Lest the reader feel schadenfreude for us here in the tundra, forgetaboutit because both food and words taste better in the bone-cold of winter. I may eat my words after January or so, but today from the cozy den of my office, I’m content nibbling on others’ and buttered toast.
I’m reading Leonard Marcus’s Funny Business: Conversations with Writers of Comedy to see if funny books are written by funny people. I think I know a person’s comedic gift when I see it, but wonder how it translates onto the page. Or conversely, if the seemingly dour personality can split the reader’s innards with laughter.
Not all funny business is serious, but it often is. Marcus quotes E. B. White who said that while “the world likes humor,…it decorates its serious artists with laurel, and its wags with Brussels sprouts.”
Which author is your pick for children’s humor laureate (or sprouteate)?
mwc
I found the Schwa Was Here by Neal Shusterman to be right up my alley (thanks Anne). However, my favorite "funny" book is The Worldwide Dessert Contest by Dan Elish. Love it!
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