Humor Essays

Firebrand NY Times columnist and bestselling author Lindy West unpacks the beloved rom-coms and cult classics we love in order to dissect the culture we've created. Lindy West was once the in-house movie critic for Seattle's alternative newsweekly The Stranger, where she covered film with brutal...

“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...

It's the end of the world, but Reg won't mind the peace and quiet - after all, he's always lived a solitary life. And his happy-go-lucky dog, Lineker, is ecstatic to spend more time with his beloved owner. Together, they plan to wait out the impending doom in their second-floor apartment, hiding themselves away from the riots outside. But when an abandoned orphan shows up in the stairwell of their building, Reg and Lineker must leave their place of safety and accompany her into the ruins of a fallen city.

From Bustle columnist and host of None of My Business Sophia Benoit, this “charming and often laugh-out-loud funny” (Vogue) memoir-in-essays explores the ins and outs of modern womanhood—from finding feminism, the power of pop culture, and how to navigate life’s constant double...

In this self-portrait by an American genius, Kurt Vonnegut writes with beguiling wit and poignant wisdom about his favorite comedians, country music, a dead friend, a dead marriage, and various cockamamie aspects of his all-too-human journey through life. This is a work that resonates with Vonnegut's singular voice: the magic sound of a born storyteller mesmerizing us with truth.

What would happen if a shy introvert lived like a gregarious extrovert for one year? If she knowingly and willingly put herself in perilous social situations that she’d normally avoid at all costs? Writer Jessica Pan intends to find out. With the help of various extrovert mentors, Jessica sets up a series of personal challenges (talk to strangers, perform stand-up comedy, host a dinner party, travel alone, make friends on the road, and much, much worse) to explore whether living like an extrovert can teach her lessons that might improve the quality of her life.

A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland From Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Public, commonly referred to as A Modest Proposal, is a Juvenalian satirical essay written and published anonymously by Jonathan Swift in 1729. Swift suggests in his essay that the impoverished Irish might ease their economic troubles by selling children as food. By doing this he mocks the authority of the British officials.

There is so much to write about the French. Because they invented cinemas, bicycles, cars, photography, radioactivity, but also the bra, the croque-monsieur, the garbage can, and dentures. Because the French express themselves in a language qualified as one of the sexiest, albeit with sounds so often considered animalistic: coucou, quoi, oui…. Because in France, we intrinsically like to rebel against everything: system, government, our employer, and we go so far as to go on strike preventively against a law that does not yet exist. A country where artists transform urinals into works of ...

In this new collection, recorded live, on-location from Massachusetts to California, David Sedaris reflects on what it means to be a foreigner, a brother, a lifelong friend, in essays that are “among the best of his career" (Publishers Weekly, starred review). “A welcome return to form for...

Step into Jenny Slate's wild imagination with this New York Times bestseller about love, heartbreak, and being alive. You may "know" Jenny Slate from her Netflix special, Stage Fright, as the creator of Marcel the Shell, or as the star of "Obvious Child." But you don't really know Jenny Slate...

It's like a stand-up comedy special in written format. Part-humor, part-anecdote, part-observation, One Odd Cat: Strange Adventures in Strangeness is a trippy journey along the offbeat logic of a casual, lifelong philosopher. If you drew a Venn diagram with three circles, one for wit, one for wisdom, and one for weird, this book would be dead center... but somehow still off-kilter. One Odd Cat: Strange Adventures in Strangeness takes readers along for the ride through the eccentric observations of Larry Nocella. This collection of true bizarre adventures includes dozens of observations, ...

We’re All A Mess. It’s OK. From the #1 bestselling author of The Amy Binegar-Kimmes-Lyle Book of Failures comes another laugh-out-loud collection of real-life chaos, cringe, and comedy. If you’ve ever tripped over your own shoelace in front of your boss, brought home the wrong dog, or accidentally said “I love you” (to someone who wasn’t the waiter), you’ve found your people. Think Jenny Lawson meets Chicken Soup for the Soul—if the soup were spiked with sarcasm, dating disasters, and stories about mistaken identities, ER visits, and fractured... body parts. This hilarious, ...

An intimate journey across America, as told by one of its most beloved writers To hear the speech of the real America, to smell the grass and the trees, to see the colors and the light—these were John Steinbeck's goals as he set out, at the age of fifty-eight, to rediscover the country he had...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The beloved Peloton instructor chronicles his journey from small-town North Carolina to New York City stardom in an empowering story that reveals his secret to success: not taking yourself—or life—too seriously. “Reading XOXO, Cody is like hanging out with...

In this exuberantly praised book - a collection of seven pieces on subjects ranging from television to tennis, from the Illinois State Fair to the films of David Lynch, from postmodern literary theory to the supposed fun of traveling aboard a Caribbean luxury cruiseliner - David Foster Wallace...

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...

A 2020 Audie Award Finalist From nationally bestselling author, YouTube star, and Facebook Video sensation Laura Clery comes a collection of comedic essays that paint “an honest, complicated portrait of how your life can change” (SheKnows). Laura Clery makes a living by sharing inappropriate...

From The New York Times bestselling author of Leaving Isn't the Hardest Thing comes an update of John Steinbeck’s trip in Travels with Charley, a cross-country journey exploring modern America with Lauren Hough’s signature observational wit, searing social commentary, and perspective as...

In the wake of his deeply powerful viral videos ("Before You Call the Cops" and "Walking While Black"), Tyler Merritt shares his experiences as a black man in America with truth, humor, and poignancy. Tyler Merritt's video "Before You Call the Cops" has been viewed millions of times. He's...

From a massively successful stand-up comedian and co-host of chart-topping podcasts “2 Bears 1 Cave” and “Your Mom’s House,” hilarious real-life stories of parenting, celebrity encounters, youthful mistakes, misanthropy, and so much more. Tom Segura is known for his twisted takes and...