Humor Books

When You Are Engulfed in Flames

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 211 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Hilarious 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

While I have read many amusing books in the past, my response is usually an inward smile and a mental note to myself of how clever and succinct the description chosen by the author. This book however causes one to laugh out loud. A true gem!

Editorial Review:

Once again, David Sedaris brings together a collection of essays so uproariously funny and profoundly moving that his legions of fans will fall for him once more. He tests the limits of love when Hugh lances a boil from his backside, and pushes the boundaries of laziness when, finding the water shut off in his house in Normandy, he looks to the water in a vase of fresh cut flowers to fill the coffee machine. From armoring the windows with LP covers to protect the house from neurotic songbirds to the awkwardness of having a lozenge fall from your mouth into the lap of a sleeping fellow passenger on a plane, David Sedaris uses life's most bizarre moments to reach new heights in understanding love and fear, family and strangers. Culminating in a brilliantly funny (and never before published) account of his venture to Tokyo in order to quit smoking, David Sedaris's sixth essay collection will be avidly anticipated.

Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 192 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In My Horizontal Life, actress and stand-up comedian Chelsea Handler boldly recounted her one-night stands-the good, the bad, and the disastrous. In this wickedly honest new work, she casts the net wider with even funnier results, recalling the most noteworthy highs and lows of her life to date--including her efforts to diversify by dating red-haired men, her obsession with midgets, and the dog-sitting interlude in which her boyfriend became overly familiar with a Peekapoo.

Whether it's a vacation with her dad during which he tells airline staff they're a honeymoon couple in order to get an upgrade, or her elaborate attempts to convince her third-grade classmates that she's starring in a Private Benjamin sequel, Chelsea lets it rip in these relentlessly entertaining essays. Displaying the candor and irresistible turn of phrase that have earned her a recurring stint as a correspondent on The Tonight Show as well as her own E! series, Chelsea Lately, this deliciously skewed collection is a guilty pleasure.

The Ultimate David Sedaris

David Sedaris

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Funny! 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Dave Sedaris is hilarious, and this set has a lot to laugh at. Don't mind what the other reviews say about the lack of track listings. Each CD now comes with track listings printed right on them. The packaging is weak, but I don't care; It's not like it's going to be on display. I'm going to rip the content to my Zune and be on my way.

As Good As It Gets 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This compilation of David's work shows how he has evolved as both a writer and performer. Amy's good too.

So-So Package, but Superb Purchase 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I purchased this for my parents, as they do a good bit of driving and like to have something besides music to listen to in the car. I agree that the packaging, as other reviewers have noted, could be better, but we played several of the tracks over a series of short car trips and we all agreed that this is a fantastic box set. Sedaris' material is so spot-on, never too "in-jokey," and just plain funny. I am glad I made the purchase for my parents and I plan to purchase one for myself soon, so that I can keep on laughing.

Terrific value! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

What a treasure--worth every penny. David Sedaris is hilarious in his low-key style of humor. And his sister is just as funny. Thanks to Amazon.com for making this an affordable collection.

I Am America (And So Can You!)

Stephen Colbert

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 422 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

What The Daily Show is to evening news, The Colbert Report is to personality-driven pundit shows. Colbert brings his sarcastic charm to a half-hour report, tackling the important issues of the day and telling his guests why their opinions are just plain wrong. Stephen stands for truthiness and his American right to copyright that word and claim ownership of it.

I AM AMERICA the audiobook, features an all-American cast that includes Paul Dinello, Kevin Dorff, Greg Hollimon, Evie McGee, David Pasquesi, Amy Sedaris, Allison Silverman, Bryan Stack, and Jon Stewart. Stephen Colbert describes his audiobook as a simple audiobook from a simple mind--Stephen Colbert. It is one man's attempt to wedge his brain between hardback covers---in this case CD jackets. In plain conversational language, not to mention the occasional grunt and/or whistle, Stephen explains his take on the most pressing concerns of our culture: Faith, Family...Hygiene.

Why now? Stephen fears America has lost its balls and he hopes to re-ballify us. Even the ladies. Ladies can have balls--lady-balls too. Stephen likes to call those "Thatchers." Stephen will show how he got his mammoth swinging sack, with tales of courage and vital documents from his own life: the Mother's Day card he made at age six, disputed credit card bills, putt-putt score cards--all the major milestones.

Oh and don't buy this if you don't have any balls! But if you do buy it, you will get them, and then you can buy another copy with a clean conscience. (2008)

David Sedaris Live at Carnegie Hall

David Sedaris

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 38 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Seriously Funny 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I am an avid David Sedaris fan -- this is one of the most played items in my iPhone. He takes you a hilarious journey of life with his family.


There is no substitue to listening him live accept to see hm for yourself.

A real treat 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I loved this CD since you get to hear David Sedaris do several of his stories and its a real treat to hear his amusing almost deadpan style as he tells his tales. I had heard parts of this before and decided to order one for me and one more as a gift since I figured anyone who has read and liked him, would love listening to him. I enjoyed the Q & A with the audience at the end of the performance. He is such a unique and funny character and if you like reading him, I bet you will love listening to him!

Editorial Review:

If you are driving, pull over.If you are at work, close your door-unless you don't mind your colleagues seeing you doubled over, in tears, on your office floor.With this CD, taped before a delirious sold out audience at Carnegie Hall, you are there as David Sedaris performs new stories from his upcoming book.A parrot who mimics an ice maker, lovers quarreling over a rubber hand, and a Santa Claus who moonlights from his job as bishop of Turkey-the cast of characters in these stories is like no other.This new work will appeal to David's loyal fans as well as admirers of the classic comedy albums of George Carlin, Bill Cosby and Steve Martin.

The David Sedaris Box Set

David Sedaris

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 27 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Star radio storyteller David Sedaris presents his collected works in one audio box set. The longest (at five hours) is his latest, Me Talk Pretty One Day, which contains two live performances from San Francisco. Welcome to a world where dogs outrank children, guitars have breasts, and Sedaris's fellow language-class students try to convey the concept of Easter to a Moroccan Muslim in their fledgling French (translated into English): "It is a party for the little boy of God," says one. "Then he be die one day on two ... morsels of ... lumber," says another. Sedaris is hilarious, and his Billie Holiday impression is amazing.

The three-hour, Christmas-themed Holidays on Ice is the gem of the collection. It has his greatest hit, "SantaLand Diaries," a chronicle of his stint as an elf at Macy's, covering everything from the preliminary group lectures ("You are not a dancer. If you were a real dancer you wouldn't be here. You're an elf and you're going to wear panties like an elf.") to the perils of inter-elf flirtation. Other hits feature the crazed newsletter "Season's Greetings to Our Friends and Family!!!" and the prostitute coworker his sister brought home one Yuletide, giving "the phrase 'ho, ho, ho' whole different meaning." Barrel Fever contains the fulminatingly funny "Glen's Homophobia Newsletter, Vol. 3, No. 2" and "Parade," discussing the narrator's perhaps not fully plausible gay relationships with Bruce Springsteen, Mike Tyson, and Peter Jennings. Naked describes his adventures in a nudist colony, but his family tales are, as ever, nonpareil.

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

BONUS FEATURE: Exclusive interview with the author.

From one of the most beloved and bestselling authors in the English language, a vivid, nostalgic and utterly hilarious memoir of growing up in the middle of the United States in the middle of the last century. A book that delivers on the promise that it is “laugh-out-loud funny.”

Some say that the first hints that Bill Bryson was not of Planet Earth came from his discovery, at the age of six, of a woollen jersey of rare fineness. Across the moth-holed chest was a golden thunderbolt. It may have looked like an old college football sweater, but young Bryson knew better. It was obviously the Sacred Jersey of Zap, and proved that he had been placed with this innocuous family in the middle of America to fly, become invisible, shoot guns out of people’s hands from a distance, and wear his underpants over his jeans in the manner of Superman.

Bill Bryson’s first travel book opened with the immortal line, “I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to.” In this hilarious new memoir, he travels back to explore the kid he once was and the weird and wonderful world of 1950s America. He modestly claims that this is a book about not very much: about being small and getting much larger slowly. But for the rest of us, it is a laugh-out-loud book that will speak volumes – especially to anyone who has ever been young.

Me of Little Faith

Lewis Black

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 30 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

The whole family enjoyed this book on CD 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Can't beat Lewis Black for great humor - We own all his comedy CD's and this book was a great addition.

Not Quite Irreverent 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book was wonderful. I laughed out loud a number of times. I expected it to be more irreverent, but was surprised to find it an idealogical exploration of a number of religions and philosophies while being extremely funny at the same time. I've sent it to a number of people, particularly my friends in the clergy who have good senses of humor.

Hilarious 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

In my opinion, Lewis Black is the funniest comedian on the planet, and this book confirms it. The real world situations that he describes hit home numerous times. It is a no-holds-barred review of religion in today's world. Buy it!!

Self Indulgent Insignificant Palaver 1 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Lewis Black is a great comedian and I've enjoyed his other books. This book, however, is a disjointed, meaningless compilation of random thoughts which are neither funny nor insightful.

Mesmerizing marvel 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

While I'm normally a person who can ramble on almost on cue, I find myself almost speechless about this book. I can not emphasize enough how much this book is a must read, it's truly a unique combination of humour intertwined with a wisdom that's only Lewis Black seems to have. And for all of this he still doesn't take himself too seriously making this a book you won't be able to put down.

All that being said, I would advise that if you are easily offended in the context of your faith and spirituality you should avoid this book; however if you aren't, enjoy the ride.

Me Talk Pretty One Day

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 726 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

David Sedaris became a star autobiographer on public radio, onstage in New York, and on bestseller lists, mostly on the strength of "SantaLand Diaries," a scathing, hilarious account of his stint as a Christmas elf at Macy's. (It's in two separate collections, both worth owning, Barrel Fever and the Christmas-themed Holidays on Ice.) Sedaris's caustic gift has not deserted him in his fourth book, which mines poignant comedy from his peculiar childhood in North Carolina, his bizarre career path, and his move with his lover to France. Though his anarchic inclination to digress is his glory, Sedaris does have a theme in these reminiscences: the inability of humans to communicate. The title is his rendition in transliterated English of how he and his fellow students of French in Paris mangle the Gallic language. In the essay "Jesus Shaves," he and his classmates from many nations try to convey the concept of Easter to a Moroccan Muslim. "It is a party for the little boy of God," says one. "Then he be die one day on two... morsels of... lumber," says another. Sedaris muses on the disputes between his Protestant mother and his father, a Greek Orthodox guy whose Easter fell on a different day. Other essays explicate his deep kinship with his eccentric mom and absurd alienation from his IBM-exec dad: "To me, the greatest mystery of science continues to be that a man could father six children who shared absolutely none of his interests."

Every glimpse we get of Sedaris's family and acquaintances delivers laughs and insights. He thwarts his North Carolina speech therapist ("for whom the word pen had two syllables") by cleverly avoiding all words with s sounds, which reveal the lisp she sought to correct. His midget guitar teacher, Mister Mancini, is unaware that Sedaris doesn't share his obsession with breasts, and sings "Light My Fire" all wrong--"as if he were a Webelo scout demanding a match." As a remarkably unqualified teacher at the Art Institute of Chicago, Sedaris had his class watch soap operas and assign "guessays" on what would happen in the next day's episode.

It all adds up to the most distinctively skewed autobiography since Spalding Gray's Swimming to Cambodia. The only possible reason not to read this book is if you'd rather hear the author's intrinsically funny speaking voice narrating his story. In that case, get Me Talk Pretty One Day on audio. --Tim Appelo

Making Lite of Myself

John Pinette

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Couldn't stop laughing! 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.

This is one of the first comedy CD's that is funny all the way through the end. John Pinette had me laughing so much,I was crying. People were staring at me on the freeway wondering what was going on. John uses no profanity nor does he tear down anyone but of course himself. I've been passing this CD on to my family and friends and they love it too!