Funny Nonfiction

This program is read by the author. "In 37 short essays comedian Tom Papa reminds listeners that life's absurdities are here to stay and that everyone is doing the best they can. His tone and delivery are comforting, heartwarming, even therapeutic."- AudioFile Stand-up is all well and good, but...

You just woke up on the banks of the Nile. The sun is already trying to kill you. So is the river. So is the man in the gold medallion who is walking toward you very purposefully. Welcome to Ancient Egypt. Try not to die. How Not to Die in Ancient Egypt is not a history book. It is a survival manual for one of the deadliest, most fascinating civilizations ever to exist, written for readers who want the real thing: the smells, the dangers, the social tripwires, and the practical moves that keep you breathing. What's inside: Survive the heat, the Nile, the crocodiles, and the hippos that find...

In Furiously Happy, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jenny Lawson explores her lifelong battle with mental illness. A hysterical, ridiculous book about crippling depression and anxiety? That sounds like a terrible idea. But terrible ideas are what Jenny does best. As Jenny says: "Some people...

#1 New York Times bestseller! In this unforgettable collection of essays, acclaimed humorist David Sedaris lifts the corner of ordinary life, revealing the absurdity teeming below its surface. Sedaris plays in the snow with his sisters. He goes on vacation with his family. He gets a job selling...

This is the ultimate book of weird history! Combining Volumes 1 and 2 in the “Weird Things in History and Why the Heck They Happened” series, this is your opportunity to jump into a time machine and visit some of the overlooked, the peculiar, and definitely the most amusing things that have influenced our contemporary world. Brace yourself for amusement and astonishment as you explore not only the 50 tales from the first two volumes but 5 additional historical events that you most likely won’t find in any school textbook! “Weird Things in History and Why the Heck They Happened” ...

Did you know that most of our dinosaur fossils were discovered because two grown men absolutely hated each other? It’s true! Rivals! Frenemies Who Changed the World is a riotous audio exclusive, like if Monty Python taught your history class. Each volume of four 30-minute histories will dig into the petty name-calling and grumbling grudges that led to many of the world’s greatest advancements, all delivered with a cheeky sense of humor. Choose sides: Cope or Marsh, the jerks who discovered so many dinosaurs; Hamilton or Burr, whose rivalry fueled American politics; and many more....

Looking for the perfect gift for a history buff - or your next reading obsession? The Weirdest Tales in History delivers 25 full-length, immersive true stories that most textbooks skip, soften, or bury in a footnote - from ancient Rome to Cold War experiments, from medieval courts to modern disasters. Not trivia. Not listicles. Real stories - told the way they deserve. Every chapter starts with a quick snapshot: Absurdity/Evidence/Grimness ratings - how wild, how dark, and how well-documented it is A Truth Meter - rock-solid fact vs debated detail vs likely legend A “Tell-at-a-Party” ...

From the New York Times Bestselling author of Running With Scissors comes the story of one man trying to out-drink his memories, outlast his demons, and outrun his past. "I was addicted to "Bewitched" as a kid. I worshipped Darren Stevens the First. When he'd come home from work and Samantha...

★ IT WAS THE BET OF A LIFETIME! ★ Overcome with patriotic fervour, New Zealander Justin Brown bets an Australian mate that the All Blacks will thrash the Wallabies in an up-coming rugby match. They don't. Forced to pay his debt, Justin has to busk his way around England until he earns enough money for his airfare home. THE DEAL If Justin's favourite team loses he must door-door-busk his way around the United Kingdom. If Justin's supposed best mate's favourite team loses he must streak at the Wimbledon Grand Final. THE OUTCOME Justin's teams loses. He is forced to go to the other side of...

A new rip-roaring essay collection from the smart, edgy, hilarious, unabashedly raunchy, and bestselling Samantha Irby. Irby is forty, and increasingly uncomfortable in her own skin despite what Inspirational Instagram Infographics have promised her. She has left her job as a receptionist at a...

#1 New York Times Bestseller More than 10 million Copies Sold In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be "positive" all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people. For decades, we’ve been told...

About the Book In his latest book, Paul Amess braves cold rain, hot tea, a leaky tent and a heroic old bike through a countryside crammed with stories. This laugh-out-loud, oddly uplifting ride across the Pennines proves that everything can go wrong in the most entertaining way and still end exactly right. When a knackered cyclist points his wheels from Peak Forest to Street, he expects hills. He does not expect randy hedgehogs at 3 a.m., duels with homicidal goats, cliff-edge “paths” that feel like practical jokes, or a greatest-hits tour of Britain’s strangest history. Along the way...

History was never as respectable as it wanted us to believe. Behind the crowns, speeches, uniforms, courtrooms, and official statements, the past was full of scandal. People lied. People bribed. People forged documents. People covered things up badly. People made secret deals, ruined reputations, blamed the wrong person, and then acted shocked when someone found the receipts. In History’s Biggest Scandals, Beatrice Bellweather takes readers on a sharp, witty, and wildly entertaining tour through some of the messiest moments in history. From Watergate and the Teapot Dome scandal to the ...

History’s Biggest Oops: The Blunders That Changed the World A witty, eye-opening journey through the most surprising mistakes that made history. What do global superpowers, billion-dollar companies, genius inventors, and well-meaning leaders all have in common? At some point, they all got it spectacularly wrong. This laugh-out-loud and deeply curious collection explores the unexpected missteps, miscalculations, and “what were they thinking?” moments that ended up shaping the world in strange and powerful ways. Blending sharp insight with irreverent humor, this book offers a guided ...

*Updated edition includes bonus chapter* Winner of the 2017 Audie Award for Humor "A truth-riot of a book!"—Shonda Rhimes New York Times Bestseller #1 Washington Post Bestseller Redbook “20 Books By Women You Must Read this Fall” GoodHousekeeping.com “17 New Best New Books to Read This...

The #1 New York Times bestselling memoir from Augusten Burroughs, Running with Scissors, now a Major Motion Picture! Running with Scissors is the true story of a boy whose mother (a poet with delusions of Anne Sexton) gave him away to be raised by her psychiatrist, a dead-ringer for Santa and a...

New York Times Bestseller In this humorous memoir, listen to New York Times bestselling author and podcast host of The Spiritual Life, Father James Martin as he shares the story of his life as a busboy, dishwasher, caddy, usher, factory worker, bank teller, and corporate tool and, finally, a...

Utah doesn't explain itself. It just is. And if you find that charming rather than exhausting, you're going to have the time of your life. What other state has a lake so salty it functions as a seasoning, a whale sculpture six hundred miles from the nearest ocean, a ranch producing documented weirdness for thirty years, and a state snack whose legal status remains genuinely ambiguous? Utah. The answer is always Utah. Weird Utah Stories is a humor travel book that takes you through the strangest, funniest, most bewildering corners of America's most underrated state — with actual directions...

One of BookPage's Best Audiobooks of 2023 "Loftus is a charming narrator...goofy, engaging, and always game to do a silly voice." —The New York Times "There’s something terribly irresistible about her narration, which is often incredibly funny." —BookPage Part travelogue, part culinary...

“Genius ... It is miraculous to read these pieces ... You must read The Best of Me.” —Andrew Sean Greer, New York Times Book Review For more than twenty-five years, David Sedaris has been carving out a unique literary space. A Sedaris story may seem confessional, but is also highly attuned...