Humor

Laugh out loud with this hilarious look at the trials and tribulations of paddling, as seen through the eyes of renowned cartoonist William Nealy.

A celebrated author and cartoonist, William Nealy gained cult-hero status in the outdoor-sports community by blending his passion for the outdoors with his unique style of caricatures. He had a knack for learning—not by doing but by crashing and burning! The works of this American treasure were almost lost forever, but Menasha Ridge Press is proud to help bring back William’s irreverent illustrations.

Kayaks to Hell is a riot of a book that accurately depicts the monomania, elusive machismo, and marathon-dance mentality of whitewater paddling. With a unique blend of satire and cartoon art, the best-selling author opens up about the sport—and its disciples.

• Boat racks
• Canoeing businessmen
• Paddling trips
• Water rescues
• Much, much more!

William’s zany illustrations have been bound and bandaged together in a monumental new collection of books that include cartoons long out of print. Kayaks to Hell is a wonderful part of The William Nealy Collection, ideal for anyone who loves to laugh and enjoys the great outdoors.

• Fighting for a seat in a classroom with limited chairs
• Munching on Nutribuns (UNICEF's nutrient-enriched bread sent to developing countries)
• Having your sister discover a 20-inch rubber snake in your schoolbag
• Taking part in a disastrous school production of Star Wars
• Struggling to adapt to university life
• Discovering a new perspective of the classroom when he becomes a teacher himself

Some people might consider the literary genre of proverbs to be stodgy or out of date, perhaps pretentious and irrelevant in our techy world. Not so with Meatballs for the People: Proverbs to Chew On. These proverbs are all original, all beckoning for verbal debate and discussion, and addictive in that it’s impossible to read just one. The nearly even hundred proverbs are discussion starters and could be a favorite work among book groups. They are enjoyable fodder not only for laughter, but for possible enlightenment. The title alone—Meatballs for the People—suggests substance and a hardy meal. You can really chew on these.

If you are English, please read this book with a light heart and do what the English do best - have a laugh at yourself. If you are a visitor, or are planning to visit England's sometimes sunny, sometimes cloudy, and sometimes windy shores, this book will help you to begin to appreciate, if not fully understand, this unique country and its people.
Each page of the book features a section entitled 'Metaphorically Speaking' - a testimony to the English love of metaphors, which can often cause confusion if English is not your native language. These sections explore some of the many unusual metaphors a visitor might hear, and offer helpful advice on when to use them.
Featuring humorous illustrations throughout, this is a hilarious and informative read for all nationalities.

Born in Shropshire soon after the end of the First World War, venerable motoring writer W de Forte has driven everything from his grandfather's first Daimler, to modern-day supercars … ridden everything from vertiginous Victorian penny farthings, to high velocity twenty-first century superbikes … travelled everywhere from the permafrost of the Arctic Circle to the baking sands of the Baja Peninsula … and met everyone from Tazio Nuvolari to Valentino Rossi.
W de Forte enjoyed an eventful career as a top-level journalist, spanning 75 years, during which time he tested many thousands of cars and reported on countless automotive events around the world. This made him uniquely qualified to comment on all aspects of classic and vintage motoring and motorcycling.
Relatively undimmed by age and ague, even in his 90s, de Forte had no plans to retire, but, in early 2011, a high-speed prang while testing a wayward Rudge Ulster at a racing circuit in Belgium brought him up with a jolt, both literally and metaphorically. After recuperating in hospital, he settled down to write his long-awaited and much requested autobiography.
This unique and insightful book is the result. Packed with fascinating stories about classic cars and motorcycles, A Life Awheel - the 'Auto' Biography of W de Forte is an account of an extraordinary motoring life, and the story of motoring in the 20th century.

Automakers are as prone to turn out clunkers as politicians are to lie. Their cars may be ugly, misconceived, badly built, diabolical to drive, ridiculously thirsty, or just plain unreliable. So which were the worst offenders of the past 20 years?
In this light-hearted, somewhat irreverent look at the world of cars, journalists Honest John and George Fowler share their combined wealth of automotive experience to reveal what they consider to be the 80 worst car-tastrophes of the past two decades.
Honest John wrote the motoring agony column at The Daily Telegraph for 20 years, and now runs his own website reviewing cars and answering questions, while George Fowler, also known as Motormouth, is Motoring Editor at The Daily Star. No-one is as qualified to dish out the dirt as these two.
If your car is, or was, remotely good then you won't find it in this book. On the other hand, if it's here, don't expect any sympathy ...

A sly, sentimental, and wickedly funny memoir about growing up at the local fair.

The PNE (Pacific National Exhibition) is a Vancouver tradition, an annual fair started in 1910 that is famous for its farm animals, dog trick shows, and amusement park highlighted by Canada’s oldest wooden roller coaster still in existence. In 1980, when Nick Marino was twelve years old, he started working at the PNE and quickly learned that there was more to the fair than winning stuffed animals and eating mini donuts. He had to contend with belligerent bosses, unhinged carnies, and teenage hustlers. In this funny, charming memoir of fair life, Marino revisits the “wild west” of the city’s East Side, home to the PNE, sharing stories from his six summers working at the fair, where arcade bouncers went on midnight roller coaster rides, riots broke out at concerts, and local kids helped themselves to everything. With beguiling and at times poignant humor, he pulls back the curtain on the culture of carnivals and fairs, an unpredictable and eternally young world of players, scammers, and dreamers.

East Side Story is the latest addition to the Robin’s Egg Books series, which features some of the freshest, smartest, and above all, funniest writing on a variety of culturally relevant subjects. Titles in the imprint are curated and edited by comedian, playwright, and author Charles Demers.

This publication meets the EPUB Accessibility requirements and it also meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG-AA). It is screen-reader friendly and is accessible to persons with disabilities. A book with many images, which is defined with accessible structural markup. This book contains various accessibility features such as alternative text for images, table of contents, page-list, landmark, reading order and semantic structure.

Funny and Feminist Trivia

Women of Interest is a humorous compendium of little known facts about the history, fame, fortunes, fashions, and fictions of the female species–enough to impress your mother and your boss, win arguments with your boyfriends and husbands, and generally know more about your fabulous female self.

One of the most fascinating trivia books for women. Did you know that women outnumber men by five to one in shoplifting convictions? Or that researchers at Northwestern University found that men change their minds two to three times more than women? Women of Interest spans history, crosses cultures, ranges from the silly to the salacious to the truly useful and back again. Designed to delight the feminist in you, this outrageously funny book is organized into ten trivia-filled chapters covering all sorts of humorous histories and fun facts. Ideal for trivia games for adults or feminist gifts, now women really can know everything.

Feminist, funny gifts for women. It’s time to challenge that know-it-all girlfriend, or grab the ultimate bathroom reader for your feminist BFF. Whether you’re searching for feminist books or trivia books, Women of Interest makes a wonderful addition to trivia games and bookshelves alike. Inside, you’ll learn that:

• Diamonds didn’t become a girl’s best friend until the thirteenth century. Before that, they were for men only.
• Zazel, a woman, was the first human cannonball. She launched into the air through a giant spring inside a cannon.
• Marilyn Monroe was the very first Artichoke Queen in the artichoke capital of the world.

If you enjoy comedy books, trivia books for adults, or funny gifts for her─and enjoyed titles such as What If, 399 Games Puzzles & Trivia Challenges, Uncle John's Truth Trivia and the Pursuit of Factiness, The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, or Thank You for Being a Friend: A Golden Girls Trivia Book─then you’ll love Women of Interest.

The end of lonely Saturday nights at home is finally here!

From conquering online dating to popping the big question with a bang, the Dating Hacks Handbook breaks down the intricacies of dating in the 21st century so you can upgrade your love game. Learn how to spot a soul mate potential, handle ever-changing gender roles, and meet the possibly (definitely) crazy parents of your partner, so that you’ll hate your love life only half of the time.

In this delightful sleigh ride through Christmas history, Paul Kerensa answers the festive questions you never thought to ask...

Did Cromwell help shape the mince pie? Was St Nicholas the first to use an automatic door? Which classic Christmas crooners were inspired by a Hollywood heatwave? And did King Herod really have a wife called Doris?

Whether you mull on wine or enjoy the biggest turkey, the biggest tree or the biggest credit card bill, unwrap your story through our twelve dates of Christmas past. From Roman revelry to singing Bing, via Santa, Scrooge and a snoozing saviour, this timeless tale is perfect trivia fodder for the Christmas dinner table.

Maybe Jesus was joking, the disciples didn't know what they were doing and the New Testament is a lot funnier than you might think.

You would think it weird if someone suddenly ascended into heaven, right? Reading between the lines, do we detect a touch of rivalry between Peter and John? And surely the lack of parables in the latter's mystical tome is simply crying out to be redressed...

In this sparklingly witty book, BBC sitcom writer James Cary gives us a new and liberating way of looking at the gospel as he entertainingly relates it to a modern context, with references ranging from Charles Dickens to The Vicar of Dibley. Cheerfully playing around with the text, he takes the Bible seriously but allows us to laugh at our own petty vanities and foibles - and be enlightened in the process.

The Gospel According to a Sitcom Writer is ideal for anyone wanting to liven up their Bible reading and looking for new ways to be thrilled by this sacred text. It's also perfect for priests, pastors, youth leaders and all those involved in ministry and giving sermons, as James Cary shows using comedy and humour is a brilliant way to communicate the gospel.

Warm, funny and full of brilliant insight and Christian humour, The Gospel According to a Sitcom Writer will make you laugh out loud and shake your head in awe. You'll never read the Bible the same way again.

Highly entertaining account of a young man's first year as a rookie comedian. His comedy is focused on the world rather than the church, and he gigs regularly around the country - average three times a week.

He has a considerable following through the churches but also does a great deal of work through the mainstream comedy circuit. He has performed regularly at all the main Christian events.

"The book represents my first year in the world of comedy. The book will chart the reality of life on the comedy circuit - and how those ups and downs affect my faith, my relationships, my goals etc. It is also about a 25 year old slightly at odds with his environment. The gigs are a stepping stone for observations on life in general. I want to provide good quality humour that faces outwards and talks about life in general, rather than looking inwards and seeing the funny side of church."

'An elegant treatise on how [the church] could lighten up its image.' The Times

'Having worked for many years at the coalface of comedy, sorting the dross from the combustible, James Cary is uniquely qualified to write this book.' Milton Jones, comedian and panellist on BBC2's Mock the Week

Every few weeks a politician, pundit or soap star causes a media storm by making a gaffe or tweeting a joke that some people do not find funny. Comedy is very hard to get right and yet we think it's important to have a sense of humour and not take yourself too seriously. On the other hand, a sense of humour failure can lead to losing your friends, your twitter account, your job, your career and, in some cases, your life.

James Cary knows about this. He is a sitcom writer who's written jokes about bomb disposal in Afghanistan (Bluestone 42), defended comments about Islam by Ben Elton on Newsnight, been on a panel with radical Muslim cleric Anjem Choudary, sits on the General Synod of the Church of England and somehow managed to co-write episodes of Miranda.

An odd mix, but one that makes him very readable. This entertaining, breezy book, explains how comedy works (with jokes and quotes) and gives much-needed insights into the controversy surrounding humour.

Winner of the 2016 Religious Communication Association Book of the Year Award

In God Mocks, Terry Lindvall ventures into the muddy and dangerous realm of religious satire, chronicling its evolution from the biblical wit and humor of the Hebrew prophets through the Roman Era and the Middle Ages all the way up to the present. He takes the reader on a journey through the work of Chaucer and his Canterbury Tales, Cervantes, Jonathan Swift, and Mark Twain, and ending with the mediated entertainment of modern wags like Stephen Colbert.

Lindvall finds that there is a method to the madness of these mockers: true satire, he argues, is at its heart moral outrage expressed in laughter. But there are remarkable differences in how these religious satirists express their outrage.The changing costumes of religious satirists fit their times. The earthy coarse language of Martin Luther and Sir Thomas More during the carnival spirit of the late medieval period was refined with the enlightened wit of Alexander Pope. The sacrilege of Monty Python does not translate well to the ironic voices of Soren Kierkegaard. The religious satirist does not even need to be part of the community of faith. All he needs is an eye and ear for the folly and chicanery of religious poseurs.

To follow the paths of the satirist, writes Lindvall, is to encounter the odd and peculiar treasures who are God’s mouthpieces. In God Mocks, he offers an engaging look at their religious use of humor toward moral ends.

A hilarious, darkly comic graphic retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet in radically condensed prose by legendary Swedish children’s author Barbro Lindgren and illustrator Anna Höglund.

Look Hamlet.

Hamlet not happy.

Hamlet’s mommy dumb.

Hamlet’s daddy dead.

So begins this wonderfully strange, dark, and hilarious picture book version of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy boiled down to its smallest possible size: 100 words, give or take, and fifteen etchings that look like the lovechild of Beatrix Potter and Edward Gorey.

In our despondent antihero, a lop-eared bunny Hamlet with handbag in tow, is somehow embodied all the tremendous pathos of Shakespeare’s Danish Prince. And in legendary Swedish children’s author Barbro Lindgren’s pithy prose resides the poetry of the original, reworked for the era of memes and short attention spans.

Bold and brilliant, irreverent and humane, Look Hamlet is the perfect irreverent gift for Shakespeare readers of all ages. As the Bard himself wrote: “brevity is the soul of wit.”

With the humor of millennial Samantha Irby, Khaholi Bailey’s debut essay collection about the 90s and beyond will invoke the not-so-nostalgic nostalgia.

90s kids were raised on sparse and slow internet, cable TV and adults who said the darndest things. Some learned that weed was the gateway to insanity, that people of the cloth would never disrobe you, or to hope for inconspicuous, tiny tits. 

Khaholi Bailey was taught as much and more, only to discover that the dank green does God’s work, and a well-timed catcall could make her day. Through her family, as much as from MTV and New York City, Khaholi discovers that right from wrong is a matter of time, place and whoever’s asking. 

In frank and comedic essays, Khaholi shares the vulnerability (and sometimes grace) that comes from aging in a rapidly changing world. The Miseducation of a 90s Baby will give you all the lols and feels, and she might even teach you something along the way.

We’re Not Doomed Yet…

Laughter of a Scoundrel

This book is that laughter. You, dear reader are to be that scoundrel. Howling mercilessly at a culture that has lost itself to grift, hysteria and charlatanry; it is a humble, yet crumbling hope to call for, if nothing else, a pause and moment to breathe. In a world demanding and insisting that all within it move mindlessly at light speed, it requires a scoundrel of mirth and merit to simply say "no."

“Nicholas Goroff’s writing is not a breath of fresh air so much as it is a sharp whiff of smelling salts for the apathetic and cynical political attitudes present in 21st Century America, or a slap across the face from a good friend who only has your best interests at heart. It doesn’t matter how many “breaths of fresh air” one takes in if those gulps of oxygen are in the middle of an episode of hyperventilation, taken deep from within a coma of disassociation from one’s society, or inhaled through gritted teeth bringing droplets of angry spittle along for the ride inside of the windpipe.”

–Justin Little, author of The Misadventures of a Jilted Journalist

Milt Gross (1895-1953), a Bronx-born cartoonist and animator, first found fame in the late 1920s, writing comic strips and newspaper columns in the unmistakable accent of Jewish immigrants. By the end of the 1920s, Gross had become one of the most famous humorists in the United States, his work drawing praise from writers like H. L. Mencken and Constance Roarke, even while some of his Jewish colleagues found Gross’ extreme renderings of Jewish accents to be more crass than comical.
Working during the decline of vaudeville and the rise of the newspaper cartoon strip, Gross captured American humor in transition. Gross adapted the sounds of ethnic humor from the stage to the page and developed both a sound and a sensibility that grew out of an intimate knowledge of immigrant life. His parodies of beloved poetry sounded like reading primers set loose on the Lower East Side, while his accounts of Jewish tenement residents echoed with the mistakes and malapropisms born of the immigrant experience.
Introduced by an historical essay, Is Diss a System? presents some of the most outstanding and hilarious examples of Jewish dialect humor drawn from the five books Gross published between 1926 and 1928—Nize Baby, De Night in de Front from Chreesmas, Hiawatta, Dunt Esk, and Famous Fimmales—providing a fresh opportunity to look, read, and laugh at this nearly forgotten forefather of American Jewish humor.

"Happiness starts small; learn to recognize it. It's like a weed we see every day but cannot identify." Thus begins Small Happiness, an invaluable guide to “all” of human life including such vital subjects as: decorating with books, dancing as medicine, composting, the "Slow Read Movement," how to conduct a wedding, secrets of invigorated aging (including an interview with Sparrow's 100-year-old father), the art of aroma, and self-psychoanalysis. After buying Small Happiness, you may guiltlessly burn all your previous self-help books.

At a young age, author Jerome K. Jerome found a hobby that he was extremely skilled at, and very passionate about—idleness. He was thrilled at the amount of time he could waste doing nothing, frustrating those around him. However, when Jerome falls ill and is ordered to bedrest, this hobby is tested. Then, he learns that doing nothing is only fun when you have other commitments. This relatable sentiment is explored in the title essay of Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow. Taking sometimes mundane topics and twisting them into the extraordinary, Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow shares insight on a variety of topics. In On Being in Love Jerome applies his observations of couples to broader realizations of love and romance. Exploring an opposite, polarizing feeling, On Being in the Blues is a touching portrayal of living with depression, struggling through the lows and highs of mental health. While such essays invoke strong emotional reactions, others dabble in lighter topics, such as the attire of babies, the weather, and gluttonous appetites. Yet, whether the topic is profound or ordinary, Jerome finds a way to craft philosophical prose saturated in clever insight.

Featuring fourteen witty and philosophical essays, Jerome’s Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow considers topics of varying importance, from the author’s opinion on cats to suffering through depressive episodes. Each accompanied by a personal, and usually hilarious narrative, these essays reach philosophic conclusions as they entertain with their captivating charm and sarcasm. Written with casual prose decorated with thorough imagery and figurative language, Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow imparts fun and frank wisdom on its readers, still delighting audiences over a century after it was first published.

This edition of Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow by Jerome K. Jerome is presented in an easy-to-read font and features an eye-catching new cover design. With these accommodations, this edition is accessible and appealing to contemporary audiences, restoring Jerome K Jerome’s work to modern standards while preserving the original wit and charm of Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Featuring twelve simple yet profound essays, Jerome K. Jerome’s Second Thoughts of an Idle Fellow is a humorous and clever collection. Each essay is crafted around a timeless and relatable issue, such as the unfortunately common inability to make decisions. On the Art of Making Up One’s Mind observes this to be a common practice. Beginning with the story of a young woman who cannot decide what color of garment to buy, this essay takes notice of the everyday day occurrences of this struggle, comparing the experience for men and women. As a common theme in the collection, societal expectations and assumptions about gender play a main role in many of the essays, tackling topics such as relationships and dating. However, other essays focus on the universal experience of being human, separate from implications of gender. This is portrayed in On the Exceptional Merit Attaching to the Things We Meant to Do through the narrative of a failed craft. Despite shortcomings, pride always finds a way to warp reality, which is why Jerome ironically warns against taking advice in the essay On the Inadvisability of Following Advice. With discussions of pride, intention, vices, and ideals, Second Thoughts of an Idle Fellow addresses the truths of topics that are simultaneously overlooked, yet universally experienced.

With satirical prose and thoughtful reflection, Jerome K. Jerome combines humor and sentiment in Second Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, presenting serious topics without intimidation, inviting thought and laughter. Though first published over one-hundred years ago in 1898, Second Thoughts of an Idle Fellow feature timeless and universal themes and realizations that remain to be clever and relevant to modern-day society.

This edition of Second Thoughts of an Idle Fellow by Jerome K. Jerome is presented in an easy-to-read font and features an eye-catching new cover design. With these accommodations, this edition is accessible and appealing to contemporary audiences, restoring Jerome K Jerome’s work to modern standards while preserving the original wit and charm of Second Thoughts of an Idle Fellow.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.