Calypso uses a wandering style of storytelling to conjure a sense of Sedaris traveling through his own thoughts, getting lost on particular charming tangents before coming back to what he ultimately wants you to take away.
In Catherynne M. Valente's Space Opera, the Meaning of Life has a beat and, depending on your alien physiology, you might be able to dance to it.
If Alexei Sayle and Rik Mayall represented the Pistols/Clash in-your-face assault and battery side of British punk comedy, Ben Elton was its Elvis Costello, complete with geeky wide-rimmed glasses.
Intimacy with animals, babysitting plastic dolls, and running into your dad at a furry cuddle party are just a few of the details in this off-the-chain collection of stories, Unruly Creatures.
In light of movements like Black Lives Matter and Me Too, Dave Chappelle’s Killin’ Them Softly may be even more relevant today. But how’s his humor holding up?
The college comedy deficit means that we are neither taught how to take a joke nor how to interpret one.
The father and son relationship, the wonky, beating heart of The Château, feels so well-worn and lived-in that its volatile pushes-and-pulls contain some genuinely touching moments.
Bill McKibben's novel asks readers to value resistance movements that embrace humor, creativity, and civility while inspiring activism as part of our everyday lives.
There's a ghostly suggestion of Philip Roth's writing voice in Portnoy's Complaint in this novel; a relatively calm voice, this time in the third person, documenting the madness.
With Vacationland John Hodgman moves away from comedy and tries a new approach: humble reality.
No matter his subject matter, Scott C.'s confident cheerfulness is obvious and infectious.
WARNING: This review may disturb, nay, trigger recollections for Gen X'ers that grew up watching TV with adults in the '80s.
