offer a new twist on a cliché, either reinterpreting the cliché with an image, such as two robots sitting side-by-side, noting that each knew how to push the other's buttons. Sometimes Larson changes one word to achieve a new variation on an old phrase, such as when Jeannie Jeannie Eatszuchinni testifies against her brother, Mr. Pumpkineater. Regardless of how well each image or caption works, you can be assured that this book will stretch your mental muscles, and perhaps you will be able to look at the world in different and more humorous way.

Larson released this collection in 1993 and it has more than stood the comedy test of time. The Chickens are Restless is about 2/3rds the height of an A4 bit of paper, all Far Sides are in black and white and are either full page or two to a page. Classic Far Sides inside include the classics Ernie getting a wrong number call from God then for the rest of his life telling his friends he had talked with God, Popeye on the Dating Scene, Death seeing his girlfriend in the movie theatre with Dr Jack Kevorkian, dumb painter in hell holding the work order upside down, Edna being forced to sell her brussel sprouts house, Hookhand telling the tale of "The Two Evil Teenagers", testimony against Mr Pumpkineater being given by his sister Jeannie Jeannie Eatszucchini and the cow sitting on the electric fence saying to the others, "Look if it was electric could I do this" as the angry farmer is about to flick the switch.

Every Far Side Collection is a must own but if you are strapped for cash the better value for money option is usually the larger Far Side Galleries which are a collection of three of these smaller books.

Mutinous canines, alien-spotting rednecks, dung beetles, and all the assorted occupants of the spaced-out mind of Gary Larson are here in this fun-filled compilation.

Larson is one "acquired taste" that I am glad to have developed.

bienísimos...a veces pasaditos de color, pero JAMÁS DE MAL GUSTO !
Si quieres comprar una tonelada de carcajadas, LEE ESTE LIBRO...NO LO LEERÁS UNA SOLA VEZ, SINO MUCHAS ! TE LO RECOMIENDO

Y eso que yo leo todo lo que encuentro de chistes!
Estos me encantaron, me hicieron reít..
¡TE LOS RECOMIENDO !

QUE TENEMOS UN BUEN SENTIDO DEL HUMOR..
Y para las que no lo tienen, tambíén: NO DEJARÁN DE CARCAJEARSE CON ESTOS CHISTESÍSIMOS !

NOME GUSTAN porque es como si el lenguaje estuviera encadenado por LA CENSURA..

ESTE ES ULTRA BUENO !

PERO EXCELENTES PARA NOSOTROS !
Te ríes y te ríes, que ya casi te descoses...

This was the first time i ever read citizen dog. I read my first strip in Chicken soup for the cat and dog lovers soul. Then i ordered this offline. Once i read it i ordered the other books. Fergus is so funny. There are amazingly funny stories in this like when Fergus steals all the fire hydrants and Fergus and Arlo challenge the mailman to a basketball game.

"Citizen Dog" Fergus was the best canine to ever hit a newspaper. This initial collection of comic strips featuring the ever suave Fergus and his well-meaning and overwhelmed "owner", Mel, is a real treat for those of us who faithfully read the strip back in the day. For those who haven't had the pleasure of seeing a dog converse with a French waiter or become the top salesdog in a pet store, you don't know what you've been missing. So, if you only buy one book this year...hey, don't be cheap! Get this book, and pick up Mark O'Hare's other two volumes: "Dog's Best Friend: More Citizen Dog Reflections" and "D Is For Dog." (Warning: If your dog happens to read these books, hide the car keys. Really.)

The "Citizen Dog" comic strip was one of the best ever. Mark O'Hare has a delightfully wicked sense of humor and he brings such life and animation to his characters. You don't have to be a dog lover to appreciate Fergus, the smart-mouthed dog in this series ... or the lovable antics of his owner, Mel. Get a taste for the comic strip at: http://www.ucomics.com/citizendog/.

Unfortunately, Mark O'Hare is no longer creating new Citizen Dog strips, so all we have left is these fabulous books. There are three in the series:
1) Citizen Dog: The First Collection [ISBN: 0836251865]
2) Dog's Best Friend: More Citizen Dog Reflections [ISBN: 0836267516]
3) D is for Dog [ISBN: 0740704575]

Buy two of each ... because someone's gonna want your copy!
Happy reading!

I started reading this book and within two pages was hooked. It is hilarious. Help us if all dogs start acting like Fergus. I think O'Hare has surpassed his Purdue "Art Gallery" strip.

Fans of the currently syndicated newspaper strip will find through this collection that Citizen Dog has been through some changes since its origin. If nothing else, O'Hare is a superb artist with a flair for both motionless and kinetic moments. His draftsmanship sustains the strip. At this point, however, the humor is much more slapstick than verbal or intellectual. Many of the gags are Tex Avery-esque, or harken back to vaudeville days. That's an interesting style in itself, but as humor, it pales in comparison to the current incarnation of the strip. Those who think the artistic side of cartooning and gag writing is in decline, however, need look no further than this book for a spirited refutation.

When I was just a boy (many years ago), for a treat to myself, I bought the Classics Illustrated comics. The art work and plot were so engaging that I still carry some of those images around in my mind. Jules Verne's "Mysterious Island" and Dana's "Two Years Before the Mast" and many others were indelibly imprinted on my brain so that they could never be forgotten. Little did I realize that these illustrated novels were real literature, that they would lead many years later to actually reading those works. When I spied the life-sized book "Classics Illustrated: A Cultural History with Illustrations," I could not resist buying this book. When it arrived, I began reading a serious history of the Classics Illustrated publications, their awkward beginning and about the lives of their illustrators, and how the U.S. Postal Service effectively drove Classics Illustrated out of business. (It seems that the post office considered this comic a book and not a periodical.) Colorful images taken from the book abound throughout this edition. It's ironic that this very volume of literature is in danger of becoming a classic itself.

CLASSSICS ILLUSTRATED comprised such a crucial, influential, and above all, entertaining part of my youth that they have never entirely left me, and in fact I still have my entire childhood collection, and then some. The author of this book, William B. Jones, notes that his approach to the subject is meant to be objective in nature; but of course anyone raised on CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED can never be completely objective about them, and time and again Jones' understandable passion for these books seeps through. Nor is it simply nostalgia: when I go back to reread old issues it is mainly for the inherent richness of the storytelling and artwork they contain. Where in all comic book history is there a work so profound and moving as the Norman Nodel-illustrated LES MISERABLES, or as sad and tragic as the Angelo Torres-illustrated TOILERS OF THE SEA? Where is the comic book art that can excel, for its sense of historical time and place and fine drawing, John Severin's treatment of the Alamo and the Mexican War in BLAZING THE TRAILS WEST? Has there ever been a swashbuckling comic book so superbly ALIVE as George Evans' treatment of THE THREE MUSKETEERS? As for THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, I wholly agree with the author that it was never adapted so effectively, in any medium, as it was in CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED. I could go on. This is not to say that there weren't issues that were pretty bad, especially in the early days, and Mr. Jones freely admits this. But for those who are already familiar with this series, and especially for those who aren't, I cheerfully recommend this book as a kind of bible to CI and its several related series. I learned so much that was new to me about the issues, the artists, the editors, and the evolution and ultimate decline of the publishing house, Gilberton Company. The packaging and layout and paper quality of the book is a delight. Bravo, Mr. Jones! And bravo, CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED!

Ever said that line? Then you'll love this beautifully written and lovingly researched book about the history of Classics Illustrated.

Jones manages to evoke the characters of the men and women who contributed to this fascinating niche of Americana: illustrators, editors, publishers, and even its detractors. Interviews were obviously thorough, chapters are meticulously footnoted, and yet it reads like ...well, like an engrossing classic tale of adventure! Pick a chapter at random or read from cover-to-cover... it's consistently a winner.

While occasionally too ready with a disavowal of nostalgia, Jones does not hesitate to reveal his personal lifelong love of the comic book series. Truly, the best works of fandom itself can be so endearing, so contagious with admiration and awe. This book is no exception. Like myself, Jones loved the comics when he was a kid. Just as publisher Albert Kanter intended, as an adult I've managed to read every word of the real Count of Montecristo and War of the Worlds and The Moonstone, but I first learned these vivid and amazing tales by reading the Classics versions. Jones augments my personal appreciation and gratitude in this excellent book.

His work was in-depth and, while certainly using a critic's eye, relatively even-handed when it comes to the series' contributors. Now, reading the book, Jones has even made me appreciate the work of Classics artists whose pages I'd previously disliked.

Excellent illustrations, particularly of rare pages and covers, fill the book. Nice personal photos of the artists and editors are a great touch, seeing as this is a book of both down-to-earth and scholarly sensibilities.

Only fault I can find is that the text sometimes refers to a page or panel or other artwork which is not actually reprinted in the book. It can be maddening, at times, because we want to see exactly what he's talking about. My family's incomplete collection lies in another continent, otherwise it would be nice to have it at hand for referencing these things. Keep yours at hand. The book, I suppose, would be gargantuan if Jones did include these bits. So, by rights, it is an excellent book, and I did enjoy reading it.

The thing I appreciate most about this book is the soberness (with no lapses into pretentiousness or portentousness) the author brings to his subject. A survey of Classics Illustrated, to be sure, could have very easily elicited yet another visually engaging pretty-picture book saddled with a stridently jokey, throwaway text --ala Chronicle Books. We can be thankful that the tone here is intelligent, the level of detail scholarly, and very few, if any, stones are left unturned. The author has done all his homework, giving all known writers, editors, artists of the series coverage commensurate with their contribution.

This is a thoughtful, caring volume that is so much more than a tribute to a long-gone comic series, although it could be read as that too. One can't help but feel this is a primer on the way more books about popular culture really ought to be written.

From 1941-71 Classics Illustrated comics introduced millions to abridged, comics-style version of literary masterpieces. Classics Illustrated tells of the birth of this popular medium, founded by Russian Jewish immigrant Kanter whose operations saw both the heyday and decline of the golden age of comics. The focuses on artists' creations is particularly involving.

Jed and Germaine have created an amazing tool. If a picture is worth a thousand words then they have assembled abundant volumes of coaching wisdom...and they can all fit in your brief case:-) I have already found myself referencing these powerful concepts in several of my coaching calls and presentations. If you are a coach or coach people in your work then you MUST have these books. If you have kids you need this book. It is an absolute perfect life and work companion.

The Power of Coaching...Engaging Excellence in Others!

I am excited about the Coaching Soup books by Germaine Porche and Jed Niederer. I have been a business coach for a number of years and have a library full of excellent coaching books. However, I have not found any books to compare with the positive, fun, and effective approach of these authors. Humor and the ability not to take oneself too seriously are important attributes. I am using their books for my own edification and entertainment and for my coaching clients who range from attorneys, financial advisors, funeral home owners, and other people who are in professions considered to be "very serious."

Great, fun, insightful. I can think of half a dozen coaches I want to send this to.

Brief, witty and insightful--the perfect combination for most written material, and the coaching industry is no exception. Jed and Germaine have once again contributed powerfully to the coaching profession.

I just love the cartoons that Germaine and Jed provide for the coaching industry! These books are funny, funny, funny! Providing coaching services myself, it helps to look at the lighter side from time to time. Thanks, you two, for giving us a way to let off steam in such a positive way!
Casey Lee, author of "52 Ways to Become Famous [and Sometimes Infamous]" Penworth Publishing

Although this book is written for adults, we purchased this book for our 7 year old son who is currently researching comics, their origins, and authors. It has been a constant companion...traveling with us everywhere! I have had the opportunity to read portions also and I too have found very well written, interesting and informative. The comics choosen have given our family quite few chuckles! Great for anyone who enjoys comics and wants to know more about comics through the years.

This gigantic collection of comics describes the strips that appeared in newspapers rather than on newsstands. There is a small amount of natural crossover, but the author is focused exclusively on what appeared in newspapers. For most of the main strips, he gives a brief historical recapitulation of the spirit of the times as well as a short biography of the people who created the strip. For the strips that have continued across generations of cartoonists, he explains when the transition took place and why.
As can be expected, the best part of the book is the cartoons. Walker gives a small but thorough sample of the flavor of the strip and how it changed over the years. There were some that I remember so well from my youth, in particular "Mandrake the Magician." When I was young, I always got up very early and opened the Sunday morning paper to read the cartoons. I always read them in the order from my least to most favorite. This meant that I shifted back and forth, but that was fine to me.
Even though I am now and will always remain a news junkie, the comics will always be my favorite part of the paper. They give us adventure, excitement and something to look forward to, and in this book you can learn a great deal about the people who made and continue to make them happen.

I've felt for a while that the newspaper comic strip is the most ignored form of popular art, rarely looked at critically. While comic books prosper and have gone well beyond the standard superhero format, the comic strip languishes, rarely allowing new and creative strips to break through, while "institutional" strips (those that have not been amusing for years but are institutions, such as Heathcliff or Crock) dominate the paper.

In this sense, this book is not very helpful; it is a relatively uncritical appreciation of the comics. Nonetheless, it is an excellent book, a good summary of the major artists and developments in the comics since World War II. All the big strips are here: Garfield, Peanuts, Doonesbury, Calvin & Hobbes, the Far Side and many more, along with plenty of material from bygone eras.

This book is around 50% text and 50% comics, so there is plenty of fun stuff to read in either format. For what it is - an appreciative history - it is fantastic. The only flaw is that Walker ignores the comic strips of alternative newspapers, therefore neglecting such important works as Groening's Life in Hell (without which, there would be no Simpsons).

For anyone who has ever enjoyed the comics, this book is a great look at the field and a lot of fun.

Blondie, Archie, Nancy, Pogo, Beetle Bailey to Peanuts, Garfield, Mutts and Calvin and Hobbes, here's a lavish, full-color, oversized, hardback, coffee table book celebrating the best part of the newspaper. Comics curator Brian Walker, son of Mort Walker (Beetle Bailey, Hi and Lois), collects the best examples of this much-loved medium over the last half century. Now that the companion volume, The Comics Before 1945, has appeared, Walker's labor of love is complete. Together these inviting volumes offer a compelling tribute to the art of the funny papers. And Amazon's irresistable price is nearly half off retail.

Hey,where to start in writing a review on a book about Comics, when one has been reading them for over 60 years.An excellent book in every way.Physically,this book is beautifully constructed,with top of the line paper,printing and color illustrations.A great dust jacket, as well as glossy hard covers printed with comic strips.A large volume 10X14 inches,over an inch thick and 326 pages...WOW! By the way ,there is a companion book,which is just as good,covering Comics before 1945;same size and by the same author.
What great memories this book brought back.I was born in 1935 and was an avid Comic Strip reader of 10 where this book starts.
While there are many strips covered in this book that are unfamiliar to me,and probably to most people;all my favourites are there.All through the years,in my opinion the Strips and writers were at their best in the 40's and 50's.But then that was when they were really growing up and so was I.
My favourites were Dick Tracy,Little Orphan Annie,Li'l Abner,Smilin' Jack,Popeye,Beetle Baily,Joe Palooka,Blondie,Tarzan,Captain Easy,Mandrake the Magician,Mutt and Jeff ,Smokey Stover,Henry,Superman,Terry and the Pirates,Pogo and later Doonesbury.
Dick Tracy was my overall favourite,especially in its prime with super characters such as Flattop,Mumbles,The Mole,Brow, B.O.Plenty,Gravel Gertie and little Pebbles,Pruneface,etc.,etc.
Then there was Li'l Abner with Daisy Mae and Ma and Pa Yokum.The nation wide craze set off by those wonderful Shmoos and then the creation of Sadie Hawkins Day antics that swept the schools and colleges.Nothing like that kind of stuff today!
I guess all this fun was just too much for the prudes of political correctness, and their misguided efforts put the end to it all.
At the height of the Comic Strip days,everyone was aware of the 'funnies'and knew all the characters.If you didn't know who Dagwood or Annie's dog Sandy,or Fearless Fosdick was;you just didn't know what was happening.There is nothing like it today.I found the papers kept dropping reader favourites,cutting back on the number of strips,introducing strips with agendas and social engineering,to the point many readers lost interest and abandoned them.
As a matter of fact ,I was really following only Pogo and Doonesbury for the last few years and sadly we have even lost Pogo.Dick Tracy is not even carried by out largest paper in Toronto.I just read the Tracy strips on the Net for 2005.Fletcher and Collins give it a good try,but the storylines and artwork fall way short of the master, Chester Gould.Not only that,punching the keyboard and reading the screen is a poor subsitute for sitting back with the funny papers enjoying a coffee after breakfast or dinner;again in my opinion.
This book also covers a lot of what I call cartoons,and does a great job of it,but cartoons just aren't what the world of Comic Strips was all about.
Walker has also included a huge list of references if one wants to dig further.
This book should not be thought of as a review of any particular strip.It is really a history of Comics,a reference to use if one wants a quick look-see of what a strip looked like and a little about the artists who drew the strips.It also tells a lot about what went on behind the scenes with the artists,newspapers and syndicates over the years.
It also talks about Comics as an artform.Here I agree,one only has to look at how the artwork progressed in a strip like Dick Tracy and more recently Doonesbury,to see the advancement from very simple sketches to excellent art of colors, silhouette,perspective and all, to appreciate it.
After reading the book, I hope one day to visit the International Museum of Cartoon Art;although I continue to think of the Comic Strips as one thing and Cartoons as something completely different.
A great gift for a friend or yourself if you were a follower of the "strips".

Have you ever thought "am I the only one this is happening to?" The author has a clever ability to bring humor to life's annoying nuances. There is something in this book everyone can relate to. This is a refreshing and honest funny voice on the scene today. Buy it, read it, LAUGH!

It's funny, it's poignant, it's real. And it's one of the best books I've read in a very long time, and I can see me reading it again and again.

Very funny and provocative at the same time. a must read for those who think they are normal and those who know they are not. Kari's description of her life's travel is hilarious. Looking forward to the next chapter of her life. Start writing Kari!!!

Reading the book, i didnt really know what to expect at all. Was it going to be a serious kind of book, or was it a funny one? Was it boring or helpful, or not.

After having read it i can say, it is a very good book. Kari Breed shows life, like we all know it, some problems small, some big, but i do think everyone can find himself in her position every once in a while. She manages to bring us one thing to mind: We share the same problems with so many other people. It is ok to feel the way she did at times and also, to laugh about the situations afterwards. To see how silly we are at times for being frustrated about so little things, and to realize life goes on, and they are no more then a little bump compared to our whole life. She manages to point these things out to us, that we would have trouble seeing ourselves.

A witty look at life from the perspective of Kari Breed. We find she is, like most of us, not nearly as self confident and superior as she'd like to be and copes with herself by a judicious application of biting, gritty humor. She had me laughing so hard my face hurt, and I'm sure the neighbors were ready to have me committed!
In her stories she reveals a profound understanding of her own character and give us the opportunity to laugh with her as she faces the challenges life throws her way.

I read this book over ten years, ago, while at university. It is impressive how much more detail and and information it contains than the TV series. I liked the BBC show, but it's hard to watch these days because everyone just looks so 1970s. The book however is timeless and, although it's all just a joke, it's truly an amazing source of unique insights into the workings of the British parliamentary system and the pressures and processes which influence it.

This is a book that I have read atleast 20 times since I bought it back in 1995 - I would suggest looking for a hardcover version since the wear and tear has taken its toll on my precious copy - its now held together with gaffers tape ...

anyhoo - this is probably the best political satire ever - and even though it was written back in the 80's it is more than relevant today in the day of the infamous spin cycle and the sparing between the Bush Admin and the press (not taking sides here)

Hey even Margaret Thatcher was a big fan as it truely represented how things worked, albeit in a very smartly funny and incisive way .... she even WROTE a skit along with her press sec that was PERFORMED by MT, Sir Humpy and Jim .... here is a link for more details

http://www.yes-minister.com/thatcherscript.htm

BUY this book and preserve it - I fear the day when copies of this book are no longer available in print form

if you like your humor understated and your wit dry (droll as humphrey would no doubt say), this book will be the best you have ever read. and it will stay that way.

the british civil service had a unique characteristic - it was not directly under the control of the political masters. this gave rise to a very interesting situation where the civil service and her majesty's servants were working towards entirely opposite ends. to the civil servant, imaginative and bold were the worst criticisms. change in any form was looked down upon - as we say here - "if it aint broke, dont fix it". the politicians (especially those new in office like hacker who weren't cynical enough not to care one way or the other) often came to office with lofty ideals of revolutionizing society and being the forefathers of a better tomorrow.

behind the curtain of civility, they (the civil servants and politicians) fought battle after battle. the art of realpolitik meant entirely diffent things to both sides. many of the battles went to the civil servants (Lord Humphrey being among the shrewdest) but at times Hacker (James Hacker - first minister and later Prime Minister) prevailed with his low cunning and fast realization that not everything was what it looked like.

each chapter is a revelation - the next time you read the news, you will see it in an entire different perspective after reading this book. action and motive are so far removed as to make the connection entirely unimaginable and the amount of time spent trying to do nothing seems at times appalling.

if slapstick is your cup of tea, stay away from this book. the humor is often less in what is said than in how it is said. the laughs never end. i have read this book 5 times now. the first time, you enjoy the humor for what it is. the second time, you start enjoying the situations, the broader picture, the political moves,and the sheer genius of humphrey. the third time you see how the characters develop. by the fourth time, it's like you're on crack. you cant explain it - you know what is going to happen next, you know the exact words. you still have to read it again. and again. and again.

Sir Humphrey Appleby, Sir Bernard Wooley, and Rt Honorable James Hacker... this is simply the most outstanding work of humorous fiction that lampoons the British civil service and politicians alike.

Based on the diaries of the minister, the series has been converted to a wonderful teleseries, where the casting has been done by someone who truly loves the book and has imbibed the characters so completely, that on later readings of the book, the television characters appear to the mind.

The book is a series of short stories, which expose the careful interplay between the British civil service and the British politicians, the role played by media, the foriegn office, the various departments etc. It is a wonderful set of stories, where the English is truly masterful!! I remember reading each story with a pencil and dictionary while writing the GRE many years ago,... this and its sequel, yes prime minister, are books which should receive their space in your cabinet.

I dont know why this says - Limited availability, these books are easily procured in India where they are being printed.

It is not uncommon for writers of britcoms to supplement a successful television series with a text-based adaptation, and such is indeed what writers Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay have done with Yes Minister (and its sequel, Yes Prime Minister). It is uncommon, however, to find such a good one.

Every bit as erudite and witty as the series upon which it is based, The Complete Yes Minister (originally published in 1984 and subtitled The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister), is ostensibly by the Right Hon. James Hacker MP (with Lynn and Jay serving merely as humble editors!). The year is 2019--and no this is NOT science fiction! Although Hacker kept a daily diary of his experiences and opinions whilst in office in the 1980s, the subsequent passage of time has resulted in the expiration of the Thirty-Year Rule. What this means is that the editors (who are writing from Hacker College, Oxford, by the way!) now conveniently have access to (and are able to publish) copies of all the memos and minutes written by Sir Humphrey Appleby (amongst others)--copies of which are included in the book, thereby providing us with a perspective other than Hacker's rather narrow (and, at least initially, innocent) one.

The book commences (as one would expect!) with the "Editors' Note." Lynn and Jay elaborate on the problems they encountered in editing the Diaries and how these were dealt with. Nevertheless, they admit it falls to us ultimately to decide for ourselves whether Hacker's account represents: "(a) what happened, (b) what he believed happened, (c) what he would like to have happened, (d) what he wanted others to believe happened, or (e) what he wanted others to believe that he believed happened"! The editors also include a note of thanks to Sir Humphrey (whose last days were spent in St. Dympna's Hospital for the Elderly Deranged!) for information gleaned from conversations which were held with him "before the advancing years, without in any way impairing his verbal fluency, disengaged the operation of his mind from the content of his speech."

The Diaries themselves are divided into twenty-one chapters (one chapter per episode) with 20 to 30 pages each (there are 514 pages in all). Of course there is dialogue (from Hacker's recollection), but the Diaries comprise so much more. The inclusion of copies of memos, letters, interviews, newspaper clippings, entries from Sir Humphrey's own diary, not to mention the recollections of Sir Bernard Woolley (from conversations with the editors) make for a far more dynamic, fun book than if the writers had merely presented us with the series' scripts. The format also allows for so much of Hacker's thoughts to be included--much of which we as viewers were never privy to. Finally, the Diaries are liberally annotated by the editors with helpful, humorously phrased bits of background information often pertaining to government workings or terminology--bits that are additional to the television series.

Of course, it is being a fan of the television series and having watched it with such enjoyment that makes this book (a UK publication) such a gem as we picture Hacker, Sir Humphrey, etc., in our mind's eye. But it is so creatively written, with all the original wit (and more), that it's a superb book in its own right--one which I'd recommend to anyone looking for an intelligent, hilariously witty, pun-filled book--one that also happens to offer a wealth of insight into the inner workings of the parliamentary system of government. For those, however, for whom this richly witty, intelligent series is a favourite, this book (together with it's sequel) really is a must-have, and I recommend it every bit as highly as the superb series upon which it is based!

This book is a wonderful read for those single and not...I must say it provides great insight into the male psyche and it made me laugh many times...Whether you are looking for some insight or a connection to your experience, this book is a wonderful read!

In this book, the perceptive author humorously offers insights into the male soul in the matters of love, dating and relationships in the modern world. This is not some pop-psychobabble about interpersonal relationships. It is a funny, well-written guide to love in the nineties written by someone who appears to have actually experienced it, not studied about it in a classroom. I would recommend it to men who want to learn more about themselves, and women who want to appreciate what drives a man to act as he does.

I enjoyed this book immensely. I laughed, giggled, and thought hummmm as I scanned through the pages. Actually, the author does a spectacular job at conveying what most men are thinking, but are afraid to say. I have read a billion relationship books, and this book, by far, has been the most helpful on my quest to find and/or create the perfect relationship. Let her read it, and you'll spend your time answering helpful and insightful questions; instead of making uncomfortable and unwanted suggestions. Read this book, and your love affair may last forever.

Bartula has found a way to take the most widely written subjects in America and make them interesting again. The book effectively serves up a creative and exciting outlook that will open your eyes and ears to some age old subjects. Then it goes one step further and makes you feel okay about about how, what, and why a guy does what he does in the eternal search for a good mate. He has several real life "tricks of the trade" that bubble out of the book page after page. A must read for any sex, age, or marital status.

Wow! Finally some insight into what most men REALLY think. Kudos to the author for finally giving women some type window into the male psyche. Being single, I would recommend it to anyone in the same boat and hope that, they too, can use some of the tips in their ventures!

If you haven't had the pleasure of experiencing Martha Bolton's comedy, I recommend that you dive in as soon as possible. Her side-splitting remarks regarding aging not only hit home, but leave you gasping for air. Be sure to get your copy of COOKING WITH HOT FLASHES today! Anne McDonald, Dancing Word Writers Network

Martha Bolton is hilarious. I have just recently dicovered Martha Bolton's books and I can't get enough. I bought 5 of her books already and I am looking for more. S.L. Chessor author of my Tongue Fell OutMy Tongue Fell Out

Martha Bolton does it again! Poignant enough to make you think--funny enough to make you laugh--and the quotes from famous folks becomes the icing on the cake.

Martha Bolton is one of those people who seems to see the humorous side of just about everything.

This book is for all of us who are over 40 and especially for women entering or experiencing menopause. All the physical and mental changes that come with aging can be depressing, but Ms Bolton shows how we can choose to look at the humorous side of it. She encourages the reader to accept and even chuckle at every new wrinkle and sagging body part.

This book is full of holsum, good-natured fun, and clean enough to give to your grandmother. Reading even one chapter a day is sure to help you out of the doldrums and remind you that God meant life to be enjoyed.

I enjoyed this book and hope to find more like it because I never want to outgrow a good laugh.

This is a great followup to Martha's earlier book on laughing your way through middle age, "Didn't My Skin Used to Fit?" I laughed until I cried...and when I went to get a tissue, I couldn't remember why I was crying. If you suffer from memory loss or flappy arms, you'll love this book.