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Humor & Comedy

You know a book's funny if you're reading it alone and laughing hysterically. Of course, the really great comic masterpieces are also deep reflections on humanity and life and death (like Huckleberry Finn or All Creatures Great and Small or Calvin & Hobbes). Frequently, though, you just need to guffaw, and the literary quality of the piece isn't quite as important as the laugh-factor.

Not that you want to read swill. Cheap laughs might be funny on the surface, but the jokes that actually say something are generally funnier than the ones that simply point and snicker. It's easy to think we're superior because we get the joke, but in reality a lot of modern comedy is no more than the absence of reverence. Real comedy is simply an incongruous presentation of a familiar idea that amuses with its absurdity while offering a new view.

Before you dismiss the need for humor on religious grounds (suggesting that Jesus is the Man of Sorrows, and so must we be in order to be like Him), remember that the "laughter is good medicine" image comes from the Bible (Proverbs 17:22), and that as the Creator of everything God invented laughter. He invented jokes. As the perfect man, Jesus probably told the best jokes ever.

We have a few of them—a rich person will enter heaven as easily as a camel getting through the eye of a needle, or the one about the Pharisee and the plebe who go into the temple at the same time to pray. Jesus clearly saw the absurdity of life (in both of the cases mentioned, the absurdity of human pride), and used it to direct people to the Author of Meaning.

Basically, laughter is really good and you should try it sometime. If you're a little rusty and need a boost, read a funny book: maybe the heartwarming but hysterical adventures of the Gilbreth clan in Cheaper by the Dozen, or the pure zaniness of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, or the heartwarming zaniness of Jeeves and Wooster. Whatever you do, smile more, frown less, and for goodness' sake take laughter seriously.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.

 

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"Stand Back," Said the Elephant, "I'm Going to Sneeze!"
by Patricia Thomas
from HarperCollins
for Nursery-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$14.44
Adventures of Frog and Toad
by Arnold Lobel
from Barnes & Noble
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Mark Twain
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Puffin Classics
by Mark Twain
from Puffin Books
for 6th-10th grade
in Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$6.79
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Sterling Classics
by Mark Twain & Scott McKowen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 6th-10th grade
in Sterling Classics (Location: FIC-STE)
$11.96
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Mark Twain
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
$6.80 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain
3rd edition from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$6.80 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Children's Classics
by Mark Twain, Illustrated by Peter Fiore
from Dilithium Press, Ltd.
for 5th-10th grade
in Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Illustrated Junior Library Series 1
by Mark Twain
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Illustrated Junior Library Series 3
by Mark Twain
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Books of Wonder
by Mark Twain (illustrated by Steven Kellogg)
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain, illustrated by E.W. Kemble
from Modern Library
for 5th-10th grade
in Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.65 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Sally
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Adventures of Tintin - Complete Package
by Herge
from Little, Brown & Company
Comic Book for 2nd-6th grade
in Adventures of Tintin (Location: COM-TIN)
$234.99
Adventures of Tintin - Young Readers Collection
by Herge
for 2nd-6th grade
in Adventures of Tintin (Location: COM-TIN)
$112.14
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Puffin Classics
by Mark Twain
from Puffin Books
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$5.94
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Mark Twain
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain
from Dilithium Press, Ltd.
for 6th-10th grade
in Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$8.50 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Sterling Classics
by Mark Twain & Scott McKowen
Unabridged from Sterling Publishing Co.
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Sterling Classics (Location: FIC-STE)
$7.96
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Mark Twain
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-8th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Puffin Classics
by Mark Twain
from Penguin Classics
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$7.65
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Illustrated Junior Library Series 1
by Mark Twain
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-8th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Illustrated Junior Library Series 3
by Mark Twain
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Books of Wonder
by Mark Twain (illustrated by Barry Moser)
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
by Judith Viorst
from Atheneum
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.64
Alice in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger
from Michael Neugebauer
for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Alice in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Ralph Steadman
from Firefly Books
for 5th-10th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.20 (1 in stock)
Alice in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by June Goulding
from Parragon Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Alice in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by John Tenniel
from Blushing Rose Publishing
for 5th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.20 (1 in stock)
Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by John Tenniel
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-8th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
Illustrated Junior Library Series 1
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by John Tenniel
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-8th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Penguin Classics
by Lewis Carroll
from Penguin Classics
Fantasy for 5th-8th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$9.35
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury
from Candlewick Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
All Creatures Great and Small
James Herriot Series Book 1
by James Herriot
from St. Martin's Press
Realistic Fiction for 7th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$14.44
All Things Bright and Beautiful
by James Herriot
from St. Martin's Press
for 8th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$4.25 (1 in stock)
All Things Bright and Beautiful
James Herriot Series Book 2
by James Herriot
from St. Martin's Press
Realistic Fiction for 7th-12th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$14.44
All Things Wise and Wonderful
by James Herriot
from St. Martin's Press
for 8th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$4.25 (1 in stock)
All Things Wise and Wonderful
James Herriot Series Book 3
by James Herriot
from St. Martin's Press
Realistic Fiction for 7th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$15.29
Amelia Bedelia
An I Can Read Book Level 2
by Peggy Parish
from HarperCollins
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$3.99
Annotated Alice
by Lewis Carroll
Definitive Edition from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Another Field Guide to Little Known and Seldom-Seen Birds of North America
by Ben, Cathryn, and John Sill
from Peachtree Publishers, Ltd.
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Applewhites at Wit's End
by Stephanie S. Tolan
1st Edition. from HarperCollins
for 4th-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.50 (1 in stock)
Areas of My Expertise
by John Hodgman
Reprint from Riverhead Books
for 11th-Adult
in Clearance: Literature (Location: ZCLE-LIT)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Aunts Aren't Gentlemen
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Austere Academy
Series of Unfortunate Events #5
by Lemony Snicket
from HarperCollins
Morbid Humor for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
B Is for Betsy
by Carolyn Haywood
from Harcourt
First School Experiences for 2nd-5th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.79 $3.40 (1 in stock)
Bachelors Anonymous
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Back to School with Betsy
by Carolyn Haywood
from Odyssey Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$10.16
Bad Beginning
Series of Unfortunate Events #1
by Lemony Snicket
from HarperCollins
Morbid Humor for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Barmy in Wonderland
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
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