Writing Humor

This novel, written in 1949, was Osamu Dazai's last work and was unfinished upon his death. It is set in Tokyo just after the war's end. It tells the story of a handsome editor who wants to leave his mistresses and a black marketeer woman who has a thick voice, a big appetite, and great strength but is also stunningly beautiful. It is a cheerful, humorous, and unprecedented novel, so much so that it is hard to believe that it was written by a novelist who was so depressed that he was contemplating suicide. All the reader can do, however, is to imagine the rest of the novel. Annotations [1] ...

Embark on an enthralling Journey through Wales with Mark Probert as your guide. In the scorching summer of 2022, Mark set off on a remarkable 2,000-mile road trip, following the route taken by the famous writer HV Morton, in the 1930s. Mark shares his grin-out-loud account of the road trip, uncovering hidden gems and traditional tourist hotspots. Like the border with England, the journey takes many unexpected turns. Visits to the World Bog Snorkelling Championships and the birthplace of Stairway to Heaven aren't in everyone's holiday plan. Delve into the depths of coal, slate, and copper ...

Ever wondered what it's like to backpack across India? Two sixty-somethings go for one more adventure and just about survive a five-week journey involving world famous sights, crazy incidents and lots of cows.

“Breathless drama. Clever, inspiring, and exhilarating!” –Michael Hartnett, The Blue Rat Queen Rhynt has won the Battle of the Plain of Sorrows, but now she must deal with deceit and betrayal by her former allies, the elves, led by the mysterious and powerful Queen Daneyh, who aims to rule the known world. As Rhynt responds to this new threat, she must also deal with the gods who want to stop her and the riddle of the mysterious runes on the walls of Randall's Cave and the Cave of the Six Arrows. Do they foretell her death or something else? Only her rune meister, Orthor, can solve ...

The New Comedy Bible is a step-by-step, no excuses manual for writing, performing, and launching your career as a stand-up comic. Written by Judy Carter, the author of The Comedy Bible (2001), which was called by The Washington Post and Forbes as a “Comedy Essential”. This new book, penned in classic Carter’s style - part career coach and part comedy dominatrix - has 100 percent new content.

What If is an essay about the power of daydreaming, and why you should never, ever, ever, become a writer. James J. Caterino is the author of Jordan Rose and the Tomb of Resurrection, The Anti-Matter Girl, Dreams, True Stories, To Meghan, I Want to Believe, Ghost Stories, Pop Star, Time Travel Stories, The Girl from the Stars, and much more.

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.

An essay by James J. Caterino, the author of Girl Pop, Chrome Dome, What If, True Stories, To Meghan, I Want to Believe, The Girl from the Stars, Watch the Skies, and much more.

STRICKLY ADULTS ONLY 1000 Sausages and Dingleberries shows up when conversations go off the rails—when someone brings up an off-limits topic or things just get awkward. Each entry gives you something else to think about. Sometimes it’s funny, sometimes a little rude, but always unexpected. This book is here to distract, entertain, and maybe even cheer you up when you’re feeling down. It’s the perfect escape hatch for uncomfortable moments. Stuck in a tense family dinner? Flip to page 72 and casually bring up “The Sausage That Spoke Latin.” On a bad date? Dingleberry trivia might...

Not everyone loves to travel with family and friends. There's a certain freedom that comes with being on your own in a new place, far from all that you know. No waking up according to someone else's schedule, no eating at a restaurant that doesn't particularly appeal to you, and no getting sick and tired of your significant other or BFF. The only annoying travelers you may encounter on your journey into a strange new land? Everyone else. Join Alexander Zwick on his solo expedition through England, as he gives his humorous yet honest take on the realities of modern travel.

Penniless and downtrodden at the loss of his wife and one of his daughters, Samuel Clemens turned to writing. The short stories and essays in Letters from the Earth find Clemens—under the pseudonym of Mark Twain—at perhaps his most quizzical and questioning state ever. Written as diary entries, Twain penned a series of letters from the point of view of a dejected angel on Earth who observes the many curious natures of man. These pieces, gathered by Twain's literary executor, feature sharp takes on the inconsistencies of Christianity and farcical criticisms of American life.

Trae and Corey will take you from the smallest of small towns to major US metropolises (or is it metropoli? We haven't a fartin' clue!). They'll even cross the pond to sip tea in some of them fancy kings-and-castles places that PBS Viewers Like You can't stop yapping about. From Chickamauga to Cheyenne, New York to New Orleans, Seattle to Scotland—no matter where these two wandering jesters go, there's something to roast, something to toast, and something to learn about what ties us together as humans. Even the most outrageous of us.

At long last, a book of poetry for people who didn’t even know they liked poetry. And they’re in good company: author Lyndsay Rush didn’t know she liked it either. That is, until she embarked on an internet experiment under the Instagram username @MaryOliversDrunkCousin that turned into a body of work that struck a chord with women across the country; thanks to her signature wordplay, witticisms, and—against all odds—wisdom.

Words, when combined with a lot of imagination and years of life experience, meld together into a group of unconnected writings I call Word Stew. Written over decades, each chapter stands alone as a glimpse into that moment in time, in my heart and in my head. Whether you are reading one of the Short Stories or the Life Lessons, you will find something that will make you smile, make you think, and make you want to read the next one.

Jimmy, known by his friends as Meathead, is struggling to keep a secret. He wets the bed. Together with his dog and his pet ferret, Meathead rides his Big Wheel to misadventures in the gully, a swampy stream that cuts through his neighborhood. Impressing the older kids seems important, but it leads him into trouble. Losing his beloved pets and having his secret exposed, Meathead learns his lessons the hard way.

It isn't as though Moxy isn't grateful for all her Christmas presents. She's just not so thrilled that she has to write 12 thank-you notes. Not to mention that she promised her mother they'd all be done by today. And if they're not - well, there will be "consequences". Namely, Moxy won't get to leave tomorrow for the vacation of a lifetime. (A trip to California to attend a Star-Studded Hollywood Bash with the father she hasn't seen in three years.) Moxy's wild schemes to get her thank-you notes done in time are clever, poignant, and always hilarious.

Dear Diary, It Got Weird Again The Works of Mr. Joe This isn’t a diary. It’s a legacy stitched from the strange, the sincere, and the sentences that refused to stay quiet. Inside are fragments that became foundations—moments of insight, humor, heartbreak, and clarity gathered over years and held together by a single thread: the need to make meaning in a world that doesn’t always offer it freely. This collection speaks to those who feel everything a little too deeply, think a little too sideways, and laugh in the middle of their most serious questions. It’s for anyone who’s ever ...

When Pauline Piper reads in the local paper that her old schoolmate Marjorie has published a book and is going to sign copies of it in the local library, she suddenly remembers that she has always wanted to write one. Despite her admission that she has never been able to express herself very well in words, she enlists the help of her patient husband John, a great reader, unlike herself, and begins to pen her very first novel.In her candid account of the ups and downs of authorship, Pauline steers us ably through the process of writing her first work, from its inception to publication day ...

Having survived a fight-to-the-death ceremony that elevated her to Queen of Enturia, 15-year-old Rhynt must now face the Mystrosians, a formidable force intent on conquering Enturia and enslaving her and her people. As hundreds of Mystrosian ships approach the Enturian harbor, she turns to Baron Bookins, the former fool to the king, for help. He says he has a plan to defeat the Mystrosians, a gambit that will assure victory. Maybe. There's just one problem. Whelan the Wanderer, Randall himself, God of Gods has other ideas. He wants the Mystrosians to win and sets his own gambits in motion. ...

What do Glazed Toddlers, Ventriloquist Farters, and The Tao of Poo have in common? Humor and writing! They helped create The Accidental Writing Lab. Author, Sheila M. Sullivan, invites us to see where and how she found the motivation to write. This is not exactly your traditional "how-to" or "self-help" book. No. This book lets us into the inner workings of one particular writer's life as she moved from San Francisco, California to Dallas, Texas and then to Fargo, North Dakota, and ultimately the Pacific Northwest over the course of months. All while attempting to complete the first book in...