Humorous Books (Fiction)

Packed with an Astounding Amount of New and Never-Before-Collected Material.
Why are people born? Why do they die? Why do they want to spend so much of the intervening time wearing digital watches?
No one but Douglas Adams could have pared life's meaning down to these three questions, and they remain as inspired and head-scratchingly clever today as they did twenty-five years ago when they appeared in the first edition of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Showcasing his quick wit, comic genius, and wide-ranging intelligence, "Hitchhiker's has become nothing less than a cult classic and cultural phenomenon.
To celebrate its quarter century and the extraordinary legacy of Adams, this gorgeously designed, mostly harmless deluxe edition gathers never-before-collected photographs, original artwork, memorabilia (from the strang

Fame, envy, lust, violence, intrigues literary and criminal--they're all here in The Information. How does one writer hurt another writer? This is the question novelist Richard Tull mills over, for his friend Gwyn Barry has become a darling of book buyers, award committees, and TV interviewers, even as Tull himself sinks deeper into the sub-basement of literary failure. The only way out of this predicament, Tull believes, is the plot the demise of Barry.
"With The Information, Amis delivers a portrait of middle-age realignment with more verbal felicity and unbridled reach than [anyone] since Tom Wolfe forged "Bonfire of the Vanities."--"Houston Chronicle

As it explores the life lessons of Jane, the contemporary American Everywoman--who combines the charm of Bridget Jones, the vulnerability of Ally McBeal, and the wit of Lorrie Moore--"The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing" offers wise, poignant, and laugh-out-loud insight.

If you crossed Mitford, North Carolina, with Peyton Place, you might come up with Runnymede, Maryland, the most beguiling of Southern towns. In Loose Lips, Rita Mae Brown revisits Runnymede and the beloved characters introduced in Six of One and Bingo, serving up an exuberant portrayal of small-town sins and Southern mores, set against a backdrop of homefront life during World War II.
"I'm afraid life is passing me by," Louise told her sister.
"No, it's not," Juts said. "Life can't pass us by. We are life."
In the picturesque town of Runnymede, everyone knows everyone else's business, and the madcap antics of the battling Hunsenmeir sisters, Julia (Juts) and Louise, have kept the whole town agog ever since they were children. Now, in the fateful year of 1941, with America headed for war, the sisters are inching toward forty...

Nobody blows smoke like Nick Naylor. He's a spokesman for the Academy of Tobacco Studies-in other words, a flack for cigarette companies, paid to promote their product on talk and news shows. The problem? He's so good at his job, so effortlessly unethical, that he's become a target for both anti-tobacco terrorists and for the FBI. In a country where half the people want to outlaw pleasure and the other want to sell you a disease, what will become of the original Puff Daddy?

New from the author of "Undead and Unwed." Betsy Taylor may be the new Queen of the Vampires, but she still has bills to pay and lands a dream job selling designer shoes at Macy's. But when a string of vampire murders hits St. Paul, Betsy must enlist the help of the one vamp who makes her blood boil--the sexy Sinclair. Original.

The National Book Award finalist for White Man's Grave now presents a scathing, hilarious satire of doctors, lawyers, hospitals, health care, life, and death. When Felicia Potter comes to the hospital to visit her comatose father, Dr. Peter Ernst, a young resident, sees the opportunity to spice up his grim routine with a little romance.

It's hard to believe practical, petite ex-schoolteacher Patricia Anne and amiable, ample-bodied, and outrageous Mary Alice are sisters, yet sibling rivalry has survived decades of good-natured disagreement about everything from husbands to hair color.

No sooner do the Southern sisters discover a common interest in some local art, when they're arguing the artistic merits of some well-coiffured heads at a gallery opening. A few hours later, one of those pretty ladies ends up dead -- with not a hair out of place. The other shows up on Patricia Anne's doorstep dazed, disheveled, and telling a wild tale of a narrow escape from some deadly cuts. Now the sisters are once again combing for clues to catch a killer with a bizarre style in art -- and murder.

Claire Molloy runs a bookstore called the Book Depot in a small college town. She lets her friend, romance author Azalea Twilight, use the store for a book signing party. But when the town's toughest feminist bursts in and reads from Azalea's book, Claire discovers the smutty romance uses details from her own husband's death. Incensed, Claire is ready to kill Azalea, but someone beats her to it. Azalea is dead, and Claire is a suspect, along with half the faculty at the college, all of whom Azalea offended along the way.

In a humorous yet uncompromising look at what it takes to have the courage ofone's convictions, Hornby reinvents himself as Katie--the consummate liberal, urban mom--whose world is being turned on its ear by the outrageous spiritualtransformation of her husband, David.

In a comedy of manners and biology, Karbo provides a laugh-out-loud look at the wonders of pregnancy and motherhood: a world where the women are fierce and strong and the men duck and cover; a world turned upside-down when the expecting mother turns out a most unexpected child.