The Best American Humorous Short Stories: By H. C. Bunner - Illustrated

by H.C. Bunner

How is this book unique?
Font adjustments & biography included
Unabridged (100% Original content)
Illustrated

About The Best American Humorous Short Stories by H. C. Bunner
"Although every literary tradition has its own rich vein of humor writing, there's something about American humor that sets it apart from the pack in terms of accessibility and lack of pretension. This volume includes writings from such luminaries of the genre as Mark Twain, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Edgar Allen Poe, and the brevity of most of the collected pieces makes it easy to take a short reading break whenever you could use a good laugh. This brief collection of 19 short stories is an interesting collection from the late 19th and early 20th century, featuring great authors and some of their more interesting brief works. There are familiar pieces from Henry, Bierce and others as well as some lesser know pieces from authors like Poe. Those who enjoy the tongue in cheek, ironic and observant will enjoy these playful and sometimes biting pieces.
This volume contains a massive collection of humorous stories from America's favorite writers:
The Little Frenchman and His Water Lots (1839) George Pope Morris
The Angel of the Odd (1844) Edgar Allan Poe
The Schoolmaster's Progress (1844) Caroline M.S. Kirkland
The Watkinson Evening (1846) Eliza Leslie
Titbottom's Spectacles (1854) George William Curtis
My Double; and How He Undid Me (1859) Edward Everett Hale
A Visit to the Asylum for Aged and Decayed Punsters (1861) Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (1865) Mark Twain
Elder Brown's Backslide (1885) Harry Stillwell Edwards
The Hotel Experience of Mr. Pink Fluker (1886) Richard Malcolm Johnston
The Nice People (1890) Henry Cuyler Bunner
The Buller-Podington Compact (1897) Frank Richard Stockton
Colonel Starbottle for the Plaintiff (1901) Bret Harte
The Duplicity of Hargraves (1902) O. Henry
Bargain Day at Tutt House (1905) George Randolph Chester
A Call (1906) Grace MacGowan Cooke
How the Widow Won the Deacon (1911) William James Lampton
Gideon (1914) by Wills Hastings "

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Humor, Classics, American, Anthologies, Unfinished

189 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1920

About the author

Henry Cuyler Bunner edited the humor weekly Puck from 1878 until his death.

Reviews

[Ron · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not all that humorous. Perhaps the standards of humor have changed in the last hundred years, but most of these stories are interesting rather than funny. There is certainly sociological and literary ore here, it's just not gold. Nor even silver.

It was free, but hardly worth the time. Too many better books to read.

[Sheela Word · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard to rate these, because the quality of the tales varies considerably. Also,there is a very long and (to me) tedious introduction, in which the editor exhaustively describes his process for selecting the tales. I'd advise skipping it unless you're writing a doctoral dissertation on early American literature.

All of the stories were at least mildly entertaining, although not all were funny. I particularly enjoyed "Titbottom's Spectacles," a melancholy fantasy by George William Curtis, whom I had never heard of before; "A Visit to the Asylum for Aged and Decayed Punsters" by Oliver Wendell Holmes (reads exactly like a Monty Python sketch!); "Colonel Starbottle for the Plaintiff" by Bret Harte; and "The Duplicity of Hargraves" by O'Henry.

[Dorer002 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall pretty okay, but such ridiculous notions about women and black people (and everything else). All of the stories were from the late 1800s to about 1910, so I can't be that surprised. Also, I don't think I really understood about half the humor, like jokes about men not wearing hats. Hilarious, right! But, ridicule aside, some of the stories were pretty funny.

[Gridknightt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorry, not for me. Unless you are privy to 1800's lingo and long forgotten words and phrases...I am guessing you will not like this book. It was like doing a very very hard crossword when you don't know the meanings of the words. Gave up reading on third story.

[Galicius · Rating 1 out of 5]

After an hour on stories 1,2, 7 I asked myself "What humor?"

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fascinating exercise in changing standards, this book was compiled early in the last century. That means some of the stories are still funny, some are worth a chuckle, a few are just baffling. For example, I discovered that casual racism and romanticism of slavery (as opposed to the deliberate savage mocking of it in Twain's works) dramatically cuts down on the humor of a piece--when characters are casually mentioned as "owning five slaves between them" I just find their hijinks less amusing. The O. Henry story plays with racism and stereotypes in ways that seem to be subverting expectations and thus retains some humor, but many are quite off-putting, and the last story in the volume (where the shiftless and dim lead in a minstrel show steals a bunch of money and runs away home to the South, where he abducts a screaming girl to be his "wife," the end) will almost certainly hit modern ears with a shocking thud--if it was ever funny, it just isn't anymore. Some of the stories will elicit a smile, and when they don't it's interesting to puzzle out why someone once thought they were funny when they don't seem it now, but it's hardly an anthology for when you want a belly laugh.

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a great time with many of these short stories especially, "Titbottom's Spectacles" by George William Curtis (1854), "My Double; and How He Undid Me" by Edward Everett Hale (1859), and "The Duplicity of Hargraves" by O. Henry (1902). I did not find the humor bawdy or slapstick, but the wry sense of humor and irony in these pieces has a charm that made me smile. Aside from Poe's "The Angel of the Odd" and Twain's tale of "The Celebrating Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," most of these pieces are forgotten to the contemporary reader. This may partially be explained by the depiction of African-Americans in many of the stories, but also due to the fact that changes in language and culture make these stories distant from the modern reader.

If you are looking for something that you can read in short sessions (15-30 min) this book provides a few clever gems.

[Kristen Post · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's difficult to rate a collection of stories. There were a few, such as "A Visit to the Asylum for Aged and Decaying Punsters" and "Bargain Day at Tutt House," to which I'd love to assign 5 stars. Others, such as "A Call," I'd give 4 to. However, there were others in this collection to which I would also assign a 3, 2, or even in some cases a 1. Overall, I found myself skimming some stories and skipping others altogether. It was rare that a tale in this collection really caught my attention. Given that this is supposed to be the "best" of American humorous short stories, I'd expected better. I enjoyed the feel of the leather bound text in my hands, the smell of an old book, and the occasional chuckle elicited by some of the better stories, but in general I was disappointed.

[Scott Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This brief collection of 19 short stories is an interesting collection from the late 19th and early 20th century, featuring great authors and some of their more interesting brief works. There are familiar pieces from Henry, Bierce and others as well as some lesser know pieces from authors like Poe. Those who enjoy the tongue in cheek, ironic and observant will enjoy these playful and sometimes biting pieces.

[Prity Malhotra · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel very much tempted to kill this Idiot 'DEXTER' style who compiled this book under the Fake Title of ' Best American Humorous Stories'. I didnt even chuckled once while reading this Childish, Bland Boring short stories. They are not even minutely funny. They resembled to me like stories that toddlers read in kindergarden. It took me 2 days to finish this Crap book & I so wish I could get my precious 2 days back !! Minus 100 stars for this Book !!

[Debbie Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

In spite of the fact that my sense of humor and irony didn't always appreciate all the short stories in this collection, I still enjoyed reading them. Most of these stories were truly enjoyable and while I was unfamiliar with a few of these authors, I was happy to sample their literary offerings. I would recommend this collection to anyone who is looking for a taste of early nineteenth century short stories with a side of giggles.

[Elizabeth Kral · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a free Gutenberg Press digital Kindle format download. The stories are by the likes of Poe, Twain, Harte, etc.--a nice collection from the 1800's. The writing is old-fashioned and the humor is in the situations. Many are written in strong southern dialect. It is considered to be an eleven-hour read, but in addition to the seventeen short stories, there are many frontal pages and pages at the end with free-use information.

[Bob G · Rating 5 out of 5]

These short stories were pretty funny. Read it on an iPod Touch and with small screen it wasn't easy to look up, as writing this, the dates of the various stories. But I think most written in 1800s and early 1900s. Certainly no automobiles. Great read on small screen. Highly recommended. Price is right too.

[Kareen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading this at my leisure. The stories are dated, yes. But the writing and the language used in those days are a refreshing and terrific break from the vapid and curt writing I encounter so much these days! My favorite stories: Titbottom's Spectacles, A Visit to the Asylum for Aged and Decayed Punsters, My Double; and How He Undid Me, and The Buller-Podington Compact.

[Gerald Matzke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gave me an appreciation for humor that does not have to be slap stick or shocking as most modern day humor is presented. These stories found humor in more subtle ways that required a true skill on the part of the author. I enjoyed reading this collection.

[Scull17 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few of the stories are real gems, others just OK, but there is one, "Gideon," which could only have been written by a disturbed and crazy individual; and I'm guessing Mr. Jessup (who compiled this selection) was also a disturbed and crazy person for thinking this story was at all humorous.

[Shaheenbaloch Baloch · Rating 5 out of 5]

an excellent read, i enjoyed it immensely <3

[Joe Dillenburg]

Read on my iPhone when I needed a distraction. It provided a unique insight into 19th Century America. The last story left me a little puzzled but I think that was the point.

[Ken · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although they might have been humorous in their day, I found view that were to my liking.

[Baa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice collection. My favorites were: The Angel of Odd, Bargain Day at Tutt House, and A Call

[Shruthi D'Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of 18 short stories, I did like some of them, while can't say much about the rest. Also, I didn't find a couple of stories lacked even a dash of humour. Yet, the others made up for it.

[Xysuthros · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone who doesn't love this book must be a rum-soaked beezaboor!

"The Death of Red Peril" by Edmonds is a must-read.

[Ravinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very old american short stories...different kind of humour

[brenda glasspool · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining

I enjoyed each of the short stories making easy to pick up and lay down for summer reading Will look for more of this type book

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of stories by American authors isn't comedic or humorous, but still highly enjoyable.

[John Yelverton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite the extremely misleading title, the stories range only from cute to not funny at all, and in the end, you'll wonder why you picked up this volume in the first place.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

So it turns out that from about 1880, the American humorous short story worked very hard to turn the aging Confederate officer stuck in his romanticized past into a harmless figure of fun. Upsetting!

Favorites:
"The Schoolmaster's Progress," Caroline M.S. Kirkland (1845)
"My Double; and How He Undid Me," Edward Everett Hale (1859)
"A Visit to the Asylum for Aged and Decayed Punsters," Oliver Wendell Holmes (1861)
"Elder Brown's Backslide," Harry Stillwell Edwards (1885)
"Bargain Day at Tutt House," George Randolph Chester (1905)

[Cory Briggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mixed bag

Here lies a collection of short humorous stories. However I want to caution you on something: This anthology is so diverse in style that you probably will not find all the stories funny or amusing. I have a feeling that a few will make you laugh, some will make you smile, some may even disappoint you. However at such a good price, it just may be worth your time.

[Stumpy · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are a couple of good stories here but, in general, the fading away of the humour has left exposed mediocre writing and some unpalatable racial stereotypes. Particularly tedious are those writers who lean too heavily on the word Suddenly….

[Lynne]

Listened to the first three stories. Did not enjoy them. Moving on, life's too short.