Whether you are trying to master a computer, fighting commuter traffic, helping your kids with their homework, or navigating the World Wide Web, it seems that everything is getting more and more technical all the time. If all this drives you a little crazy, it may help to know you are not alone. Try some of these humorous books about the hazards of modern life, selected by Reader Advisor Suzy Higgins.
Ah, Bewilderness! Muddling through Life with Mary Z. Gray by Mary Z. Gray.
A syndicated columnist and contributor to major newspapers reports on the small, recurring crises that bewilder a Dense like her--crises that a non-Dense would hardly notice. The Dense gets in the wrong lines, cannot distinguish a mango from a pomegranate, tries to buy the right number of bananas so that half the bunch won’t be wasted, and strives to master a computer or rent a car. RC 21154.
Analog’s Lighter Side edited by Stanley Schmidt.
Thirteen humorous and whimsical science fiction tales that have appeared in "Analog" magazine over the past fifty years. Includes stories about a radioactive goose that lays golden eggs, invading aliens thwarted by earthly weather and human illogic, and the perils of taking inventory on a space ship. RC 19194.
And More by Andy Rooney by Andy Rooney.
The amiable author’s latest collection of humorous newspaper columns. He puzzles over the family cars, his checkbook, appliances that don’t work, repair people who don’t fix articles properly, and diets that are impossible to follow. RC 18669.
Brain Droppings by George Carlin.
A veteran comic offers zany observations and opinions on various aspects of life. Carlin cites oxymorons (mandatory options), redundancies (added bonus), and euphemisms (body bags equal remains pouches). He also relays his views of pretentiousness in twentieth-century society. Strong language. RC 44750.
Dave Barry in Cyberspace by Dave Barry.
Syndicated humor columnist Dave Barry writes about the joys and frustrations of owning and operating a personal computer. Travel with Barry to the world of Windows and the World Wide Web, including a chapter on "Becoming Computer Literate, or; Words for Nerds." RC 45770.
Metropolitan Life by Fran Lebowitz.
Collection of irreverent, witty, and wicked essays on the fractured values of modern life. Among the subjects Lebowitz takes potshots at are fingernails, specialty banking, digital clocks, houseplants, and trendy clothes. RC 11794.
Mirth of a Nation: The Best Contemporary Humor edited by Michael J. Rosen.
More than 100 humorous pieces by contemporary authors and comedians, including Dave Barry, Roy Blount Jr., and Fran Lebowitz. Presents commentaries on President Clinton, O.J. Simpson, Madonna, and Saddam Hussein, as well as kids, travel, soccer coaches, and El Nin~o. Some strong language. RC 51709.
Municipal Bondage by Henry Alford.
A humor writer’s "comic investigations" of urban life that involve a series of bizarre capers, such as chauffeuring a state governor during a political convention, hiring nude housecleaners to see whether they do windows, and attempting to pass a dog-grooming test using an uncooperative canine. Strong language. RC 44582.
Murder @ Maggody.com by Joan Hess.
The natives fear the encroachment of pornography when a computer lab is established at the Maggody, Arkansas, high school. Sure enough, police chief Arly Hanks finds herself battling smut, and then an unwed teenage mother is murdered. Maggody series, book 12. Some violence. RC 51249.
Napalm and Silly Putty by George Carlin.
The comedian, who also wrote Brain Droppings (RC 44750), continues with a collection of zany one-liners, observations on modern life, and loony lists. Strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. RC 52283.
The Neurotic’s Handbook by Charles A. Monagan.
Humorous manual on the identification of neurotics. With tongue-in-cheek, Monagan tells how to cope with common neuroses and deals with such subjects as life, crossword puzzles, travel, illness, language snobs, fear of Teflon, and the pursuit of love. RC 19154.
1-800-Am-I-Nuts? by Margo Kaufman.
After a divorce, and her failure in art school to draw a cardboard box with feeling, Kaufman went to California, married, and began writing her column of sanity checks because there was no 800 number to call to ask if she was nuts. Her topics include a head of broccoli on the beach, the difficulty of having a small wedding, telephone tag with her husband, traveling with two pug dogs, and the guilt of not providing grandchildren. RC 37646.
Side Effects by Woody Allen.
Ranges over such subjects as the nature of relativity, the UFO menace, and the predicament of modern man, as well as Woody Allen's favorite topics: sex, death, and religion. In these sixteen selections, Allen displays his versatility with the written word and his special brand of humor. RC 15790, BR 4564.
Social Studies by Fran Lebowitz.
Collection of twenty-six humorous essays on apartment hunting in the city, cigarette smoking, diets, pet owning, and other behavior of the American species near the end of the twentieth century. Her spoofs include a TV interview with a "with-it" pope, write-ups on modern saints in social column style, and an auction house-type catalogue of her household possessions. RC 17313, BR 5008.
Uncivil Liberties by Calvin Trillin.
Collection of fifty of the author’s humorous and satirical columns first appearing in the "Nation" magazine between 1978 and 1981. Pokes fun at diverse subjects ranging from First Family antics to contemporary mores and considers important questions of the day, such as why employees of health food stores always look so unhealthy. RC 18836.
Why Things Go Wrong; or, the Peter Principle Revisited by Laurence J. Peter.
Dr. Peter updates his axiom that "in a hierarchy individuals tend to rise to their level of incompetence." In this work he develops the science of "hierarchiology," showing how the industrial, educational, and military structures that people build foster and reward ineptitude. RC 22010.