My Account Wish List Shopping Cart Log In
Store Location

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's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
Did you find this review helpful?
Parent Categories
56 Items found Print
Filter
Active Filters: Hardcover, Used Books & Materials
"Stand Back," Said the Elephant, "I'm Going to Sneeze!"
by Patricia Thomas, illustrated by Wallace Tripp
from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for Nursery-1st grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Macmillan Classics
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by John Tenniel
from Macmillan
Fantasy for 7th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$14.40 (1 in stock)
Baron Rides Out
by Adrian Mitchell, illustrated by Patrick Benson
from Philomel Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Best Loved Fables of Aesop / Nonsense Alphabets
by Aesop, Joseph Jacobs, illustrated by John Tenniel and Joseph Wolf; Edward Lear (Nonsense)
from Grolier Publishing
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$4.80 (2 in stock)
Book With No Pictures
by B. J. Novak
from Penguin Random House
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$15.29 $7.20 (1 in stock)
Charlie at the Zoo
by Marcus Pfister
from North-South Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Cheaper By the Dozen
by Frank Gilbreth & Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
from HarperCollins
Family Stories for 4th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.40 (6 in stock)
Clementine
by Sara Pennypacker & Marla Frazee
from Hyperion Books for Children
for 2nd-4th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Diedrich Knickerbocker's A History of New York
by Washington Irving, illustrated by F.O.C. Darley, introduction by Andrew B. Myers
Facsimile, First Printing from Sleepy Hollow Press
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Drat These Brats!
from Margaret K. McElderry Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Duck for President
by Doreen Cronin
from Scholastic Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Egg and I
by Betty MacDonald
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
Biography for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.80 (1 in stock)
Ersatz Elevator
Series of Unfortunate Events #6
by Lemony Snicket
from HarperCollins
Morbid Humor for 4th-8th grade
in Clearance: Fiction (Location: ZCLE-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Fierce Pajamas
by David Remnick and Henry Finder, editors
from Random House
for Adult
in Short Stories (Location: LIT-ANTH)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Foot Book
Bright & Early Books
by Dr. Seuss
from Random House
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Beginner Books (Location: EAR-BB)
$8.49 $2.40 (1 in stock)
Foot Book
Bright & Early Books
by Dr. Seuss
from Random House
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Beginner Books (Location: EAR-BB)
$2.40 (2 in stock)
Fox in Socks
by Dr. Seuss
from Random House
for 2nd-3rd grade
in Beginner Books (Location: EAR-BB)
$3.20 (4 in stock)
Giant John
by Arnold Lobel
Weekly Reader Book Club Ed. from Harper & Row
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Gift of the Magi
by O. Henry, illustrated by Kevin King
from Simon and Schuster
for 4th-10th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Good Samaritan Strikes Again
by Patrick F. McManus
from Henry Holt and Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Gopher, Tanker, and the Admiral
by Shirley Climo, illustrated by Eileen McKeating
from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Great Brain
by John D. Fitzgerald
from Dial Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$3.60 (2 in stock)
Gutenberg's Folly
by Ira Wallach
from Abelard - Schuman
for Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Gypsy Rizka
by Lloyd Alexander
from Dutton Children's Books
for 7th-10th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Henry's Quest
by Graham Oakley
from Atheneum
for 1st-4th grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$48.00 (1 in stock)
Here Lies the Librarian
by Richard Peck
First Edition from Dial Books for Young Readers
for 4th-7th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.20 (1 in stock)
Hetty and Harriet
by Graham Oakley
from Atheneum
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$30.40 (1 in stock)
Holes
Holes Series #1
by Louis Sachar
10th Anniversary Edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 4th-6th grade
1999 Newbery Medal winner
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
How to Become Extinct
by Will Cuppy, illustrated by William Steig
from Farrar & Rinehart
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Hush Up!
by Jim Aylesworth, illustrated by Glen Rounds
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.60 (1 in stock)
Ida B
by Katherine Hannigan
1st edition from Greenwillow Books
for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
If You Made a Million
by David M. Schwartz
from HarperCollins
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.60 (1 in stock)
Journey Cake, Ho!
by Ruth Sawyer, illustrated by Robert McCloskey
from Viking Press
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
1954 Caldecott Honor Book
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
King Bidgood's in the Bathtub
by Audrey & Don Wood
1st edition from HMH Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
King's Jackal
by Richard Harding Davis
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Knuffle Bunny Too
by Mo Willems
from Hyperion Press
2008 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$15.29 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook
by Joyce Lankester Brisley
from Kingfisher
for 2nd-3rd grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Nutmeg Tree
by Margery Sharp
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Pippi Goes on Board
Pippi Longstocking #2
by Astrid Lindgren
from Viking Press
Humor for 2nd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Poke in the I
by Paul Janeczko
1st edition from Candlewick Press
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Sheep in a Shop
by Nancy Shaw, illustrated by Margot Apple
from Houghton Mifflin
for Nursery-Kindergarten
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Sir Charlie
by Paul Fleishman
from Greenwillow Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Snow
by Philip.D. Eastman, Roy Mc Kie
from Random House Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Beginner Books (Location: EAR-BB)
$2.80 (1 in stock)
Snowbound with Betsy
by Carolyn Haywood
6th printing, 1969 from Yearling
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$100.00 (1 in stock)
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
Hitchhiker's Trilogy #4
by Douglas Adams
from Crown Publishers
Humorous Science Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Stand Up, Mr. Dickens
by Charles Dickens, edited and abridged by Edward Blishen, illustrated by Jill Bennett
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-8th grade
in Short Story Anthologies for Kids (Location: FIC-ANTH)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Talking Crocodile
by Fyodor Dostoevsky, adapted by M. Rudolph Campbell, illustrated by Judy Piussi-Campbell
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$18.40 (1 in stock)
Tell Me a Joke
by Dana Bruce (editor), illustrated by Bill Sokol
from Platt and Munk Publishers
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Tramp Abroad
by Mark Twain, Illustrated by David Knight, Introduction by Edward Wagenknecht
from Heritage Press
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Veronica / Three Little Horses
by Roger Duvoisin & Piet Worm
from Random House
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$4.80 (3 in stock)
Way of the World
by Walter Congreve, introduction by Louis Kronenberger, illustrated by T. M. Cleland
from Heritage Press
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.60 (1 in stock)
While Mrs. Coverlet Was Away
by Mary Nash
from Little, Brown & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
William Shakespeare's Star Wars Part the Fifth
William Shakespeare Star Wars #5
by Ian Doescher
First Edition from Quirk Books
for 4th-10th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Wind in the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by James Lynch
from The Folio Society
Humorous Animal Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Year Down Yonder
by Richard Peck
1st edition from Sun Dial Press
for 4th-9th grade
2001 Newbery Award Winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.60 (2 in stock)
You're Only Old Once!
by Dr. Seuss
1st edition from Random House Books for Young Readers
for Adult
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Sign Up!

Shop

Support

Hours & Directions

Learn more about our store location and hours

Connect

503.655.1951

hello@exodusbooks.com

19146 Molalla Ave,
Oregon City, OR 97045