Humor Memoir

SETTLING DOWN is the fourth and final instalment of THE RELUCTANT EXPAT, Alan Laycock’s light-hearted account of his life in Spain. ***The first part of Alan's sequel, THE CONTENTED EXPAT, is now available.***

Eric André is a master of the art of pranking—“an Andy Kaufman for the Four Loko generation,” as Spin magazine once hailed him. For over a decade, he and longtime collaborator Dan Curry have dreamed up and performed a cornucopia of outrageous, often illegal, and always death-defying hijinks for the Adult Swim series The Eric Andre Show, as well as in the hit movie Bad Trip. Now, in their very first book, Eric and Dan reveal the secret fuel behind their surrealistic prank machine.

When Carl Coulton is finally released from prison his kindly probation officer suggests cycling as a form of therapy. Carl needs to let off steam, and how better to do it than by pounding the pedals on the leafy Lancashire lanes close to his home? Therapy it proves to be, but of a kind that no-one but Carl could have imagined. In a story which will cause motorists to give those dratted bikes a wider berth and allow harassed cyclists to live out their wildest fantasies, we follow Carl’s progress from rehabilitated ex-con to the most perilous man on two wheels in living memory. With ...

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Peace Work, written and read by Spike Milligan. "I had not informed my parents of my return. I wanted it to be a lovely surprise; it was for me - they were away...." The seventh and last volume of Spike Milligan's memoirs sees our hero returning from war and Italy...but to what? Aside from shooting large, inaccurate guns at Germans, all he has done for five long years is blow a trumpet....

“Everybody has got to die, but I have always believed an exception would be made in my case. Now what?” - Last words of William Saroyan But there are no exceptions. Now what? James Scott Bell spent a good chunk of 2015 thinking and writing about that. Some famous people died that year. So did others not so famous. It doesn't matter, because each life is a story. And if we look deeply enough they all have something to say. In Some People Are Dead, Bell weaves his musings on the departed into a form of essay combining memoir and reflection, thoughts on how to live and how to die, and an ...

FULL COLOUR 30th ANNIVERSARY RECORD EDITION Rosco McGlashan is an icon of drag racing and an Australian land speed record holder. This book tells the unbelievable and remarkable story of his life, one of the best motorsports biographies and land speed record books you will ever read. The Kindle version comprises 370 action-packed pages, featuring 160 incredible colour photos of Rosco's life, cars, and racing career. His early years were very tough. He spent time in state-run homes and remand centres, eventually driving away from his home and school at twelve after a run-in with his family ...

What do you get when you cross a mischievous six-year-old boy, a hatchet, a pet lizard and the oft repeated question, what happens to a lizard when it loses its tail? Or, what is a mother to do when, as she exits the store with a basket full of groceries, she looks up to see her blue station wagon rolling across the parking lot with four little kids, screaming at the tops of their lungs, trapped inside? In Little Heathens, author Ron Bay, Jr. takes us on a delightful and hilarious journey of adventure, innocence, and discovery through the eyes of an eight-year-old boy. Join Ron as he ...

'The Complete Diaries' includes: Part One - Integration Part Two - Invasion Part Three - Consolidation Part Four - Conclusion Please see individual diary descriptions and reviews for more information.

At the age of 9, Romesh Ranganathan delivered his first ever stand-up set at a Pontin's Holiday Camp talent competition, smashing the only other competitor, a young girl playing the kazoo. The gig went so well that Romesh retired his comic genius for 22 years, hiding behind the guise of a maths teacher, before finally revealing himself again (no, not like that) at the tender age of 31. In 2010, Ranganathan staged his epic comeback gig to an almost silent room, and has since gone on to earn his place as the most in-demand overweight vegan Sri Lankan comedian in Britain.

A collection of never-before-seen humor pieces - essays, satire, short stories, poetry, cartoons, artwork, and more - from 150 of the biggest female comedians today, curated by Amy Solomon, a producer of the hit HBO shows Silicon Valley and Barry.

THE CONTENTED EXPAT is Alan Laycock’s long-awaited follow-up to The Reluctant Expat. Although essentially a sequel, a detailed recap renders it not altogether essential to have read those books in order to enjoy the tale of his action-packed sabbatical in the Asturian seaside town of Lastres. Here Alan’s wife Inma attempts to contain his insatiable curiosity and burning desire to integrate, no matter how much of a fool he makes of himself. Initially he wishes to sail off into the Bay of Biscay with the local fishermen, but as usual things don’t quite work out as he anticipated… Part...

Back when restaurant menus were still printed on paper, and wearing a mask—or not—was a decision made mostly on Halloween, David Sedaris spent his time doing normal things. As Happy-Go-Lucky opens, he is learning to shoot guns with his sister, visiting muddy flea markets in Serbia, buying gummy worms to feed to ants, and telling his nonagenarian father wheelchair jokes. But then the pandemic hits, and like so many others, he's stuck in lockdown, unable to tour and read for audiences, the part of his work he loves most.

Michael’s first book ended with his big break at the 2006 Royal Variety Performance. Waking up the next morning in the tiny rented flat he shared with his wife, Kitty, and their one-year-old son, he was beyond excited about the new glamorous world of show business. Unfortunately, he was also clueless. In A Funny Life, Michael honestly and hilariously shares the highs and the lows of his rise to the top and desperate attempts to stay there.

CAVEMAN: A QUEST FOR FREEDOM IN SPAIN is a humorous, thought-provoking new novel by the author of SPANISH JOURNALS: THE POSTHUMOUS DIARY OF AN EXPAT. Tom Worsley, retired postman of forty-three, is fed up of life in his Lancashire town and decides to head off to live in a cave in southern Spain. There he plans to get back to basics and lead a life of simplicity, cultivate his mind, and improve his Spanish. None of his new friends in the nearby village can dissuade him from pursuing his singular goal, but after his cave is discovered by outsiders, his life becomes a good deal more complicated.

Harvey Kurtzman created Mad, and Mad revolutionized humor in America. Kurtzman was the original editor, artist, and sole writer of Mad, one of the greatest publishing successes of the twentieth century. But how did Kurtzman invent Mad, and why did he leave it shortly after it burst, nova-like, onto the American scene? For this heavily researched biography, Bill Schelly conducted new interviews with Kurtzman’s colleagues, friends, and family, including Hugh Hefner, R. Crumb, Jack Davis, and many others, and examined Kurtzman’s personal archives.

Over the course of his long and distinguished career, God has literally seen it all. And not just seen. In fact, the multi-talented deity has played a pivotal role in many major events, including the Creation of the universe, the entirety of world history, the life of every human being who has ever lived, and the successful transitioning of American Idol into the post-Simon Cowell era. Now, as the earth he has godded so magnificently draws to a Mayan-induced close, God breaks his 1,400-year literary silence with his final masterpiece, The Last Testament.

If you thought Dennis Miller was done ranting, guess again. In Still Ranting After All These Years, recorded in early 2002, Miller is in fine form, commenting on everything from "War and Terrorism" to Enron; from "Obsessed Parents" to the "End of Class"; to "Truth in the Media" and so much more. Throughout, Miller is what we have come to expect from him: smart, cutting, laugh-out-loud funny, and more times than not...right.

When lowly civil servant Ben Anscomb’s luck deserts him, he opts for a walk on the lawless side of life. Jobless and wifeless, he draws up his very own Theft Chart and sets about earning his living through a series of systematically planned felonies. Confident in his ability to avoid the cock-ups of the commonplace crook, he proves to be a singular thief. "A short but punchy read about one man's mission to set himself up financially for life - by turning to crime. Down on his luck - with no job, a failed marriage and the threat of repossession looming - Ben feels he has no alternative. ...

If you happen to harbour a vague romantic notion of some day opening your own second-hand bookshop where the artistic intelligentsia would congregate to discuss highbrow matters and engage in witty badinage, then perhaps you would do well to read "What's the best you can do?" first. It may not necessarily put you off the idea altogether, but it will certainly provide you with a sharp reality check. The book is an autobiographical account of a second-hand bookshop owner in Northern Ireland during the 1980s and 90s and is a combination of straight prose mixed with numerous anecdotes of a ...

“Great Tits I’ve Known (And Other Species)” is the new edition of “Collected Selected Words” and is a combination of travel, memoir, autobiography and fiction, taking in three countries on its travels. It is also a book for ornithologists. Its humour and satire travel the world even ending up on the island of Cuba. Cambodia makes an appearance, too, and its hornbills get noisy. Overshadowing the book are the grim islands of Great Britain and the long Italian peninsular, but undaunted Jonathan Finch sings a song few birds can sing which embraces Thailand and especially Pattaya and ...