Satire Science

They love nothing better than sipping free-trade gourmet coffee, leafing through the Sunday New York Times, and listening to David Sedaris on NPR (ideally all at the same time). Apple products, indie music, food co-ops, and vintage T-shirts make them weak in the knees. They believe they're unique, yet somehow they're all exactly the same.

What do you get when you throw together a PTA president, a dissipated rake, a poor little match-girl, a colonial nun, and an elderly revolutionary? No, it’s not the start of a joke; it’s the cast of undead characters sharing a Victorian mansion in Santa Monica, California. The motley housemates can usually keep the bickering to a minimum—but when their clashing personalities get stuck in a rut, they suffer what could be a terminal case of déjà vu.

Following the lead of Florence Nightingale, Steve’s partner in Eternity, he has returned to Hell to ease the suffering of the Damned. Yet Steve is faced with a dilemma. What can he do that will offer more than a brief respite from everlasting torment? And how can he make it funny at the same time? In Steve’s search for meaningful employment in the Afterlife, he has one comic misadventure after another. Along the way, he meets a few new angels and a couple of saints. He even learns what may be one of the great secrets of the universe...or maybe not.

National Book Award winner M. T. Anderson returns to future Earth in a sharply wrought satire of art and truth in the midst of colonization.

The story of The Happy Prince has three major themes. Firstly it shows that apparent beauty is nothing and the real beauty is to bestow love and sacrifice. Secondly, it discusses that love and sacrifice are two saving forces. Thirdly, it shows that there is a large gap between rich and poor people the rulers and the masses. When the happy prince is alive he lives a happy life without sorrows, he is living a care free life but after his death he sees through a tall Colum that life has another view except happiness and that is helplessness poverty, hypocrisy and corruption of elite and ruling class.

Stephen Leacock (1869-1944) may be considered the Canadian counterpart to Mark Twain. For many years he was professor of economics at Magill University and published a number of well-regarded texts on economics and political science. However, he is best known today for his many volumes of humorous fiction. During the 1920s he was one of the most widely read authors in the English-speaking world and was considered by Jack Benny and Groucho Marx to be one of the greatest comic writers of all time.

Journey to the final frontier of sci-fi zombie horror! Jim Pike was the world’s biggest Star Trek fan—until two tours of duty in Afghanistan destroyed his faith in the human race. Now he sleepwalks through life as the assistant manager of a small hotel in downtown Houston. But when...

Mr. Goldson is filthy rich. He’s also callous and cruel and hasn’t got a festive bone in his ancient body. Naturally, he’s due for a holiday haunting. When his business partner, Bolbi Baggs, announces that they’re to be visited by three spirits, Mr. Goldson braces himself for a whirlwind tour of his past, present, and future. Mr. Goldson, however, isn’t human. He’s a Dwarf, and Mr. Baggs is a Halfling, and the adventure that’s about to take them across the enchanted world of Arth is anything but typical.

Be(com)ing Nigerian: A Guide is a satirical collection that takes a searing look at how different forms of power are abused, negotiated, and performed both in the private and public realm. Through attempting to satirise those who abuse privilege or power, it recognises that power can be found everywhere: in politics, business, religious institutions, and in homes. From the exploration of religious hypocrisy in How to Worship the Nigerian God, to A Letter to My Future Kidnapper, the collection is a jab at Nigerian society and what it means to be a Nigerian.

Originally published in 1925, Heart of a Dog by Russian author and playwright Mikhail Bulgakov, is a dark, fantastical satire of the failures inherent in the dream of a Communist utopia. When a respected surgeon decides to transplant human body parts into a stray dog, he creates a monster—drunken, profligate, aggressive, and selfish. It seems the worst aspects of the donor have been transplanted as well. As his previously well-regulated home descends into riotous chaos, the doctor realizes he will have to try to reverse the operation, but the dog isn’t so keen.

PR extraordinaire Blake Hamner (the n is silent) put off his honeymoon for his big break: joining a major political campaign for president. Now, the "Hammer" struggles to make time for his marriage as crisis communications manager for Our Leader, who, since taking power, has become increasingly mad and totalitarian.

This is the legend of Saint Frank, and the great deeds he what did to earn that Sainthood, not born a Saint, in the beginning he was just, Frank, but not long after some stuff that took long, he became Sir. Frank. Sir. Frank may or may not have slayed a Dragon, if he did then this is the Tale of how Sir. Frank became Saint Frank, and if he did not then this is the story of nearly a Saint Frank and a triumphant Dragon.

New York Times best-selling author P. J. O'Rourke has toured the fighting in Bosnia, visited the West Bank disguised as P. J. of Arabia, lobbed one-liners on the battlefields of the Gulf War, and traded quips with Communist rebels in the jungles of the Philippines. Now, in The CEO of the Sofa, he embarks on a mission to the most frightening place of all: his own home.

To the devil a daughter! Parenthood can come as a shock to some. It’s especially shocking if you are Satan, the Prince of Hell, and are trying to live a quiet life of semi-retirement in suburban England under the name of Jeremy Clovenhoof. Clovenhoof quickly finds that being a single parent involves more than lullabies and nappies and has to contend with social disapproval, paternity tests and, possibly, the end of the world.

In Flatland, originally published in 1884, a humble square describes his two-dimensional world to benefit the inhabitants of Spaceland, the three-dimensional realm he discovers when he is visited by a being from beyond his plane. With dry wit and wild imagination, author Edwin Abbott Abbott builds a meticulous fantasy world rooted in an astute apprehension of psychology, politics, and social structures, as well as basic geometry. The story of Flatland, at once ridiculous and profound, delivers an incisive satire of social discourse that remains remarkably relevant today.

In this, the penultimate tale of the Circles in Hell comedy series, Charon, ferryman for the dead, and his paramour, the succubus Lilith, adopt an infant girl and settle in the suburbs of the Second Circle. Bringing up the first baby in Hell will test the parenting skills of the stalwart skeleton and his demonic partner, for Mona is no ordinary child. She soon exhibits powers that would make a devil blanch. The First Baby has her own set of firsts—from words to steps to a hospital visit—and they all unfold in madcap fashion.

Beverly Cryer (Vurl) has to choose a dystopian faction to live with for the rest of her life. If she doesn't make it through initiation, she'll be factionless and declared a Detergent. But, Vurl is determined not to spend the rest of her life doing everyone else's laundry. She is an independent young woman with skills she doesn't even know about and with the help of handsome number Two she'll not only make it through initiation, she'll save the city from disaster.

Flatland, first published in 1884, is classic work of satire. The full title, Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, reveals the story's most compelling characteristic, its discussion of multiple dimensions. It is this fascinating examination which has contributed to Flatland's enduring popularity.

First Runner Up, Science Fiction & Fantasy, 2024 Eric Hoffer Award & Grand Prize Shortlist Finalist! Aliens have hatched a rockstar. Brain extractions, falling body parts, and blood-vessel explosions are the norm. Alex’s dream job has turned into a nightmare. What should she do? It's the 1990s. Alex arrives at Acht Records, her improbable blonde hair streaked stress magenta and anger black. Her first duty is to wipe blood off her boss's walls. It goes downhill from there. Rock Gods & Messy Monsters is a humorous story about life inside a record company.

In 2043, Pamela just wants to stop feeling like shit. Enter U++, a new black-market gene therapy, that fills her with promises of a genetically enhanced 'best self.' The horrifying discovery? Pam's biology has very different ideas about what constitutes self improvement... As the grotesque transformation accelerates, her desperate husband Mark sees opportunity: why not document his wife's metamorphosis as an unscripted show? With their finances crashing, a new baby to support, and the future-Texas heat literally killing people, exploiting Pam's condition might be their only path to survival.