50 of the Funniest Books Ever Written

Looking for a laugh? We've got your covered. From the dark and dry to the witty and wry, from the ficticious to the factual, from travel logs to comedic blogs, this extensive collection of funny reads, both classic and new, includes something for everyone. Get ready to read ‘em and weep...with laughter, of course.

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Dave Barry teaches us not to take life so seriously. In his memoir, the writer celebrates the joys, triumphs and sticky situations he found himself in throughout his vibrant life.

 

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A hilarious novel of social and political intrigue. Irreverent, ingenious, and uproariously entertaining, Carl Hiaasen perfectly captures the absurdity of our times with Squeeze Me.

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This book is full of unputdownable heartbreak and hilarity. Beagin skillfully blends complicated characters, a messy love story, and an unmatched voice into a witty and original story.

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Join great American novelist John Steinbeck and his French poodle, Charley, on a road trip across America. Spanning forty states, this classic travel memoir serves as an insightful snapshot of the people and culture of 1960s America.

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In this classic novel, Heller tells the story of the bureaucratic labyrinths that plague us all. Set against the backdrop of WWII, this is an absurd and darkly hilarious tale that never gets old.

 

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Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime is a brilliant and witty memoir that illustrates an unbreakable bond between mother and son. Noah’s poignant prose creates a startling portrayal of his experience growing up in South Africa during apartheid.

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The creator of Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally brings us a heartbreaking and hilarious story about the breakup of a marriage. When a very pregnant Rachel discovers her husband’s affair, she finds solace in food in between trying to win him back and wishing he were dead.

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Grab your favorite sleuthing gear — there’ s another case to solve. Richard Osman delivers the fifth installment in his beloved series, and this mystery is more puzzling than ever.

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A bizarre and unique work of journalism, there is nothing else quite like Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas. And there’s really no one like Hunter S. Thompson either.

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Published in 1932 in satirical response to romantic rural literature popular at the time, Stella Gibbons’ Cold Comfort Farm follows Flora Poste, a broke 19-year-old metropolitan orphan who decides to impose herself upon her remote farming relatives.

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This classic tale of love and adventure has everything: Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison. True love. Hate. Revenge. Giants. Hunters. Bad men. Good men. Beasts of all natures and descriptions. The list goes on and on.

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Posthumous winner of the 1981 Pulitzer Prize, Toole’s masterpiece has awed and entertained scholars, skeptics, and general scalawags for decades. This peerless and eternally hilarious novel relays the misadventures of the misanthropic Ignatius Reilly.

 

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Like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas… only in Florida. (And funnier.) Meet Serge Storms: intelligent, resourceful, a bit of a scoundrel, and our reluctant protagonist in what is currently a 26 book series. If you’ve run out of Carl Hiaasen, it’s time to dive into Tim Dorsey. Hold on tight — you’re in for a ride.

 

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Deacon King Kong boasts the trifecta of a fully realized and enthralling plot, setting and character cast — it’s a very funny shaggy dog story (with a lovely ending), told by your favorite uncle at Sunday dinner. It’s a slice of life, a love story, a ghost story and so much more, all wrapped up in the immaculate narrative voice of James McBride.

 

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Skippy Dies at the End is the novel that put Paul Murray, shortlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize, on the map. We couldn’t put it better than Dan Kois did for The NYT Book Review: “One of the great pleasures of this novel is how confidently he addresses such disparate topics as quantum physics, video games, early-20th-century mysticism, celebrity infatuation, drug dealing, Irish folklore and pornography.”

 

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The inspiration behind the AMC series Lucky Hank, Richard Russo’s The Straight Manis an uproarious takedown of higher education, middle age, and base desires.

 

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Her acerbic wit has cemented her as a cultural icon (and critic) despite a famously decades-long bout of writers’ block. Binding together two of her earliest essay collections — Metropolitan Life and Social Studies — The Fran Lebowitz Reader presents observations as cutting and relevant today as they were when they were first published over 40 years ago.

 

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You may know her name from her time as a cast member on SNL or as a voice actor on Bob’s Burgers (among other things), but this is Jenny Slate in her own words. And she’s a little weird. Little Weirds celebrates all the beauty and ugliness and strangeness of life, in Jenny Slate’s incomparable voice.

 

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Queenie is finding her way through the world — she’s 25, straddling cultures and classes, too smart for her own good and making questionable choices — and we get to go along for the ride in this heartbreaking and hilarious novel.

 

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Jenny Lawson shines her brightest in this irreverent memoir that reveals what it was like to grow up with a father who ran a taxidermy business out of the house, a mother who worked the school cafeteria, and a sister who shamelessly wore her mascot costume everywhere. Equally morbid and magnificent, Let’s Pretend This Never Happened unearths all of Jenny’s humiliating moments and mines them for wit and wisdom.

 

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A collection of helpless, hapless, and howlingly good essays, Crosley’s I Was Told There’d Be Cake details the struggles and pitfalls of young urban life, from upsetting an exhibit at the Natural History Museum to attending weddings for people you no longer remember.

 

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Nick Offerman rambling about anything is a joy, and here he rambles about the outdoors and their splendor in the infinitely recognizable and endlessly entertaining voice that only he has. Featuring adventures with Jeff Tweedy and George Saunders, this book is riddled with delights.

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In Persuasion Nation is a collection of varied short stories that blend the literary with the fantastical and offer poignant insight into the emptiness and hilarity of our modern world.

 

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Cat’s Cradle offers important commentary on American imperialism, man versus technology, and the threat of nuclear war. But above all else, it’s screamingly funny.

 

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Praised as genius, human, broken, and sidesplitting, Hyperbole and a Half is the wildly illustrated book that Bill Gates proclaimed to be “funny and smart as hell.” Spawned from the popular blog and webcomic following Allie’s adventures with depression and rescue dogs, Hyperbole and a Half is one of the most original and captivating creations of our Internet age.

 

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An acclaimed writer of nonfiction (with a primarily travel-oriented bent), Bill Bryson is at his wittiest in A Walk in the Woods, tackling the Appalachian Trail, its history, and all the people he meets on his journey down it (not to mention bears). Howl like a wolf with Bryson as he makes his way from Georgia to Maine for more than two thousand miles of facts and fun.

 

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A new kind of coming-of-age narrative that reminds readers that to be American is to be from elsewhere. This is a brilliant, hilarious and moving novel that will resonate for some time.

 

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Sly, tender, strange, and often hilarious, Miranda July proves with this compilation that she’s one of the smartest, and unexpectedly funniest, voices around.

 

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Bamford puts herself on the frontline of her own existence — and, we are better off for it. If there’s anyone who can help us see the proverbial “lighter side of life,” it’s Maria Bamford, as she’s seen the darker side.

 

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From the crass and witty “How to Get Your Disgusting Meat Carcass Ready for Some New, Hot Sex,” to poignant stories of her mother’s death and her struggles with Crohn’s, this bawdy and beautiful grouping of essays covers everything from poverty, race, and tacos to kittens, longing, and recipes.

 

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We love a triple threat comedian — one whose stand-up makes us laugh, followed up by podcast hosting duties AND THEN a round of late-night talk show appearances. It stands to reason that we will now get to hold all his humor and observations in our hands with the release of a book.

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Named for the psychiatric disorder in which “altruistic impulses are perpetually at war with extreme sexual longings,” Philip Roth’s masterpiece is told from a psychoanalyst’s couch. This comedic jewel launched Roth to the forefront of American literature in the ’60s and continues to delight readers with its bravery and bawdiness.

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Attempting to avoid an existential crisis, Arthur literally runs from his troubles, going on a whirlwind tour of glamorous locales and personal redemption.

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David Sedaris is a unique talent. The Best of Me is a great and funny journey though his work and an excellent book to pick up and put down when you need a good laugh.

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In this howler of a book, Wallace reports on experiences ranging from tennis to a Caribbean cruise to the Illinois State Fair. Readers will have their minds illuminated and their sides stitched.

 

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In Bossypants, the Tina Fey story is brought to life. From her early days working at the YMCA to her adventures in motherhood, this tell-all shows Fey really is as down to earth, and otherworldly, as we’ve made her out to be.

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A hysterical, satirical, dark, brilliant, witty, and clever story of final judgment, it will leave you sore from laughter as the ill-fated search for the anti-christ reaches a dramatic crescendo.

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There’s The Odyssey and then there’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which just might be slightly more adventurous than what Odysseus got himself into. If you’ve ever wondered what the meaning of life is, and why we wear watches, crack open this chestnut for the universe’s silliest answers.

 

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Being a woman of certain age isn’t easy, but it just got a whole lot more fun thanks to the eternally observant and wisecracking Ephron, who gives readers the lowdown on empty nests, city life, sagging necks, and general runs of bad luck.

 

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Touching, brilliant, and very very funny, this page-turner has turned millions of heads and inspired the movie starring Cate Blanchett

 

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Bridget Jones is a thirtysomething “Singleton” on a quest to tighten her thighs, brighten her love life, and learn how to operate the VCR. Full of everygirl woes, delightful self-disgust, and loads of laughter, this gem is not just comedic, it’s now a chick-lit classic.

 

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Issa Rae details the perils of being both awkward and black, a condition “someone once told [her] were the two worst things anyone could be.” From cybersexing and eating alone, to “rapping” and PDA, Rae endears and enlightens all readers, no matter their cool factor or skin color.

 

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So funny, so hard and aching at times, so touching, The Ugly Cry feels like a long, intimate and animated conversation with a close friend. There is a big, beating, generous heart at the center of Danielle Henderson’s story that is irresistible.

 

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A book about individual priorities, “metaphysical outlaw-ism,” the purpose of the moon, and “how to make love stay,” Still Life with Woodpecker has also been described as a postmodern fairy tale that takes place inside a pack of Camel cigarettes.

 

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Since it took the stage in 1895, Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, has delighted audiences and readers with its endlessly genius wordplay. In addition to a riveting plot and dialogue, this classic play employs all sorts of tricks of language that have continued to entertain for more than a century.