Funny Ha-Ha (Read a Thurber Prize winner)
December 9, 2021
The Thurber Prize for American Humor is named after American humorist James Thurber and awarded by Thurber House for outstanding humor writing. Winning works include novels, essays, and memoirs, but they’re all good for a laugh!
What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker by Damon Young
Hits & Misses by Simon Rich
Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood
The memoir of a priest’s daughter. Father Greg Lockwood lounges in boxer shorts, loves action movies, and jams on the guitar, while his daughter is an irreverent poet who long ago left the Church’s country.
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher
Half Empty by David Rakoff
In this deeply smart and sneakily poignant collection of essays, Rakoff makes an inspired case for always assuming the worst—because then you’ll never be disappointed.
I Love You, Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle
What happens when the captain of the debate team uses his high school graduation speech to proclaim his love for the head cheerleader who barely knows he exists? An exhilarating and enduring graduation night adventure!
America: The Book by Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart and the writers of The Daily Show offer their insights into our unique system of government, dissecting its institutions, explaining its history and processes, and exploring why concepts like “one man, one vote,” “government by the people,” and “every vote counts” have become urban myths.
No Way to Treat a First Lady by Christopher Buckley
Elizabeth Tyler MacMann, the First Lady of the United States, has been charged with killing her philandering husband, the POTUS. In the midst of a spat, she allegedly hurled a historic Paul Revere spittoon at him, with tragic results. And so the attorney general is forced to put the First Lady on trial for assassination.
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
In this collection of essays, David Sedaris tells a most unconventional life story, from his North Carolina childhood to his eventual move to Paris, where he is seemingly incapable of speaking the language. Whether describing the Easter bunny to puzzled classmates or watching a group of men play soccer with a cow, Sedaris brings a view and a voice like no other to every unforgettable encounter.