Monday, January 9, 2012

Ten books for a good laugh

Hallie Ephron is an award-winning mystery reviewer for the Boston Globe. Her books include Come and Find Me, Never Tell a Lie, which was a finalist for the Mary Higgins Clark Award and was made into the film And Baby Will Fall for the Lifetime Movie Network, and Writing and Selling Your Mystery, which was nominated for both an Edgar and an Anthony Award.

One of her ten best books for a good laugh, as told to the Christian Science Monitor:
A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole

Toole’s corpulent protagonist has been compared to Falstaff and Quixote, but that’s not to say that Ignatius J. Reilly lacks his own comedic identity. After an unfortunate accident, the unemployed and unwise historian is launched into the working world – but not without a fight from his baser instincts. Both farcical and poignant, this Pulitzer Prize-winning book is unforgettable.
Read about the other books on the list.

A Confederacy of Dunces is among Stephen Kelman's top 10 outsiders' stories, John Mullan's ten best moustaches in literature, Michael Lewis's five favorite books, and Cracked magazine's classic funny novels.

Visit Hallie Ephron's website and blog.

The Page 69 Test: Hallie Ephron's Never Tell A Lie.

Writers Read: Hallie Ephron.

--Marshal Zeringue