Humour Books
Oneworld Publications Blurb Your Enthusiasm
Book SynopsisA dazzling dictionary of book blurbs, filled with writing tips, literary folklore and publishing secretsTrade Review'A small masterpiece. There is something funny, notable or awe-inspiring on every single page. Some books simply slide into your life like good-humoured old friends. This is undoubtedly one of them.' -- Jenny Colgan, Spectator‘The bookiest book about books you’ll ever read – I loved it.’ -- Lucy Mangan, author of Bookworm‘Truly delightful… charming and gracefully learned… Louise Willder, a copywriter with decades of experience, brings so much joy and, indeed, enthusiasm to her book about books that anyone who revels in reading will find real enchantment here. I couldn’t have had more fun.’ -- Benjamin Dreyer, author of the New York Times bestseller Dreyer’s English'A little marvel...consummately brilliant' * Daily Mail *‘Very funny, erudite and profound. A delight!’ -- Nina Stibbe‘I love this book’s sheer happiness and humanity. It is rich, wise and soul-awaking, exhilarating-like-the-snowman-flying-through-the-air-of-human-gloriousness. And, God, she's funny. Buy it, read it, give it.’ -- Martin Latham, author of The Bookseller’s Tale‘Wise and witty...she is full of vim, blessed too with an unusual sense of enquiry, a comic turn of phrase and a talent for investigation into almost every nook and cranny of the business and pleasure of books.’ -- Carmen Callil * The Oldie *‘This total gem is an illuminating, dazzling, quirky, fascinating, erudite, thought-provoking, hilarious and totally essential celebration of the outside of books. Willder is my new style icon.’ -- Caroline Sanderson, The Bookseller, Editor’s Choice'Bookworms will devour this' * Good Housekeeping *‘This book is ace! A must-read for any and every writer or book-obsessed person!’ -- Sophie Hannah‘Jammed with funny, curious and stylish thoughts and insights, Blurb Your Enthusiasm will be loved by absolutely everybody with an obsessive interest in books and their appearance.’ -- Simon Winder, author of Germania'Studded with jewels' * Literary Review *‘Tracking the blurb through history, literary practices, authors’ lives, reading habits, and more, Willder opens up the world of wordplay that lies at the heart of writing and publishing.’ * Idler *‘Willder’s breezy book sweeps across publishing history, imbuing her research and professional expertise with the tantalizing thrill of dinner party gossip … so smart and witty that you barely realize how much she is teaching about writing’ -- Ron Charles * Washington Post *‘[Willder] is a charming guide not just to blurbs, but to first lines, hatchet jobs, puffs … I couldn’t, as the cliché goes, put it down.’ -- Laura Freeman * The Times, Best Books of 2022 *‘With chapters on swearing, spoilers and silliness (all acceptable in moderation), Willder makes a fine case for the blurb as an art form in its own right.’ -- Daily Mail‘Delightful … charming … this book feels like the surprising pleasure of a mimosa with breakfast or a bawdy song after dinner… Willder is the perfect guide’ -- Carrie Callaghan * Washington Independent Review of Books *‘Uproarious, gossipy and utterly fascinating: a masterclass in how to judge a book by its cover. It makes words seem weird and wild again.’ -- Henry Eliot, author of The Penguin Classics Book‘For anyone who needs or wants to use words persuasively, this is the most enjoyable masterclass you’ll ever read.’ -- Rob Williams, screenwriter of Killing Eve and The Victim'A zingy compendium… A crisp reminder of how profoundly words can affect us.’ -- Sunday Business Post'With chapters on swearing, spoilers and silliness (all acceptable in moderation), Willder makes a fine case for the blurb as an art form in its own right.' * Daily Mail *‘Louise Willder’s witty guide Blurb Your Enthusiasm is a treat for insiders and book-world fans… Wilder celebrates the practice of turning literature into a catchy product that both illuminates people about a book and retains the book’s mystique.’ -- Foreword Reviews‘A delight… She is a delightful and amusing guide to the subject. One for the book lover in your life.’ -- Herald (Glasgow)‘Funny and anecdote-crammed history of the art of the book blurb. You’ll definitely never read book jackets the same way again.’ -- Reader's Digest
£9.49
Y Lolfa Welsh Valleys Humour Its Wales
Book SynopsisA tongue-in-cheek guide to the unique dialect and humour of the south Wales valleys, comprising a light-hearted introduction to language idiosyncrasies, jokes and anecdotes, with a foreword by Ronnie Barker. 14 cartoons.
£7.55
Saqi Books And Then God Created the Middle East and Said Let
Book Synopsis`You may wonder why the Middle East gets so much airtime. Well, regions of the world were competing to host the apocalypse and the Middle East won.'' Online sensation Karl reMarks disagreed with the idea that reality had become too strange to satirise. Then he read that bin Laden was radicalised by Shakespeare. Since then, Karl has been bringing the best of the Middle East news and views to his followers around the world. Now Karl''s wildly wry observations and sketches are available in one handy collection. With sections on `Geography for Dummies'', `Democracy for Realists'' and `Extremism: A Study'', alongside the best of Karl reMarks''s infamous `Bar Jokes'', this hilarious book proudly presents views you''re guaranteed not to hear on the news ... We''re actually very proud of God in the Middle East. He''s the local guy who went on to acquire international fame. Wahahahahabism: A fundamentalist Middle Eastern comedy movement. Twelve people just started to follow me. Jesus.Trade Review'An acerbically wicked collection of sharp geo- and sociopolitical commentary ... droll, smart, witty.' Media Diversifed
£6.64
Saqi Books Dont Panic Im Islamic
Book SynopsisDon't Panic, I'm Islamic: Words and Pictures on How to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Alien Next Door is a collection of satirical writings, cartoons and art by writers and artists from around the world.Trade ReviewA Sunday Times Best Humour Book of the Year 2017; 'Refreshing and important, this collection is bursting with the creativity, wit and intelligence that voices outside the mainstream can offer. In a world where politics is increasingly driven by divide-and-rule, let's start thinking add and multiply.' Brian Eno; 'Thoughtful and entertaining... this subversive romp into the nuanced world of Muslims is exactly what we need in today's increasingly polarised climate.' Reza Aslan; 'An extraordinary achievement. Fighting back at ignorance with hilarity, ebullience and wit, this collection gracefully exposes the raw hurt that misunderstandings based on stereotypes can cause.' Selma Dabbagh; 'Funny and moving.' Bookwitty; 'the first great anti-Trump book,' Culture Trip; 'a celebratory treasure trove of writing and art,' Metro; `Unique, captivating and entertaining ... While at their core the stories are sad and question humanity's ignorance, they are presented in a stimulating and humorous format designed to both entertain and inform. ... May this book prompt us all to further reflect on how we view and treat others.' Canvas; 'A wonderful, subversive anthology...Don't Panic, I'm Islamic is a fun, easy read that will make you laugh out loud...A welcome antidote to the mainstream stereotyping of millions of people. Read it - and then pass it on.' New Internationalist; `Uses raw humour to fight stereotypes' The Arab Weekly; `The perfect antidote to a year dominated by a Presidential Twitter account.' Sunday Times Best Humour Book of the Year 2017; 'With humility, respect, and great sensitivity, [Di Cintio] seeks out writers, people skilled at telling stories, and asks them to narrate their own situations. The result is a document that captures not only the manifold sorrows and injustices of Palestinian life but something of its beauty, its joys, and its yearning.' Ben Ehrenreich, author of The Way to the Spring: Life and Death in Palestine'; `With a title like Don't Panic, I'm Islamic, how can you resist? Using short stories, cartoons, photography and more, 34 contributors from around the world answer the essential questions ... provocative, subversive and creative.' Phoenix MagTable of Contentsp2 Arwa Mahdawi, 'A Personal Guide to Extreme Vetting'; p8 Chant Avedissian, 'Are You Talkin' To Me?'; p12 Karl Sharro, 'The Joys of Applying for a US Visa'; p20 James Nunn, 'Colour Abdullah!'; p22 Negin Farsad, 'My Own People Don't Like Me Very Much'; p30 Bidisha, '50 States of America First'; p32 Chris Riddell, 'La La Land'; p34 Hazem Saghieh, 'Trump and Gaddafi'; p36 Molly Crabapple, 'Trumpination'; p38 Omar Hamdi, 'Islam Is Not Spiritual, But Is A Useful Identity'; p40 Esther Manito, 'A Sidon-Gateshead Upbringing (in Essex)'; p44 Hassan Hajjaj, 'Kesh Angels'; p48 Saleem Haddad, 'Do I Understand That You Are A Homosexual, Sir?'; p56 Rana Salam, 'Sexy Souk'; p58 Amrou Al-Kadhi, 'How Islam Taught Me To Be A Drag Queen'; p62 Chaza Charafeddine, 'Divine Comedy'; p66 Leila Aboulela, 'Majed'; p76 Jennifer Jajeh, 'White Like Me'; p84 Hassan Abdulrazzak, 'Tuesday's Child'; p92 Eli Valley, 'Are Nazi Analogies Kosher Today?'; p96 Moris Farhi, 'Of Dolphin Children and Leviathans'; p108 Tammam Azzam, 'From Syria With Love;' p118 Alex Wheatle, 'Shade-ism'; p124 Carol Ann Duffy, 'Comprehensive'; p126 Aisha Mirza, 'Yesterday I Stepped on a White Woman's Yoga Mat'; p132 Laila Shawa, 'Disposable Bodies'; p134 Joumana Haddad, 'The Joke's On Them'; p136 Mazen Kerbaj, 'Cola'; p138 Sabrina Mahfouz, 'Postcard From a Muslim Mermaid'; p146 'Preparing My Kids for the New America'; p150 Alberto Manguel, 'Fabulous Creatures'; p158 Bahia Shebab, 'There Are People'; p164 Sjon, 'The Muslim: A Cautionary Tale'; p167 Afterword; p169 About the Contributors; p180 Permissions;
£11.69
Goose Lane Editions Fabulous Fabrications from Busted Hockey Gear
Book SynopsisIn his breakaway bestseller 50 Things to Make with a Broken Hockey Stick, Peter Manchester transformed the agony of defeated sticks into the thrill of a new creation, with a slap of good humour that kept readers chuckling all the way through the book. Now, with the publication of Fabulous Fabrications from Busted Hockey Gear, the hockey stick handyman has turned his creative talents to the rest of the equipment left to fester in the basement -- helmets, pads, gloves, skates, and even cast-off hockey uniforms. In this oh-so-Canadian book of how-to humour, a wonderland of construct-o-rama experiences awaits devotees of rink junk. Who would have thought of an electric guitar for only $15 or a drum set made entirely of cast-off helmets? A leather skate becomes a bird or a ball cap; a dismantled helmet becomes a mask; a pair of pants becomes an amazing sling chair. Basement artistes can build a lap steel guitar from sticks, fashion a guiro from a bit of stick and a plastic knee protecto
£10.79
Goose Lane Editions Pour le meilleur et pour le pire
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£16.99
Last Gasp,U.S. The Overrated Book
Book SynopsisBrilliant combination of graphic design, cartoon art and music journalism.
£21.21
Last Gasp,U.S. A Cynics Guide To A Rich And Full Life
Book SynopsisTasteless self-help parody: how to be more self-centred, cynical and, most importantly, how to have a good time.
£9.45
Last Gasp,U.S. Nothing is Golden Vol.1 30 Entertaining Postcards
Book SynopsisTwo sets of 15 postcards parodying classic children's book covers.
£12.03
Last Gasp,U.S. A Cynics Guide to a Rich and Full Life
Book SynopsisA riotous collection of twisted advice for the cynical person to live a happier life.
£10.76
Wisconsin Historical Society Press From the Top Brief Transmissions from Tent Show
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£13.56
Wisconsin Historical Society Press Danger Man Working Writing from the Heart the Gut
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£16.11
Wisconsin Historical Society Press Ridge Stories Herding Hens Powdering Pigs and
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£17.00
WW Norton & Co Malcolm
Book SynopsisThe twenty-first-century revival of James Purdy continues with his classic novel of innocence and corruption.Trade Review"The most prodigiously funny book to streak across these heavy-hanging times." -- Dorothy Parker
£12.34
Grupo Nelson Hazme Reir Soy Tu Madre
Book SynopsisCon una colección de relatos, ocurrencias y frases que sólo Barbara Johnson podría concebir, los lectores reirán con las sorpresas inolvidables y alocadas de ser una madre.Madres. Ellas lo han visto todo: lo bueno, lo malo y lo chiflado. Y decidieron contarlo. La autora de éxitos de librería, conferencista y graciosa Barbara Johnson continúa su tradición de diversión total enfocándose ahora en las alegrías de la maternidad. Una colección de relatos, frases y anécdotas que le ayudará a las madres a olvidar la tensión y la frustración de las camas sin tender y del estilo de vida de comida rápida, Hazme reír, soy tu madre es el libro adecuado que hará que los lectores pronto estén sonriendo y riendo a carcajadas.
£7.99
Museum of New Mexico Press Chistes Hispanic Humor of Northern New Mexico
Book SynopsisWhen I moved to northern New Mexico thirty-three years ago, writes John Nichols, I immediately fell in with my neighbours and commenced laughing. As folklorist Nasario García explains in his introduction to this collection, falling in with the voices of laughter and comic relief is a timeless, vital aspect of Hispanic culture. !Chistes! brings together for the first time in English and regional Spanish a medley of orally gathered humorous anecdotes from northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. The chistes range in form from practical jokes, pranks, slips-of-the-tongue, hyperbole, solecisms, slapstick, and double entendres. True for most of the villages and towns represented in this collection, Hispanic humour is a function of folks who understand how to deal with difficult times with verve and at time self-deprecation, places with a strong communal identification, where everyone knows everybody''s business and tells it with good-natured fun; where nothing is off limits, not even the
£23.24
Museum of New Mexico Press Chistes Hispanic Humor of Northern New Mexico
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£18.89
Persea Books Inc Soft Launch Poems
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£11.99
Scouse Press How to Talk Proper in Liverpool Lern Yerself
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£5.85
Scouse Press Scouse International The Liverpool Dialect in
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£5.85
Five Leaves Publications Starkness at Noon
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£7.99
Bartleby Press The Battle for Dung Hill
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£6.60
Bartleby Press Grannys Lost Her Marbles
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£6.60
Bartleby Press An Ear in Provence
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£6.60
Bartleby Press Gone Berserk
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£6.60
Bartleby Press My Summer Vacation
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£6.60
Sourcebooks The Essential Handbook of Victorian Entertaining
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£10.79
Golden West Publishers (AZ) Cowboy Cartoon Cookbook
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£10.79
James A. Rock & Company Publishers Max and Moritz and Other Bad Boy Tales
£7.99
American Traveler Press Valley 101 A Slightly Skewed Guide to Living in
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£13.59
American Traveler Press Valley 101 Great Big Book of Life
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£13.59
American Traveler Press Occupy Gooberville
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£13.59
American Traveler Press Try Not To Worry About It
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£16.79
IBEX PUBLISHERS (US) Tales of Nasreddin Khoja
Book SynopsisMulla Nasreddin, as he is known the Persian speaking world, is a humorous witty character that goes by different names in different cultures. Iranians, Arabs and Turks still bicker about who he was and where he was from. Though Mulla Nasreddin originated in the Middle East half a millennia ago, the popularity of his stories is such that they have travelled and settled down in places as diverse as China, Russia, Sweden, India, Malaysia, the Balkans and Portugal. What can be said is that the Mulla is a universal character on which are framed various humorous, philosophical, moral or pedagogic anecdotes. The main players of these whimsical vignettes are the Mulla, his donkey and his wife. A Mulla Nasreddin anecdote is often used to emphasise a point. Most may read a funny story. However, in the same tale, a Sufi may see multiple strands of mystic meaning and a revolutionary will see the idea of resistance to authority. Depending on the reader and the time, Nasreddin may be more of a wise
£17.09
MP - University Of Minnesota Press If This Is MidLife Wheres the Crisis
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£12.99
Piccadilly Books,U.S. Dr Dropos Juggling Buffoonery
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£10.19
Catbird Press It Came With The House
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£12.59
Firefly Books Ltd A Blad O UlsterScotch Frae Ullans
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£17.56
Sort of Books The Book of Leviathan
Book SynopsisPETER BLEGVAD''s cult comic strip LEVIATHAN ran for seven years in The Independent on Sunday review. It was memorably described by Simpsons creator Matt Groening as one of the greatest, weirdest things I''ve ever stared at. Quirky and referential, dark and droll, by turn, Blegvad''s cartoons are indeed unlike anything else in print.THE BOOK OF LEVIATHAN assembles the cream of Levi and Cat''s adventures in a 160pp hardback - startlingly produced, with flat-bound, mirrored cover boards and full colour printing throughout. It is an object to treasure, and a snip at 12.99Trade ReviewPeter Blegvad's comic strip is one of the greatest, weirdest things I've ever stared at. Give me Leviathan or give me death! -- Matt GroeningWhenever I'm asked for proof that literature, art and poetry can exist in comic form, I point to Peter Blegvad. -- Ben Katchor, author The Jew of New York.The greatest, weirdest thing. -- Times Literary SupplementBlegvad has opened up the crib-fenced world that precedes words and filled it to the brim with deadpan poetry and gnomic chatter * San Francisco Chronicle *Funny, enigmatic and beautifully limned- what more could one ask? -- Glen Baxter * The Observer, Book of the Year *Combines surreal imagination and existential musings with superb draughtsmanship. * The List, Glasgow & Edinburgh *Deeply weird, unique and disturbingly wonderful. * Independent on Sunday *
£11.69
Holo Books The Arbitration Press A Miscellany of Disputes
Book SynopsisWhile there have been innumerable collections of humour in the courts, this is an anthology of over 80 stories about disputes resolved without the aid of litigation. It reveals rich sources from old and new China, ancient Greece, Rome and medieval England, as well as Shakespeare and Chaucer.Table of ContentsWithout the law; a family affair; gods, goddesses and heroes; women and arbitration; the sorrows and rewards of the arbitrator; unhappy parties; language traps; umpires; arbitration on the stage.
£17.95
Zidane Press Fionas Very Large Handbook Of Englishness
Book SynopsisDrunken hoon or well-mannered ambassador? A perfect introduction to the elusive concept of Englishness, packed with humour, cartoons and classic wit.
£6.19
Zidane Press James Joyces Very Large Handbook Of Irish History
Book SynopsisHugely entertaining roster of thoughts on Irish history and character from one of the country's most famous sons. As ever, a Pocket Hedgehog that enlightens and amuses. With fantastic illustrations from Georgia Harrison.
£6.19
£8.99
Pathfinder Partners Ltd Well I Never Knew That Do Spies Win Olympic
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£9.49
Lazy Gramophone Press Satsuma Sun Mover
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£8.66
Tomahawk Press Will Hay
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£22.50
Proper Music Publishing Ltd Strange Requests and Comic Tales from Record
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£9.45
Modern Toss Limited Modern Toss 6 Work Cest La Merde
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£5.29