The Four Funniest Books in English

These are the four books that make me laugh the most. Provided that you have exactly the same sense of humour that I have, they will make you laugh too. Click on the links and order them from Amazon - or you can just read my review.

		Frederick C. Crews, The Pooh Perplex In this collection of (spoof) critical essays you can read how Leavisites, Christians, and Marxists, have interpreted Winnie the Pooh. You will be roaring with laughter as Crews sends up many different approaches to English literature. Each chapter is fully equipped with biographical notes (for non-existent people) and extensive essay titles and suggested study projects. Hilarious reading for all students and teachers of English literature.			W.C. Sellar and R.J. Yeatman, 1066 and All That 'History is not what you thought: it is what you can remember'. This is the history book for people who can remember only imperfectly. It includes only two dates (there were four, but the authors forgot the other two). We learn how history is comprised of waves, including a wave of beards, and how Pitts, like Pretenders, generally come in waves of about two: an older and a younger. Quite simply one of the funniest books ever written.

		Douglas Adams and John Lloyd, The Deeper Meaning of Liff A dictionary of place names, matched with concepts for which there are no words. For example: Chicago (n.) The foul-smelling wind which precedes an underground train. Joliette (n.) (Old French) Polite word for a well-proportioned dog turd.			Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy The Hitchhikers Guide—a hilarious spoof of the absurdities of science fiction and a withering satire on the idiocies of bureaucracy and consumer culture—began life not as a book but as a series on BBC Radio 4. This CD set brings together the original radio series from 1978-80, with the later phases from 2004-5. Unmissable!

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* This page last updated 16 September 2007 *