Showing titles in Satire

In Why We Suck, Dr. Denis Leary uses his common sense, and his biting and hilarious take on the world, to attack the politically correct, the hypocritical, the obese, the thin - basically everyone who takes themselves too seriously. He does so with the extra oomph of a doctorate bestowed upon him by his alma mater Emerson College. "Sure it's just a celebrity type of thing - they only gave it to me because I'm famous." Leary explains.

A customer service assistant spends her long workdays printing letters. Her one friend is the printer and, in the dark confines of her office, she begins to open up to him, talking about her fears, her past, her hopes and dreams. To her, it seems like a beautiful friendship is blossoming. To her boss, it seems like she’s losing her mind.

In music, counterpoint is the art of writing melodies that play in conjunction with one another, according to a strict set of rules, in order to emphasize the melody by contrast. In debate, point/counterpoint is a means of persuasion in which the speaker begins by conceding to their opponent’s argument before refuting it wholeheartedly. Aldous Huxley follows these traditions in his masterpiece Point Counter Point. The polarity between passion and reason in the intellectual life of the 1920s is demonstrated both in form and in theme in Huxley’s ambitious satire.

In "The Robot Who Looked Like Me," a busy man and a busy woman find a way to carve out time to romance each other—by having look-alike robots made to do the job—who then run away together.

Freeloading freelancer Ed Reardon is back, and still trying to survive in a world where the media seems to be run by idiots and lying charlatans. Success continues to eludes him, but at least he can eke out a living teaching creative writing, condensing modern classics and doing a spot of celebrity ghostwriting.

I’ve spent years as a dirt-broke, starving artist. When my mom's hospital bills start piling up, I take every odd job I can find in Silver Mountain. Eventually, that leads to a nanny position at the biggest mansion in town. The kids are cute as stuffed animals. The pay is great, and my luck seems to be improving.

"Monsieur Haneda était le supérieur de monsieur Omochi, qui était le supérieur de monsieur Saito, qui était le supérieur de mademoiselle Mori, qui était ma supérieure. Et moi, je n'étais la supérieure de personne. On pourrait dire les choses autrement. J'étais aux ordres de mademoiselle Mori, qui était aux ordres de monsieur Saito, et ainsi de suite, avec cette précision que les ordres pouvaient, en aval, sauter les échelons hiérarchiques. Donc, dans la compagnie Yumimoto, j'étais aux ordres de tout le monde."

In the title story, we meet Maya, who is torn between her wryly funny boyfriend and the allure of her veterinarian. In "Andorra," a woman's lover calls her every Thursday as he drives to meet his wife at marriage counselling. "How to Give the Wrong Impression" shows us a woman pining for her roommate, a man who will hold her hand but then tell her that her palm is sweaty.

This classic book of English literature is an insightful satire on human nature, probing the corruption of man. It's also a parody on traveller's tales, as Jonathan Swift chronicles the voyages to Lilliput, Brobingnag, and other fantastical destinations in this powerful 18th-century masterpiece. Simon Cadell reads with a sure touch and great understanding of his subject.

John Hodgman completes his vision with That Is All, the last book in a trilogy of Complete World Knowledge. Like its predecessors, That Is All compiles incredibly handy made-up facts into brief articles, overlong lists, and beguiling narratives on new and familiar themes. It picks up exactly where More Information left off - specifically, at page 596 - and finally completes Complete World Knowledge, just in time for the return of Quetzalcoatl and the end of human history in 2012.

Dominic Cummings has a lively mind. He is constantly thinking; planning; coming up with big ideas. During a time of momentous events in Britain (Brexit, a general election, The COVID-19 pandemic) the government's chief adviser has been writing down his thoughts - in diaries, blog posts, on post-it notes and any scrap of paper he can find.

Well the title looks familiar . . . and Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence may have been the trigger for Christopher Marsh's brilliant debut novel - but there the similarities end. Rather than a middle class Brit travelling all the way to the South of France to patronize the locals, Southern Europe gets its own back courtesy of Jesus Sanchez Ventura - the funniest fictional creation in many a year.

When hordes of people descend on the picturesque village of Nasely for the annual celebration of its most famous resident, murder mystery writer Agnes Crabbe, events take a dark turn as the festival opens with a shocking death. Each year the residents are outnumbered by crowds dressed as Crabbe’s lady detective, Millicent Cutter. The weekend is never a mild-mannered affair as fan club rivalries bubble below the surface, but tensions reach new heights when a second Crabbe devotee is found murdered. Though the police are quick to arrive on the scene, the facts are tricky to ascertain as the witnesses, suspects and victim are all dressed as Miss Cutter.

Gwen Turner, 29, entrepreneur and part-time barista. Likes: true-crime podcasts, cheese-based snacks (the more unnaturally orange the better) and constantly refreshing her dating apps. Dislikes: two-day hangovers, people who refer to themselves as entrepreneurs... and discovering her latest match is actually a serial killer (probably should have put that top of the list). They say romance is dead—but if Gwen can't catch the mystery killer who's targeting every man she's ever dated—it's about to get a whole lot more deadly.

Progressive Islam takes over England, and two men go on the run with a barrel of rum and a wheel of cheese, intent on keeping English pub life alive. Packed with songs, satire, and style as only Chesteron could write. And what are these drinking songs that came under such fire? Simply some of the dearest and most delightful poems that Chesterton or anyone else has ever written: The Song of Right and Wrong, The Song of the Dog Quoodle, Wine and Water, The Logical Vegetarian, The Good Rich Man, The Saracen’s Head, and The Rolling English Road."

People may call me an "overachieving ice queen," but I would do anything for the people I love. So when my friends ask me to host an event at their famous farm, I'm more than happy to help… until I discover I've been set up.

Debauched pop star Howie Howden has led a charmed life – there has been nothing a fat cheque, a non-disclosure agreement or a course of penicillin hasn’t made go away. But a calamitous night on the town, with his troubled yet dutiful manager Eddy Katz, has consequences for both men.

Bruce Chatwin's best-selling novel traces the fortunes of the enigmatic and unconventional hero, Kaspar Utz. Despite the restrictions of Cold War Czechoslovakia, Utz asserts his individuality through his devotion to his precious collection of Meissen porcelain. Although Utz is permitted to leave the country each year, and considers defecting each time, he is not allowed to take his porcelain with him and so he always returns to his Czech home, a prisoner both of the Communist state and of his collection.

A seemingly ordinary man's world shatters when his wife points out a minor physical flaw. This sparks an existential crisis in Vitangelo Moscarda, as he realizes everyone perceives him differently, creating "a hundred thousand" versions of himself. Trapped by societal masks and questioning his own sanity, Vitangelo embarks on a radical journey to break free and discover his true identity.

After too many lifetimes to count slaying demons and grinding levels, prophesied hero Kaito finally tells destiny where to shove it. He's done. When dimensional portal number seventeen drops him in front of an enthralled king begging him to vanquish the looming Dark Army, he does what any retired adventurer would do—politely refuses and heads off to focus on the simple pleasures of life: community, and getting his taxes done on time.