Writing Humor

Without bothering to get approval from the President, the State Department, or even the FTC, Dave Barry's publishers sent him to Tokyo. You'd think they would have known better. Now the word is Barry has set back our diplomatic relations with the whole Pacific Rim by a couple of decades. Japanese culture, dining, sport, and industry all come under Barry's relentless scrutiny.

Writing funny is no joke. While there is no easy formula to writing humor, there is an art to being funny, and more importantly, writing funny.

What is a man to do after the tragic ending of his loving marriage and a nasty divorce? How does he rediscover the essence that makes him a man after years of being forced to attend ballets, eat vegan food, and participate in intimacy seminars? There is only one way: drink, play, f@#k.

In Drink, Play, F@#k, Bob Sullivan, a jilted husband, sets off to explore the world, experience a meaningful connection with the divine, and rediscover his passion.

Communication Skills—Eight manuscripts in one book, including: Body Language: 7 Easy Steps to Master Nonverbal Communication, Reading People, Microexpressions & Improve Your Charisma; Assertiveness: 7 Easy Steps to Master Assertive Social Confidence, Self-Esteem, Self-Awareness & Social Dynamics; Conversation Skills: 7 Easy Steps to Master Listening Skills, Interpersonal Feedback, Difficult Conversations & Voice Training; Make People Laugh: 7 Easy Steps to Master Being Funny, Conversational Humor, Improv Stand-Up Comedy & Joke Writing; and more.

Written together with friend and journalist Boyd Hilton, the audiobook follows a year in the lives of Matt Lucas and David Walliams in every unfiltered detail: the good, the bad, the mundane and the meaningful. It is a year that includes writing, rehearsing, filming, Live8, going to America, and undertaking a mammoth 100-date, seven-month tour where Little Britain goes in search of Great Britain.

Pix just wants to hunt monsters, craft armor, and pay off her college loans. Her partner Jaz does too. She just wants to pet the monsters more. While wearing impractical hot pants armor. And wielding a sword so massive she needs magic gems to carry it.

Although there's no shortage of books on writing and publishing, there's none quite like Robert's Rules of Writing. Drawing on his many years of experience as an award-winning journalist, TV writer, and the author of over 20 books, Robert Masello addresses all the issues that confront, and all the problems that beset, writers of all stripes.

Available to listeners for the first time, Sucker’s Portfolio showcases a collection of seven never-before-published works from Kurt Vonnegut, one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. Short, sardonic, and dark, these six brief fiction stories and one non-fiction piece are consummate Vonnegut with piercing satire and an eye for life’s obscene inanity. Also available for the first time is an unfinished science-fiction short story, included in the appendix.

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.

Rian Morris, despite his small stature, is one of the best bodyguards in the business. Only problem; nobody will hire him due to a former client being murdered on his watch. Depression, addiction, and the weight of the world come close to ending him, but then he receives a visit from a former colleague. This friend offers him a high-risk job protecting one of history’s most controversial authors—Ayn Rand.

Follow a man barely deserving of the title as he flails through a turgid cesspit of human depravity, only to discover that he’s the one bunging up its U-bend. Wrongly Writing has even more psychiatrists, anaphylaxis, and cringing social ineptitude than the first Wrong Book, and proves that while editors exist for a reason, the author clearly doesn’t.

When the worst writer in history self-publishes his books, the world of literature is decimated overnight. Illiteracy becomes something to aspire to and book burnings become rife. The publishing industry is left hemorrhaging credibility and verges on collapse. But its recovery not a matter of removing said books, or even destroying them, the same must be done to the mind responsible.

Andy Smart's early adventures are a series of jaw-dropping feats and bizarre situations from which, amazingly, he emerged unscathed. Living on his wits, sleeping rough, and accepting lifts that get him into bizarre and often dangerous situations, Andy's six years spent on the road stands as a unique record of life as it was in the late 1970s and early '80s.

Years ago, Steve Hannah’s chance detour through the Midwest cut short a planned cross-country trip. He found himself in Wisconsin, a distinctly different place from the East Coast, where he was born and raised. Charmingly beautiful and full of welcoming people, America’s dairyland would soon become his home. Dairylandia recounts Steve Hannah’s burgeoning love for his adopted state through the writings of his long-lived column, “State of Mind”.

In this witty and entertaining collection of travel tales, an acclaimed journalist explores his obsession with trains - and what his rail journeys have taught him about culture and identity. Beppe Severgnini has spent his life traveling the world, and not just because he's a journalist; he's a passionate, unflagging train buff. Off the Rails recounts some of his favorite trips across Europe, Australia, Asia, and the United States, each journey bringing listeners not only to a different place but to a different time.

The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin: musicians who reached the pinnacle of their profession. Their stories are familiar, but careers like theirs are rare. Far more common are musicians who toil in relative obscurity, scraping a living from meager club earnings and fending off the discouraging advice of friends and family to give up their dream and find a real career. Most of these unknowns eventually do just that, but what happens to those whose passion leaves them little choice in the matter?

Timothy is a serial killer. He's also very lonely. He's a walking contradiction, and his psychological predicament doesn't escape him. Lynnette is a vampire. She's also a nurse. She, too, is a walking contradiction. When she unexpectedly answers his desperate call for company, they realize they could be perfect partners in crime, engaging in a few kinds of bloodwork at once, bringing out the worst and the best in each other.

Dieses Hörbuch beinhaltet die vollständige Sammlung von kurzen, meist heiteren Geschichten rund um das Thema "Reisen" von Kurt Tucholsky (1890-1935). Seit 1924 lebte er überwiegend im Ausland und kehrte nur sporadisch nach Deutschland zurück. 1933 verbrannten die Nazis Tucholskys Bücher und bürgerten ihn aus.

Ireland’s Instagram sensation Meditations for the Anxious Mind takes us on a trip around Ireland of the likes you’ve never seen before, from the trolley-filled Liffey to the glamour of Navan. Why not go off the beaten track with Meditations for the Anxious Mind’s The Toxic Travel Guide and laugh your way around Ireland. We did the research so you don’t have to smell the bin juice.

The new novel from the best-selling author of I Don’t Know How She Does It takes us on an unforgettable journey into first love, and—with the emotional intensity and penetrating wit that have made her beloved among readers all over the world—reminds us of how the ardor of our youth can ignite our adult lives.