Parodies Books

A voyage back into yesteryear is where author Drew Friedman is going to take his readers in "More Old Jewish Comedians". Going over known and forgotten voices back in comedy's golden era of the 1950s and 1960s, Friedman will show his readers everything there is to know about these comedians and what makes them truly great. This is a book for anyone seeking greater appreciation for the art form of stand up comedy as a whole, "More Old Jewish Comedians" is a must for all humor collections with a cross over to Judaic studies.

As Rodney Dangerfield might have quipped, "Drew Friedman has the Midas touch. Everything he touches turns into a muffler."

But seriously folks, can you believe he found MORE old Jewish comedians to paint so lovingly weird? MORE?! Who does he think he is? Oliver Twisted?

Buy this book....please!

Lovely work; the author has quite the gift with graphite. I could look at those faces forever- or at least until I am as old as these wonderful wonderful Jews. I'll probably just want to look out the window at that point.
Gave me quite a boost. Put zing in my step.The perfect wedding or bar mitzvah gift.

In the subset of cartooning known as caricature, there have been very few modern masters. The short list includes Mort Drucker, Jack Davis, David Levine and Al Hirschfeld. Another name must now be added to that list: Drew Friedman.

Drew specializes in that elusive art of the likeness, not something that every artist can achieve, and a talent even more rare among cartoonists (as opposed to formal portrait painters). In many ways Drew's exaggerated portraits capture more than a photograph ever could, giving lie to the notion that a photo is the most accurate visual representation of a person. Drew's caricatures go beyond photographs. He somehow sees what the camera doesn't.

Drew's approach is unique among his peers. Where Hirschfeld distills everything down to a few simple pen strokes - a line for a nose, a dot for an eye, a squiggle for a mouth, and a head of hair with hidden NINA's - Drew goes the other way, adding every freckle, dimple and age spot. Forget NINA - Friedman could hide the Declaration of Independence in just the wrinkles around the eye! Drew Friedman is the anti-Hirschfeld, or the Bizarro Hirschfeld, if you will. His paintings draw you in to a world of intimate details while still presenting an astounding likeness of his subject.

In this, his second volume of Old Jewish Comedians, Drew again takes on the challenge of portraying famous people not as we remember them, but as they look today (or as they did just before they left us). Yet beneath that patina of age... that connect-the-dots maze of liver spots... those layers of wrinkled skin... (and in the case of Joan Rivers, beneath her brand new face)... we can still recognize the familiar faces of the funnymen and funnywomen that we know and love. That makes More Old Jewish Comedians a joy to behold. It's more of the same, and I can't get enough!

The introduction by Larry Gelbart adds extra Jewish-ness and humor to the 35 wonderful drawings (Drewings?) in this book. Highly recommended.

A style all his own, with linguistic skills targeting your funny bone. He finds humor everywhere and shares it with you masterfully. Build your vocabulary and increase your insight into others while laughing so hard you make people wonder what you are reading.

Wit is often not associated with the academe. Therefore it is a suprise to see such wit in Stephen Leacock. As a professor of Economics at McGill University in the mid 20th century, Leacock was counted among Canada's greatest humorists.
In the Nonsense Novels, Leacocks unleashes parodies of most literary genres: The Great Detective, the first tale, satirizes Arthur Conan Doyle's Scandal in Bohemia.
There are tales of capers involving gullible women, a desert island landing with an alternate ending, analysis of societal conditions, and some stories that are plain nonsense.
A Hero in Homespun and the Man in Asbetoes are two worth reading; the latter being a farcical exposition on the future of capitalism and scientific advancement - very scary, if it were not so funny.

I was introduced to Leacock while browsing gutenberg.org, and have not been disappointed.
If you feel overwhelmed by the importance attached to triviality today, then you might do well to pick up and read the Nonsense Novels.

Where do I begin to describe the absolutely astonishing quality of Leacock's work? I first heard of Stephen Leacock when reading a book about the Marx brothers. It seems Groucho was on a train, and happened to pass the room of Jack Benny (who was traveling with them, working on the same vaudeville circuit. Groucho heard Benny screaming with laughter, and popped his head into Benny's room to see what the commotion was. Benny told Groucho that it was a book by Leacock, whom Groucho admitted to not knowing. Benny told Groucho, "It's the funniest stuff I've ever read!" Groucho later bought a copy of the book, loved it as much as Benny, and said that he always looked for anything written by Stephen Leacock.

Okay, but what about his stories? Leacock's stock in trade was the parody of classic literature - stories about humble girls of (unknowingly) noble ancestry, who are engaged to work as servants for title lords, only to fall in love with the son of the mansion are turned into hysterically funny romps, where the lies not in the intentionally funny line, but in carefully crafted twists of standard sentence construction.

A sample, from the above-described story, called "Gertrude the Governess; or Simply Seventeen":

"Young Ronald said nothing; he flung himself from the house, flung himself upon his horse, and rode madly off in all directions."

Leacock treats the classic tale of knighthood (handsome, strong knight declares his love for the gentle maiden of the castle, and she loves him too, though they've never met) to similarly wicked entanglement of story and prose.

"Sorrows of a Super Soul" tells the classic Russian tale of an unrequited love, while "Carolyn's Christmas" the story of the old farmer, his family away (one son in the city, another in prison), his farm mortgaged, and a strange girl happening upon the family on Christmas Eve, with a baby, but no wedding ring. Both of these, and all other stories in this slim book, will have you laughing until you cry.

Buy a copy, get hooked. If Groucho and Jack Benny thought this was the best humor ever, how can it not satisfy you too?

Leacock is one of a handful of literary parodists and humorists (Perelman, Benchley, Twain) whose parodies, though more or less a century old, are still laugh-out-loud funny. If you're a Sherlock Holmes fan, Leacock's "Maddened by Mystery: or, The Defective Detective" will make you chortle. If you appreciate romance novels, "Gertrude The Governess" will still tickle. Canadian Leacock was a master humorist with a light touch, and an unerring deflator of cliche and presumption. This collection of short pieces will still entertain the sophisticated fan of written humor, and should be in every collection.

*Note: The full text of this book is available online.

If you have a saracastic sense of humor (or know someone who does) this is great! If you like the Daily Show, get these. These books are so funny. I would recommend this book to anyone who is in need of: good, hardy laughter, the perfect present, or an interesting set of books. This is truly a great set and a great value.

A longtime fan of The Onion, I bought this set for a friend's birthday. Our birthday dinner in a sedate restaurant ended up with five of us reading headlines out loud, laughing so loud that we were reprimanded by the staff. Cynicism lives!

This box set is HILARIOUS! The three books (Our Dumb Century, The Onion's Finest News Reporting, Dispatches From the Tenth Circle) that are in here are all great. I challenge you to read this, and not laugh! I bought this as a gift for my friend, and we just died laughing everytime we read any of it. It is just the best!

It's also a really good price, and makes a great gift. If you know anyone who loves The Onion, or any similar types of humor, I totally recommend this!

I've reading The Onion since it was a freebie paper in southern Wisconsin and worried it would lose it's edge when it went national...NOT AT ALL. Though not for the easily offended, it is laugh-out-loud, wet-your-pants funny as well as dead center in it's satire of life in these United States.

A collection with a poem that connects to everyone, old or young. Real life experiences are seen through the eyes of a mult-faceted young man with dreams, desires and the occasional goofy thought. Read it because I know you'll love it!. . . and cause I'll hurt you if you don't. ;-)

This is a wonderful collection of poems. Heartwarming and evocative, this book appeals to a broad audience and offers both enjoyable treasures and some nice surprises. It is a very pleasant read.

A wonderfully comforting collection of emotions and metaphors. Highly recommended.

There isn't much about this book that doesn't speak for itself. Though told in verse form, it is a story. A story of life, death, love, fear, wonder, and occasionally, just plain silliness. Through it, you start to get a picture of the writer: a deep, quiet, but quirky young man with an extraordinary talent. He takes you by the hand and invites you to step inside his world, one poem at a time, one word at a time, as he parodizes himself, and, through himself, every person who has ever looked at the moon and thought of someone they love.

As a word freak, grammar junkie, romance reader and lover of all things funny, I would like to recommend "The Passionate Papers of Fiona Pilgrim" to all. Not only have I read it multiple times, but also I have given it as a gift to those in my life who need a good laugh.

I bought this book because I was attending John Rubadeau's writing class at the University of Michigan as this book was being published. He was so hysterically funny, brilliantly interesting, and fantastically energetic about grammar and writing that I knew that this book would reflect his passion for the English language and for life in general! Boy, was I right!!
Great work of art, John!!!

When I first picked it up, the title made me think that this WAS a romance novel. What makes it such a hysterical book is that it's about an erudite manly-man in financial trouble who thinks the easiest way to make a quick buck is writing a trashy romance novel. Only he doesn't know how so he seeks help from the most successful romance novel author of all.

What I like best is the style of prose and the difficulties the main character, Joe Leonard, has as he writes from three different personas: himself, Fiona Pilgrim (the fawning housewife would-be author seeking the help), and the romance novel heroine. I can't stop laughing while I read how he tries to keep it up. This is a great novel.

If you laughed at the "Remains of the Day" lunch boxes and "Dinner with Andre" action figures in "Waiting for Guffman", and if you fed off the original plot twists in "World According to Garp" - in short if you want a great laugh delivered via terrific writing, this is a book to add to your library.

In the beginning we meet Joe Leonard, frustrated legit writer,desperate for income, who adopts a pseudonym (Fiona Pilgrim), with the intention of hacking out romance novels.

Been there (with above plot) and done that, you might think, but you haven't been where this author takes you. After setting the premise, author Rubadeau reveals his tale through a series of letters from his protaganist, Joe to an academic mentor at Harvard, from Joe (as Fiona) to June Featherstone (Britain's top romance author), and from June to Fiona. As three romance stories develop, those real more implausible than those fictional, we learn the do's and don'ts of authoring romance (i.e., romance readers aren't generally fluent in foreign languages, but we can skip translating "cul-de-sac"), along with more details about Romania than we ever hoped (or wanted) to know.

In one sentence, I recommend "The Passionate Papers of Fiona Pilgrim" because it's well-crafted and fun!

I came to this book by way of the film. The book is a delightful set of essays about raising kids (boys), buying a home and working (writing). The book stands the test of time well, continuing to be funny and relevant. The book's only problem is that it is too short!

It's remarkable how undated this book reads: children are still driving their moms crazy, husbands still have jobs that wives have to work around, and women still have to fit their jobs around the rest of the family...Kerr writes about domestic life, work life (although she was self-employed as a writer, she didn't seem to have tons of free hours to devote to her craft-- and most of her plays didn't do that well; she is roughly comparable to an affluent working mom of today, doing many jobs, but none of them especially well). What I love most about this book, in these days of articles on supermoms and the "mommy-wars," is that Kerr doesn't pretend to be Mrs. Perfect, or even Mrs. Tries So Hard. She admits she wants to sleep till noon; and she is a faithful attendee at nearly every play her critic husband must review, because, as she puts it, "I have four young sons, so naturally I need to get out a lot." Funny, relevant, and somewhat neglected among the canon of humor writing--when WILL women be allowed to be funny?

An hilarious collection of essays by Jean Kerr , playwright, wife and mother. Very funny and unsentimental accounts of family life, full of wonderfully quotable lines. For instance, when she speaks of looking for a larger house "I wanted a house that would have four bedrooms for the boys, all of them located some distance from the living-room - say in the next country somewhere". Her comments on theatrical life are as funny as her comments on family life, as when she observes that the failure of a play, according to the producer, is always to be blamed on "that first-night audience". She understands children better than any child psychologist, as when she observes that you should never say to children "Are you trying to drive your poor moomy smack out of her mind?" Of course they are, but do you think they'll admit it?" A funny, funny book.

well, maybe my title is going a bit too far, but this book has long been one of my favorites. it is not a well known book, despite having had a tv show and movie based on it. i think it is sad, since this collection of stories deserves to be known by all. it is not deep reading, by any means, as the title most assuredly reveals, but it is fun reading, reading that will take your mind off things. the stories in this book are a collection of jean kerr's various magazine articles reflecting on her life, her family, and the always amusing events that surround her. this book may have been written in the fifties, but most of the things she discusses still occur today in everyday life. i recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a lighthearted laugh and a good read. you won't be sorry you took a trip into the garden. (gosh that was a bad pun!)

This is a great yoga guidebook. I take it with me on business trips, and use it to come up with my own yoga routines in the hotel. It's been a great help to me, and has really got me into the habit of practicing yoga every day. Highly recommended.

This little book delivers all that it promises and much more. The droll commentary and Vera's charming personality make learning (or remembering) yoga postures (asanas) and their sometimes difficult names really fun. Vera is empathic, humble and humorous. Intended as a supplement to yoga classes, Pocket Yoga gently coaxes, encourages and amuses practicioners of all levels. Small enough to tuck in your gym bag, large enough to make a great gift to fellow yoginis, this unique book is a gem.

This book has made Yoga so much easier for me in my busy life. I can take it anywhere (and we all know how our exercise suffers when we travel). The visuals and explanations about the poses make it easy to learn and remember. As if that is not enough, the book is educational as it teaches all the terms and pronunciations to make you sound like an expert. And last but not least, she'll have you laughing along the way!! It's simply genius.

I love this little book! Vera Sana is smart, funny, and very knowledgeable about the asanas. Let her be your guide through the various poses, explaining everything as she goes. Before long you will learn to pronounce the Sanskrit names and understand the connections between the asanas. Her suggestions for getting into and out of each pose are based on her years of yoga practice, which she does imperfectly every day. Her thoughts about each pose will bring a new dimension to your own yoga practice.
This book is the perfect size to take with you everywhere you go. Use it for inspiration, motivation, or reference. Vera will soon become a trusted friend. She does her best, and as she says, that is all anyone can ask.

The Book is a masterpiece of confusion, philosophy, humor and a religion that only starts out seeming ridiculous, as you read and reread the book you start to find the wisdom that Malaclypse the Younger was trying to convey and yet wrap his own head around at the time. I have owned three copies of this book and evey time i rebuy it and reread it i get somthing new from it. So grab your copy and all hail Eris.

I recently noticed that I couldn't find my purple version of this book. I have absolutely no idea what happened to it. But if that hadn't happened, I never would have known that there was a hard cover version out. Something mysterious is going on. You should buy this book.

Finally! Principia Discordia in hardback! It's about time too. It seems I've been waiting thirty odd years for this version. I've worn out and given away so many paperback copies I have now gifted myself a permanent version. Just check out all those neat little additions too, like the 'outroductions' and the bit about the...

No, I'm not going to spoil it for you. Just buy it!

It's awesome to finally see what may be one of the most stealthily influential books of the later 20th century in hardback. A definite must have, especially if you're like me and have already destroyed two paperback copies from over reading...

El libro nos muestra UNA VALIENTE SITUACION, así como la dureza con que sufren las personas del campo¡ Tal como es!

QUE LLORAS DE TRISTEZA, TE RIES, TE INDIGNAS...LO QUE SEA MENOS DEJAR DE LEERLA !

NO te la pierdas... esta fuera de serie !
AQUI SE HAN VENDIDO 25,000 EJEMPLARES EN DOS MESES !

REVELADOR DE LA TRAGEDIA DE FONDO...
ES NOVELA, CRONICA, CUENTO DE HORROR, COSQUILLEO Y LAGRIMAS...
UN LIBRO fuera de serie !

de carcajadas abiertas y una SÀTIRA AGUDA DEL SISTEMA POLITICO EN UN PAIS TERCERMUNDISTA...

Los personajes parecen caminar, reir y correr entre las pàginas y no puede uno menos que pensar que, MIENTRAS LOS PAÌSES DESARROLLADOS BUSCAN SU QUESO...NOSOTROS NO ENCONTRAMOS NI LOS FRIJOLES !

Esta bellamente escrita, con diàlogos vivos y personajes MUY FUERTES !

This wonderful book is a collection of three short stories, in which the author takes the befuddled Bertie Wooster, and drops him and the inimitable Jeeves into the world of H.P. Lovecraft! Hilarity ensues as Bertie drifts cluelessly along from adventure to hair-raising adventure with a cheery "What ho!"

This is a very funny book, one that should not be missed by any fan of Jeeves and Wooster. I think that the author does an excellent job of reproducing a believable Jeeves and Wooster, making the story feel like it was written by the great P.G. Wodehouse himself. My favorite line has to be Bertie's statement that, "Life is a hideous thingummy." I loved this book, and give it my highest recommendations!

Picture if you will Bertie Wooster from the Bertie and Jeeves stories of Wodehouse, thrust into a series of horrible Lovecraft situations. He responds with a series of hilarious non sequiturs and light-headed nitwit-isms, even when conversing with the locquacious and flowery characters of Lovecraft's most overwrought dialogue.

The humor of these three tales is all in the contrast between the styles of the two masters, who must have been contemporaries of a sort, but who hailed from such different worlds. Peter Cannon takes this running joke about as far as it can go, borrowing liberally from the plots of several of HPL's most famous chillers, while Bertie supplies all the jokes from soup to nuts.

If I could, I would have given this fine effort ten stars. Bertie Wooster, P.G. Wodehouse's wonderful upper class twit, somehow becomes involved in the surrealistic universe of H.P. Lovecraft and the wise Jeeves pulls him out. Cannon could have played this strictly for cheap laughs, but no, he clearly and genuinely loves these characters and does all he can to make this an honest and truthful pastiche. I truely love this book (or, at 89 pages, booklet) and only wish I could buy it in hard cover because my copy is falling apart from constant re-reading.

Truly a hilarious mixing of early 1900's British comedic aristocracy and Lovecraft. Anyone who gets a kick out of the kind of upper-class twits that populate Monty Python's comedy will love to see how a famous example interacts with Lovecraft's mind blasting horrors. When it's take on Lovecraft's "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" is titled "The Rummy Affair of Young Charlie" and poor Captain Norris is constantly referred to as "Tubby", you know you're in for some true ripping yarns! Highly recommended humor for the fan of Lovecraft and British humor.