It occurred to me while reading my current book, which is extremely slapsticky, that basically every single novel I can rattle off the top of my head which is famous for being satirical or famous for slapstick style shenanigans, was written by a man. Of course, this is not specifically a problem for any reason, but it got me wondering nonetheless.
Books I've read this year (written by men) which fit the vibe I'm looking for:
- Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut (Vonnegut in general is a great example, really)
- Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
- Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
- Terry Pratchett's Discworld vibe (I've only read one so far)
- Jam by Yahtzee Croshaw (this is the book I'm actively reading which made me think about this)
Hit me with some suggestions, I'm sure they're out there!
by PsyferRL
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Jane Austen, Sue Townsend, Fay Weldon.
Excuse me while I camp out here for some recs
_To Say Nothing of the Dog _ by Connie Willis is about a guy who time travels to the Victorian era to do some monumentally important task, but he was so sleep-deprived when sent there that he can’t actually remember what he’s supposed to be doing. It’s extremely funny, and like all of Willis’s work, an extremely tight and satisfying sci-fi plot.
The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies by Alison Goodman, then the new sequel The Ladies Road Guide to Utter Ruin. Had me literally laughing out loud
I think a lot of people are drawn to the romance of Jane Austen but overlook the satirical tone of her novels. One of my favorites is Northanger Abbey: basically the story of a delulu Regency era teenager who has read too many Gothic mystery stories and now thinks she’s living in one despite everyone else around her being on the most mundane vacation of their lives.
Why Mummy Drinks by Gill Sims
Han Kang (The Vegetarian), anything: Dorthy Parker, Caitlin Moran, Helen Fielding, Sayaka Murata, Mona Eltahawy
Not great literature but good fun. Try Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series, the first of which is One for the Money. MC is a hapless bounty hunter in New Jersey with crazy family. I forget which book but her grandmother and the coffin at a viewing in the funeral home is comedy gold, of the slapstick variety.
Sheri Tepper Gateway to Women’s Country isn’t all humor and parts of it are dark but it has some satire in the style of theater the female characters enjoy.
Iona Andrews is a husband wife team writing various flavors of fantasy and there’s a lot of satire and humor throughout.
Rita Mae Brown’s Venus Envy and Runymede series are both hilarious. The first is a woman who is told she’s dying so she writes letters to everyone telling them exactly what she thinks of them only to have to deal with the aftermath. The runymede books cover a family over many years and there’s a lot of humor in them. The author writes a mystery series where everything is solved by the dog and two cats – the Sneaky Pie Brown books. This series is the literature nutrition equivalent of popcorn but fun, if absurd after the first few.