Beloved American humorist Mark Twain once said, “Everything human is pathetic. The secret source of Humor itself is not joy but sorrow. There is no humor in heaven.” Hilarious! He was onto something, though; as we begin a fraught new year, a good laugh is a candle lit against the darkness (don’t laugh directly onto the candle, that will defeat the purpose). Twain heads up a proud literary lineage that includes such erudite jesters as Robert Benchley and Calvin Trillin alongside populist truth-tellers like Will Rogers, Irma Bombeck, and Dave Barry—keen observers of the human condition who tell us what we already know in ways that we’ve never thought of, uniting us in all of our benighted, beautiful ridiculousness.
In an era of the written word dominated by partisan pundits, social-media scolds, and click-baiting cynics (where have you gone, James Thurber? Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you), some recent Indie titles are keeping the flame alive:
In Thoughts Like Buckshot (2024), novelist Edward Fahey leavens philosophical musings with absurdist humor (as Twain also once observed, “laughter without a tinge of philosophy is but a sneeze of humor”). There is much variety on display in Fahey’s collection—the author tackles subjects from European travel to the Theosophical Society to ghosts with Tourette syndrome in pieces that are, per our reviewer, “often poignant” and “refreshingly self-aware.” It’s hard not to like a spiritual seeker who sees the silliness in fellow travelers anointing themselves as “Guru something or another. Or Light Seeds, or Star Farts.” Our reviewer judged the anthology to be “an insightful, quirky memoir and eclectic collection of observations on spirituality, life, and love.”
Julianna Newland makes her perspective clear in the very title of her 2023 corporate survival guide, All Up in Your Bizness: Managing Your Business Crap. In a sea of getting-ahead-at-work books, Newland’s irreverent take is a balm to readers weary of New Agey platitudes and robotic business-speak. Advising her audience to dress appropriately for the office, she cautions against wearing one’s undergarments over one’s clothes (“I don’t care what Madonna does”) and lays out the perils of cutting loose at company parties (“the office snitches also will be there”). Our reviewer notes that Newland is “often serious and refreshingly candid under the humorous surface”; this is, at heart, a sincere etiquette primer designed to help wary workers navigate a sometimes-bewildering social/corporate landscape. Newland has the wit to understand that such an undertaking can be funny.
Radu Guiaşu paints with a broader brush in her collection, A Good Day and Other (Mostly) Humorous Stories and Lists. Guiaşu flits from topic to topic like a hummingbird doing a stand-up set, addressing logical inconsistencies in the premise of Jurassic Park (“The only thing separating the T. rex from people is a rather shabby electrified fence”), pointing out the omissions in self-help books (“Know your limitations, but don’t share that knowledge with anyone”), and proffering observations about running with the bulls at Pamplona (“generally speaking, quadrupeds are faster than bipeds”). “No matter the topic, it’s funny stuff,” opines our reviewer, who praises Guiaşu’s collection as “delightful and eclectic.”
Arthur Smith is an Indie editor.
