It's laugh-out-loud funny, and in these times that can be very helpful!

Many of us read this classic American war book in school. It deserves another look, both for Heller's brilliant use of dialogue as well as his exploration of the absurdities of war and the military machine.

This is one of my favorite books of all time. Indeed, it's two of my favorite books of all time put together. We were reading this aloud during a family road trip once, and had to pull the car over till the driver could quit laughing and compose herself enough to drive safely on; it's that funny.

Word pictures of England and Germany at the turn of the last century are only a small part of the charm. There's the part about Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn and how uncomfortable they must have made everyone feel during house parties, and the instructions for packing, and the descriptions of what it's like to stay over at a home where there are small children — youll have your own favorites.

Read it while you're on vacation, or in order to feel as though you're on vacation even when you're not.

I can recommend Wilt, and indeed all the books of that series (Wilt Nowhere, Wilt on High) although it is some time since I read them. Tom Sharpe has chosen a determined but bashful main character to whom awful things happen. The general ambiance is farcical, but as with all true farce things are taken seriously, and the developments are very funny. Wilt's wife is exasperating and half mad, the police inspector is driven mental by Wilt, and in the end most of the baddies and the dafties get their comeuppance. Very satisfying. I'm going to read it again.

Recommended to me years ago by then-idol John Waters, this genius killed himself before his mother discovered the masterpiece A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES and had it published. Of course it went on to win a Pulitzer, but it was too late... Toole was dead and now the millions of us in his thrall have to make due by reading and re-reading his hilarious epic satire about an obese, cantankerous self-proclaimed genius named Ignatius J. Reilly who clashes with a modern world (it's set in '60s New Orleans but is really timeless) populated by an unforgettable collection of freaks, losers and wackos. It's easy to imagine Waters' superstars in key roles — how about Edith Massey as Ignatius's clueless mother and Mink Stole as evil barkeep Lana Lee? Toole's short novel THE NEON BIBLE is very different, but flawlessly crafted in the Truman Capote/Flannery O'Connor mold.

A sharp farce of academia, and a revelation for students or recent grads: your professors are even more of a mess than you are. Lucky Jim was the harbinger of the humorous campus novel genre. Bless you, Kingsley Amis!

Anything written by Wodehouse is a delight to read. He crafted each word carefully, tongue in cheek, and even churned out books while being held during the war. Bertie Wooster and his man servant, Jeeves, are a wonderful comic duo. The colorful characters that inhabit Bertie's world crop up in the Wooster & Jeeves books time and again and we come to love them, too. I belong to the Wodehouse Society and collect hardbound editions of his books whenever I can find them. Everyone should try Wodehouse at least once!

Bridget's a bit of a train wreck you can't take your eyes off, but at the same time she's endearing. Despite all her faux pas, everyone sees a bit of themselves in her (the foolish bits). And her abbreviated Britishisms are absolutely addictive.

Milligan was the most surreal genius ever to walk this earth but this account actually deals with his part in the war and is actually laced with his painful and upsetting experiences along with almost unbearably funny anecdotes and set-pieces. You will laugh out loud, you will appreciate the humble Tommy and you will forever be hooked on Milligan.