Showing results by publisher "Phoenix Books" in Comedy & Humour

When Dave Barry writes funny, you write back. And when you write funny, Dave Barry talks back! Pulitzer Prize-winning author and columnist Dave Barry gets more response from readers than any other writer in the United States. And now the absolute best of Dave Barry is available, complete with those items sent in by Dave's legion of Alert Readers all across the country. But Dave Barry doesn't only talk back to readers. He talks back to traffic cops, dentists, doctors, Congress, and his very dumb dogs.

Dave Barry exposes natural childbirth for what it is: a pop phenomenon of the 1960's that, along with paisley bell-bottoms and creative sideburns, deserves a rest. His new book gives parents-to-be the hard facts they need. He examines the new federal law requiring prospective fathers to free themselves from their self-made macho prison - to laugh, cry, love and just generally behave like certified wimps.

Subtitled "512 boorish, insensitive, and socially obnoxious pointers for leading a simple, self-centered life," this little book is a hilarious parody of the best seller with a similar name. Here are just a few of the gems contained within. Number 24: Give little kids clothes for their birthdays. Number 101: Argue with everybody. Number 326: Leave the alarm on when he doesn't have to get up. This guide is bound to bring at least 512 laughs.

Successful romance novelist Nat Noland has just had his cage severely rattled. After receiving an email directly from God, he just can't seem to get anywhere with his new novel. In Just Desserts, the grand poobah of American comedy, Carl Reiner, will have you holding your sides like never before. Follow Nat on his romps around New York City, as he tries to make sense of this divine intervention. Reminiscent of Mark Twain's Letters from the Earth, Just Desserts sparkles with the slapstick comedy and madcap hijinks that Reiner fans have loved for decades.

Laugh with political humorist Gerald Gardner, as he takes an entertaining and probing look at how six American Presidents over three decades—John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan—deliberately and effectively employed humor to achieve their political goals.

This sequel to Beaches picks up after the tragic death of Bertie Barron, who has entrusted the care of her eight-year-old daughter, Nina, to her best friend, the dazzling entertainer Cee Cee Bloom. But life in the Hollywood spotlight never prepared Cee Cee for this role: mother to a little girl she barely knows. For several years, it all seems to work for her: career, motherhood, and even high-profile romance with a marvelous and unlikely lover.

Join Rick Reynolds as he guides you through the foibles, fumbles and pratfalls of his own life beginning with his bizarre childhood. From the drowning of his father at a family picnic, to a bank-robbing stepfather, to his mother's 3 marriages and innumerable affairs, Reynolds portrays a striking picture of the lengths people will go for love and the human connection.

Few people had a better perspective on comedy and comedians than the master of it all, Steve Allen. In Funny People, Allen conveys insightful and personal observations—by anecdote and example—of some of the 20th century' s greatest comic performers: Jack Benny, George Burns, Milton Berle, and Jimmy Durante. Laugh along with Steve as he offers witty and perceptive looks at comedy legends whose work has stood the test of time.

Freudian slips, spoonerisms, double-talk, and nonsense from famous and infamous figures past and present, are all here in one digest that will have you howling with laughter. Imagine saying to the Beatles, "You'll never make it…Go back to Liverpool." That's what a Decca Records executive told the Fab Four in 1962. Senator S.I. Hayakawa allegedly pointed out, "The best cure for insomnia is to get a lot of sleep."

Sick of working your way to the top? America's most popular humorist, Dave Barry, shows you the alternate route, giving you tools to become the head of a major corporation in roughly a week. His surefire tips, from what shirt to wear to how to deal with pesky subordinates, will keep you laughing all the way up the corporate ladder.

What do best-selling writers Sue Grafton, Danielle Steel, Curtis Sittenfeld (prep) and Tom Clancy all have in common? They've all been shockingly murdered in a manner both gruesome and appropriate to their style. Now, an extremely paranoid Stephen King is convinced that he will be the next victim. With great trepidation, he leaves his heavily barricaded fortress in Bangor, Maine, to discover Who's Killing the Great Writers of America?

Meet the residents of Gammage, New York, a town on the verge of declaring bankruptcy, when inspiration strikes. Why not go native, and open a casino? With Not Enough Indians, actor, writer, producer, and former Saturday Night Live cast member Harry Shearer joins the ranks of such comedian/authors as Steve Martin and Michael Palin with a brilliantly funny, whip-smart satire of greed, collusion, distrust, and betrayal in the halls of Washington and the casinos of Native America.

Every other Thursday on Santa Monica Boulevard's Comedy Central Stage, a motley assortment of Hollywood writers, actors, and comics convened to reveal the most personal—and colorful—parts of their lives. Their soul-baring monologues revealed the sources of their creative genius, from wacky families and psycho exes to random ramblings and unbelievable Hollywood insights.

Connor McKnight, former acolyte of film, Zen, and Japanese literature, is not unaware that these avocations are wildly different from his present occupation as a fledgling celebrity journalist. Meanwhile, his longtime girlfriend, the fashion model Philomena, seems curiously remote and soon decamps for the West Coast. Then there's the sister with whom he shared a flamboyantly addled childhood and his best friend, a monkishly neurotic and militantly vegetarian writer.

Guy Grand—billionaire by birth, entrepreneur by avocation, and thoroughly unpredictable—is a grand guy. He "keeps his hand in"—buying into and revolutionizing industries ranging from championship boxing to African safaris. Is he a crackpot, an eccentric, or perhaps a visionary with a goal of social redemption?

From columnist and author of Marley and Me, John Grogan, comes a collection of more than 80 newspaper articles. In pieces that reflect his unique understanding of the crazy-quilt world we inhabit, Grogan shows us all sides of the human condition. From the fragility of life at a crosswalk to cell phones driving us to distraction (as we drive!), from turning the tables on telemarketers to the Iraq War coming home to a small town in Pennsylvania, these pieces are filled with insight and sensitivity.

Harry Beltway, idealistic young conservative and grandson of a famous evangelist, has just come back from a two-years tour as a missionary when he is persuaded to join the campaign staff of Tim Duncannon, an arch-conservative television commentator who has set his sights on the Republican nomination for presidency so that he can build a barbed wire fence around America.

Ever wish you had an immediate snappy comeback or a perfect putdown? We all have, only to later think of what we could—or should—have said. Then who better to call on than Shakespeare, who mastered the art of dramatic conflict with rapier wit rather than swordplay? This audiobook is an entertaining and witty collection of some of the most cutting jeers and outrageous affronts ever spoken. Never miss an opportunity for a well-aimed insult by borrowing from the Bard.

In this fiendishly original novel, Mark Leyner is a leather-blazer-wearing, Piranha 793-driving, narcotic-guzzling monster who has potential rivals eliminated by his bionically enhanced bodyguards, has his internal organs tattooed, and eavesdrops on the erotic fantasies of Victoria's Secret models–fantasies that naturally revolve around him.

For more than thirty years, Andy Rooney had the last word on the most-watched television program in history. "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney"—a segment on 60 Minutes—aired from 1978 to 2011. A man of wit, gruffness, and common sense, Rooney spoke candidly about what drove him—and us—crazy, what brought us joy, and what made us human. Hear the man himself as he reads some of his finest newspaper essays, offering his observations on a variety of topics, including politics and politicians, the economy, doctors, sex, clothes, football, toilet paper, ice cream, and cough drops.