Humour Books

Book SynopsisA humorous and heartwarming picture book from legendary musician Chris "Ludacris" Bridges about the special bond between father and daughter.

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Book SynopsisFraming Gotham City as a microcosm of a modern-day metropolis, Gotham City Living posits this fictional setting as a hyper-aware archetype, demonstrative of the social, political and cultural tensions felt throughout urban America. Looking at the comics, graphic novels, films and television shows that form the Batman universe, this book demonstrates how the various creators of Gotham City have imagined a geography for the condition of America, the cast of characters acting as catalysts for a revaluation of established urban values. McCrystal breaks down representations of the city and its inhabitants into key sociological themes, focusing on youth, gender, sexuality, race and ethnicity, class disparity and criminality. Surveying comic strip publications from the mid-20th century to modern depictions, this book explores a wide range of material from the universe as well as the most contemporary depictions of the caped crusader not yet fully addressed in a scholarly context. ThesTrade ReviewIf readers are looking for an introduction to academic scholarship on comics and identity, Gotham City Living provides a good entry point. * The Geek Anthropologist *In this fascinating examination of the Batman comic book, television, and film adventures from 1939 to 2020, Erica McCrystal demonstrates how the enduring multimedia superhero franchise can help us understand the crisis of urban life in 20th and 21st century America, from “the war on crime” to gentrification to Black Lives Matter. Great stuff. * Marc DiPaolo, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, author of Fire and Snow: Climate Fiction from the Inklings to Game of Thrones *Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: Youth and Gotham City: Raising Criminals, Training Vigilantes, and Influencing Readers Chapter 2: Beyond Batman: Gender in Gotham City Chapter 3: The Sexualized City: Violence, Power, and Liberation Chapter 4: Pluralism and Identity Formation: Race and Ethnicity in Gotham City Chapter 5: From the Slums to the Manors: Gotham City’s Class Disparity Chapter 6: Criminal Productivity: Gotham City’s Most Wanted and Most Needed Epilogue Bibliography

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Book SynopsisWELCOME TO A COMEDIC TRIP THROUGH THE LIFE OF ONE OF THE COUNTRY’S MOST EXCITING COMEDIANS. MEET DULCÉ SLOAN, WHOSE LIFE HAS BEEN AN INCREDIBLE JOURNEY FILLED WITH LESSONS AND LAUGHTER. IN ADDITION TO DOING STAND-UP AROUND THE WORLD, DULCÉ IS A TRAINED ACTOR, SINGER, AND HAS BEEN A CORRESPONDENT ON THE DAILY SHOW ON COMEDY CENTRAL.Dulcé Sloan’s first memoir is organized into essays from her life. From a childhood moving between cities, starting her own business selling toys at a Miami flea market, to being a Black kid in a predominately white school, she’s always used her masterful wit to challenge the status quo. Her purpose in comedy unfolded while navigating clubs and the set of The Daily Show. Have you ever dated an adult who roller skated, or went out with a mechanic just to get free auto service? Yup, she’s got that story for you. Her stories are both wildly

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Book SynopsisAs a busy mum with a newborn and a toddler, viral sensation Laura Clery has plenty to say about the ups and downs of pregnancy, childbirth, and being the best mum she can be while also balancing career success, sobriety, marriage and creativity. With her engaging and witty voice, she pulls back the curtain on all aspects of her offbeat life, including dealing with addiction and virtual AA meetings during a pandemic and maintaining healthy relationships with her son, daughter, husband, and most importantly, herself. Laura’s life has changed a great deal since she wrote Idiot, but what hasn’t changed is her ability to celebrate the laugh-out-loud moments of everyday life and share the tough times with humour, honesty and heart.

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Book SynopsisA celebration of and behind-the-scenes look at Jerry Seinfeld’s groundbreaking streaming series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.Over eleven seasons and eighty-four episodes, Jerry Seinfeld drove around in classic cars, grabbing coffee and chatting with the funniest people alive. He reminisced with the late Garry Shandling; bantered with legends Steve Martin, Tina Fey, and Eddie Murphy; reunited with the cast of Seinfeld; and even paid a visit to President Barack Obama in the Oval Office. These and dozens of other guests talked about the intricacies of stand-up, the evolution of their careers and personal lives, and whatever else popped into their brilliant minds. The result was not only a hilarious collection of casual yet intimate conversations – a rare opportunity for viewers to witness their favourite performers unscripted and unvarnished – but arguably the most important historical archive about the art of comedy ever amassed.

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Book SynopsisThe Sunday Times bestseller from Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, the voices behind the #1 hit podcast My Favorite Murder!Trade ReviewA brutally honest and funny handbook for women looking to trust their own instincts. You'll read it in hours. * STYLIST *A brutally honest and funny handbook for women looking to trust their own instincts. You'll read it in hours. * Stylist *

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Book Synopsis''There is a theory that humans made lists before we invented writing. Adam Sharp''s exquisitely arranged, addictively witty book of lists is the reasons why. He is the poet laureate of lists'' John Mitchinson, Senior QI Elf''So much to disagree with in this book. And I mean that as a huge recommendation'' Richard Osman''Very funny and highly addictive. Adam Sharp, you weird genius'' Russell KaneA list of ways to start a conversation with a cat in different countries5. Pss-pss-pss (England)4. Kac-kac-kac (Lithuania)3. Pish-pish-pish (Iran)2. Ming-ming-ming (Philippines)1. Bellowing What''s new pussycat, whoa, oh whoa (Wales)Are you feeling down in the dumps? Is the chaotic, disordered nature of modern existence freaking you out? Are you feeling...listless? Then this collection of fascinating, hilarious and brilliantly odd lists is the remedy you need. Packed full of incredible facts, from what peoplTrade Reviewfunny and clever and the perfect after-dinner conversation starter -- Kit de Waal * Good Housekeeping *

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Book Synopsis''There was none like her before and there''s been none like her since'' Dawn FrenchIn the five years since Victoria Wood''s death, one great sadness has been the realisation that we will never again be surprised by new material from her.But as part of the research for Let''s Do It, the critically acclaimed Sunday Times bestseller, her official biographer Jasper Rees uncovered a treasure chest of unseen work. From her first piece of comic prose, for the school magazine, through to material written for the great TV shows of her maturity, this joyful hoard of unreleased material spans nearly half a century.Victoria Wood: Unseen on TV is a unique and intimate insight into the working of an irreplaceable genius of comedy.From the first to the last, here are sketches, songs and stand-up monologues that no one else could have written, which will make you laugh in the way that only she could.''He was a lovTrade ReviewA bundle of laughs... brighten your days with a much-loved British comedian's newfound gems. -- Emma Lee Potter * SUNDAY EXPRESS S MAGAZINE *A unique and intimate insight into the working of a special entertainment talent. Fans of comedy - or life, or laughing - will want to find this in their stocking. -- Adele Parks * PLATINUM *The perfect gift for fans who thought they'd never hear a new Victoria Wood joke again. -- Zoe West * WOMAN'S WEEKLY *

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Book SynopsisKnow your tater trap from your sniffle herring in Sharp's journey around the world in idioms, proverbs and general nonsense - the perfect gift for Christmas

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Book SynopsisIf you''ve been beaten by boredom, trapped by tedium, or frustrated by fatigue, all you need to do is open this book.Filled with awesome activities, time-wasting tasks, and mindless things to muse, this book will cure you of your boredom in no time. From dreaming up your ideal group chat and creating your own fusion cuisine to inventing a new phonetic alphabet and finally finding out which condiment you really are, these and many more weird and wonderful distractions are just waiting inside...So, get ready for some preposterous procrastination as you... Open This Book in the Event of Boredom!

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Book SynopsisJulian Flanders is an experienced editor and author. He has edited and contributed to a number of books on a variety of subjects, including sport and politics. His most recent title is Political Hacks. He lives in Kent in the UK.

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Book SynopsisHarry Pop is a writer on, and observer of, the popular music industry. This is his first publication.

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Book SynopsisA new collection of sailors'' brilliantly funny, real-life blunders, from the pages of Yachting Monthly.The book compiles the best of the short real-life confessions from sailors from Yachting Monthly''s Confessions feature, many of them illustrated by original cartoons. These cautionary tales are arranged into themed chapters, for the amusement and edification of readers.Worse things happen at sea, so the saying goes. This book relates the embarrassing blunders and shameful shenanigans of real sailors to whom the worst did happen. Even in a world of satellite navigation and social media, shipwrecks, collisions, getting stuck in the toilet and cases of mistaken identity can and do happen. They remain hidden until the skipper can bear the guilt no longer and must unburden their souls. The resulting stories are outrageously funny, while allowing the rest of us to thank our stars it wasn't us and to learn from others' mistakes.The Yachting Monthly Confessional has been offering absTable of ContentsIntroduction Ch 1 - Rookie mistakes - Errors made by beginners Ch 2 - Get me out of here - It’s amazing how many places sailors find to get themselves stuck Ch 3 - Looking for love - When trying to impress does the opposite Ch 4 - Pomp and circumstance - Inflated egos get popped quickly at sea Ch 5 - The cover of darkness - Embarrassing episodes the night can’t hide Ch 6 - All at sea - Navigational nonsense that could happen to anyone

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Book SynopsisLONGLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023SHORTLISTED FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2023 - FOOTBALL BOOK OF THE YEARPowerful and poignant' Henry Winter Empathetic and poignant the game's answer to A Journal of the Plague Year' Harry Pearson The Durham City midfielder wore the resigned look of a man trying to find a jar of harissa in Farmfoods. Up front for Jarrow, a centre-forward darted around frenetically, as if chasing a kite during a hurricane...' When football disappeared in March 2020, writer and broadcaster Daniel Gray used its absence to reflect on everything the game meant to him. That bred a pledge: whenever and wherever fans were allowed to return, he would be there. The Silence of the Stands is the result of that pledge: a joyous travelogue documenting a precarious season, in which behind-closed-doors matches and travel restrictions combined to make trips to Kendal and Workington seem impossibly exotic.OfferinTrade ReviewWhen society locked down, football played on without fans. A powerful and poignant look at life behind closed doors. * Henry Winter *Joy is at the heart of Gray's writing; his delight in the little things, humble settings and small human dramas involved in the game. From the dark of Covid, this breezy and bright love letter to football was produced. Smile. Enjoy. -- Jonathan Northcroft * Sunday Times *A vivid, funny reminder of what was the weirdest time ever to be a football fan. Empathetic and poignant, it's the game's answer to A Journal of the Plague Year. -- Harry PearsonGray is a master of observing and amplifying the things we love about football but wonder if anyone else even notices * The Times *Gray writes like Lowry paints. Superb * BBC Radio *Gray is an endearing and authentic football observer, and this book reaffirms the meaning and importance of football in so many ways. -- Ian Aspinall * Late Tackle magazine *A joyous travelogue documenting a rocky season…offering a poignant peak at a surreal age and a slab of social history…moving, heartfelt and surprising uplifting. * Four Four Two *His peerless eye for the game’s endless little oddities and charms is used to chronicle his own return to the terraces after the forced exile of lockdown. No-one else writes with such obvious appreciation and warmth for the game. * The Scottish Times *We’re spoiled that the writer engaged with this task is Daniel Gray, who navigated complicated lockdown rules to produce this poetic account of football while the fans were locked out. * Scotland on Sunday *Covid could not stop football but it could stop fans from attending a game. It is a time that deserves to be recorded. It has found its peerless chronicler in Daniel Gray. * The Daily Mail *A joyous travelogue documenting a precarious season…moving, heartfelt and surprisingly uplifting * When Saturday Comes *Table of ContentsIntroduction – Jarrow 3 v 1 Durham City 1 Middlesbrough 1 v 1 Bournemouth 2 Lancaster City 1 v 2 Basford United 3 Workington 2 v 0 Mossley 4 Kendal Town 0 v 3 Tadcaster Albion 5 Southport 1 v 1 Alfreton Town 6 Cowdenbeath 2 v 0 Brechin City 7 Raith Rovers 3 v 1 Dundee 8 Rothbury 5 v 1 Forest Hall 9 Billingham Synthonia 0 v 2 West Auckland Town Epilogue Selected bibliography Acknowledgements

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Book Synopsis''At last, the definitive guide to football phraseology across the world... Sparky and very funny'' Paul Hayward''Amusing and informative in equal measure'' Oliver Kay, The AthleticA wonderful, endlessly delightful book' When Saturday ComesA new edition of an expertly compiled and utterly fascinating compendium of the weird and wonderful words and phrases used to describe football around the world.In this revised glossary of football words and phrases, discover the rich, quirky and joyously creative global language used by fans, commentators and players.From placing a shot ''where the owl sleeps'' in Brazil, to what it means to use your ''chocolate leg'' in the Netherlands, via ''Anglican'' a phrase adopted by Czechs to describe a disputed goal and the now ubiquitous ''it''s coming home'', this comprehensively researched book entertains and informs in equal measure.Discover why a ''Trade ReviewFunny, erudite, rich in detail and endlessly readable. Perfect for anyone who thinks they already know about the language of football. -- Barney Ronay * The Guardian *Sparky and very funny... At last, the definitive guide to football phraseology across the world. The richness of the game's language shines through in this addictive glossary. -- Paul Hayward * Five-time Sports Journalists’ Association Writer of the Year *Amusing and informative in equal measure. Who knew Dundee United commanded such disdain in Nigeria? -- Oliver Kay, The AthleticQuirky, addictive, stuffed with anecdote, it’s far more than a glossary… The writing is precise, light and often lovely. A treat. -- Jonathan Northcroft * Sunday Times *A fascinating and necessary work. -- Jonathan Wilson, founder of The BlizzardEin super Buch! -- Raphael Honigstein, The AthleticA wonderful, endlessly delightful book * When Saturday Comes *There are plenty of books about the language of football already, but surely not one like this: funny, informative and truly global. * 11Freunde *By reading this book, you will discover the complexity, the colour and the power of football’s global language. * Clarence Seedorf *A reminder that there are few better means of celebrating both our differences and similarities than the game of football. * The Guardian *Table of ContentsForeword by Clarence Seedorf Introduction South America Putting it on a Plate - Where Football Meets Food North and Central America Near Unstoppable - Top Corner Terminology Europe Between the Legs - Nutmeg Names Africa Dodgy Keepers - A Glossary of Gaffes Asia Natural Talent - Expressions Inspired by the Animal Kingdom Australasia Acknowledgements Index

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Book Synopsis''A major talent'' Irvine Welsh''Remarkable, beautiful, magic. Like Ulysses for those who can''t cope with reading Ulysses'' Paolo Hewitt''We''re all in the gutter but some of us are ogling the sparkles.''Set at the fag-end of the 1960s and framed as a novel within a novel published by a seedy London purveyor of pulp fiction, MAN-EATING TYPEWRITER is a homage to the avant-garde counterculture of the 20th century. Told in Polari, it is the story of an anarchist named Raymond Novak and his plan to commit a ''fantabulosa crime'' in 276 days that will revolt the world. A surrealistic odyssey that stretches from occupied Paris to the cruise-liner SS Unmentionable to lawless Tangier before settling in Swinging London, the book casts Novak as an agitator and freedom fighter - but, as his memoirs become more and more threatening, his publishers find themselves far more involved in his violent personality cult than they ever intended.Trade ReviewSingle-handedly proving the novel isn't dead, Milward breathes new life into the form in this erudite, witty yet immaculately crafted, romp of a book -- Ali Millar, author of THE LAST DAYSMan-Eating Typewriter is truly extraordinary: as if Mervyn Peake and Kenneth Williams wrote a book with William Burroughs -- Michael Bracewell, author of UNFINISHED BUSINESSRemarkable, beautiful, magic. Like Ulysses for those who can't cope with reading Ulysses -- Paolo HewittOutrageous, audacious and shameless, Man-Eating Typewriter is a brilliantly constructed murderous lark. Like A Clockwork Orange adapted by John Waters at his most gleeful -- John Higgs, author of LOVE AND LET DIEI love this book, this jaw-dropping, obsessive love-letter to the alchemy of the word -- David Keenan, author of INDUSTRY OF MAGIC AND LIGHTIt doesn't get more exciting. In literary terms, he's right up there with the best this country has to offer -- Rupert ThomsonA mind-bending performance that unspools in flavoursome Polari over much of its pages. Intricate, hilarious, as grossly excessive as the milieu it depicts, the novel often reads as if Jean Genet and Vladimir Nabokov had joined the screenwriting team of the Carry On films -- Boyd Tonkin * Financial Times *Man-Eating Typewriter is a disgusting and depraved book, awash with orgies, drug abuse, bestiality (one scene gives appalling new meaning to the expression "he's sleeping with the fishes"), casual violence, cross-dressing, castration, comically unconventional sexual assaults, and lovingly described abnormal bowel movements. I thoroughly enjoyed it * Daily Telegraph *An exhibition of literary verve as well as a probing examination of morality within a sick society, Man-Eating Typewriter is a phenomenal achievement * Literary Review *The linguistic invention borders on the dazzling, the potted social history drops its names with wit and verve, and the whole thing is both laugh-out-loud funny and authentically disgusting * Guardian *This magnificent, unhinged book is best described by one of its own characters - it's a beautiful fucking heinous masterpiece * Joe Dunthorne *

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Book SynopsisThe honest, entertaining and brilliantly relatable Sunday Times bestseller.Kate Lawler has never been maternal. And yet here she is: mother to Noa, after years of going back and forth about having children at all. This is the story of her journey from parentally undecided to early motherhood, via raging hormones, sleepless nights, emergency hospital trips, mum guilt, unspoken regrets and post-natal depression.This book is not a parenting manual. It won''t tell you what to pack in your hospital bag, or how to get your baby to sleep. It may not help you with feeding or dealing with tantrums. But it will show you that you''re not alone - and that it''s perfectly possible, and maybe even normal, to love your child with all of your heart while also feeling lost, alone and resentful.Whether you''re an expectant parent, a new parent, firmly in the thick of it, or still parentally undecided, this book is for you, as Kate writes honestly and hilariously

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Book SynopsisRoma have risen from their ruins!Manolas, the Greek God in Rome!The unthinkable unfolds before our eyes.This was not meant to happen, this could not happen . . . this is happening!Peter DruryIf football is the beautiful game, then commentators are its poets.Whether it''s the brevity of Barry Davies, the boundless enthusiasm of Clive Tyldesley or the sheer eloquence of Peter Drury''s monologues, the canon of football commentary is replete with memorable lines that would have some of the great classical orators nodding in appreciation. Curated by football journalist Charlie Eccleshare, The Beautiful Poetry of Football Commentary is a glorious anthology of iconic lines, set out as poems, celebrating the best commentators that have ever graced a microphone. Each poem is accompanied by ''scholarly'' analysis capturing the enduring power of language on the beautiful game.So, drink it in, and immerse yourselfTrade Review"It is a privilege to be part of this excellent work" - Martin Tyler, English Football Commentator"There have been some brilliant lines of commentary down the years and Charlie's academic deconstruction of them is terrific. I'm both grateful and incredibly flattered to be included. To share such lovingly compiled pages with Motson, Davies, Wolstenholme, Butler and Coleman feels almost impossible." - Peter Drury, Lead Main Commentator for NBC Sports and former Lead Main Commentator for Premier League Productions.

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