Humor Classics

Alice is hiding an unusual power, a power that she has to keep secret. In movies, this would make Alice a superhero, a principal character with a sparky trick up her sleeve. However, in the reality of office life, this power is proving to be a pain in the rear end. Alice gives out massive static shocks. Alright, this might not be the most spectacular gift, but it can fuse electrical circuits, cripple low-life creeps on the underground, and foil bank robberies.

My Hellicorn keeps pestering me to take a trip to the beach with him, my pet demons want a family fun day out, and my demon partner wants to start a war with the local Yakuza clan.... And that’s just before breakfast. As the FPD’s only occult investigator, I deal with a lot more than your average cop, and often that means babysitting a bunch of volatile demons...when I’m not working cases that is. Speaking of which, a pregnant girl has walked into the precinct claiming she has a monster in her belly, put there by a demon-worshiping cult.

This fictitious memoir, detailing the desperately suburban life of an obnoxious prig, was published anonymously in 1924. While it resembles the much better known The Diary of a Nobody, the satire is more far-reaching and devastating, and the main character is one of the most memorable in comic fiction. The actual author was later discovered to be Sir Henry Howarth Bashford (1880-1961), who enjoyed a distinguished career in medicine and served as personal physician to King George VI.

The infamous Bertie Wooster, rebuffing the assistance of his trusty manservant Jeeves, attempts to help his old chum and newt-fancier Gussie Fink-Nottle win the affections of the goofy but adorable Madeline Bassett. But without Jeeves to lend a hand, chaos ensues, and Bertie finds himself accidentally - and horribly - engaged to Madeline himself.

Taniya Sexton is an ordinary downtrodden girl with authority issues. Having the working day from hades, she is sucked from our reality and into the fifth dimension when summoned to wage a war. Instantly she's elevated to god status and is worshipped as the almighty god Amrak.

Prince Charming must work overtime when he becomes embroiled in a plot involving an evil sorceress, an enchanted castle, an angry dragon, and three beautiful damsels in distress. In this hilarious fairy tale parody, Prince Charming is getting tired the constant need to Slay and Rescue.

For Max Schreiber, World War II was an idyll. It is the return home to Connecticut that feels like entering a combat zone. Ridiculed by his wife and daughter, bored by his legal practice, Schreiber spends his evenings drinking and eating alone, hoping that when he goes to sleep he will dream of France and Micheline, the beautiful young woman who may have broken his heart but at least made him feel alive.

John the Revelator awakens in a cave with no memory of his prior life. Guided along El Camino de la Muerte by a demented madman and a philosophical giant, John sets out on a quest to fill in his blank slate and slough off the rot of his soul. Part dark comedy road trip, part spiritual quest, and part horror story, Sloughing Off the Rot is literary alchemy about John's transformation from repugnant wretch to reluctant hero.

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.

Una narrazione disincantata e ironica denuncia il vuoto di valori che seguì la disfatta napoleonica. La cittadella descritta da Stendhal è in realtà molto diversa dalla vera cittadella di Parma e, invece, molto simile a Castel Sant'Angelo, dalla cui cella fuggì (calandosi con delle corde), nel Cinquecento, Alessandro Farnese, rinchiuso per aver rapito e sedotto una nobildonna romana. In seguito diviene cardinale e, poi, papa.

Humor and overall literary style have changed a lot in the 132 years since this book was published in 1889. However, the information remains informative, primarily because there is a certain amount of truthfulness about it that manages to disregard the passage of time. It takes in some unusual events that either did happen, or could have. It involves three men and a dog that is sometimes smarter than any of them. Between them, they come up with some depth of thought and at least a minor ability to understand human nature.

First published in 1895 this classic tale of three friends taking a boating holiday on the Thames is as fresh as ever and creates a unique blend of humorous travelogue and historical information; even pausing at times, amidst the comedic mishaps, to reflect eloquently upon life and its sufferings.

The dragon investigation quest is a lot bigger than Team Stone could imagine. This is but the first step of a mandatory mission...for those to be back. Sigh. The Falcon, one of five "players" or dimensional interlopers makes his debut, and it's not exactly a warm welcome. With Stone Mode recharging, Clyde must take on his journey like every man. Well, he does have an amazingly powerful team to watch his back.

An early collection of short stories by England's greatest humorist, P. G. Wodehouse, My Man Jeeves features eight of the most enjoyable and popular short stories of the early 20th century.

Tells the story of the married life of Nevis Falconer, a young woman novelist, and Simon Quinn. Temperamentally unsuited, they live this superficial existence for three years, until one day Nevis meets Marcus Chard, her American publisher, who has just arrived in London. Soon friendship develops into love. Nevis finds herself caught in a whirl of circumstances over which she has no control.

This is a fabulous collection of four stories by the great Russian master of the short form Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852). It includes his famous "The Fair at Sorochyntsi", "A Bewitched Place", "The Lost Letter", and "St. John's Eve" - all superb examples of Gogol's unsurpassed sense of humor and flair for satire.

Flatlandia fu scritto nel 1888 da Edwin Abbott Abbott. Il racconto, fantastico, racconta la vita di un abitante di un ipotetico universo bidimensionale che entra in contatto con l'abitante di un universo tridimensionale. È un racconto che affronta da un punto di vista della matematica e della geometria il tema della multidimensionalità dell'universo.

Voltaire's Candide can only be described as a satirical novella that was intended to attack the optimistic and backwards way of thinking that was common during the 18th century. Filled with absurd and darkly humorous content, the short work is a highly debatable and thought-provoking piece. The story centers around Candide, the nephew of a baron, who's teacher, Pangloss, teaches Candide that the world is the way it should be and that everything in it is good.

This collection contains 12 of the greatest shows ever broadcast during the Golden Age of Radio - including episodes of The Jack Benny Program, Burns & Allen, Gunsmoke, The Amos ‘N’ Andy Show, Philip Marlowe, The Green Hornet, X Minus One, Sherlock Holmes and many others. Radio’s finest actors perform before the microphones, including: Jack Benny, Frank Sinatra, Danny Kaye, Groucho Marx, Ozzie Nelson, Harriet Hilliard, Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Jim and Marian Jordan, Hal Peary, Eve Arden, George Burns, Gracie Allen and many more.

An ebullient Mr Finchley is about to propose marriage to a lady he had rescued from mishap, when he is sent to Paris by his firm. There he manages to upset a boat, adopt a stray orphan, and get himself kidnapped. The fine tangle he gets into takes some unravelling! Only when eventually back in London does he complete the proposal of marriage that was interrupted at the start. This gentle comedy trilogy was a runaway best seller on first publication in the 1930s and retains a timeless appeal today.