Who are some underrated funny writers /lit/? I'm reading kierkegaard atm and im surprised at how often he can me laugh
>>7375877
I thought Lolita was pretty funny.
>>7375877
Anti-oedipus and a thousand plateaus have a great sense of humor
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
>>7375877
Gaddis. He's even funnier than Pynchon.
Joyce, Bolaño.
I mean, they make me laugh a lot but for some reason everyone reads them with this stern face.
>>7375877
I found Melville to be pretty funny, especially at the start of Moby Dick with Queeqeg
>>7377530
Holy shit this
Shakespeare's tragedies are funnier than his comedies. I audibly lol'd at Hamlet at least twice per act.
>>7375877
if you don't laugh at Kafka and Joyce, you don't understand what you're reading
Kafka's irony is just golden
>>7377807
Kafka's the funniest author I've ever read but I don't know if he's underrated in that regard. I'm sort of surprised that people on /lit/ share the same sense of humor as I do since people around me don't feel the same way.
>>7375877
Robert Coover is hilarious.
>>7377817
I think a lot of people read Kafka and pick up on the isolation tropes but totally miss the comedy in all of it
Gregor literally wakes up as a bug and the first thing he thinks is "well gee how can I work now?"
The Hunger Artist was also one of the most smile-inducing reads i've ever done. I didn't lol at the ending, but it just gave me a huge grin
>>7377985
>The Hunger Artist
Fun fact: I taught for a brief period of time in a prison and I had them read The Hunger Artist. Those that did read it - and keep in mind some of these people are murderers - thought I was fucked up for assigning it to them (and maybe I was)
>>7377998
>teaching in prison
i want to do this now
>>7377999
It's ... it's an experience. Most people either don't believe me or ask "did anyone ever attack you?" Um, no, they were trying to reduce their sentences for good behavior or self improvement or whatever. Always taught Poe around Halloween time. They loved "The Tell Tale Heart" and "The Raven" (once I explained it to them)
>>7378020
Yeah I can't imagine anyone but literal unstable psychopaths would want to attack someone just teaching and giving them something to do that isn't "oh i'm in fucking jail"
I'm getting my BSE in Education so I may just put some time into the jail on summers
>>7378034
I've taught in public school for years. The likelihood of being attacked there is a lot higher ... in fact, locally, a teacher was attacked by a student and then stomped on.
>>7378042
this is the fate i chose
>>7375877
Just started reading Dostoyevsky with Notes From Underground and The Double, and I'm very surprised by how funny I'm finding his writing.
John Fante
>>7378056
Yeah he is
George Saunders
A lot of the ancient and late-antique historians will have me bent over laughing at points with the deadpan way they relate ridiculous or hyperbolic events. A senator is literally thrown from the podium when trying to calm down the rowdy meeting after one of the Gracchi brothers is assassinated... an emperor is so hated by the people that they tear him apart and then ban the concept of writing/speaking his name...
>>7380039
I like reading wikipedia articles about stupid stuff like manspreading for the same reason.
>>7380031
>What Gaddis would you suggest reading first
Not him, but for the funny element I'd say JR.
>>7380031
Read him chronologically. His style and view of the world change noticeably as he aged, and it is interesting to experience.
cioran could've been a standup comedian
>>7375877
Check out "Philogelos - Lover of Laughter", it's an ancient Greek book of jokes. Some are barely understandable out of context, but others are fucking hilarious.
>>7380114
Doug Stanhope sounds like Cioran was a heavy influence on him, so you may not be that far off.
>>7375877
donald antrim
