FOT Forum

The Best Show on WFMU => Dear Tom => Topic started by: Scot on December 19, 2008, 05:41:47 PM

Title: funny fiction
Post by: Scot on December 19, 2008, 05:41:47 PM: tom,

do you mind recommending some fiction writers who are a) funny and b) alive/still working?

many thanks,

scot.
Title: Re: funny fiction
Post by: Shaggy 2 Grote on December 19, 2008, 09:27:33 PM: Not Tom, obviously, but I find George Saunders and Gary Shteyngart to be alive and very funny.
Title: Re: funny fiction
Post by: Scot on December 19, 2008, 11:48:06 PM: saunders is great; first thing i ever read by him was "adams," in the new yorker, and the 1.5 pages that story occupied still blow m away.

shteyngart i dig, too, though i've yet to read absurdistan.
Title: Re: funny fiction
Post by: Joe Rogaine on December 20, 2008, 04:55:05 AM: Deb Olin Unferth

Maria Bamford even did a video spot for her new book called Vacation.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d9t0upbdEY&eurl=&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
Title: Re: funny fiction
Post by: Tom Scharpling on December 22, 2008, 11:27:35 PM: Are you familiar with Charles Portis? He's alive (not working too much these days), but his stuff is as funny as anything. Try DOG OF THE SOUTH for starters.

Tom.
Title: Re: funny fiction
Post by: Scot on December 22, 2008, 11:53:55 PM: "dog of the south" is maybe one of my favorite books of all time ... so, so, so great.
Title: Re: funny fiction
Post by: dave from knoxville on December 23, 2008, 12:37:19 AM: George Singleton's likewise great; I would suggest "Why Dogs Chase Cars". I think that the work of George Saunders comes pretty close to warning us what we are turning towards, particularly if you start with Civilwarland in Bad Decline.
Title: Re: funny fiction
Post by: John Junk 2.0 on December 23, 2008, 12:59:14 AM: Quote from: dave from knoxville on December 23, 2008, 12:37:19 AM
Civilwarland in Bad Decline.

I love this book.
Title: Re: funny fiction
Post by: dave from knoxville on December 23, 2008, 09:17:31 AM: Quote from: John Junk on December 23, 2008, 12:59:14 AM
Quote from: dave from knoxville on December 23, 2008, 12:37:19 AM
Civilwarland in Bad Decline.

I love this book.

I don't know whether the following news is terrifying or somewhat promising: Ben Stiller has optioned it for film.
Title: Re: funny fiction
Post by: Scot on December 23, 2008, 11:44:34 AM: i'll go with terrifying. i dunno: what makes saunders especially funny and great is the language. the stories are great, too, but it's the words that elevate them. movie just seems like it will fall flat ...
Title: Re: funny fiction
Post by: John Junk 2.0 on December 23, 2008, 04:35:04 PM: Stiller could easily destroy Civilwarland with his "neurotic guy" shtick.
Title: Re: funny fiction
Post by: cutout on December 25, 2008, 11:55:37 PM: Another vote for George Saunders. Also Stacey Richter's My Date with Satan.
Title: Re: funny fiction
Post by: hugman on December 29, 2008, 03:48:04 PM: Quote from: John Junk 2.0 on December 23, 2008, 04:35:04 PM
Stiller could easily destroy Civilwarland with his "neurotic guy" shtick.

Just cuz he optioned it don't necessarily mean he'll star in it. Jaknow?

Also, thanks for this thread. I've been wanting to do more fun reading and this is just the kind of stuff I'm looking for.
Title: Re: funny fiction
Post by: Shaggy 2 Grote on January 04, 2009, 03:51:36 PM: Also, he's dead, but John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces is pretty awesome.
Title: Re: funny fiction
Post by: yesno on January 04, 2009, 03:54:56 PM: I didn't think I'd like Christopher Moore but I was wrong. Funny guy.
Title: Re: funny fiction
Post by: buffcoat on January 04, 2009, 06:32:30 PM: Quote from: Groteface Killah on January 04, 2009, 03:51:36 PM
[D]ead ... Kennedy ... is pretty awesome.

Yeah, Barry Levitz said they were a good band.
Title: Re: funny fiction
Post by: mike_b on January 04, 2009, 10:35:01 PM: His stuff might be a little too New Yorker-y, but I really like Bruce Jay Friedman's short stories

Also, I really dug Wigfield, by Stephen Colbert, Amy Sedaris, and Paul Dinello.
Title: Re: funny fiction
Post by: dave from knoxville on January 05, 2009, 12:38:30 PM: Quote from: Groteface Killah on January 04, 2009, 03:51:36 PM
Also, he's dead, but John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces is pretty awesome.

Agreed. but I run into lots of people who run me down because I liked it. The main character reminds me a little of <gulp> dfk
Title: Re: funny fiction
Post by: Bryan on January 05, 2009, 03:45:41 PM: I really liked "Wake Up, Sir!" by Jonathan Ames. He could be a good Best Show guest, too.
Title: Re: funny fiction
Post by: mcphee from the forum on January 05, 2009, 05:08:44 PM: Not trying to be hoity toity but one of the funniest books I've ever read is JR by William Gaddis.
Title: Re: funny fiction
Post by: dave from knoxville on January 07, 2009, 10:57:27 AM: Quote from: mcphee on January 05, 2009, 05:08:44 PM
Not trying to be hoity toity but one of the funniest books I've ever read is JR by William Gaddis.

By strange coincidence, I started on A Frolic Of His Own this week.
Title: Re: funny fiction
Post by: mcphee from the forum on January 07, 2009, 05:14:58 PM: That's his only book I haven't read. I've tried, but I just can't get into it.