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Why is humor such an unpopular form of literature?



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Sat Feb 11, 2012 4:02 pm
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Gringoamericano says...



If there's one thing I enjoy, it's laughing. Every week, I either browse through netflix looking for the next comedy I want to watch, or try writing my own comedy piece.
Yet whenever I look around the internet or at the local bookstore for something to laugh at, there's never any comedic pieces of fiction out there.
Out of every book I got that said "Dashingly funny", the only fictional book to make me laugh was "John Dies at the End". Even funny, well accomplished TV or movie writers prefer to write essays rather than pieces of fiction.

Why is it impossible to find a fictional book that is centered around humor?
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Sat Feb 11, 2012 7:55 pm
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Matt Bellamy says...



Maybe comedy is more difficult to write, and easier to express through film, which is why you see plenty of sitcoms and romcoms etc, but not so many comedy books? I don't really know, it's just a guess.
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Sun Feb 12, 2012 2:34 am
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NicholasStone says...



Is Harry Potter not humorous?
He stumbled slightly, the limp in his leg still there. He dared not to look at the place he used to call home. He could feel the heat from the fire, the fire that he himself had ignited. He blinked back tears, as he limped away.
  





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Sun Feb 12, 2012 7:01 am
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SirTobes says...



I love humor.
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Sun Feb 12, 2012 1:57 pm
Love says...



The Wheel of Time series have much humour, although it is not their focus.

In my personal opinion, I think that there are any forms of literature more important and better than humour. Horror, for example. Its just that the emotions they bring are much more powerful, usually.
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Mon Feb 13, 2012 5:15 am
Snoink says...



I love writing humor. :)

As for funny books... I've heard Terry Prachett is good! I love Gordon Korman as well. And, I always giggle at G.K. Chesterton.
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Mon Feb 13, 2012 6:59 am
inkwell says...



Terry Pratchett is in fact funny! I think it's a British thing, they have a knack for humorous writing.

But there are some contemporary American writings that are hilarious. Tina Fey's "Bossypants" is not a novel, (more of a memoir). Does that count?
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Mon Feb 13, 2012 11:47 am
Nyl says...



Im asking the same thing too!! LOL! I was deeply madly inlove with dark poetry, now I am hook with satires. The humor on slamming words in a sarcatic and humurous way made me hook up on it like 3 days ago...I guess the reason why humor isnt that popular is because most people want to read something they can relate on.. :?:
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Mon Feb 13, 2012 1:05 pm
SunshineandCarnage says...



Try Erma Bombeck- Her books were written semiautobiographically and give a very funny and heartwarming look at suburban American family life in the 1960's-1980's through the eyes of a housewife. Love them <3
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Mon Feb 13, 2012 7:44 pm
tr3x says...



Humour is definitely present in literature, you just have to look in the right places.
Definitely Terry Pratchett - he mixes fantasy and humour to satirize practically everything from women's rights to the the banking system to football. P.G. Wodehouse is great, although most people I recommend it to don't like it much. :/ It's a British humour.
A Confederacy of Dunces was hilarious, and won a Pulitzer (posthumously). Catch 22 always gives me a good laugh. Vonnegut is also funny in an absurdist way - check out Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five.
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Tue Feb 14, 2012 12:07 am
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railroadoctopus says...



My AP US History book is actually very funny. I'm not lying. American Pageant. It's hilarious. But a lot of the jokes are impossible to catch unless you read the book carefully, which might be the idea; you can't pass the class very easily without reading the book closely.

Anyway, I agree that Harry Potter is humorous, as are a lot of other books. I think that it's a lot harder to write a purely humorous book than it is to write an action/adventure/fantasy/sci-fi/romance/drama/whatever kind of book with humor sprinkled in. It's just really difficult to have jokes coming all the time. I suppose a satire might be an exception, but it still depends on how it's written.

Also, not everyone thinks the same things are funny, whereas most people's heartstrings were pulled while reading certain scenes in The Hunger Games and its series companions. Would you want to read something composed mostly of slapstick? I wouldn't. I personally find slapstick to be... well, not funny. Someone else might cry because they're laughing so hard while reading it.
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Tue Feb 14, 2012 3:22 pm
writerwithacause says...



That's a genre I've never tried to write in, of course it's impossible not to add a funny dialogue reply in a work (depends on the work, though), but writing a novel/book based on humour only would be challenging. I think it is the most difficult feeling to express through words, because people's sense of humour is so different. I have a peculiar sense of humour anyway, that ironical/sarcastical type... I guess not all would taste it. :)
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Tue Feb 14, 2012 5:03 pm
Paracosm says...



I really can't say why humor itself isn't as big as say, crime fiction, or fantasy. I do know that you find humor in all kinds of writing though, like the Artemis Fowl books, they are fantasy, but they also are good for a laugh. I personally try to write Dramedy type stuff, a balance between humor and actions and all. Also, something funny, the word "laugh". Just take a look at it.
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Wed Feb 15, 2012 2:46 am
crmcgill says...



Dave Barry writes some pretty funny stuff. My favorite is the Starcatchers Series, which is about Peter before he was Pan. Humor isn't the focus obviously, but there are several characters put in for a good laugh, and many-a-time I find myself chuckling as I read it.
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Sun Feb 19, 2012 3:15 am
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Stori says...



If you don't mind books for younger readers, I've found "Hank the Cowdog" to be quite funny. I won't spoil it for you- look it up!
  








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