Humor Anthology

A private detective who can make the guilty confess simply by smiling at them. An artist so intimidated by his morally impeccable cat that he feels compelled to wear formal attire at dinner. A devotee of Proust whose life is turned upside down when he inadvertently subscribes to a correspondence course on "How to Acquire Complete Self-Confidence and an Iron Will." These are just a few of the many members of the eccentric Mulliner clan whose lives and exploits are laid before the regulars of the "Angler's Rest" by that doyen of raconteurs, Mr. Mulliner, in a series of tall stories where lunacy and comic exuberance reign supreme.

David and Ellie didn’t realize how much they have missed their friends, two other couples who had moved out of their modest neighborhood in a desert city for the comforts of the suburbs, until the day of Donald Trump’s election. Separated also from their daughter who lived hours away in California, they were in a funk. But, when Ellie discovers a repellent offering floating in the small Jacuzzi in their backyard, David is blindsided. Little does he know this is but the first in a chain of grisly events that would play out in their lives with devastating consequences.

These wonderfully funny short stories feature a cast of outrageous characters, all plotting to save themselves from wedlock, poverty, or ignominy - with various degrees of success. This recording includes the following stories: "All's Well with Bingo", "Bingo and the Peke Crisis", "The Editor Regrets", "Sonny Boy", "Anselm Gets His Chance", "Romance at Droitgate Spa", "A Bit of Luck for Mabel", "Buttercup Day", and "Ukridge and the Old Stepper".

It's Pandemonium in Peacock Perch Social Security checks are stolen. Identity theft is rampant. Credit card fraud is uncontrolled. Home conversations are recorded and posted on the internet. Technology has declared war on Peacock Perch with an epidemic criminal computer virus spreading like wildfire through the community. And it's up to the Secret Senior Sleuth's Society to find the conspicuous culprit and solve the mystery. But can a bunch of senior citizens and their technophobe leader decipher and decode the electronic evidence to crack the case? Or without their lifetime of experience ...

Kevin Wilson’s characters inhabit a world that moves seamlessly between the real and the imagined, the mundane and the fantastic. “Grand Stand-In” is narrated by an employee of the Nuclear Family Supplemental Provider—a company that supplies “stand-ins” for families with deceased, ill, or plain mean grandparents. And in “Blowing Up On the Spot,” a young woman works sorting tiles at a Scrabble factory after her parents have spontaneously combusted. These wonderfully inventive stories explore the relationship between loss and death and the ways we try to cope with both.

Franz Kafka is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most enigmatic geniuses of European literature. He’s been hailed a profit and a diagnostician, and a century after his death, his unique perspective on the anxieties, injustices, and rapidly shifting belief systems of the modern world continues to speak to our contemporary moment.

In vignettes both comic and sexy, the owner of a coffee shop recalls the day his first wife seemed to achieve a moment of simple perfection, while she remembers the women's softball game during which she was stricken by the beauty of the shortstop. A young couple spends hours at the coffee shop fueling the idea of their fierce love. A professor of philosophy, stopping by for a cup of coffee, makes a valiant attempt to explain what he knows to be the inexplicable workings of the human heart.

Contained here are nine glorious episodes from the idyllic world of Wodehouse. There’s a crime wave which broke out toward the middle of a fine summer afternoon and was to rock Blandings Castle to its foundations; Ukridge appears on Corky’s doorstep at three in the morning, wearing his yellow mackintosh and requesting a whisky and soda; while the Oldest Member warns of the folly of driving into the father of the girl you love....

Zach and Fred are best friends. They always have fun no matter where they go. Fred can be a little stinky sometimes, and he always eats way too much, but he is the greatest friend a kid could have. When Zach is happy, Fred farts, sings, and wiggles. When Zach is shy, Fred farts for giggles. Fred is an invisible dinosaur that burps, farts, and sneezes. Zach is the boy he loves to pieces. Fred's real name is long, like his never-ending tail. He can only be seen by Zach, Emily, and Dale.

Living in the country today is hard. Life was even harder over a century ago. Many families developed a healthy dose of faith and humor to deal with surviving their harsh conditions. Oral history and family traditions were passed down from these hardy pioneers. Lucius shares some mostly true stories about friends and family from the 1890s to the present day. Learn about how his forefathers and foremothers dealt with snakes, outdoor plumbing, the first automobiles, and local watering holes. Lucius brings it back to the house with more of his adventures.

Woody Allen's early comic fiction was heavily influenced by the zany, pun-ridden humor of S.J. Perelman. And now, for the first time, Woody Allen narrates one of his early collections of short stories, Getting Even. Listen to Woody Allen revenge himself on such significant subjects as death, obesity, organized crime, the invention of the sandwich, and much more.

This series of short, fictional vignettes explores our day-to-day interactions with an ever-elusive and arbitrary God. It's the Book of Common Prayer as seen through a looking glass - a powerfully vivid collection of seemingly random life moments. The figures that haunt these stories range from Kafka (talking to a fish) to the Aztecs, Tolstoy to Abraham and Sarah, O. J. Simpson to a pack of wolves. Most of Williams' characters, however, are like the rest of us.

Taking its title from a group of stories that begin the book, Bream Gives Me Hiccups moves from contemporary LA to the dorm rooms of an American college to ancient Pompeii, throwing the listener into a universe of social misfits, reimagined scenes from history, and ridiculous overreactions. In one piece a tense email exchange between a young man and his girlfriend is taken over by the man's sister, who is obsessed with the Bosnian genocide ("The situation reminds me of a little historical blip called the Karadordevo agreement").

In this darkly comic and surreal collection from celebrated author Alissa Nutting, misfit women scramble for agency in a series of uncanny circumstances. Throughout these breathtakingly creative 17 stories spread across time, space, and differing planes of reality, we encounter a host of women and girls in a wide range of unusual jobs. A space cargo deliverywoman enlists the help of her cybersex partner to release her mother from cryogenic prison.

This collection of short stories is a good example of early Wodehouse. It is here that Jeeves makes a brief first appearance with these unremarkable words: "Mrs. Gregson to see you, sir." Years later, when Jeeves became a household name, Wodehouse said he blushed to think of the off-hand way he had treated the man at their first encounter.

In You Will Never Be Forgotten, Mary South explores how technology can both collapse our relationships from within and provide opportunities for genuine connection. Formally inventive, darkly absurdist, savagely critical of the increasingly fraught cultural climates we inhabit, these 10 stories also find hope in fleeting interactions and moments of tenderness. They reveal our grotesque selfishness and our intense need for love and acceptance, and the psychic pain that either shuts us off or allows us to discover our deepest reaches of empathy.

Douze histoires variées, pleines d'émotions ou d'humour, pour les plus grands (8-12 ans). Au sommaire : "Émile et le microbe", "Le bracelet d'Anna", "Mes trois araignées", "Grenouille en prison", "Amour et chewing-gum", "L'anniversaire d'Alex", "Un chat toujours à l'heure", "Le mystère de la poubelle du 16 bis", "Adriane", "Qui a effacé mes exercices d'anglais ?", "Conversation avec un escargot", "Mon 'six cents pattes' ".

A funny and heartwarming debut for fans of Celia Imrie and Dawn French. Evie Gallagher is regretting her hasty move into a care home. She may be 75 and recently widowed, but she’s absolutely not dead yet. And so, one morning, Evie walks out of Sheldon Lodge and sets off on a Great Adventure across Europe. But not everyone thinks Great Adventures are appropriate for women of Evie’s age, least of all her son, Brendan, and his wife, Maura, who follow a trail of puzzling text messages to bring her home.

Three hilarious romantic comedies by Emily James to make you swoon and giggle in equal measure....

What do you get when you combine a chicken named Elvis, a locked diary, and a secret Violet Parker does not want share with her daughter? Seeing Trouble is the first of many short stories involving the characters of the Deadwood Mystery series.