Humor Classics

In the first tale, we follow two workmen on an intriguing journey to Coney Island, where the heartsick and disgruntled Tobin has his palm read. Who knew that palmistry could be so unpredictable? Secondly, a tale of kidnapping gone awry. A little boy, self proclaimed "Red Chief", is taken from his home, and has so much fun he never wants to go back, much to the chagrin of the kidnappers.

Prepare for the most uproariously grim tour of Tudor England ever recorded! Gilbert Abbott A'Beckett's classic satire skewers the so-called "golden age" of English monarchy, revealing the Tudors as they truly were: a parade of tyrants, schemers, and royal disasters who treated their subjects like pawns in a deadly game of power.

Utopia (Libellus vere aureus, nec minus salutaris quam festivus, de optimo rei publicae statu deque nova insula Utopia, "A little, true book, both beneficial and enjoyable, about how things should be in the new island Utopia") is a work of fiction and socio-political satire by Thomas More (1478–1535), written in Latin and published in 1516. The book is a frame narrative primarily depicting a fictional island society and its religious, social, and political customs. Many aspects of More's description of Utopia are reminiscent of life in monasteries.

An ebullient Mr Finchley is about to propose marriage to a lady he had rescued from mishap, when he is sent to Paris by his firm. There he manages to upset a boat, adopt a stray orphan, and get himself kidnapped. The fine tangle he gets into takes some unravelling! Only when eventually back in London does he complete the proposal of marriage that was interrupted at the start. This gentle comedy trilogy was a runaway best seller on first publication in the 1930s and retains a timeless appeal today.

The focus in Melincourt is the operation of the "rotten borough" which corrupted the English electoral system until the reform bill of 1832. A rotten borough was a constituency that had been established by royal prerogative but had subsequently lost most of its population. Nevertheless, it still retained the right to have two representatives in the House of Commons. On the other hand, many population centers which had expanded rapidly during the Industrial Revolution were not entitled to any electoral representation.

Vier Klassiker des Humors geben sich die Ehre...

Humor and overall literary style have changed a lot in the 132 years since this book was published in 1889. However, the information remains informative, primarily because there is a certain amount of truthfulness about it that manages to disregard the passage of time. It takes in some unusual events that either did happen, or could have. It involves three men and a dog that is sometimes smarter than any of them. Between them, they come up with some depth of thought and at least a minor ability to understand human nature.

A classic collection of stories featuring some of the funniest episodes in the life of Bertie Wooster, gentleman, and Jeeves, his gentleman's gentleman - in which Bertie's terrifying Aunt Agatha stalks the pages, seeking whom she may devour, while Bertie's friend Bingo Little falls in love with seven different girls in succession (including the bestselling romantic novelist Rosie M. Banks). And Bertie, with Jeeves's help, hopes to evade the clutches of the terrifying Honoria Glossop.... At its heart is one of Wodehouse's most delicious stories, The Great Sermon Handicap.

Was machen drei junge, hypochondrische Freunde samt einem neurotischen Foxterrier, wenn sie dem Wetter entfliehen wollen und wilde Abenteuer suchen? Sie packen Blazer, Hut und Schlips ein und fahren in einem Ruderboot auf der Themse in die Wildnis hinauf. Doch sie haben den Büchsenöffner vergessen, die Zahnbürste ist unauffindbar, und wenn sie einem Schild begegnen, auf dem steht "Achtung! Gefahr! Nicht hier entlang!", dann steuern sie schnurstracks in ihr Verderben.

Penrod, Booth Tarkington's classic and hilarious tale of one 11-year-old boy's unceasing series of misadventures in an early 20th-century Midwestern town, has fallen into disrepute in some quarters for ethnic descriptions and dialogue that many today find offensive. Lasso Books has taken the bold step of abridging the original text and removing questionable passages and rewriting select portions so that children and adults may now read this delightful novel without the insensitivities of the past that many found objectionable.

Bingo Grabbins is a soddit who enjoys a comfortable life (apart from his feet, of course). But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard, Gandef, and a company of bizarrely Welsh dwarves drag him away on an adventure. They have a plot to raid the treasure hoard (or so they say) guarded by Smug, a large and very tedious dragon. Bingo is reluctant to take part in this insane venture, but a dwarven dagger held to his throat soon surprises even himself and off the companions go on a quest that seems truly epic.

Another of Mark Twain's best-selling yarns of skullduggery and mischief. Set in the deep South, Pudd'nhead Wilson is the central character as an attorney who solves a murder mystery and lays bare the wicked deeds of a larger-than-life ensemble of personalities in his own wry and peculiar way.

Hell's too full, so the Devil hires ad man Dirk Quigby to pen a travel guide enticing travelers to different afterlives: Hindu, Catholic, Protestant (that one's got a lot of subdivisions), Scientologist, and more. Instead of writing a boffo best seller, Dirk unites all religions in a common goal: kill Dirk. E. E. King grew up in one of those tolerant households that don't force religion down kids' throats. This is the result.

A wonderfully amusing account of the escapades of a naïve student at Oxford, c. 1850.

While pretending to be an account of an epic journey rowing a boat up the Thames, this hilarious audiobook makes memorable side trips into such matters as hypochondria, the charms of graves and epitaphs, being lost in a maze, and how to sing a comic song - all explored with wit and elegance.

A soldier in the First World War who never actually sees any combat, Josef Svejk is the awkward protagonist - and none of the other characters can quite decide whether his bumbling efforts to get to the front are genuine or not. Often portrayed as one of the first anti-war novels, Hasek's classic satire is a tour-de-force of modernist writing, influencing later writers such as Hemingway, Faulkner and Joseph Heller.

I gjennombruddsromanen sin, Dagdrivergjengen, beskriver Steinbeck med overdådig humor og stor innlevelse de såkalte paisanoenes omflakkende og ubekymrede landstrykerliv. Disse californiske vagabondene er etterkommerne av den gamle befolkningen – spanjoler, indianere og mexicanere. De er ikke styrt av materielle goder, men lever fra dag til dag som ekte livsnytere, konstant opptatt av å skaffe den neste gallonen vin eller gjøre erobringer blant damene som krysser deres vei.

Eugenia, a baroness divorced from a German prince, and her bohemian brother, Felix, are coming back to America. Raised and cultured in Europe, they are returning destitute to New England to seek out their rich and innocent cousins. In a bungle of culture clash and love triangles, the Europeans hang their fortunes upon their ability to adapt. Where their scheming leads them is the last place they expect.

One of the greatest satires in American literature, Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court begins when Hank Morgan, a skilled mechanic in a nineteenth-century New England arms factory, who is struck on the head during a quarrel and awakens to find himself among the knights and magicians of King Arthur's Camelot. The 'Yankee' vows brashly to "boss the whole country inside of three weeks" and embarks on an ambitious plan to modernize Camelot with 19th century industrial inventions.

An early 20th Century tale about a booster & businessman who followed the standard program, deviated, and wished his son well in going his own way.