Humor Books

Pearls Before Swine is an awesome strip. I only wish I could meet the sughor in person!

For a Pearls Before Swine fan, it's an excellent choice.
If you've not read the comic strip before, read a few online first. It's a well written strip that definitely keeps the reader entertained. I've not been disappointed in the least by any of Stephan Pastis' books.

The cartoon characters are my favorite and having this book is wonderful.
It is to read over and over and over and when and where I want.

Pastis is a genius. When I need a lift, I just open to any page and read until I can't stop laughing.

This is a bizarre little cartoon with a great warped sense of humor. One warning; if you don't like puns and word play, this isn't for you, because this book has some of the worst puns I've ever read. Very clever.

The two main characters are Rat and Pig. Pig is sweet, naive and more than a little stupid. Rat on the other hand smokes, drinks and is arrogant as well as slightly psychotic. Other characters pop up like Zebra who has had numerous friends and relatives eaten by lions. These animals go to work and go out on dates, and make political and social statements that only cartoon animals can get away with. Pearls Before Swine is along the same lines as Bloom County and Far Side. It's not at that level yet, but is well on its way.

I first met Betty McDonald when I read The Egg and I, back in high school in the Pacific Northwest in the late 1960s, and I was completely enthralled. First of all: she writes extremely well. Her sentences are terse and well-formed, and she has a knack for shaping quips of all kinds: the quick laugh, the sudden surprise laugh line, and the careful set-up gag. Most of all, though, I find myself laughing aloud (she's one of the few authors who makes me laugh aloud while reading) at the perfection of a sentence which is at the same time witty, perfectly balanced, completely appropriate, and completely unexpected.

You will find all this - in spades - in Onions in the Stew. It is a mellower book than the others, for many reasons; she was older when she wrote it - and, I think, happier in her second marriage; also, her already considerable skill at writing had grown. Her descriptions of Vashon Island in the 1940s are utterly perfect: beautiful, clever, and bittersweet all at once. Her descriptions of her husband and daughters - and others in her family - are full of warmth, and are at the same time completely clear-eyed and unsentimental.

Frankly, comparing Betty to Erma Bombeck is like comparing Julia Child to Rachael Ray. They can both cook - but, oh boy, I know whose house I'd like to visit for lunch . . .

I first read Onions in the Stew almost thirty years ago, in a Reader's Digest Condensed Books version, and I never forgot it. What a JOY to receive the complete version as a gift years later, along with The Plague and I, and Anybody Can Do Anything, when they were reissued by The Common Reader. I absolutely devoured them, passed them around among my friends & loved ones (keeping track of who had them, very uncharacteristic but they're the kind of books you never want to lose!!!!) and agree with every five-star reviewer here, especially "pony-express," that Betty is the best friend you never met. Also enjoyed the comment about how much fun heaven will be, to drink strong coffee & yak with Betty MacDonald. She is still as witty today as when she wrote her books, utterly classic and fresh, laugh-out-loud and tremendously endearing without EVER being cloying. Such a cut above. Her other books are equally wonderful, and I just wish more people were exposed to her; she's a tonic for stress, an antidote to depression. So glad there are others out there who love her as I do!

I've just finished the fourth Betty MacDonald memoir. Thank you Amazon for the access to all these out of print books!
I now know what's going to be fun in Heaven - chatting with Betty over strong cups of coffee.
These books were like discovering a new best friend. I've never been so entertained by reading. What a gal!

Having finished my previous book and waiting for Amazon's free shipping promo to buy more, I picked up this book collecting dust in my book closet. I was pleasantly surprised.

It is smart and funny and so down-to-earth that you have to instantly like Betty as your best friend. Althouhg I am not a big fan of women titles (those seems to dominate the New York Times bestsellers list these days), I laughed out loud on a plane from Washington DC to Houston on a business trip. Who knew that everyday domestic issues can be so light and funny?

Anyway, just try it. You will find it more enjoyable than you want to admit.

"The Egg and I." As I said in my review of the earlier book, although I found parts of "Egg" charming, the chapter on Indians made my part-Cherokee blood boil, and that other parts seemed rather mean-spirited as well.

There is none of the mean-spiritedness in "Onions", probably because, in spite of the various toils and tribulations of life on the island, Betty was basically happy there, as opposed to "Egg" where she was mostly miserable.

I loved the part about the small woman who loved to curl up on soft, comfy places like sofas, armchairs, and other women's husbands' laps. I wondered, though, why Betty didn't just ask her to step out into the garden and then drop-kick her across the straight to Seattle? I'm sure she could have gotten some of the other women in their circle of friends to help.

Many of the events she tells of show us that teenage girls have always been a handful, whatever they say. However, in spite of all the complaining and whining, the girls were willing to pich in; how many girls their age nowadays would have something like stuffed pork chops waiting when their parents came home from work?

While "Egg" left me wondering why anyone in their right mind would want to run a chicken farm in the middle of a howling wilderness, "Onions" made me wonder if living on an island might not be fun.

The Bloom County strip is social and political satire at its' best. Breathed has developed such distinct characters that their strengths and weaknesses are exaggerations of those that we possess and encounter in others in our daily lives. Among other things, you see political puffery, self-absorbed hedonistic males; swipes at the pompous mass media and consumer psychology. All are done in the distinctive Breathed style that will cause you to nod your head in agreement as you laugh.

I bought this book at a ued bookstore in fairly bad shape, but it was excellent.
Bloom County is one of the funniest comics out on the streets today. If you want to start reading Bloom County, Though, don't start with this book! Start with "Billy and the Boingers BOOTLEG". I just read this book at school, and I thought it was hilarious. This is an excellent book. The best series, i'd say, would be when Steve Dallas becomes Mr. America. That was SO Funny!
But, the best strip in this comic is the one when Opus and Portnoy are sitting in the pond, and pous tells about his favorite song (Yesterday)
Read This comic!

Close your eyes and go back in time 20 years. Ronald Reagan is in the White House and getting ready to run for a second term against Walter Mondale. Disco, Heavy Metal, and Michael Jackson compete for space on a new network, MTV. In the funnies, Bloom County provides a humorous take on American society. This collection from 1983 and 1984 can take you back to those golden days when the Soviet threat made terrorists seem insignificant.

I love the "Bloom County" seiries - the deranged goings on of various animals and humans, Steve Dallas the lawyer, Opus and of course, Bill the Cat. Mr Breathed's humor is right on target and very funny.

I recommend this book highly

Bloom County was one of the greatest comic strips ever to have existed, and possibly the best comic in the whole decade of the 1980's and that was when Calvin and Hobbs (by Bill Watterson) and The Far Side (by Gary Larson) were in their prime.

The best comic strips today are Scott Adams' Dilbert (which jumped the Shark a few years back, but still have good moments), Get Fuzzy (by Darby Conley) and a few online comics, most notably User Friendly (by Illiad) and Sinfest (by Tatsuya Ishid). See www.userfriendly.org and www.sinfest.net for some good stuff.

Bloom County dealt with political and social issues in original and novel ways. He didn't shy away from issues, and always dealt with things in a nice and funny way. Lovable Opus the Penguin became the soul of the strip. The plush Opus dolls I still own to this day are some of my favorite possessions.

Yes, it does look a lot like Gary Trudeau's Doonesbury. But Breathed was not copying it, but satirizing it and paying homage to it at the same time. Especially the way Milo Bloom played when compared to the Doonesbury's Uncle Duke... who Trudeau was just spoofing off from the real life Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (author who is most famous for his quasi-novel "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas").

However, my favorite character was Oliver Wendell Holmes, the young computer hacker who fought apartite in South Africa through his invention, which was going to turn all the white people in South Africa black. Then there was the time he basically brought down Western Civilization as we knew it when he hacked into the New York Stock Exchange and put "A vast Ye mattes, Bank of America's about to go belly up" across the ticker. He got a well deserved spanking for that.

Most important to me, however, Bloom County forms one of the great memories I have from High School. Reading Bloom County and talking about it with friends was something I really have fond memories of from that time. Maybe it was just something from youth that maybe you remember as a little better than it really was. Things like "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams and the Night Court TV series seem that way to me now. Heck, I find much of Night Court to now be unwatchable. But Bloom County still seems to be very much readable to me. The 1980's in most ways basically stunk. But there were some minor high points to civilization as we knew it, and Bloom County was one of them.

This book was probably the best of the regular collections. It is good that I now hear that Breathed may be restarting Bloom County again.

The book arrived yesterday and I spent hours last night perusing it learning about all things pirate. I'm not a pirate groupie or anything, but I got sucked in. I kept thinking I'd put the book down any minute to go fix dinner . . . watch TV . . . go to bed . . . you get the idea. The book is just fun. There is a hidden treasure quest at the back of the book. Even though the "contest" is officially over, I had fun just messing around with the clues, which would lead me to other discoveries, which would lead to even more cool stuff. Before I knew it, I'd lost the evening just playing with this book. It is certainly not a book you would sit down and read cover to cover, it's in more of a dictionary or encyclopedia format than a book of prose, but its entries are fascinating, and you can quickly while away the hours trying to solve the puzzle, learning the lingo for every situation a pirate might encounter, and learning to insult your friends and enemies in pirate-speak.
If you're even remotely interested in pirates, do yourself a favor and get a copy of this book.

Basicly a text book for pirate wannabes. Everything you wanted to know about pirates and more can be found in this book

Who would ever expect to find such a fun book! My daughter loves Pirates and I had read that Sept. 19 is talk like a Pirate book, she loves it! Only at Amazon would expect such a find!

THE PIRATE PRIMER: MASTERING THE LANGUAGE OF SWASHBUCKLERS AND ROGUES represents the only general reference to examine the language of pirates, offering up a pirate vocabulary complete with pronunciation and grammar. Three centuries of distinctive terms and usages from TV, literature and history blend into entries organized by 'oaths', 'commands', 'retorts' and more. Any writer involved in pirate representation needs thorough knowledge of the lingo, making THE PIRATE PRIMER a pick for any writer's library.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This is a great volume for a writer to add to his library. As people have probably mentioned, it's separated into handy categories such as "Retorts" and "Malapropisms." My only caveat for a writer of historical fiction is to watch out for the fictional sources, which seem to be the majority. I'm not sure how authentic they are and I'm wary of that. I'd stick with sources like "General History of the Pyrates," Woodes Rogers, Exquemelin, and William Dampier. I feel safe with Defoe and Marryat, as they were experienced seamen writing for contemporaries.

I really, really, really, liked this book. Pure genius. In hindsight, I wish my book had been more like this one.

Jim Meddick has consigned Robotman to exile in outer space since Primary Crullers was published, but Monty continues with Mr. Pi, Fleshy, Moondog et al to amuse us all.

This collection is from the Robotman days and is worth five stars from anyone. The Conspiracy Theorists strip alone is worth the cover price, and I have friends who have fallen off the sofa laughing at some of Meddick's pages.

I absolutely loved this book. Jim Meddick has a great sense of humor. Please do the responsible thing and contact your local newspaper. If they don't run "Robotman" in their daily comic section, they should. As a former newspaper reporter and editor, I can tell you that it was one of our most popular strips.

I bought this on a whim, actually. It turned out to be the best buy I've ever made. Satire doesn't get much better. I have the Robotman homepage as my startup page on the Internet. Sadly, it's hard to find Robotman collections in Sweden, you have to order them on-line if you want them. But the next time someone I know goes to the States, I'll have them buy all collections there is, just like I once bought all Calvin&Hobbes...

If you have read and liked Robotman before you will love this collection! It contains selected strips from around 1994 to the end of -96 (plus two sunday-strips from -97), including the X-File satire where the origin of Robotman and what happened to the Milde-family he lived with finally is revealed! My only complaint is that it doesn't include all strips there is. I want them all, everyone of them!

I continue to be a fan of Pastis and his managery of rats, pigs, and whatall.

I consider buying a Pearls collection to be a health investment. Doctors say that laughing is good for your heart, and Pearls Before Swine has to have added at least a year to my life. I think this collection is all of 2005 comic strips, and I would recommend reading the previous 2 books BLTs Taste So Darn Good, and This Little Piggy Stayed Home. Or better yet, get the treasury Sgt. Piggy's Lonely Hearts Club Comic, which has both (and the Sunday strips are in color). I haven't read the "Lions and Tigers and Crocs, Oh My!" treasury yet but I suspect it has all the strips in this book.

Ever since I discovered PBS in our local paper I have been a devoted fan of Pastis' different? sense of humour. I have turned my friends and relatives on to PBS as well. I have made it a goal to buy all his books so I will have a complete collection that I can put beside my 'The Complete Far Side' and 'The Complete Calvin & Hobbes Collection'. PBS has earned the right to be in this great company.
Buy this book, in fact buy all his books; a mind this warped deserves to be rewarded.

Mandatory reading for Pearls fans, plus you'll gain new insights into the secret lives of condiments.

I am a huge fan of Pearls Before Swine, and bought this book to add to my collection. The comics are great!

My only complaint is, I already owned one of his anthologies: Lions and Tigers and Crocs, Oh My! All but about three of the cartoons in this book (Ratvolution) are in Lions and Tigers and Crocs. It was really disappointing to spend another seven or eight dollars for all the same cartoons.

Otherwise, it's great, classic Pearls.

This is another great book from Pat McManus, he was the only reason I used to read Outdoor Life. Pat's ability to take outdoor situations and put a clever dry twist to them is the best.

Real Ponies Dont Go Oink by Patrick F. Mcmanus is about a whole bunch of outdoor humor stories. He tells about different things that happend in his life but he uses other peoples names. The humor that Patrick Mckmanus puts into the stories makes the book hilarious. Patrick Mckmanus not only showed that he could write a funny book, but it was also easy to read. His style in the book would like you're seeing it from different angles. One minuite it feels like you are in the book , the next minuite it feels like you're watching other people. Patrick Mckmanus went from funnny to hilarious. Overall, this book was the funniest book I have ever read. I highly recomend that you take the time to read this book and enjoy it. It will make you lagh untill you cry.

Real Ponies Dont Go Oink by Patrick F. Mcmanus is about a whole bunch of outdoor humor stories. He tells about different things that happend in his life but he uses other peoples names. The humor that Patrick Mckmanus puts into the stories makes the book hilarious. Patrick Mckmanus not only showed that he could write a funny book, but it was also easy to read. His style in the book would like you're seeing it from different angles. One minuite it feels like you are in the book , the next minuite it feels like you're watching other people. Patrick Mckmanus went from funnny to hilarious. Overall, this book was the funniest book I have ever read. I highly recomend that you take the time to read this book and enjoy it. It will make you lagh untill you cry.

Wow!!! This is the funniest book I have ever read. The way McManus writes is so unique, subtle humor along with out right hiariousness (if that's a word). Both men and women, country and city will enjoy this outdoor humor. I liked the fact that it was a bunch of short stories that you could read like a novel. It had the same main characters so you didn't have to always learn new people, but you could set the book down for days(if you could last that long)and not get confused. This is my first book of his and I cant wait to read more.

'Pass out laughing' funny

I have always thought that Patrick McManus is the funniest writer on the planet. I read his stories when I need to laugh or relax. Sometimes I irritate my wife by reading it in bed. I try not to laugh out loud, but I only succeed in sounding like I am trying to muffle continuous sneezes.

However, not everyone gets it. I have been shocked by watching people read McManus without so much as a smile (though most start snorting like wild pigs on acid) . My only guess is that getting McManus requires a couple things. First, it requires some understanding of his experiences. He absolutely nails all of the stupid things 'outdoorsmen (outdoors people)' do and think, but don't want anybody to know about. Second, you have to see the self-deprecating aspect of his humor. Third, you can't look for great literature in integrated books. Patrick McManus is an excellent writer, if you see these as independent stories simply collected in a volume. They are meant for adults who want to laugh at themselves. So, If you are willing to or already meet the above three criteria, you will love this book.

By the way, I am a professor of clinical psychology and (other than worrying a little about McManus) I sometimes recommend this and other McManus books. I do this with people who have racing thoughts and anxiety at bedtime, and when I believe they have the necessary experiences to find it funny. It often works quite well. I think of his stories as little pieces of happiness. (Oh, that even makes me sick to hear. Sorry)

After reading and reviewing Fire Fell From Heaven by E. Don Harpe, I went back and re-read this great story. Redneck Riviera is absolutely as good, or maybe even a bit better, than any of the redneck humor you will find on the market today.

None of the famous comedians have anything in their acts any better than this story, and I'm surprised that at least a few of them haven't read this and commented on it.

Redneck Riviera is a very funny, very well written story, and I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.

The idea of a redneck from Tennessee meeting an alien that may be even more of a redneck is something that is new and refreshing, and the twist at the end will have you nodding in agreement, while laughing at how ironic it truly is.

Hilarious and well-written is this clever short story by E. Don Harpe. What an incredible imagination and ingenious play on words that keeps readers looking for more and laughing along the way. I thoroughly enjoyed Redneck Riviera and can't wait to see what other adventures JorG and Billy Joe may go on in the future.

5/17/06

I grew up reading Stephen King and have quite an appetite for well written, keep you coming back to the book, fiction.

This is one of those reads that will not only interest you but keeps your interest.

Mr. Harpe's work on the Harpe Brothers is also amazing and a great true story of two of the most infamous brothers in our nation's history but a story not told.......................and there is a reason why it is still whispered.

Both pieces are deservedly worth the read.

Angela T. Taylor
Charlotte, NC

A sidesplitting Amazon Short well worth every read twice or thrice. Already a fan of E. Don Harpe's Stubian green and in love with the Southern drawl, I read Redneck Riviera after Talladega Twostep. What a laugh. JorG's experiences in NayesBul and subsequent DromBo episodes were enough to get me going. When lil' green fella crashes into Gurm12, commonly known as Earth, he surprises Billy Joe, who thinks the concussed alien bears ugliness close enough to brother-in-law Jack's. A story unfolds and, with it, an unlikely alliance. Characters are fleshed rather well here and I am tempted to re-read Talladega Twostep just for the heck of it.
Eugen M. Bacon
Author: The Hybrid/ The Firemaker: A Hybrid Story

REDNECK RIVIERA shot out of the literary sky with an easy, entertainingly simple style, capturing the reader through JorG's disgust with himself for taking a short-cut home, disgust with his spaceship for being a used rattletrap on its last jig.

After chuckling through the read of REDNECK RIVIERA, I would speculate that this series of 4 Amazon Shorts has earned the gorgeous graphics on the square gem covers, each owning its unique squiggly road/path heading up the right side of the design.

The humor popped percolation with:

>> JorG didn't really like the music, but he'd learned to live with it, especially after he had a few glasses of DromBo. To be honest, the naked part wasn't so bad either. That is, after one had grown accustomed to seeing the NayesBul's rather ugly blimp shaped bodies hopping wildly about in all their eight-legged splendor. <<

JorG's unique perspective of Earth caught my interest:

>> JorG had heard that the people of Gurm 12, or Earth, were an ugly and violent race of huge beings, with hairy skin of a great many colors and great white fangs in their mouths. He might overlook those things, he thought, but he'd also heard that the inhabitants had the irrational idea that they were the only intelligent life in the universe. <<

More low-key, dry humor which I lapped up (Burp!):

>> It was anybody's guess as to whether she was talking (on her cell phone) to her insurance company, her attorney, or just someone she had met on line. Trouble was, she was still sitting in her car, apparently not hurt, but unaware that the car was on fire. <<

A little longer than the other 4 Amazon Shorts (by other authors, see my Listmania) I've reviewed so far, this one began to settle in at the point above, magnetizing my interest with the feel of a real story with a solid plot, a "tall tale" setting out beyond a crisp situational quip in a bare story snip.

(Please do not take the above comment as an implication of lack in Shorts of other styles. As I've attempted to describe in my reviews, each Short has a unique, "clear-and-present" appeal. Be sure to take note of the variety of styles in The Amazon Shorts Collection, which include fiction, nonfiction, serials in sequence of longer works, and more.)

More sudden guffaws continued... These weren't just cucumber laughs; they were cut-up-chuckles and go-along-giggles:

>> At that moment Billy Joe's hand slipped off the wire and he went flying through the air, landing some ten feet away from the ship. He slammed into a tree and his Braves' ball cap turned half way round on his head. <<

More crisp colloquialism fun:

>> "...BillyJoeWhitecomeoverhereandtellmewhatthe...isgoinon." Cindy was very close to being hysterical, and the words came out loud, fast, and angry, like bullets from a machine gun on an old late night gangster movie. <<

Enough samples. Click on REDNECK RIVIERA, # 1 in this series. Get a run of 25 pages of the above type of fun.

Me?

I'm headed to click the 49 cent button on TALLADEGA TWOSTEP, # 2 in the series. Gotta see where these guys go (and do) next!

The flashes of sunshine reflecting from JorG's "tin can" space ship are welcome on my face,

Linda G. Shelnutt

Hilariously funny. I read many of the pages aloud to my husband during a roadtrip. I wanted to print every single phrase,every single quote, notation and thought in 180 point font and hang them up on my refrigerator. Loved it.

This is a delightful funny book about parenting. Sure, a lot of us have been there and done that but few with such hilarity. Even the title makes me laugh. And, if you want more chuckles about parenting, order ParentLaughs: Quips, Quotes, and Anecdotes about Raising Kids ASIN:0517228173

Need a good belly laugh? Amy delivers the goods! Hilarious quips all parents can relate to and tender thoughts we share. A great gift for a new mom or a constant Mom!

This was very funny and I've recommended it to several other Mothers. However, do not spend your money on her "Book of Eleven" as it does not compare to this book!

I bought this book for my wife for Christmas. By the time I wrapped it, I had read the whole thing. I'd pick it up, read a little, laugh a lot, put it down and do other things. I kept coming back to it and eventually I found I had finished it.

Rosenthal's notes are dead on and she writes with a style that makes the most mundane things humorous. Sort of a Seinfeld for parents, except as parents you'll really understand what she's talking about. You may even get a little absolution from the book - for example, in a list of confessions she admits she has let sucking the toothpaste off a toothbrush pass as "brushing". Having kids myself, I can completely understand and picture that situation...

Great stuff...it was a perfect stocking stuffer. Guys, this would be a great book to surprise your wife with for no reason.

...even if you're not a middle-aged Jewish hip, sexy mom who works in entertainment and knows the author and also has a big, crazy 'meshpucha!' Go ahead. Read. Enjoy. Eat.

prjayne

This is a good book to pick up and enjoy.

This was such a fun review of insider, contemporary politics - even though we all know there are trials and tribulations in the political arena, Iris offers such a refreshing insider review of what it takes to be a true "Schlepper". My entire family has read this book and loved it. My new motto is "Have you read my resume?" I plan to use it in a meetng or two in months to come.
She meets the challenges with the chutzpah I only wish I had! Thanks for the enjoyable read. BTW, read this while on a cruise to Alaska and shared your tales with many folks we met. Wish you could have been there.

Schlepper is a smart, sassy look behind the scenes of presidential politics. I always wondered what went on in those smoke filled rooms. Now I know.

Prepare for the campaign season -- read Schlepper.

This is a book about the people in Presidential camapigns and what they go through. What Iris Burnett doesn't know about campaign politics isn't worth knowing. And, yet, she sees the humanity of it all. And still she loves it for what can be accomplished to help ordinary people. She made me laugh out of sheer recognition of the truth. Buy this book today. You will be hooked by the end of page two.