The 50 Funniest American Writers*: An Anthology of Humor from Mark Twain to The Onion

by Andy Borowitz (Editor)

Ever wondered who makes a very funny person laugh? Wonder no more. Brought together in this Library of America collection are America’s fifty funniest writers—according to acclaimed writer and comedian Andy Borowitz. Reaching back to Mark Twain and forward to contemporary masters such as David Sedaris, Nora Ephron, Roy Blount Jr., Ian Frazier, Bernie Mac, Wanda Sykes, and George Saunders, The 50 Funniest American Writers* is an exclusive Who’s Who of the very best American comic writing. Here are Thurber and Perelman, Lenny Bruce and Bruce Jay Friedman, Garrison Keillor, Dave Barry, and Veronica Geng, plus hilarious lesser-known pieces from The New Yorker, Esquire, The Atlantic, National Lampoon, and The Onion. Who does “one of the funniest people in America” (CBS Sunday Morning) read when he needs a laugh?

Contents:

A presidential candidate by Mark Twain
The lecture tickets that were bought but never used by George Ade
The ransom of Red Chief by O. Henry
From Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis
From Gentlemen prefer blondes by Anita Loos
On conversation by Ring Lardner
Imperial purple by H.L. Mencken
More alarms at night by James Thurber
The waltz by Dorothy Parker
Farewell, my lovely appetizer by S.J. Perelman
Simple prays a prayer by Langston Hughes
The night the old nostalgia burned down by Frank Sullivan
Across the street and into the grill by E.B. White
The house of mirth by Peter De Vries
From The magic Christian by Terry Southern
From How to talk dirty and influence people by Lenny Bruce
The secret vice by Tom Wolfe
The counterfeit secret circle member gets the message, or The asp strikes again by Jean Shepherd
The Kentucky Derby is decadent and depraved by Hunter S. Thompson
A look at organized crime by Woody Allen
The tax man by Bruce Jay Friedman
Letters to Einstein by Philip Roth
A few words about breasts by Nora Ephron
Our white heritage by Henry Beard, Michael O'Donoghue, George W.S. Trow
Better read than dead : a revised opinion by Fran Lebowitz
Your action line by Charles Portis
In the morning post by Donald Barthleme
Curb Carter policy discord effort threat by Veronica Geng
Vacation '58 by John Hughes
The laws of cartoon motion by Mark O'Donnell
The Tip-Top Club by Garrision Keillor
Rolled in rare Bohemian onyx, then vulcanized by hand by Bruce McCall
Tough as bob war and other stuff by Molly Ivins
Corrections by Calvin Trillin
Tips for women : how to have a relationships with a guy by Dave Barry
Clinton deploys vowels to Bosnia by The Onion
Shiftless little loafers by Susan Orlean
Gothic baseball by Roy Blount Jr.
If I were in charge of the networks by George Carlin
Laws concerning food and drink ; Household principles ; Lamentations of the father by Ian Frazier
The writer's life by David Rakoff
From I ain't scared of you by Bernie Mac
Buddy, can you spare a tie? by David Sedaris
It's so hard by Wanda Sykes
What I'd say to the Martians by Jack Handey
Your three wishes : F.A.Q. by David Owen
Ask the optimist! by George Saunders
Awake by Jenny Allen
The pony problem by Sloane Crosley
If not an apology, at least a "my bad" by Larry Wilmore

Genres: Humor, Short Stories, Fiction, Comedy, Essays, Anthologies, Writing

461 pages, Hardcover

First published October 13, 2011

About the author

Andy Borowitz is an award-winning comedian and New York Times bestselling author. He grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and graduated from Harvard College, where he became President of the Harvard Lampoon. In 2001, he created “The Borowitz Report,” a satirical news column, which has millions of readers around the world. As a storyteller, he hosted “Stories at the Moth” from 1999 to 2009. As a comedian, he has played to sold-out venues around the world, including during his national tour, “Make America Not Embarrassing Again,” from 2018 to 2020. His latest book, Profiles In Ignorance: How America’s Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber, was an instant New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and Indiebound bestseller, and was named one of the seven best nonfiction books of fall 2022 by Kirkus Reviews. He is the first-ever winner of the National Press Club’s humor award. He lives with his family in New Hampshire.

Reviews

[S.D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Declaring these writers the “funniest” is a bit of stretch. Technical skill is the main feature of this anthology: these writers know the tricks of the humor trade and they ply them well. 50 people reading these selections on a subway car would not experience a widespread outbreak of laughter; but a clever turn of phrase, a metaphoric counterpoint, or carefully chose word will likely cause a few chuckles. Highlights are where you might expect them: Lenny Bruce exposing the hypocrisy of popular taste; Hunter S. Thompson at the Kentucky Derby; Norah Ephron, offering “A Few Words About Breasts”; John Hughes on vacation; George Carlin on English grammar & usage; and a lesson from David Sedaris in misspent consumer gratification.

[Shellstress · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm generally fairly scattershot when it comes to the manner in which I approach a typical anthology: I'll thumb through, choose selections at reckless random, set it aside for months, perhaps pick it up later, and likely completely forget about the 44% I never managed to get to. Dust ultimately collects, as dust is wont to do.

I've long been deeply amused by damn near EVERYTHING that Mr. Borowitz has to say (whether it be in The New Yorker, via Twitter, or on his masterfully produced satirical website (BorowitzReport.com)), and I was intrigued by the notion of perusing the work of writers that HE considers to rank among the country's most amusing, past and present. I decided, what the hell, worst-case scenario? One more anthology, one more potential dust-collector...

This book will NOT be receiving the 56%-read solution, just to be cast aside like so much stultifying yard-sale fodder. As a matter of fact, my original copy is currently in the hands of a third grateful reader. And I'm maintaining a bit of a wait-list.

THIS book is one of the most well-considered, thoughtfully-ordered, skillfully-constructed collections I can recall chancing into. In addition, as I read it cover-to-cover in the order Mr. Borowitz plainly intended (well played, Andy!), I laughed aloud often enough to leave my eyes significantly tear-swollen, and hard enough to prompt a fair ache in my sides.

Beginning with Mark Twain's 'A Presidential Candidate' (stunning in its latter-day prescience) and finishing with Larry Wilmore's 'If Not an Apology, at Least a "My Bad"' (a drolly hysterical examination of ways "white guilt" might be more effectively expiated), the collection presents some of my favorite writers (Davids Rakoff & Sedaris, Dorothy Parker, Calvin Trillin...) along with a few that were less familiar to me (as if I'm unsophisticated enough to list them - ha!). The progression from story to story, as aforementioned, feels adroitly manicured without coming off as affected, and neither satire-fatigue nor comic-habituation ever threaten to set in. It's rare that I feel "approaching-the-book's-end-remorse" when tearing through a digest such as this, but as I neared the final four pieces, I discovered that I'd slowed my pace as if to somehow extend the book by just a few pages more... High praise, indeed, for a compilatory effort, in my opinion.

Bottom line: This book is consistently hilarious, brilliantly constructed and worth every moment invested in enjoying it. I'd normally hesitate in waxing so trite, but THIS one is an absolute must-read.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This seemed more like a historical anthology of humour writers than a collection of actual humour. While these may possibly be some of the funniest American writers, if these were their funniest efforts then I can only say I do not share a sense of humour with Andy Borowitz. Some stories were amusing but it was very hit-and-miss, and not a single one got a real laugh out loud. So, perhaps interesting as a historical collection, but if you just want a good laugh I'd look elsewhere.

[Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a tough crowd here rating this book so lowly, but that only goes to prove the subjectivity of humor. And it's not a proposition of like it or feel neutral: people who don't find something funny often react with outright hostility. Look at the scores for any book on this site that has been touted as highly funny. They're never high, and the scores are all over the map.

Borowitz takes on a tough task, narrowing a huge field of humorists to 50, and then finding representative work when he's under an obvious page-count restriction (you do the math: 50 writers in 438 pages.) Given those challenges, I think he does an excellent job. Are these the 50 funniest writers? Probably not. Is the piece selected always the writer's funniest? No. But for me, his success percentage was pretty good. I laughed a lot, and when I wasn't so amused, the next piece was always coming up in just a few pages.

My favorites included H. L. Mencken's vitriolic "Imperial Purple," James Thurber's "More Alarms at Night," S. J. Perleman's hilarious noir spoof "Farewell, My Lovely Appetizer," e.b. white's Hemingway spoof "Across the Street and into the Grill," Peter De Vries' "House of Mirth," Lenny Bruce's "How to Talk Dirty and Influence People," Woody Allen's "A Look at Organized Crime," a three writer effort called "Our White Heritage," some of Charles Portis's old "Your Action Line" columns, Veronica Geng's newspeak masterpiece "Curb Carter Policy Discord Effort Threat," the John Hughes story (that I didn't realize he wrote) which originated Vacation (and is much raunchier than the film), Bruce McCall's spoof of mail ads, Calvin Trillin's spiteful "Corrections," Dave Barry's relationship tips, Susan Orlean's baby-hating "Shiftless Little Loafers," Ian Frazier's application of biblical language to "Laws Concerning Food and Drink," David Sedaris's "Buddy Can You Spare a Tie?," Jack Handey on "What I'd Say to the Martians," and George Saunders' "Ask the Optimist." But those are just my choices. Yours will be different.

The cool thing ultimately is that all of these writers have a big load of other work which is synopsized in little bibliographic annotations at the end of the book. So for every tiny nugget you find here, you've got a wealth of good reading to follow.

[Spence · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it, but many of the stories required context which the book did not provide. I appreciate the gesture, the assumption that I would be familiar with every author, their history, and the time period and socio-cultural environment that existed at the time the various articles were written, however the reality was multiple trips to wikipedia in order to get the history and perspective of the many very funny authors included in Borowitz's book. The wikipedia research is really important if one is going to fully appreciate all the humor included in the book. I realize English Graduate students may not find the need to research the authors as extensively as I needed to...it sure is nice to have the ol' english degree come in handy from time to time. No one wants to feel like they wasted 6 years of their lives for nothing.

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, I thought it would be funnier. I follow Andy Borowitz on Twitter...his many tweets per day are worth at least a couple of guffaws. WIth this book he's basically giving a history of American humor writers starting with Mark Twain. Many selections are quite good, but some are just boring. I found myself skimming a lot of the middle section.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly excellent. Anthologies of this sort rarely live up to their claims, but the selections here are a great representation of American humor from the last 100 years (plus the requisite piece from Twain).

[Preeti · Rating 3 out of 5]

The only reason I picked up this book was because Andy Borowitz compiled the stories. Overall, I was mixed on the stories - some were funny, the others were not my cup of tea. I ended up skipping a couple stories or I would never have finished. it was a wide variety of humor as well. I wouldn't recommend this for most people, unless you are really into comedy.

I give it 2.5 stars.

[Abby Aldrich · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nobody new to me in here. I didn't realize that was what I was looking for so that's probably why I wasn't very excited about it.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good way to get the mind to unwind. I would say that this writing is a mix of humor and funny, as there were at least several that were more humorous than funny. For funny, I am so glad for the entry by Bernie Mac because he made me laugh out loud more than anyone in this book.

I thought the entries made in chronological order were an interesting way to organize the book and ended up taking us on a little historical journey through American humor. It is interesting how something written 100 years ago or more can still seem relevant and make you smile. Thank you to Mark Twain and Sinclair Lewis, among others.

The selections were quite good for some of the authors. I never enjoyed reading Hunter S. Thompson as much as I did in this selection and the same is true for Dave Barry. Roy Blout, Jr., and Molly Ivins both provide good regional color to the book. Nora Ephrons's take on breasts was interesting but not really funny. Actually kind of sad. David Sedaris and Woody Allen made me laugh, as well, and George Carlins's entry was very witty - as witty as one can be with the liberal use of fuck in all its manifestations - but he has been funnier.

Good escape book. Here's how S.J. Perelman ends the evening: "Then I treated my tonsils to five fingers of firewater, jammed on my hat, and made for the anteroom." And as he enters his office and Birdie asks," Mike would - would you tell me something?" "As long as it isn't clean" I flipped to conceal my bitterness. "What's an eight-letter word meaning 'sentimental'?" "Flatfoot, darling," I said, and went out into the rain." 1944, my friends.

[Dr Goon Taco Supreme · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t particularly enjoy this book. I found the selections of the anthology to be pretty random. Furthermore, very few of the writing selected was actually funny, which was confusing since the title says it’s got writing from “The 50 Funniest American Writers.”
I guess, thinking about it, the title doesn’t say that it’s the funniest writing of the funniest American writers, but just pieces that happen to have been written by those funny writers.
Just because you are a funny writer does not mean that all you write will be funny. I must have been confused when I picked out the book based on its title alone. I think I just assumed it would be a book filled with funny stories. Shame on me.
I don’t understand how Andy Borowitz went about choosing what to put in his collection, unless the choices were made at random. That’s actually what I believe. I believe that Andy Borowitz had his ‘people’ select some writing and put it together in a collection. I don’t think his ‘people’ even read all of the selections either. After reading this anthology, I really believe that it is a totally random selection based on nothing but wanting to fill pages. And it sucked.

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Count on the Borowitz name like a Good Housekeeping seal of approval. Every daily dose of satire in the Borowitz Report unfailingly delivers.

That kind of reliability makes the fantastic flop, “The 50 Funniest American Writers According to Andy Borowitz” all the more puzzling.

He may, in fact, have identified the top 50 writers. He did not, however, pick the 50 funniest stories. He barely picked five stories I found funny at all.

Others suggest that the oldest stories need context for the contemporary reader to fully understand, and they might be on to something. But who picks up a humor book to forcibly dissect it like a high school student? Not me.

For all the glowing Goodreads reviewers praising Mark Twain and The Onion (and the rest of the book), we know you only read the cover.

Enjoy some classic Sedaris and relive "National Lampoon’s Vacation" in John Hughes’ "Vacation ’58." Then just set it down. No, first read through the list of writers, and maybe their mini-bios at the end. Then put it down. Really, you won’t miss a thing.

[Frances Levy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The humor in some of the chronologically older pieces was totally lost on me. But I liked almost all the selections from the late 1920s forward. I agree with other reviewers: I have read much funnier pieces by some of the writers who are represented in this anthology. And I was disappointed by the small number of women writers selected for this volume.

One more comment: although I know there isn't any way Andy Borowitz could have selected everyone's favorite for the limited list of 50, I can't fathom how he could have left out PG Wodehouse, Robert Benchley, SJ Perelman, George S Kaufman and Shirley Jackson, among the consistently funniest writers of the mid-20th century,and Christopher Moore, Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, Christopher Buckley, Merrill Markoe and Sarah Vowell from the later 20th century.

Conclusion: Good book. Not great but good. I found most of it entertaining.

[Al · Rating 3 out of 5]

Andy Borowitz takes on a hopeless task with this comic writing anthology. Still, while there's little here that will have you rolling in the aisles, there's enough to make you chuckle and (most importantly) want to follow up and read more by certain authors. Editor Borowitz leans heavily towards writers associated with "The New Yorker," (his current employer), but that may simply be the result of that magazine's well-deserved reputation of selecting the best humor writers. Many of the newer writers in this anthology come from the field of stand-up comedy or the "SNL"/"National Lampoon/Onion" world, but that's where today's humor writers gravitate. And if the anthology can lead to more writers (like Peter De Vries) coming back in print, well, it's made an even bigger contribution than maybe the editor had thought possible.

[Whitney · Rating 2 out of 5]

The early 1900s and the early 2000s were not very funny.

But in 1946 a kooky fella named Frank Sullivan wrote "The Night the Old Nostalgia Burned Down." What a knee-slapper!

On Saturdays we used to go with Great-Aunt Tib to the Eden Musee to see the wax figure of Lillian Russell. There was a woman! They don't build girls like her nowadays. You can't get the material, and even if you could, the contractors and the plumbers would gyp you and substitute shoddy.

I was six when the riots occurred. No, I was thirty-six. I remember because it was the year of the famous Horace Greeley hoax, and I used to hear my parents laughing about it. It was commonly believed that Mark Twain was the perpetrator of the hoax, although Charles A. Dana insisted to his dying day that it was Lawrence Godkin.

It's a darn shame that no one writes comedy like that anymore! Darn shame.

[CJ Bowen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably unavoidable for an edited collection, but this book is a thoroughly mixed bag. Standouts include O. Henry's "The Ransom of Red Chief", James Thurber's "More Alarms at Night" (although not Thurber's funniest), Dorothy Parker's "The Waltz", Peter de Vries' "The House of Mirth", Tom Wolfe's "The Secret Vice", Jean Shepherd's "The Counterfeit Secret Circle Member Gets the Message", Charles Portis' "Your Action Line", John Hughes' "Vacation '58", Dave Barry's "Tips for Women", Ian Frazier's "Laws Concerning Food and Drink", and David Owen's "Your Three Wishes: F.A.Q.".

Notable duds: Sinclair Lewis, Frank Sullivan, David Rakoff, Bernie Mac, Wanda Sykes, George Saunders, Jenny Allen, Sloane Crosley.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, so the subtitle is the caveat: “according to Andy Borowitz”. And while I agree that Mark Twain, O.Henry, and S.J. Perelman have some very funny pieces, a good bit of the writing in this compilation did NOT have me chuckling in my chair. (Of course, “The Ransom of Red Chief” is always funny, but I’ve read it a dozen times since high school.) On the modern side, I love Dave Barry, and his essay on the differences between men and women is an oldie but goodie that I love. David Sedaris is always good. And my one “find” is Ian Frazier, whose “Laws Concerning Food and Drink; Household Principles; Lamentations of the Father” is a King James-style exhortation to manners in one’s children – laugh out loud funny.

[Scott Erickson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I suppose it's in the nature of such a compilation to be a mixed bag. Even though a few of the pieces are among the funniest things I've ever read, I found most of it to be just mildly amusing. But no problem--just skip the ones that aren't promising and go on to the next. Three of the funniest pieces I've ever read were by: S.J. Perelman, George Saunders, and Dorothy Parker. A great piece about relationships by Dave Barry started as follows: "Contrary to what many women believe, it's fairly easy to develop a long-term, stable, and mutually fulfilling relationship with a guy. Of course this guy has to be a Labrador retriever." Made me laugh...

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This really did not elicit the laughs I expected. Andy Borowitz is funny. Not all these writers are, especially the early ones. Yes, Mark Twain is funny and I enjoy The Ransom of Red Chief, although I've read it many times. Some of the more recent ones are funny. I love David Sedaris, but all in all, not as good as I hoped.

[Jack Goodstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mixed bag of humor running from parody and satire to observational humor--49 of which are from the 20th century and into the 21st.

[Asta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tne secondary title describes this book best : "An Anthology of Humor from Mark Twain to The Onion."

It's not the funniest collection of stories I've read, but I think it would be great source material for a college class. It showcases how humor in the US has developed and has quite a few stories that were probably thought of as humorous when they were written.

Of course humor is very individual, but I find Aristophanes funnier than most of these stories.

Some were mildly funny, some were not that funny. Some I just didn't get. I think I laughed out loud twice.

TW : a dog dies in one story. It got to me, so be warned.

[Nick Iuppa · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you were asked to put together a list of the finniest writers in America, this would definitely be the list and, while only a few of these pieces are laugh out loud funny, all the articles are amazingly clever and insightful. My favorites... Larry Wilmore "If Not An Apology at least My Bad", Nora Ephron "A Few Words About Breasts", George Saunders "Ask the Optimist", Wanda Sykes "It's So Hard", and Lenny Bruce "How to Talk Dirty and Influence People."

[Je Suis H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a great time reading this book, although I must confess I skipped many pieces. I cannot comment on whether the collection is comprehensive or representative, though. Its main function for me was merely to introduce some great writers and make me laugh, a lot. If that's what you're looking for, I can recommend this book.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some funny ones and probably more not so funny ones. I was surprised since some of my favorite writers of humor are in here. But the good ones make this worth it.

[Breanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved some, hated some

[Don Fischer · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting collection of humorous writing and while I highly respect Andy Borowitz, I found a number of the choices odd given the book's title. That being said, I enjoyed the majority of pieces in the book.

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really hopeful with this book, but after reading about half of the stories, I just really didn't find any of them funny. Never laughed out loud except for The Onion article. That's the only one!

[Kent · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting anthology collection of 50 interesting American writers. Some of the authors were recognizable names to me, many were not. I found most of the selections quite humorous, whereas a few had me laughing out loud and sharing parts with anyone who would listen. A few excerpts were a bit raw, but the reader can choose to skip whatever offends. Good for a few hearty laughs anyway.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a Christmas gift from my sister, and I'm grateful because I don't think I would have picked it up, left to my own devices. There's a lot of golden treasure here, including Garrison Keillor's "The Tip-Top Club", whose appearance in The Atlantic Monthly, sometime in 1981, was the first time I'd ever heard of him.

On one day I hit upon Susan Orlean, Calvin Trillin, Molly Ivins, a piece from The Onion, and Dave Barry (whom I sometimes find funny, sometimes not), and laughed for about a half an hour straight. Another day I read a piece by Jenny Allen, and I'm now a fan of hers; I'd not heard of her before, but am not likely to forget her now. Ever.

David Sedaris is here, as are John Hughes, Nora Ephron, George Carlin, Jean Shepherd, James Thurber, E.B. White (my favorite writer of all time), and many MANY others.

This is one of those perfect books for dipping into when you have time for a piece or two (like lunch hours, which is when I read it), and need a good laugh. And when don't you?!!

[Rory Harden · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 50 funniest American writers - and Gore Vidal isn't one of them?

Fair enough, we have the classics: Mark Twain, Sinclair Lewis.

And, going back a while, there's a little bit of edge: Lenny Bruce. More recently: Molly Ivins and Larry Wilmore.

Tom Wolfe is represented by a tedious piece about buttonholes when at least a quarter of (the very long) 'A Man in Full' makes you snort out loud.

Hunter S. Thompson's bit about the Kentucky Derby is probably the funniest; you sense the presence of a truly satirical mind.

But, mostly, it's milquetoast New Yorker-style wit, exquisitely tortured in some cases (George Saunders) and plain silly (Dave Barry) in others. The corners of your mouth might twitch from time to time (Garrison Keillor? S. J. Perelman?) but you'll probably find yourself frowning a lot, like me.

And no, Mel Brooks isn't here either.

Andy Borowitz's short pieces in the New Yorker are often amusing. But he's no Vidal. Where's Gore when we need him?