Humor — Laughter as Medicine
“God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater” by Kurt Vonnegut – The Shame of Poverty
Kurt Vonnegut has given us no shortage of piercing and poignant stories getting right to the heart of what's wrong in modern American society, but among them, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater flew a little under the radar (in relative terms). It follow the life of Elliot Rosewater, a disillusioned millionaire whose conscience leads him to move the headquarters of his Rosewater Foundation to his former family home, Rosewater, Indiana, where he does all he can for the poor people living there.
“Player Piano” by Kurt Vonnegut – The Automated Future
Kurt Vonnegut's extensive bibliography isn't short on bestsellers, but I see many people overlooking his first novel, Player Piano, which seems a little strange considering how well it resonates with modern times. It tells the story of an engineer, Paul Prodeus, living in a totally automated American society in the future, increasingly desperate to find some true meaning to his life.
“Galapagos” by Kurt Vonnegut – The Best Course of Evolution
Kurt Vonnegut had the invaluable ability of pointing out all the truly ridiculous aspects of our lives hiding right beneath our noses, and few are the works where he does it better than Galapagos. The story follows a group of random people who, through sheer coincidence, are stranded on the titular islands and become the sole progenitors for a new, and somewhat different human race.
“Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus – Dismantling the Status Quo
Bonnie Garmus may have taken quite a while to publish her debut novel, Lessons in Chemistry, but it was certainly worth the wait, with even a TV show adaptation being in the making. The novel tells the story of Elizabeth Zott, a scientist who struggled during the 1950s amidst an all-male team at Hastings Research Institute, and in the 1960s became the unlikely star for a cooking show, and perhaps the catalyst to something much greater.
“Sacre Bleu” by Christopher Moore – An Unconvincing Suicide
Christopher Moore has taken us on long journeys through the strange and surreal realms of his particular brand of comedy, and in Sacre Bleu he gives the plot a historical twist. The story follows Lucien Lessard and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, who find themselves fascinated by the strange demise of their friend, Vincent van Gogh. They embark on a wild investigation promising to take them into the irreverent heart of 19th-century Paris and its unforgettable art scene.
“The Speckled Beauty” by Rick Bragg – An Unlikely Companion
Rick Bragg has written on a vast number of topics both as a an author and a journalist, and in his most recent work, The Speckled Beauty, he branches out further once again. In this autobiographical book, the author explores the many ways in which his life was transformed when a half-blind, misbehaved stray dog unexpectedly walked into his life.
“The Sirens of Titan” by Kurt Vonnegut – The Inescapable Plan
Kurt Vonnegut has many novels through which he established his lifelong fame as an essential author of the 20th century, and the first of those was titled The Sirens of Titan. Published all the way back in 1959, it tells the story of Malachi Constant, Earth's richest and most depraved man, as he embarks on a grand interplanetary voyage against his own will, learning much about the universe in the process, and forgetting even more about himself.
“Priestdaddy” by Patricia Lockwood – The Weight of Family Tradition
Patricia Lockwood had a childhood unlike most people, being even uncommon for the realm of religious upbringing. In her memoir titled Priestdaddy, Lockwood looks back on her childhood, adolescence and young adulthood which were strongly marked by her father, Greg Lockwood, a larger-than-life Catholic priest who defied all conventions.
“The Delightful Life of a Suicide Pilot” by Colin Cotterill – Lost Riddle from the War
Colin Cotterill has gifted us many unusual and intriguing detective stories through his Dr. Siri Paiboun Mystery series, and the fifteenth novel, The Delightful Life of a Suicide Pilot, aims to bring the show to a close. The recipient of a strange diary, Dr. Paiboun finds himself irresistibly launched into an investigation revolving around the life of a kamikaze pilot, one whose fate.
“It All Comes Back to You” by Beth Duke – Enjoying the Simpler Revelations
Beth Duke has found two years ago the kind of breakthrough any budding author could wish for, when her novel, It All Comes Back to You, became a celebrated bestseller. In it, we are told the story of Ronni, a practical nurse and aspiring writer, whose old patient, Violet, recently passed away. In the process, she left Ronni with a challenge: she must publish Violet's life in a book within a year, standing to inherit a grand fortune.
“Mr. Flood’s Last Resort” by Jess Kidd – Insight Across Generations
Though she may have begun publishing her works only recently, Jess Kidd is an author who already displays a unique awareness of comedy and tragedy in daily human life, something we see on full display in her second novel titled Mr. Flood's Last Resort (or The Hoarder in the U.K.). It follows the story of a happy-go-lucky caretaker with a profoundly sad childhood who makes the acquaintance of an eccentric old man whose life mission is to clean up his mansion to stop his son from sending him to a retirement home.
“The Stupidest Angel” by Christopher Moore – A Christmas of Failures
Christopher Moore has created with his town of Pine Cove a refuge for all the ridiculous madness that has a tendency of stemming from the human mind. We're now entering the third book in the series, The Stupidest Angel, and the town of Pine Cove is not only still standing, but even more or less thriving. However, things take a turn for the chaotic once again as a little boy witnesses Santa Claus taking a shovel to the skull, in addition to which the Archangel Raziel comes down to Earth for a most sacred mission, only to botch it completely and bring peril upon the idiosyncratic community once more.
“Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove” by Christopher Moore – A Revolution of Lizards and Placebos
Christopher Moore has graced us with some of the most original and unconventional stories out there, making it a point to venture into the uncharted lands very few even dare to think of. He likes to throw all the rules and preconceptions to the wind, something that is quite apparent in Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove, the second book in the Pine Cove series. This time, a giant slumbering lizard is awakened by a radiation leak, all while the town's doctor decides to switch out everyone's antidepressants for placebos following a tragic suicide. In a stunningly short amount of time, a total and surrealistic chaos envelops the town.
“Practical Demonkeeping” by Christopher Moore – An Immortality-Gifting Demon as a Pet
Christopher Moore regales us with a strange and very unusual story that takes us into the heart of a small-time American town in California. Little do its idiosyncratic citizens suspect, their lives are about to be turned upside down and inside out with the arrival of a young man in his 20s, who 70 years ago made a pact with a demon to become an immortal... a demon that remains with him to this very day. Though the reluctant master can sometimes control the demon, the latter becomes more erratic as he gets hungrier... and what better buffet for a demon than a town full of people?