Comedy Humor World

Daphne Maritch doesn't quite know what to make of the heavily annotated high school yearbook she inherits from her mother, who held this relic dear. Too dear. The late June Winter Maritch was the teacher to whom the class of '68 had dedicated its yearbook, and in turn she went on to attend every reunion, scribbling notes and observations after each one - not always charitably - and noting who overstepped boundaries of many kinds. In a fit of decluttering (the yearbook did not, Daphne concluded, "spark joy"), she discards it when she moves to a small New York City apartment.

Raj Bhatt is often unsure of where he belongs. Having moved to America from Bombay as a child, he knew few Indian kids. Now middle-aged, he lives mostly happily in California with a job at a university. Still, his white wife seems to fit in better than he does at times, especially at their tennis club, a place he's cautiously come to love. But it's there that, in one week, his life unravels. It begins at a meeting for potential new members: Raj thrills to find an African American couple on the list; he dreams of a more diverse club. But in an effort to connect, he makes a racist joke.

Henry Silberbaum ist kein Rabbi, wie er im Buche steht. Er liebt Kriminalromane, Polohemden, seine Espressomaschine und sein Rennrad. Aber auch seine Schüler und die Bewohner des Jüdischen Seniorenstifts in Frankfurt liegen ihm am Herzen. Als eine alte Dame überraschend stirbt, ist sich der Rabbi sicher: Das war Mord. Doch keiner glaubt ihm. Kann er den brummigen Kommissar Berking davon überzeugen, der ihn kürzlich verhaftet hat? Henry riskiert seinen Job, um die Wahrheit zu finden. Und plötzlich befinden sich der Rabbi und der Kommissar mitten in einem lebensgefährlichen Mordkomplott.

Israel Bond may seem like a simple-if-sexy salesman for Mother Margolies' Old World Chicken Soup, but when the Holy Land needs his skills - his quickness with a pun, his second-to-none semitic seduction techniques, and (if absolutely necessary) his abilities at actual espionage - then the man known by the code name Oy-Oy-7 (licensed not only to kill, but to say prayers over the corpse) is there to do what needs be done. In a land surrounded by its enemies, Oy-Oy-7 is called on to guard the nation's great benefactor, the generous but odd Lazarus Loxfinger.

Tom Jones is a splendid Hogarthian panorama of 18th-century English life and morals, encompassing both city and country, and comprising some of the greatest comic characters in British literature. First published in 1749, it was an instant success and has gone on to become a classic of its genre. Quite simply, there has never been anything like it.

Farahad Zama's debut novel transports listeners to faraway India for a story brimming with endearing characters, homespun wisdom, and blossoming love. After Mr. Ali retires, he launches a matchmaking service that helps an array of clients arrange marriages. But he's unaware of his able assistant's dire need for his marriage bureau.

Drowning in mounting financial problems and apparent mental illness, Travis tries booze, pills, even golf to stay afloat, but nothing works. His wife and friends are forced to stage an intervention. Travis is in danger of losing his family, his career, and ultimately, his sanity. That is, until he meets a Hindu holy man in rehab who claims to be the final incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Suddenly, the tragically shallow Travis is saddled with the responsibility of bettering mankind and saving the world.

After dealing with killer whales, evil scientists, the return of her long-lost mother, and, certainly not least of all, the challenges of breastfeeding, Elvie Nara has just about had it. And then the Jin'Kai (along with the aforementioned estranged mom) kidnap her baby. And before she knows it, another Jin'Kai attack puts her on the run again, but not before discovering that Olivia was implanted with a genetic tracking device.

Having fled Japanese-occupied Korea for the gleaming promise of the United States with nothing but four dollars and a suitcase full of Shakespeare to his name, the young, idealistic Chungpa Han arrives in a New York teeming with expatriates, businessmen, students, scholars, and indigents. Struggling to support his studies, he becomes a traveling salesman, a domestic worker, and a farmer, and observing along the way the idealism, greed, and shifting values of the industrializing 20th century. East Goes West casts a sharply satirical eye on the demands and perils of assimilation.

When the palace of Arabesque's aide d'camp, a cat named the Tremblees, stumbles upon a translation of an ancient language that reveals the existence of a fabled stone, he vows to find it for reasons of greed and vengeance. With a dead dog stuck to a car bonnet, some burst luggage, a blind bus driver, and an enormous number of olives, it becomes a race for Oscar, his colleague Meesha, and the Tieress of Arabesque to prevent the Tremblees plunging Arabesque back into the Era of Bedlam.

Big Son is a spirit of the times - the times being 1837. Behind his broad shoulders, shiny hair, and church-organ laugh, Big Son practically made Ohio City all by himself. The feats of this proto-superhero have earned him wonder and whiskey, but very little in the way of fortune. And without money, Big cannot become an honest husband to his beloved Cloe (who may or may not want to be his honest wife).

A fun-loving, young bull in Spain who tries to escape his troubled past instead must confront his destiny to help his friends in their time of need, proving why he truly is the national animal of Spain.

This is the tale of an average modern American man riding the freeways and living high in the peaks of the American southwest. Frank is seeking the love of a beautiful American woman, the dream of wealth, the thrill of adventure, the misfortune of murder, and the longing to be a part of this life everyone else seems to be so comfortable with. Aren't we all?

Hailed by Time as an “extravagantly comic” novel, A Woman Named Drown is a wild and strange journey through America’s South that follows a young PhD dropout who falls in with an amateur actress-cum–pool shark. On the brink of earning his doctorate in chemistry, the unnamed narrator decides to chuck it all away in favor of real life. So begins an odd pilgrimage through the American South.

With tongue firmly implanted in cheek, Benson introduces us to a world full of snobs, hypochondriacs, faddists, and social climbers. Some of the titles include "The Compleat Snob", "Aunt Georgie", "The Poison of Asps", "The Eternally Uncompromised", "The Grizzly Kittens", and "The Praisers of Past Time".

Emiliano, un joven sin perspectivas de futuro estancado en Miami, recibe una tentadora oferta económica por parte de un reality show alemán. El único detalle es que su padre, el poeta Alfonso Dubuc, debe acompañarlo. El anciano está convencido de ser el mejor escritor de América Latina y jura tener el vigor sexual de un adolescente. Para él, la próxima invitación debería venir de Suecia y anunciar un premio Nobel. En medio hay una madrastra que todo lo resuelve con unas pastillas anaranjadas. En el pasado, un momento fundacional del mito, y un lugar: La Habana de principios de los ochenta.

Andrea Hoffman is an overeducated, underemployed, and unmotivated recent college graduate until a harrowing robbery blasts her out of her funk and into a job in the finance world of early 1980s Chicago. At first, it seems like a bad fit. But the world of finance has its own weird charm, and she grows increasingly fascinated by the strange language of trading, the complexity of the stock market, and her colleagues, who navigate it all with ruthless confidence. Even though she has two strikes against her—Jewish and female—Andrea’s quick wit and strong work ethic propels her.

From the people who bought you The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared another quirky, thought-provoking, Swedish comic novel with attitude. Titus Jensen is waiting for his big break, but he’s middle aged, has a fondness for alcohol, and no one takes him seriously. He makes ends meet by giving public readings from obscure books at festivals. He can’t help thinking there has to be more to life for an author of his quality…

David Brenner draws on highlights from his "Laughter to the People" tour's stand-up material to show how humor can give us the power to transcend personal and world problems, from the unavoidable, like aging, to the uncontrollable, like war. His observations cover a wide range of issues, including fear of flying, going bald, marriage and divorce, pets, politics, terrorism, losing and gaining weight, money problems, and religion.

The Alehouse at the End of the World is an epic comedy set in the 16th century, where bawdy Shakespearean love triangles play out with shapeshifting avian demigods and a fertility goddess, drunken revelry, bio-dynamic gardening, and a narcissistic, bullying crow, who may have colluded with a foreign power.