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HUMOUR -1-
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A Book Of Lear (Edward Lear) - Ed. by R.L. Megroz
Paperback in very good used condition. Usual wear of covers for age. Tight binding, some age fading of pages. Penguin Books (# 234). First Edition (1939). 256pp. M1. NZD 5.00 / P & P: A In many languages, it is said, there is no nonsense poetry, and there is not a great deal of it even in English. The bulk of it is in nursery rhymes and scraps of folk poetry, some of which may not have been strictly nonsensical at the start, but have become so because their original application has been forgotten. Since then, as Mr Megroz points out in his Introduction, Lear's influence has been considerable, but it is hard to believe that it has been altogether good. The silly whimsyness of present-day children's books could perhaps be partly traced back to him. At any rate, the idea of deliberately setting out to write nonsense, though it came off in Lear's case, is a doubtful one. Probably the best nonsense poetry is produced gradually and accidentally, by communities rather than by individuals. As a comic draughtsman, on the other hand, Lear's influence must have been beneficial. James Thurber and Gary Larson, for instance, must surely owe something to Lear, directly or indirectly. 
May Contain Nuts - John O'Farrell
Published by Black Swan (2006). 395pp. Paperback in excellent, as new condition. We will combine multiple purchases for post. NZD 5.50 / P & P: A Alice never imagined that she would end up like this. Is she the only mother who feels so permanently panic-stricken at the terrors of the modern world - or is it normal to sit up in bed all night popping bubble wrap? She worries that too much gluten and dairy may be hindering her children's mental arithmetic. She frets that there are too many cars on the road to let them out of the 4x4. Finally she resolves to take control and tackle her biggest worry of all: her daughter is definitely not going to fail that crucial secondary school entrance exam. Because Alice has decided to take the test in her place... With his trademark comic eye for detail, John O'Farrell has produced a funny and provocative book that will make you laugh, cry and vow never to become that sort of parent. And then you can pass it on to your seven-year-old, because she really ought to be reading grown-up novels by now... 
The Life and Death of Laura Friday ...and of Pavarotti, her Parrot
by David Murphy Paperback in excellent condition. Harper Collins (2008). 368pp. NZD 4.50 / P & P: A Kiwi comic writing at its best... A witty, humorous read. In Bullock, a proud little town somewhere on the coast, they do things differently. It's probably something to do with the way their pioneering ancestors survived months at sea by ingesting seed of hemp, a wondrous medicinal herb they've grown ever since. And when a local man accidentally cuts off his penis, only to be saved by a selfless transplant offer from his transgender brother, the international media come swarming. Fitz Kennedy, Cub reporter for the Bullock Telegraph, loses his scoop and his heart to Frankie Wilton, the scheming femme fatale sent to cover the story for the London tabloids. His revenge is sweet when he turns her into the heartless assassin Laura Friday, who with her parrot, Pavarotti, feature in his first novel. The book is an overnight success. And that's when the fun really starts. 
Gape Row - Agnes Romilly White A Classic Country Comedy Paperback in excellent, as NEW condition. Published by White Row Press (1988). 198pp. NZD 4.50 / P & P: B Can Jinanna escape the poorhouse? Will young Johnny Darragh jilt Ann? Will Mary get saddled with the awful Andy John McCready? Or will Happy Bill, the wayside preacher, nip in first and win them all for God? A boisterous, rich, nostalgic book which immerses the reader in the cheerful chaos of everyday life in a small Irish village on the eve of the First World War. 
The Little Book of Humorous Quotations
Edited by Alison Bullivant Small hardback with d/w in NEW condition. Published by Siena (1998). 258pp. NZD 7.00 / P & P: A The Little Book of Funny Quotations is compiled from reflections of some of the most brilliant minds of the past and present. From the deeply philosophical assertions of Ambrose Bierce and Mark Twain, wrapped as they often are in a sweetener of humour, and the acidic but enviable wit of Oscar Wilde, with his outrageous and audacious statements, to the sharply observed social commentary of more writers like P.J. O'Rourke, Bill Bryson and Fran Lebowitz. There is also a delicious mix of the best of the badinage of Noel Coward, the barbed ripostes of Groucho Marx, the slightly off-the-wall and terribly English humour of P.G. Wodehouse ("Ice formed on the Butler's upper slopes"), and the dry repartee of Sir Winston Churchill, to name but a few. All have been left to posterity - what a gift! This book is a dip into and perhaps from which to steal a few lines to drop into conversation or to use as a deft retort when our own wit fails us. And why not? In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson: "Next to the originator of good sentence is the first quoter of it"; and although we won't be first, we certainly won't be the last. 
The Scandalous Life of the Lawless Sisters-Ardagh
(Criminally Illustrated with What Was to Hand) by Philip Ardagh Hardback with d/j both in excellent, as new condition. Numerous illustrations. Faber and Faber (2008). 70pp. NZD 6.00 / P & P: B In The Not-So-Very-Nice Goings-On at Victoria Lodge, Philip Ardagh uncovered skulduggery of the murkiest kind lurking within the seemingly innocent illustrations of The Girls' Own Paper. In "The Silly Side of Sherlock Holmes" he created 'A Brand New Adventure Using A Bunch of Old Pictures' from the "Strand Magazine". Now, in "The Scandalous Life of the Lawless Sisters", he has exposed the antics of one of the Victorian underworld's most notorious and feared all-female gangs. Using cartoon illustrations from Punch, January-December 1880, Philip Ardagh has concocted a rollicking tale involving a group of Victorian ladies he calls, the Lawless sisters. By replacing the original captions to the drawings the staid and upright figures reveal their darker sides as, at the mercy of Ardagh’s pen, they become drug dealers, murderers and robbers of a bank security van armed with Russian made umbrella rifles. Imaginative, ridiculous but most of all extremely funny, this is the perfect antidote to any approaching winter blues. And, happily, the final pages hint that the Lawless sisters’ reign of terror may not be over yet. The illustrations, of course, are a delight: they include lots of Du Maurier and Charles Keene, with additional contributions from Tenniel, Sambourne and others. One of Ardagh's spoof novelettes 'criminally illustrated with what was to hand' ... 
The Timewaster Letters - Robin Cooper
Large paperback in excellent, near new condition. Published by Michael O'Mara Books (2005). 192pp. NZD 9.50 / P & P: B Spoof letter-writer Robin Cooper managed to take in everyone from the Archbishop of Canterbury to the National Federation of Fish Fryers... From Prince Charles to the Peanut Council, Harrods to the British Halibut Association - no one is safe. So who is Robin Cooper? Architect, thimble designer, trampoline tester and wasp expert, Robin Cooper is all of these things - it just depends on the person he's writing to... A uniquely British twist on the goofy letters-to-strangers genre, this brilliant compilation chronicles one man's outrageous and bizarre letters—to trade groups, department stores, clubs, political parties, and a certain children's book publisher—and the amazing responses he received to his ideas, observations, and unsolicited feedback. Asking countless questions, such as: Would the Campaign for Courtesy be interested in his 10-Point Plan for a Courteous Britain? Could the Ball & Roller Bearing Manufacturers Association contact his "ball-bearing mad" son to suggest that he scale back his 95,000-piece?.. and Might Madame Tussaud's be interested in creating a wax likeness of him in a toga?, the book reveals the courteous and often bemused correspondence between the imaginative time waster and his unsuspecting targets, all of whom only encouraged him further. Hilarious and off-the-wall, this volume will have fellow schemers laughing out loud—and reaching for their pens. 
A Coat of Many Colours - Edwin H. Samuel
A Delightful Collection of Stories & Satires Hardback, red cloth boards in excellent condition, d/w in VG condition (small piece missing at top of spine). Abelard Schuman (1960). 246pp. NZD 7.00 / P & P: B More than thirty years of work for and in Israel have afforded Edwin Samuel an abundance of material for his pungent observation and satire. The stuffy and pompous world of military officialdom; the ludicrous and dangerous realm of propaganda; and the myth of discrimination -- none of these escape the author's piercing vision. In The Golden Fleece he exposes Jewish fund raising in the United States in a mordant fantasy not far removed from reality - and he is a man well equipped to pass judgment. He displays the ironist's penchant for amusing and extravagant exaggeration, but, from the outlandishness of his satire, there emerges a core of serious critical appraisal which will leave you pensive long after the laughter has died down. Edwin Samuel has created a fun-loving host of rapscallions and scamps, dreamers and innocents, sceptics and scholars from the threads of his own experience. He has found his people everywhere: Denmark, South Africa, France, England, Israel, the United States, and Russia-Hector Zoupie, the middle-aged "little boy", too fat and too lazy even to run from the Nazis rapidly invading Denmark; Mien Xao Ga, who dreams of revolutionizing China's drugstore habits with the formidable pinball machine; Chaim Yankelescu, heir to the marvellous Crockery Book, replete with aphorisms invaluable to the successful con man. From time immemorial, writers have dipped their pens into the wellsprings of humour and nostalgia to capture the colourful individuality of the Jewish people. Edwin Samuel knows the forces at play among his people; he knows their strength and he knows their weakness. 
Boy, Girl. Boy, Girl - Jules Feiffer
Vintage hardback with laminated pictorial covers in VG+ condition. Published by Collins (1962). NZD 6.50 / P & P: B "Mirror for an Anxious Age" The world of Jules Feiffer is the world of contemporary metropolitan bafflement, where Bohemia intersects with suburbia and men pursue girls, employers, fashions, ideas, dreams and identities with unquenchable hope and inexorable disappointment. Mr Feiffer has come quietly among us. His cartoons have made their way insidiously and circuitously into public attention - from The Village Voice through The London Observer to The New York Post. He draws typically in a panel of six or eight scenes. His draftsman's line is ingenuous; his dialogue slides along in neatly pencilled block letters; and the total effect is quite as innocent and as ruthless as a good piece of surgery. |