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...

#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...

History has a reputation for being serious. Battles. Treaties. Speeches. Men pointing at maps. But behind every empire, scandal, and revolution were people making terrible decisions in excellent clothing. In Greatest Gossip in History, Beatrice Bellweather takes readers on a witty tour through the messiest corners of the past, from Cleopatra’s Roman smear campaign and Henry VIII’s marital chaos to Marie Antoinette’s rumor problem, Hamilton’s pamphlet disaster, Byron’s walking-red-flag energy, and the Romanovs’ glittering collapse. Packed with sharp humor, juicy stories, and real...

★ 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...

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...

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...

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” ...

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....

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 ...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Finalist for the PEN/USA Award in Creative Nonfiction, the Thurber Prize for American Humor, and the Audie Award in Biography/Memoir “Remarkable . . . told with wry humor shorn of sentimentality . . . In the end, what sticks with the reader is an exuberant...

'Kyla filters the world through her actual lived experience and turns it into stories that are hilarious and almost impossibly true. There's nobody like Kyla.' ELIZABETH GILBERT, author of EAT, PRAY, LOVE 'Written with real honesty, genuine warmth and a huge dollop of unfiltered humour' Irish...

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...

“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...

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...

Forget dusty textbooks and boring dates — this is history that laughs back. If you think you know the *real* story of medieval myths, The Titanic, Gladiators, and Early American Settlers… think again. Sarcastic History isn’t your grandma’s history book — it’s the one that tells you what *actually* happened (or would have — if ancient Greeks had better Twitter). ✔ What You’ll Laugh At (and Learn) Why medieval myths don’t hold up under common sense. What *really* made history ridiculous (and unintentionally funny). Titanic disasters, bold gladiators, and settlers who had ...

#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...

*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...

Could you have survived a single Tuesday in 1850? No toothpaste. No tampons. No antibiotics. No hot showers. No birth control, no aspirin, no anesthesia, no ice in July. Your neighbor is coughing blood, your baby has a fever, and the only thing in the medicine cabinet is a jar of leeches and a bottle of whiskey. Welcome to the good old days. "You Wouldn't Have Lasted a Week" is a laugh-out-loud, wince-out-loud, occasionally jaw-dropping tour of everything your great-great-grandparents lived through — and the astonishingly clever (and sometimes revolting) ways they got by. It's the history...

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...