14 thinkers, books, and ideas connected to this field.
Tucker Max's third and final 'fratire' collection — stories from the later period of his hard-drinking misadventure career.
Tucker Max's collection of stories about his sexual misadventures and hard-drinking lifestyle — one of the first and most successful blog-to-book transitions, founding the 'fratire' genre.
George Horace Lorimer's 1902 collection of fictional letters from a self-made Chicago pork packer to his college-educated son — combining business wisdom with Midwestern humor — a bestseller of its era.
Dan Kennedy's 2003 memoir — essays about failure, family, and survival in Cleveland — a dark comic memoir that emerged from his Moth storytelling.
Mark Twain was an American author and humorist whose Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer defined American vernacular literature and social satire.
Aziz Ansari and sociologist Eric Klinenberg's 2015 examination of modern dating — combining sociological research with comedy — exploring how technology has transformed romantic search and the psychology of modern relationships.
Wes Hazard's comedic question book — posing ethical dilemmas and absurd scenarios for conversation.
Michael Knowles's 2017 satirical 'book' — whose pages are intentionally blank (the joke being there are no reasons to vote for Democrats) — which became an Amazon #1 bestseller through coordinated pre-orders, demonstrating internet-native political publishing.
Matthew Dicks's 2015 middle-grade novel — about a woman who finally delivers the perfect comeback she failed to say decades ago — combining humor and emotional honesty.
Randall Munroe's 2014 book — answering absurd hypothetical science questions (What if everyone on Earth jumped at once? What if a baseball traveled at 90% of the speed of light?) with rigorous scientific calculation — the most entertaining science education book.
Benjamin Franklin's annual almanac (published 1732-1758) under the pseudonym 'Poor Richard Saunders' — a combination of practical information and memorable aphorisms that made Franklin famous throughout the colonies.
19th-century American humorist (pen name of Charles Farrar Browne) who was the most popular American comedian of his era — and a major influence on Mark Twain and Abraham Lincoln.
The pen name and literary identity of Samuel Langhorne Clemens — Mark Twain — the defining voice of American literature and arguably the greatest American humorist.
Damon Young is an American author and cultural commentator, co-founder of Very Smart Brothas (VSB), a widely read blog and publication covering race, culture, and politics with a distinctly Black voice and sharp humor. He later became a writer at The Root and published the essay collection What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker.