Humor essays are my jam. Short attention span, nonfiction lover. I've already done the classics: Sedaris, Samantha Irby, Mindy Kaling, Jenny Lawson (my favorite), Nora Ephron, R Eric Thomas, Gaffigan, etc. Got anything else? Bonus points for stuff that's more self-deprecating and observational than political, angry, and preachy. I want the real funny stuff.
by Prestigious-Hat-6082
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Look at their predecessors – Will Cuppy, H.L. Mencken, James Thurber….
Casey Wilson. Her book the wreckage of my presence is preposterously hilarious. She was on snl briefly and Acts/ podcasts but her writing is so impressive. I couldn’t care less about reality tv but there’s a section of her book that gets into her obsession/ self made rules which made me cry laughing.
Jenny Slate, David Rakoff
Caitlin Moran
Fran Lebowitz
I think you’ve covered the waterfront, but perhaps try Florence King and Fran Leibowitz.
I get the charm of some of the late New Yorker writers like Dorothy Parker, James Thurber, etc…, and some of the British writers like Max Beerbohm and Wodehouse, but I don’t laugh at their stuff… I just smile and move on.
George Saunders
Tom Bodett
Shit Actually by Lindy West. It is hilarious!
If you like humorous historical essays, then try anything Sarah Vowell.
Augusten Burroughs! Very similar to Sedaris imo.
Dave Barry and Lewis Grizzard – author of Shoot Low Boys they’re Riding Shetland Ponies.
Patrick F. McManus is hilarious!
Erma Bombeck, Jenny Lawson, James Heriott (his books are all just short stories strung together, or you could get the dog stories book because Tricki Woo is one of his best)
Pete Dexter—Paper Trails
Nobody knows who this guy is but he won the National Book Award for Paris Trout.
He wrote columns for the Philadelphia Inquiror which is some of the best writing ever printed in newspapers. He has an eye for details no other writers notice or are able to expand on. His writing makes one not want to write.
His novels are better than anything Cormac ever dreamed of writing.
Jonathan Swift: MODEST PROPOSAL and A TALE OF A TUB
A Paper Orchestra by Michael Jamin
Dave Barry
The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce is also very funny.
Dave Barry
The Rabbit Factory by Larry Brown
He goes on and on, but I never stopped reading it! Funny dude.
Bess Bell Kalb – great story collection about her grandma, self aware and sentimental and hilarious
Bonus – she’s also a children’s book author and buffalo fluffalo is a big hit with my boys!
Robert Fulghum is pretty awesome and insightful.
Jack Handey.
I’d suggest The Effects of Knut Hamsun on a Fresno Boy by Gary Soto.
Irma Bombeck
Nancy Stahl, If It’s Raining This Must Be The Weekend. I must have re-read that one a hundred times.
Jean Kerr, “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies” and “The Snake Has All the Lines.” Did suburban housewife/slice of life humor before Erma Bombeck did, and, in my opinion, better.
Mark Twain.
Original comment got removed for including links, but I’d recommend Michael Ian Black (particularly his essays on McSweeney’s Internet Tendency website). There’s a good mix of satire and humorous essays on McSweeney’s if you’re in the market for new authors.
I remember enjoying Sloane Crosley’s “I was told there’d be cake” when it came out. Self deprecating, observational humor with a good dose of NYC living.
I didn’t see Erma Bombeck anywhere yet. She is an absolute staple of humor essays. As is/was Andy Rooney. Both are dont-miss.