August 16 is National Tell a Joke Day!
We hope these titles and essays on humor, wit, and the importance of laughter in your life strike of marvelously mirthful chord.
Humor, seriously : why humor is a secret weapon in business and life : And how anyone can harness it. Even you.
Aaker, Jennifer Lynn, author.
152.43 /Aaker
"Anyone-even you!-can learn how to harness the power of humor in business (and life), based on the popular class at Stanford's Graduate School of Business. Many people understand humor's power intuitively. But when it comes to using it with intention, far fewer know how. As a result, humor is vastly underleveraged in most workplaces today, impacting our performance, relationships, and health, and contributing to a permanent and unsightly frown known as "resting boss face." In fact, research shows that humor is one of the most powerful tools we have for accomplishing serious things. Top executives know this, which is why 98 percent prefer employees with a sense of humor, and 84 percent believe these employees do better work. Studies show that humor makes us appear more competent and confident, strengthens relationships, unlocks creativity, and boosts our resilience during difficult times. That's why Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas teach the popular course Humor: Serious Business at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where they help some of the world's most hard-driving, blazer-wearing business minds build levity into their organizations and lives. In Humor, Seriously, they draw on findings by behavioral scientists, advice from world-class comedians, and stories from real-life business leaders to reveal how humor works and-more important-how you can make greater and better use of it. Aaker and Bagdonas unpack the theory and application of humor: what makes something funny, how to mine your life for material, and how to craft a joke. They show how to use humor to make a strong first impression, deliver difficult feedback, and foster cultures where levity and creativity can thrive. And they explore the gray areas of humor: how to keep it appropriate-and recover if you cross a line. President Dwight D. Eisenhower once said, "A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done." If Eisenhower-the second least naturally funny president ever (after Franklin Pierce)-thought humor was necessary to win wars and build highways, then you might consider learning it too. Seriously"--
Well that was funny : 101 feel good stories
RECEIVED
If laughter is the best medicine, this book is your prescription. We've gathered some great storytellers to document the mishaps and misadventures of everyday life and celebrate humanity's ability to laugh at itself. There's no holding back in these pages, so prepare for lots of good clean (and not so clean) fun.
Quietly hostile : essays
Irby, Samantha, author.
814.6 /Irby
"Beloved writer Samantha Irby has returned to the printed page for her much-anticipated, sidesplitting fourth book following her 2020 breakout, Wow, no thank you, a Vintage Books Original. The success of Irby's career has taken her to new heights. She fields calls with job offers from Hollywood and walks the red carpet with the iconic ladies of Sex and the City. Finally, she has made it. But, behind all that new-found glam, Irby is just trying to keep her life together as she always had. Her teeth are poisoning her from inside her mouth, and her diarrhea is back. She gets turned away from a restaurant for wearing ugly clothes, she goes to therapy and tries out Lexapro, gets healed with Reiki, explores the power of crystals, and becomes addicted to QVC. Making light of herself as she takes us on an outrageously funny tour of all the details that make up a true portrait of her life, Irby is once again the relatable, uproarious tonic we all need"--
Is it hot in here (or am I suffering for all eternity for the sins I committed on earth)?
Zimmerman, Zach, author.
817.6 /Zimmerman
"Hell hath no fury like an ex-Bible-Belter-turned-New-Yorker. To see the world through comedian and writer Zach Zimmerman's eyes is to be reminded of the many ways in which love, religion, family, sex, money-or often lack thereof-lay bare our most elemental and embarrassing humanness. From meditations on heartbreak to not-so-helpful how-tos, this laugh-and-cry-out-loud essay collection documents one man's navigation through queerness, climbing the corporate ladder, dating cryptocurrency-obsessed mansplainers, mourning the loss of religiosity, and all the minute, beautiful discoveries in between"--
How to be perfect : the correct answer to every moral question
Schur, Michael, 1975- author.
817.54 /Schur
"From the creator of The Good Place and the co-creator of Parks and Recreation, a hilarious, thought-provoking guide to living an ethical life, drawing on 2,500 years of deep thinking from around the world"--
Dear McSweeney's : two decades of letters to the editor from writers, readers, and the occasional bewildered consumer
818.6 /Dear
McSweeney's Quarterly Concern has been printing issues since 1998, and sending them into the world with reckless faith. Now and then, the world writes back. In two decades and change, we've accumulated a heady archive of dispatches, pleas, confessions, treatises, ruminations, rants, raves, and the occasional misdirected customer service query. Collected here are one hundred installments from this sprawling many-to-one correspondence, including but not limited to musings on moths and mummies and macaroons, cats and armadillos and homicidal sea worms, and the arcana of Jerry Lewis's acting career. By turns poignant and absurd, these letters are a sparkling glimpse into the strange and unforgettable lives of McSweeney's readers. Featuring letters by Sarah Vowell, Brandon Hobson, R.O. Kown, Jonathan Lethem, Jenny Odell, Hanif Abdurraqib, Julie Klausner, Thao Nguyen, Ana Marie Cox, Jason Polan, and dozens more.
Inside comedy : the soul, wit, and bite of comedy and comedians of the last five decades
Steinberg, David, 1942 August 9- author.
792.230922 /Steinberg
Steinberg, a comic instation himself, provide a personal history of comedy from the 1950s to the present. From the historic greats to the greats of right now, Steinberg makes clear why he loves comedy and the comedians who have been by his side in his work, and in his life, for more than sixty years. -- adapted from jacket
Comedy book : how comedy conquered culture-and the magic that makes it work
Fox, Jesse David, 1985- author.
ON ORDER BOOK
"From a beloved comedy critic, a wisecracking, heartfelt, and overdue chronicle of comedy's boom-and its magic"--
The 50 funniest American writers* : an anthology of humor from Mark Twain to the Onion
817.008 /Fifty
Reaching back to Mark Twain and forward to contemporary masters such as David Sedaris, Roy Blount, and Bernie Mac, this book is an exclusive collection of the very best American comic writing.