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[Schmendrick]

I find that getting your hands on a good humerous novel is a difficult task. When I am looking for comedy I'd usually like something a little more dark. I started reading Kurt Vonnegut a few years ago... I wouldn't put him under stereotypical comedy especially since his writing has a definite anti-war theme. I haven't read all of his books, but I'll hopefully get my hands on more. I've also tried reading Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy... I never finished the whole series, but they were pretty enjoyable.

[thehoopiestfrood]

I'd of course say finish Hitchhikers, and try the Dirk Gently novels to start with.

[rive gauche]

Catch 22 is a really funny book.

[thehoopiestfrood]

Oh it is! I love Joseph Heller in general.

[soap]

if you liked hitchhikers then the first red dwarf book might be worth a look

at the moment im reading the crying of lot 49 - which is covered in quotes saying how hilarious it is, but i haven't found it funny, interesting and a little confusing but not funny.

[blackfeltfedora]

peter david had a couple of fantasy setting books that have a dark-comedy twist to them.... Sir Apropos of Nothing and the Woad to Wuin.  the second one is not as good as the first, and there is a third.

[I is Grammar]

Voltaire's "Candide" is amazingly funny.

[KharBevNor]

Terry Pratchett's  Discworld Series. Start at The Colour of Magic, then keep reading. Don't stop during Equal Rites either,  it's the weakest of the series.

There. You're set for at least a month, and that's if you have unlimited cash and do nothing but read.Which I'm sure ain't true.

[Schmendrick]

I've actually heard of Terry Pratchett I just never knew anything by him

[weevil]

Terry Pratchett IS a good choice, but the witches storylines are lame. The Night Watch storylines, conversely, are the best.

[JP]

For some more recent funny fiction, try The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen or The Russian Debutante's Handbook by Gary Shteyngart. The Every Boy by Dana Adam Shapiro is good for a few laughs, and I've only just started it, but Transmission by Hari Kunzru seems promising.

[KharBevNor]

Terry Pratchett IS a good choice, but the witches storylines are lame. The Night Watch storylines, conversely, are the best.

Female readers often think the opposite.

I personally dig Rincewind. We need more of that dude.

[ASturge]

Me too.

Interesting Times is my fave of the books.

Also, HIGH FIDELITY

[Stranger Dan]

Good Omens, Terry Prachett's team up with Neil Gaiman, was hilarious. You'd probably like it, to put things more simply than they really are it is kind of like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Apocalypse.

[Johnny C]

Terry Pratchett's Discworld Series

Voila, funny books. Also Catch-22 is good, and Catcher In The Rye will make you laugh.

[Cpt.Fantastic]

The Throwback by Tom Sharpe is an awesomely funny book. In fact, anything by Tom Sharpe is.

[Schmendrick]

Good Omens, Terry Prachett's team up with Neil Gaiman, was hilarious. You'd probably like it, to put things more simply than they really are it is kind of like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Apocalypse.

Isn't Neil Gailman the author of the Sandman graphic novels?

[alic3sw0nd3rland]

I really liked The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green by Zach Braff's brother Joshua Braff.

[blackfeltfedora]

Isn't Neil Gailman the author of the Sandman graphic novels?

one and the same.  it is a very well written and funny bok.

[La Creme]

Along with many other, I whole-heartadly agree that you sould read "Good Omens". It is the hilarious. A guy gets covered in a pile of fish. Heheh. Fish pile.

I didn't really dig Discworld that much. Then again I did read the three that I read completely out of order...

A greatly hilarious collection of essays and such is David Sedaris' "Barrel Fever". Especially the Santaland Diaries. They might be one of the funniest things ever.

"...My sister Amy lives above a deaf girl and has learned quite a bit of sign language. She taught some to me so now I am able to say, 'SANTA HAS A TUMOR IN HIS HEAD THE SIZE OF AN OLIVE. MAYBE IT WILL GO AWAY TOMORROW BUT I DON'T THINK SO'..."

[offcitylimits]

By far the funniest book I've read in ages is Vernon God Little by D.B.C. Pierre. It's about a 15 year old Texan wrongly accused of being an accessory in a high school massacre. It shouldn't be funny, but Vernon's observations on the insane culture around him are hilarious, and it's also pretty poignant at times too.

[Obs]

Jasper fforde gets my vote. inteligent writting and a lot of hidden jokes if you can find them. makes for a really satisfying read.

[thehoopiestfrood]

I love Fforde SO MUCH!

[Schmendrick]

Terry Pratchett's Discworld Series

Voila, funny books. Also Catch-22 is good, and Catcher In The Rye will make you laugh.

Catcher in the Rye is one of my favorite books of all time!

[Rizzo]

I really enjoy Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Grant Naylor(two people going by one name, Red Dwarf writers), Tom Holt and Robert Rankin.
Rankin is particularly good if you've got a bit of a warped mind and don't mind some very childish sex jokes.
If you're a bit of techhead/geek/nerd then try Neal Stephenson. His best one is probably Snow Crash (come on, the main character is called Hiro Protagonist...).
Spider Robinton is interesting but a little difficult to get in to for some. There is a lot of backstory you need to read before most of the characters make sense.

[Lunchbox]

http://eidolon.net/?book=thevisitants&pagetitle=The+Visitants

If you can manage to get your hands on it, The Visitants is a great book. It's listed as sci-fi rather than comic, but the little details the writer puts  into things can be really hilarious.
I can't find my copy at the moment, which is making me feel rather sad.

[elcapitan]

at the moment im reading the crying of lot 49 - which is covered in quotes saying how hilarious it is, but i haven't found it funny, interesting and a little confusing but not funny.

Hmm. I haven't read Crying of Lot 49, but Gravity's Rainbow (also by Thomas Pynchon) was hilarious. It was also disgusting, maudlin, inspiring, etc. etc. So maybe don't expect his work to be a-laugh-a-minute.

[Faker]

Catcher in the Rye is one of my favorite books of all time!

I know alot of people will scream at me for this, maybe even stone me. I just don't understand all the Fuss about Catcher in the Rye. It's regularly mentioned among the greatest books of all time but I personally just don't get it. I mean I've read it, and enjoyed it, but not to the level of acclaim it's given.

Sorry

[soap]

Hmm. I haven't read Crying of Lot 49, but Gravity's Rainbow (also by Thomas Pynchon) was hilarious. It was also disgusting, maudlin, inspiring, etc. etc.

i've finally finished the crying of lot 49 and have decided that it was awesome... might start looking for more of his books

[tigerlily]

I'm a fan of Douglas Coupland's stuff.  Microserfs was pretty good, as was All Family's Are Pyschotic.  I'd definitely recommend checking his books out.

[Nettle]

I just finished reading the first Dirk Gently book (wouldn't have taken me so long but i only read it on the bus), Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. It's a very confusing plot, but the wording is typical Douglas Adams. And it all made sense in the last chapter.

[Gryff]

Seriously, Catch 22 is the funniest thing I've ever read.

[elcapitan]

i've finally finished the crying of lot 49 and have decided that it was awesome... might start looking for more of his books

I recommend Gravity's Rainbow highly, it's one of my favourite books ever (if not my favourite). Pretty stiff going in places though - 750 odd pages of Pynchon is something of a challenge.