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Laugh out loud. Great mood lifter.
Obviously, no anthology of this nature can be uniformly funny. But this collection comes pretty darned close. You will laugh your a** off - that's a promise. To my knowledge, there are at least three volumes in this series by now. This one, the first, is the best of the three that I've read. The other two are worth considering as well, but definitely start with this one.
Spotty witticism
I started reading Mirth of a Nation: The Best Contemporary Humor in early May as a vacation read, from there it became the current bathroom book. It was a pass-along from my mom, along with the sequel [book:More Mirth of a Nation}.It's a very mixed bag, with a good deal of the material being dated - but I still found quite a few chuckles here and there. I enjoyed the pieces by Sedaris, Updike and Barry - the more political items didn't do a whole lot for me. Having taken so long to read it makes...
I picked this up because I've been doing some really heavy reading lately. It's a nice break from books on genocide, war, and global warming. And since it's a compilation of essays I can read one or two before falling asleep each night. The material is getting a little dated, though, and I'm not sure I would have picked it out had I known that. The David Sadaris pieces are always good, though.
Really bad. It was all I could do to finish this as an audio book. I found only one entry in this entire book truly funny. There were two entries from Dave Barry - who I usually really enjoy - and even these entries were far from his best. I can't imagine how the editor settled on these pieces. It was simply awful. Actually zero stars.
The premise (a compilation of humorous pieces by various authors) sounded old-fashioned and destined to not be funny. But after reading some positive reviews, I picked this up and really liked it. If you enjoy websites with good writing by satirists and humorists, you'll enjoy this book,
Not bad to listen to as an audio book, but I will admit I skipped more than a few of the stories.
While there were some humorous pieces in this collection (Sedaris, Jon Stewart), the majority left me bored. And I read this on an airplane.
Hit and miss...
Yes it has funny parts. The problem is that it is the kind of funny that you get in the Shouts and Murmurs page of the New Yorker. Never laugh out loud or very thoughtful, instead the volume lives up to the Thurber House imprint and aims for a solid amuse setting. There it succeeds.What I wasn't expecting is how sadly dated the jokes are. Don't get me wrong, I am a HUGE fan of vintage humor; Mencken and Twain are the twin compasses of my soul. But this volume has the very unfortunate fate of bei...
As it should be, this was a mixed bag. Anthologies take me a really long time to read.
Whatever your taste in humor you will find something to please you in this wonderful book. I never have it far away for those difficult moments in life. Surely Ferret Face by Daniel Radosh is the funniest piece ever committed to print. And lets not forget Jon Stewart's account of the Last Supper. This book is the best antidepressant (and I am speaking as a therapist) and from me anyway highly recommended.
Short shelf life.Not that there is anything inherently wrong with short-shelf lives. 20 years ago, these stories might be pretty funny for the day. Most of them will have no resonance with people's laugh nerve today (2016). For example, once upon a time, the nation is gripped with "OJ fever". Today, it's such a passing footnote.
Bleh!!! One of the worst books ever, not funny at all, with the exception of Dave Barry's story of being in Paris, France, which I'd already read in one of his own books. Don't bother, terrible book.
Well if you want something funny, don't look here. Only a couple of "essays" made me laugh. Most I could't even finish. Total waste of time.
I read about 20 percent of this before giving up. Disappointing. Pieces ranged from mildly amusing to not funny at all.
Not so funny
I read through, thinking I would eventually get to the "funny part".... only it wasn't there..
uneven. funny in parts. dull in others. but worth the time anyway just 'cause we need to search for laughs everywhere we can. recommended. second reading.
