Popular North American Humor Books
Find humor books written by authors from North America for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (50)
1.
13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl : Fiction by Mona Awad EN
Country: North America / 
Canada
Canada
Description:
“Stunning . . . As you watch Lizzie navigate fraught relationships—with food, men, girlfriends, her parents and even with herself—you’ll want to grab a friend and say: ‘Whoa. This. Exactly.’” —Washington Post A “hilarious, heartbreaking book” (People) from the author of Bunny Named one of the best books of the year by NPR, The Atlantic, Time Out New York, and The Globe and Mail Growing up in the suburban hell of Misery Saga (a.k.a. Mississauga), Lizzie has never liked the way she looks—even though her best friend Mel says she’s the pretty one. She starts dating guys online, but she’s afraid to... continue
2.
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole EN
Country: North America / 
United States of America
United States of America
Description:
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize “A masterwork . . . the novel astonishes with its inventiveness . . . it is nothing less than a grand comic fugue.”—The New York Times Book Review A Confederacy of Dunces is an American comic masterpiece. John Kennedy Toole's hero, one Ignatius J. Reilly, is "huge, obese, fractious, fastidious, a latter-day Gargantua, a Don Quixote of the French Quarter. His story bursts with wholly original characters, denizens of New Orleans' lower depths, incredibly true-to-life dialogue, and the zaniest series of high and low comic adventures" (Henry Kisor, Chicago Sun-Times).... continue
3.
A House for Mr. Biswas by V. S. Naipaul EN
Country: North America / 
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Description:
In his forty-six short years, Mr. Mohun Biswas has been fighting against destiny to achieve some semblance of independence, only to face a lifetime of calamity. Shuttled from one residence to another after the drowning death of his father, for which he is inadvertently responsible, Mr. Biswas yearns for a place he can call home. But when he marries into the domineering Tulsi family on whom he indignantly becomes dependent, Mr. Biswas embarks on an arduous -- and endless -- struggle to weaken their hold over him, and purchase a house of his own.
4.
A Monk Swimming : A Memoir by Malachy McCourt EN
Country: North America / United States of America
United States of America
Description:
The memoirs of Malachy McCourt who left a childhood of poverty in Ireland to live in New York where he carved out a colourful career as a writer and actor - The story of his early life was told in Angela's ashes, by his brother Frank McCourt.
5.
Country: North America / Canada
Canada
Description:
NATIONAL BESTSELLER A funny and smart new novel about destiny--and what it means to forge your own path--from two-time Leacock Medal winner Terry Fallis. Adam Coryell is your average high-school student--well, except for that obsession with fountain pens--when his life changes forever. Based on a study by a quirky Swedish professor that claims that every human being, regardless of athletic inclination, has a body that is suited to excel in at least one sport, it turns out that Adam is good--very good, in fact--at golf. Even though he'd never even picked up a golf club. Almost instantly, and wi... continue
6.
Auntie Mame : An Irreverent Escapade by Patrick Dennis EN
Country: North America / United States of America
United States of America
Description:
With a wit as sharp as a vodka stinger and a heart as free as her spirit, Auntie Mame burst onto the literary scene in 1955--and today remains one of the most unforgettable characters in contemporary fiction. Wildly successful when it was first published in 1955, Patrick Dennis’ Auntie Mame sold over two million copies and stayed put on the New York Times bestseller list for 112 weeks. It was made into a play, a Broadway and a Hollywood musical, and a fabulous movie starring Rosalind Russell. Since then, Mame has taken her rightful place in the pantheon of Great and Important People as the wor... continue
7.
Barney’s Version by Mordecai Richler EN
Country: North America / Canada
Canada
Description:
Charged with comic energy and a steely disregard for any pieties whatsoever, Barney's Version is a major Richler novel, the most personal and feeling book of a long and distinguished career. Told in the first person, it gives us the life (and what a life!) of Barney Panofsky--whose trashy TV company, Totally Useless Productions, has made him a small fortune; whose three wives include a martyred feminist icon, a quintessential JCP (Jewish-Canadian Princess), and the incomparable Miriam, the perfect wife, lover, and mother--alas, now married to another man; who recalls with nostalgia and pain hi... continue
8.
Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver EN
Country: North America / United States of America
United States of America
Description:
The bestselling debut novel by Barbara Kingsolver, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and twice winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction Plucky Taylor Greer grows up poor in rural Kentucky with two goals: to avoid pregnancy and to get away. She succeeds on both counts when she buys an old car and heads west. But midway across the country, motherhood catches up with her when she becomes guardian of an abandoned baby girl she calls Turtle. In Tucson they encounter an extraordinary array of people, and with their help Taylor builds herself an her sweet, stunned child a life. 'Compelling and very funny' ... continue
9.
Big Swiss : A Novel by Jen Beagin EN
Country: North America / United States of America
United States of America
Description:
"Greta lives with her friend Sabine in an ancient Dutch farmhouse in Hudson, New York. The house, built in 1737, is unrenovated, uninsulated, and full of bees. Greta spends her days transcribing therapy sessions for a sex coach who calls himself Om. She becomes infatuated with his newest client, a repressed married woman she affectionately refers to as Big Swiss, since she's tall, stoic, and originally from Switzerland. Greta is fascinated by Big Swiss's refreshing attitude toward trauma. They both have dark histories, but Big Swiss chooses to remain unattached to her suffering while Greta con... continue
10.
Black Friend: Essays by Ziwe EN
Country: North America / United States of America
United States of America
Description:
From the writer crowned one of the smartest, funniest voices in modern America, this hotly anticipated debut collection of essays offers “a precious glimpse into how Ziwe’s uniquely fearless mind functions” (New York) Ziwe made a name for herself staring interviewees in the eye and asking, “How many Black friends do you have?” She’s an expert at making people squirm, coming right out and asking the tough questions about race and racism that our culture has made white people experts at dancing around. In Black Friend, she turns this incisive perspective on the culture at large, with her signatu... continue