The Best of Modern Humor (1983)

by Mordecai Richler (Editor)

Other authors: Woody Allen (Contributor), Lisa Alther (Contributor), Kingsley Amis (Contributor), Max Apple (Contributor), Beryl Bainbridge (Contributor) — 57 more, Russell Baker (Contributor), Maurice Baring (Contributor), Donald Barthelme (Contributor), Saul Bellow (Contributor), Robert Benchley (Contributor), Thomas Berger (Contributor), Jr. Blount, Roy (Contributor), Marshall Brickman (Contributor), Art Buchwald (Contributor), Truman Capote (Contributor), Lynn Caraganis (Contributor), John Cheever (Contributor), Alan Coren (Contributor), Peter de Vries (Contributor), Stanley Elkin (Contributor), Nora Ephron (Contributor), Ian Frazier (Contributor), Bruce J. Friedman (Contributor), Veronica Geng (Contributor), Wolcott Gibbs (Contributor), Dan Greenburg (Contributor), Joseph Heller (Contributor), Oliver Jensen (Contributor), George S. Kaufman (Contributor), Garrison Keillor (Contributor), Jean Kerr (Contributor), Ring Lardner (Contributor), Stephen Leacock (Contributor), Fran Lebowitz (Contributor), A. J. Liebling (Contributor), Groucho Marx (Contributor), Bruce McCall (Contributor), Cyra McFadden (Contributor), Thomas Meehan (Contributor), Jessica Mitford (Contributor), Marianne Moore (Contributor), John Mortimer (Contributor), J. B. Morton (Contributor), V. S. Naipaul (Contributor), Flann O'Brien (Contributor), S. J. Perelman (Contributor), Leo Rosten (Contributor), Philip Roth (Contributor), Damon Runyon (Contributor), Wilfrid Sheed (Contributor), Terry Southern (Contributor), Frank Sullivan (Contributor), Alexander Theroux (Contributor), James Thurber (Contributor), Calvin Trillin (Contributor), Kenneth Tynan (Contributor), Jr. Vonnegut, Kurt (Contributor), Evelyn Waugh (Contributor), Eudora Welty (Contributor), E. B. White (Contributor), P. G. Wodehouse (Contributor), Tom Wolfe (Contributor)

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
291	2	91,597	(3.53)	2
Contains a collection of American and English humor from such outstanding contributors as Woody Allen, Damon Runyon, Trumon Capote, Groucho Marx, Art Buchwald, Roy Blount, Jr., Fran Liebowitz, Philip Roth, and Eudora Welty.

all members

▾Members

Recently added by

Sopoforic, HollandVillage, mkkaufman, coldspur, Katrinkadink, ebuyer099, SpeechMA, xettegt, yedlint

▾Tags

▾LibraryThing Recommendations

▾Lists

None

▾Will you like it?

▾Conversations (About links)

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 2 mentions

▾Member reviews

date ▼ | votes

Showing 2 of 2

All the best of the old humorists (I love that word, it conveys so much more than comic or comedian) are represented - Mencken, Runyon, Lardner . . . special favorites, Thurber and Buchwald. If you never read any these marvelous funny folk, you have missed some of the best story telling in the world. (

)

LeslieHolm | May 19, 2022 |

not all that funny. (

)

mahallett | Jul 20, 2016 |

date ▼ | votes

Showing 2 of 2

▾Published reviews

no reviews | add a review

▾Other authors

» Add other authors

Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Richler, Mordecai	Editor	primary author	all editions	confirmed
Allen, Woody	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Alther, Lisa	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Amis, Kingsley	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Apple, Max	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Bainbridge, Beryl	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Baker, Russell	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Baring, Maurice	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Barthelme, Donald	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Bellow, Saul	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Benchley, Robert	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Berger, Thomas	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Blount, Jr., Roy	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Brickman, Marshall	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Buchwald, Art	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Capote, Truman	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Caraganis, Lynn	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Cheever, John	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Coren, Alan	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
de Vries, Peter	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Elkin, Stanley	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Ephron, Nora	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Frazier, Ian	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Friedman, Bruce J.	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Geng, Veronica	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Gibbs, Wolcott	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Greenburg, Dan	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Heller, Joseph	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Jensen, Oliver	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Kaufman, George S.	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Keillor, Garrison	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Kerr, Jean	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Lardner, Ring	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Leacock, Stephen	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Lebowitz, Fran	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Liebling, A. J.	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Marx, Groucho	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
McCall, Bruce	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
McFadden, Cyra	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Meehan, Thomas	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Mitford, Jessica	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Moore, Marianne	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Mortimer, John	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Morton, J. B.	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Naipaul, V. S.	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
O'Brien, Flann	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Perelman, S. J.	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Rosten, Leo	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Roth, Philip	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Runyon, Damon	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Sheed, Wilfrid	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Southern, Terry	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Sullivan, Frank	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Theroux, Alexander	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Thurber, James	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Trillin, Calvin	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Tynan, Kenneth	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Vonnegut, Jr., Kurt	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Waugh, Evelyn	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Welty, Eudora	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
White, E. B.	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Wodehouse, P. G.	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Wolfe, Tom	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Contains

Is an abridged version of

▾Awards and Honors

view history

▾Common Knowledge

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.

For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.

Canonical title

The Best of Modern Humor

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

1983

People/Characters

Important places

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

For my family--Florence, Daniel, Noah, Emma, Martha and Jacob

First words

Years ago a young lady out of Oklahoma City was sufficiently intrepid to write James Thurber asking him if there were any standard rules for writing humour. The best Thurber could come up with was a list of proscriptions [...]. --Foreword by Mordecai Richler.

Quotations

Last words

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Original language

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

▾Book descriptions

Contains a collection of American and English humor from such outstanding contributors as Woody Allen, Damon Runyon, Trumon Capote, Groucho Marx, Art Buchwald, Roy Blount, Jr., Fran Liebowitz, Philip Roth, and Eudora Welty.

▾Library descriptions

No library descriptions found.

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

Contains:

Gertrude the Governess: or Simple Seventeen / Stephen Leacock
King Lear's Daughter / Maurice Baring
Recollection of Notable Cops / H.L. Mencken
Butch Minds the Baby / Damon Runyon
Ukridge's Accident Syndicate / P.G. Wodehouse
The Busher's Honeymoon, excerpt from You Know Me Al / Ring Lardner
Correspondence with David Wallace / Marianne Moore
Opera Synopses / Robert Benchley
If Men Played Cards as Women Do / George S. Kaufman
Letters to Warner Brothers and Gummo Marx / Groucho Marx
The Cliché Expert Testifies on Love / Frank Sullivan
The Intrusions of Captain Foulenough / J.B. Morton (as Beachcomber)
The Breaking Up of the Winships / James Thurber
Across the Street and into the Grill / E.B. White
Time … Fortune … Life … Luce / Wolcott Gibbs
Excerpt from Cold Comfort Farm / Stella Gibbons
Winner Takes All / Evelyn Waugh
Nothing but a Little Pissant excerpt from The Earl of Louisiana / A.J. Liebling
Farewell, My Lovely Appetizer / S.J. Perelman
Mr. K-A-P-L-A-N the Comparative and the Superlative, excerpt from The Education of H-Y-M-A-N K-A-P-L-A-N / Leo Rosten
Why I Live at the P.O. / Eudora Welty
Requiem for a Noun, or Intruder in the Dusk / Peter de Vries
Keats and Chapman / Flann O'Brien (as Myles na Gopaleen)
The Chaste Clarissa / John Cheever
The Gettysburg Address in Eisenhowerese / Oliver Jensen
Excerpt from To Jerusalem and Back / Saul Bellow
Emigration, excerpt from Daughters and Rebels / Jessica Mitford
Another Goddam Englishman, excerpt from One Fat Englishman / Kingsley Amis
Report on the Barnhouse Effect / Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Gold's Stepmother, excerpt from Good as Gold / Joseph Heller
Excerpt from Clinging to the Wreckage / John Mortimer
Toujours Tristesse / Jean Kerr
A Day's Work / Truman Capote
I am Mike Hammer / Terry Southern
Chef Reinhart, excerpt from Reinhart's Women / Thomas Berger
Bomb Math / Russell Baker
Saving Paper / Art Buchwald
Just Plain Folks / Kenneth Tynan
YMA Dream / Thomas Meehan
Bernie Perk, excerpt from The Dick Gibson Show / Stanley Elkin
The Lonely Guys Apartment / Bruce Jay Friedman
Four Hacks / Wilfrid Sheed
Game / Donald Barthelme
The Mechanical Genius / V.S. Naipaul
The Mid-Atlantic Man / Tom Wolfe
Whacking Off, excerpt from Portnoy's Complaint / Philip Roth
Dinner at Binny's, excerpt from Injury Time / Beryl Bainbridge
The Kugelmass Episode / Woody Allen
Popular Workbench / Bruce McCall
Dinner at the La Rentas' / Calvin Trillin
How to be a Jewish Mother / Dan Greenburg
Hip Wedding on Mount Tam, excerpt from The Serial / Cyra McFadden
Long Ago and Far Away / Alan Coren
The Analytic Napkin / Marshall Brickman
Mrs. Proby Gets Hers, excerpt from Three Wings / Alexander Theroux
A Few Words about Breasts / Nora Ephron
The Oranging of America / Max Apple
Trash No More / Roy Blount, Jr.
My Mao / Veronica Geng
Shy Rights: Why Not Pretty Soon? / Garrison Keillor
The Commune, excerpt from Kinflicks / Lisa Alther
America's Cup '83: The Sherpa Challenge / Lynn Caraganis
Notes on "Trick" / Fran Lebowitz
Dating Your Mom / Ian Frazier